Feast day: June 29
Sts. Peter & Paul
The two pillars of the Church — the fisherman who held the keys and the persecutor-turned-apostle — both martyred in Rome under Nero.
On a single day the Church honors the two great apostles whose blood, by ancient tradition, consecrated Rome: Peter the fisherman and Paul the persecutor turned preacher — the rock on which the Church was built and the tireless herald who carried it to the nations. Different in everything but their love of Christ and their martyrdom in the same city, they are celebrated together as the twin pillars of the Church.
Peter, born Simon, was a fisherman of Galilee whom Jesus made the leader of the apostles, saying, 'You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church,' and giving him the keys of the kingdom. Impulsive and warm-hearted, he walked on the water and sank, swore he would never deny his Lord and then denied him three times — and, after weeping bitterly, was forgiven and three times charged to 'feed my sheep.' He led the infant Church, and is honored as the first pope.
Paul, born Saul of Tarsus, was a learned Pharisee who fiercely persecuted the first Christians until the risen Christ struck him down on the road to Damascus. Transformed, he became the apostle to the Gentiles, crossing the Roman world on missionary journeys, founding churches, and writing the letters that make up much of the New Testament and shaped Christian thought forever.
Both, the tradition holds, were martyred at Rome in the persecution under Nero: Peter crucified — head downward, by his own request, judging himself unworthy to die as his Lord had — and Paul, a Roman citizen, beheaded. Their feast, kept since the earliest centuries, celebrates the foundation of the Church on the witness of the apostles and the unity of its mission to Jew and Gentile alike.
Peter was crucified upside down at his own request, judging himself unworthy to die as his Lord did; Paul, a Roman citizen, was beheaded.
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. (Peter)”
— Sts. Peter & Paul
Image: Unknown authorUnknown author (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.
Source: newadvent.org/cathen/11744a.htm · newadvent.org/cathen/11567b.htm
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