June 29th - Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles

Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? Behold the hour when the answer which the Son of Man, exacted of the Fisher of Galilee, re-echoes from the seven hills and fills the whole earth. Peter no longer dreads the triple interrogation of his Lord. Since that fatal night wherein before the first cock-crow, the Prince of the apostles had betimes denied his Master, tears have not ceased to furrow the cheeks of this same Vicar of the Man-God; lo! the day when, at last, his tears shall be dried! From that gibbet whereunto, at his own request, the humble disciple has been nailed head downwards, his bounding heart repeats, now at last without fear, the protestation which ever since the scene enacted on the brink of Lake Tiberias, has been silently wearing his life away: Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love Thee!

Sacred Day, on which the oblation of the first of Pontiffs assures to the West the rights of Supreme Priesthood! Day of triumph, in which the effusion of a generous life-blood wins for God the conquest of the Roman soil; in which upon the cross of his representative, the Divine Spouse concludes his eternal alliance with the Queen of nations.

This tribute of death was all unknown to Levi; this dower of blood was never exacted of Aaron by Jehovah: for who is it that would die for a slave?—the Synagogue was no Bride! Love is the sign which distinguishes this age of the new dispensation from the law of servitude. Powerless, sunk in cringing fear, the Jewish priest could but sprinkle with the blood of victims substituted for himself, the horns of the figurative altar. At once both Priest and Victim, Jesus expects more of those whom he calls to a participation of the sacred prerogative which makes him pontiff, and that for ever according to the order of Melchisedech. I will not now call you servants: for the servant knoweth not what his lord doth, thus saith he to these men whom he has just raised above angels, at the last Supper: but I have called you friends, because all things whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you. As the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love.

Now, in the case of a Priest admitted thus into partnership with the Eternal Pontiff, love is not complete, save when it extends itself to the whole of mankind ransomed by the great Sacrifice. And, mark it well: this entails upon him, more than the obligation common to all Christians, of loving one another as fellow members of one Head; for, by his Priesthood, he forms part of that Head, and by this very title, charity should assume, in him, something in depth and character of the love which this divine Head bears towards his members. But more than this: what, if to the power he possesses of immolating Christ, to the duty incumbent on him of the joint offering of himself likewise, in the secret of the Mysteries,—the plenitude of the Pontificate be added, imposing the public mission of giving to the Church that support she needs, that fecundity which the heavenly Spouse exacts of her? Oh! then it is, that (according to the doctrine expressed from the earliest ages by the Popes, the Councils, and the Fathers) the Holy Ghost adapts him to his sublime role by fully identifying his love with that of the Spouse, whose obligations he fulfils, whose rights he exercises. But then, likewise, according to the same teaching of universal tradition, there stands before him the precept of the Apostle; yea, from throne to throne of all the Bishops, whether of East or West, the Angels of the Churches pass on the word: Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church, and delivered himself up for her, that he might sanctify her.


If such should be the privileges and obligations of the bishop of each Church, how much more so in the case of the universal Pastor! When regenerated man was confided to Simon, son of John, by the Incarnate God, His chief care was, in the first place, to make sure that he would indeed be the Vicar of His love; that, having received more than the rest, he would love more than all of them; that being the inheritor of the love of Jesus for His own who were in the world, he would love, as He had done, even to the end. For this very reason, the establishing of Peter upon the summit of the hierarchy coincides in the Gospel narrative with the announcement of his martyrdom; Pontiff-king, he must needs follow even unto the cross, his Supreme Hierarch.

The Feasts of his two Chairs, that of Antioch and that of Rome, have recalled to our minds the Sovereignty whereby he presides over the government of the whole world, and the Infallibility of the doctrine which he distributes as food to the whole flock; but these two feasts, and the Primacy to which they bear witness on the sacred cycle, call for that completion and further sanction afforded by the teachings included in today’s festival. Just as the power received by the Man-God from his Father and the full communication made by him of this same power to the visible Head of his Church, had but for end the consummation of glory, the one object of the Thrice-Holy God in the whole of his work; so likewise, all jurisdiction, all teaching, all ministry here below, says Saint Paul, has for end the consummation of the Saints, which is but one with the consummation of this sovereign glory; now, the sanctity of the creature, and the glory of God, Creator and Savior, taken together, find their full expression only in the Sacrifice which embraces both Shepherd and flock in one same holocaust.

It was for this final end of all pontificate, of all hierarchy, that Peter, from the day of Jesus’s Ascension, traversed the earth. At Joppa, when he was but opening the career of his apostolic labors, a mysterious hunger seized him: Arise, Peter; kill and eat, said the Spirit; and at that same hour, in symbolic vision were presented before his gaze all the animals of earth and all the birds of heaven. This was the gentile world which he must join to the remnant of Israel, on the divine banquet-board. Vicar of the Word, he must share His vast hunger; his preaching, like a two-edged sword, will strike down whole nations before him; his charity, like a devouring fire, will assimilate to itself the peoples; realizing his title of Head, the day will come when as true Head of the world, he will have formed (from all mankind, become now a prey to his avidity) the Body of Christ in his own person. Then like a new Isaac, or rather, a very Christ, he will behold rising before him the mountain where the Lord seeth, awaiting the oblation.

Let us also “look and see;” for this future has become the present, and even as on the great Friday, so now, we already know how the drama is to end. A final scene all bliss, all triumph: for herein deicide mingles not its wailing note to that of earth’s homage, and the perfume of sacrifice whith earth is exhaling, does but fill the heavens with sweet gladsomeness. Divinized by virtue of the adorable Victim of Calvary, it might indeed be said, this day, that earth is able now to stand alone. Simple son of Adam as he is by nature, and yet nevertheless true Sovereign Pontiff, Peter advances bearing the world: his own sacrifice is about to complete that of the Man-God, with whose dignity he is invested; inseparable as she is from her visible Head, the Church likewise invests him with her own glory. Far from her now the horrors of that mid-day darkness, which shrouded her tears when, for the first time, the cross was up-reared. She is all song; and her inspired lyric (Hymn at Vespers) celebrates “the beauteous Light Eternal that floods with sacred fires this day which openeth out unto the guilty a free path to heaven.” What more could she say of the Sacrifice of Jesus Himself? But this is because by the power of this other cross which is rising up, Babylon becomes today the Holy City. The while Sion sits accurses for having once crucified her Savior, vain is it, on the contrary, for Rome to reject the Man-God, to pour out the blood of his Martyrs like water in her streets. No crime of Rome’s is able to prevail against the great fact fixed forever at this hour: the cross of Peter has transferred to her all the rights of the cross of Jesus; leaving to the Jews the curse, she now becomes the true Jerusalem.

Such being then the meaning of this day, it is not surprising that Eternal Wisdom should have willed to enhance it still further, by joining the sacrifice of Paul to that of Peter. More than any other, Paul advanced by his preachings the building up of the body of Christ. If on this day, holy Church has attained such full development as to be able to offer herself, in the person of her visible Head, as a sweet smelling sacrifice, who better than Paul may deservedly perfect the oblation, furnishing from his own veins the sacred libation? The Bride having attained fulness of age, his own work is likewise ended. Inseparable from Peter in his labors by faith and love, he will accompany him also in death; both quit this earth, leaving her to the gladness of the divine nuptials sealed in their blood, whilst they ascend together to that eternal abode wherein that union is consummated.
First Vespers

After the great solemnities of the movable cycle, and the Feast of St. John the Baptist, none is more ancient, nor more universal in the Church, than that of the two Princes of the Apostles. From the beginning, Rome celebrated their triumph on the very day itself which saw them go up from earth to heaven, June 29th. Her practice prevailed, at a very early date, over the custom of several other countries, which put the Apostles’ feast towards the close of December. It was, no doubt, a fair thought which inspired the placing of these Fathers of the Christian people in the cortège of Emmanuel at his entry into this world. But, as we have already seen, today’s teachings have intrinsically an important preponderance in the economy of Christian dogma; they are the completion of the whole Work of the Son of God; the cross of Peter fixes the Church in her stability, and marks out for the Divine spirit the immutable center of his operations. Rome, therefore, was well inspired when, leaving to the Beloved Disciple the honor of presiding over his brethren at the Crib of the Infant God, she maintained the solemn memory of the Princes of the Apostles upon the day chosen by God himself to consummate their labors and to crown, at once, both their life and the whole cycle of mysteries.


But seemly is it, not to forget, on so great a day, those other messengers sent forth by the divine householder, and who watered earth’s highways with their sweat and with their blood, the while they hastened the triumph and the gathering in of the guests invited to the Marriage feast. To them is it due, if now the law of grace is definitively promulgated throughout all nations, and if in every language and upon every shore the good tidings have been sounded. Thus the festival of St. Peter, completed by the more special memory of St. Paul his comrade in death, has been from earliest times regarded as the festival likewise of the whole Apostolic college. In those primitive times it seemed impossible to dream of separating from their glorious leader any of those whom Our Lord had so intimately joined together in the responsibility of one common work. But in course of time, however, particular solemnities were successively consecrated to each one of the Apostles, and so the feast of June 29th was more exclusively attributed to the two Princes whose martyrdom rendered this day illustrious. More than this; as we shall presently see, the Roman Church, thinking it impossible fittingly to honor both of these on the same day, deferred till the morrow her more explicit praises of the Doctor of the Gentiles. She thus became more free to concentrate the demonstrations of her devoted enthusiasm upon him whom even the Greek Church herself styles, in every form, the corypheus of the blessed choir of Apostles. These remarks seem needed for the clear understanding of the Office which is about to follow.

The Antiphons and Capitulum of First Vespers take us back to the opening days of the apostolic ministry. They place us in the midst of those which immediately follow the Descent of the Holy Ghost. Peter and John go up together to the temple of Jerusalem. Calvary’s sacrifice has put an end to its figurative oblations; but it, nevertheless, still continues to be a place of prayer, pleasing to heaven, on account of its grand memories. At the door of the sacred edifice, a man, lame from his birth, begs an alms of the Apostles. Peter, lacking both silver and gold, exerts in his favor the power of healing which he possesses in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The Synagogue yields no more to the miracles of the disciple than she did to those of the Master; she will not be converted; and presently a new Herod, wishing to please the Jews, finds no better means of doing so than the putting to death of James the brother of John, and the imprisoning of Peter. But the angel of the Lord comes down into the prison where he is sleeping, on the eve of the day fixed for his death; the angel bids him arise, put on his garments, and follow him. The Apostle, set free, proclaims the reality of that which at first he thought but a dream. He departs from Jerusalem, now hopelessly the accursed city; and on all sides of the gentile world into whose midst he has entered, is verified the prophecy: Tu es Petrus: Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my Church.

Dixit Dominus Domino meo: * Sede a dextris meis. The Lord said to my Lord, his Son: Sit thou at my right hand, and reign with me.
Donec ponam inimicos tuos: * scabellum pedum tuorum. Until, on the day of thy last coming I make thy enemies thy footstool.
Virgam virtutis tuæ emittet Dominus ex Sion: * dominare in medio inimicorum tuorum. O Christ! the Lord thy Father, will send forth the scepter of thy power out of Sion: from thence rule thou in the midst of thy enemies.
Tecum principium in die virtutis tuæ in splendoribus sanctorum: * ex utero ante luciferum genui te. With thee is the principality in the day of thy strength, in the brightness of the saints: For the Father hath said to thee: From the womb before the day-star I begot thee.
Juravit Dominus, et non pœnitebit eum: * Tu es Sacerdos in æternum secundum ordinem Melchisedech. The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent: he hath said, speaking to thee, the God-Man: Thou art a Priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedech.
Dominus a dextris tuis: * confregit in die iræ suæ reges. Therefore, O Father, the Lord, thy Son is at thy right hand: he hath broken kings in the day of his wrath.
Judicabit in nationibus, implebit ruinas: * conquassabit capita in terra multorum. He shall also judge among nations: in that terrible coming, he shall fill the ruins of the world: he shall crush the heads in the land of many.
Confitebor tibi, Domine, in toto corde meo: * in consilio justorum et congregatione. I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart: in the council of the just, and in the congregation.
Magna opera Domini: * exquisita in omnes voluntates ejus. Great are the works of the Lord: sought out according to all his wills.
Confession et magnificentia opus ejus: * et justitia ejus manet in sæculum sæculi. His work is praise and magnificence: and his justice continueth for ever and ever.
Memoriam fecit mirabilium suorum, misericors et miserator Dominus: * escam dedit timentibus se. He hath made a remembrance of his wonderful works, being a merciful and gracious Lord: he hath given food to them that fear him.
Memor erit in sæculum testamenti sui: * virtutem operum suorum annuntiabit populo suo. He will be mindful for ever of his covenant with men: he will show forth to his people the power of his works.
Ut det illis hæreditatem Gentium: * opera manuum ejus veritas et judicium. That he may give them, his Church, the inheritance of the Gentiles: the works of his hand are truth and judgment.
Fidelia omnia madata ejus, confirmata in sæculum sæculi: * facta in veritate et æquitate. All his commandments are faithful, confirmed for ever and ever: made in truth and equity.
Redemptionem misit populo suo: * mandavit in æternum testamentum suum. He hath sent Redemption to his people: he hath thereby commanded his covenant for ever.
Sanctum et terribile nomen ejus: * initium sapientiæ timor Domini. Holy and terrible is his name: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Beatus vir, qui timet Dominum: *midast; in mandatis ejus volet nimis. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord; he shall delight exceedingly in his commandments.
Potens in terra erit semen ejus: * generatio rectorum benedicetur. His seed shall be mighty upon earth; the generation of the righteous shall be blessed.
Gloria et divitiæ in domo ejus: * et justitia ejus manet in sæculum sæculi. Glory and wealth shall be in his house: and his justice remaineth for ever and ever.
Exortum est in tenebris lumen rectis: * misericors, et miserator, et justus. To the righteous a light is risen up in darkness: he is merciful, and compassionate, and just.
Jucundus homo, qui miseretur et commodat, disponet sermones suos in judicio: * quia in æternum non commovebitur. Acceptable is the man that showeth mercy and lendeth; he shall order his words with judgment: because he shall not be moved for ever.
In memoria æterna erit justus * ab auditione mala non timebit. The just shall be in everlasting remembrance: he shall not fear the evil hearing.
Paratum cor ejus sperare in Domino, confirmatum est cor ejus: * non commovebitur donec despiciat inimicos suos. His heart is ready to hope in the Lord; his heart is strengthened: he shall not be moved until he look over his enemies.
Dispersit, dedit pauperibus, justitia ejus manet in sæculum sæculi: * cornu ejus exaltabitur in gloria. He hath distributed, he hath given to the poor; his justice remaineth for ever and ever: his horn shall be exalted in glory.
Laudate pueri, Dominum: * laudate nomen Domini. Praise the Lord, ye children: praise ye the name of the Lord.
Sit nomen Domini benedictum: * ex hoc nunc et usque in sæculum. Blessed be the name of the Lord: from henceforth now and for ever.
A solis ortu usque ad occasum: * laudabile nomen Domini. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, the name of the Lord is worthy of praise.
Excelsus super omnes Gentes Dominus: * et super cœlos gloria ejus. The Lord is high above all nations: and his glory above the heavens.
Quis sicut Dominus Deus noster qui in altis habitat: * et humilia respicit in cœlo et in terra? Who is as the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high: and looketh down on the low things in heaven and in earth?
Suscitans a terra inopem: * et de stercore erigens pauperem. Raising up the needy from the earth: and lifting up the poor out of the dunghill.
Ut collocet eum cum principibus: * cum principibus populi sui. That he may place him with princes: with the princes of his people.
Laudate Dominum, omnes gentes: laudate eum, omnes populi. Praise the Lord, all ye gentiles: praise him, all ye peoples.



Magnificat: * anima mea Dominum: My soul doth magnify the Lord.
Ex exsultavit spiritus meus: * in Deo salutari meo. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my savior.
Quia respexit humilitatem ancillæ suæ: * ecce enim ex hoc Beatam me dicent omnes generationes. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid: for, behold from henceforth all generations shall call me Blessed.
Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est: * et sanctum nomen ejus. Because he that is mighty hath done great things to me: and holy is his name.
Et misericordia ejus a progenie in progenies: * timentibus eum. And his mercy is from generation unto generation, to them that fear him.
Fecit potentiam in brachio suo: * dispersit superbos mente cordis sui. He hath showed might in his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
Deposuit potentes de sede: * et exaltavit humiles. He hath put down the mighty from their seat: and hath exalted the humble.
Esurientes implevit bonis: * et divites dimisit inanes. He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich he hath sent empty away.
Suscepit Israël puerum suum: * recordatus misericordiæ suæ. He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy.
Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros: * Abraham et semini ejus in sæcula. As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever.

The feast of every Apostle, during the year, was formerly a day of obligation. The Holy See in many instances having removed this precept, wished to compensate for it by ordering a commemoration to be made of all the holy Apostles, in the Mass and Office of the festival of Saints Peter and Paul. This may be considered, in some sense, a return to the ancient custom which treated the feast of the head of the Apostolic College as that of all the Apostles. As it is not used in England, we omit it.

The sun is bending towards the horizon. The Church is about to resume her chants, and to begin the sacred Vigil which will be continued until morning with all the pomp and continuity of the greatest solemnities. In heart, at least, let us keep watch with her. This night is the last during which the visible Head given to her by the Spouse, is fulfilling his ministry of prayer and suffering in Nero’s dungeons; so much the less, therefore, will she leave him, and so much the more eager is she to spend herself in extolling his greatness. When once again the day-star shall appear in the east, gilding with his rays those seven hills whereon the Queen of nations is seated, the hour of sacrifice will have sounded for the Vicar of the Man-God. Let us, then, prepare to form a part of the cortège, by representing to ourselves in thought the historic details of this glorious drama, and the facts which led to it.

Since the terrible persecution of the year 64, Rome had become for Peter a sojourn fraught with peril, and he remembered how his Master had said to him, when appointing him Shepherd of both lambs and sheep: Follow thou me. The Apostle, therefore, awaited the day when he must mingle his blood with that of so many thousands of Christians, whom he had initiated into the faith, and whose Father he truly was. But before quitting earth, Peter must triumph over Simon the Magician, his base antagonist. This heresiarch did not content himself with seducing sould by his perverse doctrines; he sought even to mimic Peter in the prodigies operated by him. So he proclaimed that on a certain day, he would fly in the air. The report of this novelty quickly spread through Rome, and the people were full of the prospect of such a marvellous sight. If we are to believe Dion Chrysostom, Nero seems even to have entertained at his court this wonderful personage, who pledged himself to soar aloft in mid-air. More than that, the emperor would even with his own presence honor this rare sight. The imperial lodge was reared upon the Via Sacra, where the scene was to be enacted. But cruel for the impostor did this deception prove. “Scarce had this Icarus begun to poise his flight,” says Suetonius, “than he fell close to Nero’s lodge which was bathed in his blood.” The gravest writers of Christian antiquity are unanimous in attributing to the prayer of Peter this humiliation inflicted on the Samaritan juggler in the very midst of Rome, where he had dared to set himself up as the rival of Christ’s Vicar.

The disgrace, as well as the blood of the heresiarch, had fallen on the emperor himself. Curiosity and ill-will but needed, therefore, to be combined, in order to attract personally upon Peter an attention that might prove disastrous. Moreover, be it remembered, there was yet another danger, and to this Saint Paul alludes, namely, the peril of false brethren. To understand this term and justly to appreciate the situation, we must bear in mind how inevitable are the clashings of certain characters in a society so numerous as was already that of the Christians in Rome; and how discontent is necessarily caused to vulgar minds when existing circumstances sometimes demand higher interests to be exclusively consulted, in the always difficult question of choosing persons to offices of trust, or to special confidence. These things well borne in mind, it will be easy to account for what Saint Clement, an eye-witness of the Apostle’s martyrdom, attests in a letter to the Corinthians, viz., that “rivalries and jealousies” had a large share in the tragic end brought about, through the suspicions that last conceived by the authorities against “this Jew.”


In his flight, Peter dropped from his leg a bandlet which a disciple picked up, with much respect. A monument was afterwards raised on the spot where this incident occurred: it is now the Church of Saints Nereus and Achilles, anciently called Titulus fasciolæ, the Title of the bandlet. According to the designs of Providence the humble fasciola was to recall the memory of that momentous meeting at the gates of Rome, where Christ in person stood face to face with His Apostle, the visible Head of His Church, and announced that the hour of his sacrifice on the cross was at hand.

From that moment Peter set everything in order with a view to his approaching end. It was at this time he wrote his Second Epistle, which is, as it were, his last testament and loving farewell to the Church. Therein he declares that the close of his life is near, and compares his body to a temporary shelter, a tent which one takes down to a journey further on. The laying away of this my tabernacle is at hand, according as our Lord Jesus Christ also hath signified to me. These his words are evidently an allusion to the apparition on the Appian Way. But, before quitting this world, Peter must provide for the transmission of his pastoral charge and for the needs of Holy Church, now about to be widowed of her visible Head. To this he refers in these words: And I will do my endeavour, that after my decease, you may also often have whereby you may keep a memory of these things.

Into whose hands are those keys to pass, which he received from Christ, as a sign of his dominion over the whole flock? Linus had been for more than ten years and auxiliary of the holy Apostle in the midst of the Christians of Rome; the still further increase of the Faithful induced Peter to give Linus a colleague in the person of Cletus; yet on neither of these two did the choice of Peter fall at this solemn moment in which he was about to fulfil the promise contained in his farewell letter, to provide for the continuance of his ministry. Clement, whose nobility of birth recommended him to the consideration of the Romans, whilst, at the same time, his zeal and learning merited the esteem of the Faithful, was the one on whom the Prince of the Apostles fixed his choice. During these last days still remaining to him, Peter imposed hands on Clement, and having invested him with the Episcopal character, enthroned him in his own Chair, declaring his intention to have him for his successor. These facts, related in the Liber Pontificalis, are confirmed by the testimony of Tertullian and Saint Epiphanius.

Thus the quality of Bishop of Rome entailed that of Universal Pastor; and Peter must needs leave the heritage of the divine keys to him who should next occupy the See which he held at the moment of death. So had Christ ordained; and a heavenly inspiration had led Peter to choose Rome for his last station, Rome prepared long beforehand, by Providence, unto universal empire. Hence, at the moment when the supremacy of Peter passed to one of his disciples, no astonishment was manifested in the Church. It was well known that the Primacy was and must necessarily be a local heritage, and none ignored the fact that Rome herself was that spot made choice of by Peter long years before. Nor after Peter’s death, did it ever occur to the mind of any of the Christians to seek the center of holy Church either at Jerusalem, or at Alexandria, or at Antioch, or elsewhere.

The Christians in Rome made great account of the paternal devotedness he had lavished on their city. Hence their alarms, to which the Apostle once consented to yield. Saint Peter’s Epistles, so redolent of affection, bear witness to the tenderness of soul with which he was gifted to a very high degree. He is ever the Shepherd all devotedness to his sheep, fearing, above all else, anything savoring of a domineering tone; he is ever the Vicar effacing himself, so that nothing may transpire save the dignity and rights of Him whom he represents. This exquisite modesty is further increased in Peter, by the remembrance which haunts his whole life (as ancient writers say), of the sin he had committed and which he continues to deplore up to these closing days of extreme old age. Faithful ever to that transcending love of which his Divine Master had required him to make a triple affirmation, before confiding to him the care of His flock, he endured unflinchingly the immense labors of his office of Fisher of men. One circumstance of his life, which relates to this its closing period, reveals most touchingly the devotedness wherewith he clung to Him who had vouchsafed both to call to follow Him, and to pardon his fragility. Clement of Alexandria has preserved this detail, as follows.

Before being called to the apostolate, Peter had lived in the conjugal state: from that time forth his wife became but a sister in his regard; she nevertheless continued in his company, following him about from place to place, in his various journeys, in order to render him service. She was in Rome while Nero’s persecution was raging, and the hour of martyrdom thus sought her out. Peter watched her as she stepped forth on her way to triumph, and at that moment his solicitude broke out in this one exclamation: “Oh! bethink thee of the Lord.” These two Galileans had seen the Lord, had received Him into their house, had made Him their guest at table. Since then, the Divine Pastor had suffered on the cross, had risen again, had ascended into heaven, leaving the care of his Flock to the Fisherman of Lake Genesareth. What else then would Peter have his wife do at this moment, save to recall such sweet memories, and to dart forwards unto Him whom she had known here below in His Human Features, and who was now about to crown her hidden life with immortal glory!

The moment for entering into this same glory came at last for Peter himself. When thou shalt be old, mysteriously had his Master said to him, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldst not. So, Peter was to attain an advanced age; like his Master, he must stretch forth his arms upon a cross; he must know captivity and the weight of chains with which a foreigner’s hand will load him; he must be subjected, in its violent form, to death from which nature recoils, and drink the chalice from which even his Divine Master himself prayed to be spared. But like his Master also, he will arise strong in the divine aid, and will press forwards to the cross. Lo! this oracle is about to be accomplished to the letter.

On the day fixed by God’s decree, pagan power gave orders for the Apostle’s arrest. Details are wanting as to the judicial procedure which followed, but the constant tradition of the Roman Church is that he was incarcerated in the Mamertine Prison. By this name is known the dungeon constructed at the foot of the Capitoline hill, by Ancus Martius, and afterwards completed by Servius Tullus, whence it is also called Carcer Tullianus. Two outer staircases, called the steps of sighs, led to this frightful den. An upper dungeon gave immediate entrance to that which was to receive the prisoner and never to deliver him up alive, unless he were destined to a public execution. To be put into this horrible place, he had to be let down by cords, as though an opening above, and by the same was he finally drawn up again, whether dead or alive. The vaulting of this lower dungeon was high and its darkness was utter and horrible, so that it was an easy task to guard a captive detained therein, specially if he were laden with chains.

On the twenty-ninth of June, in the year sixty-seven, Peter was at length drawn up to be led to death. According to Roman law, he must first be subjected to the scourge, the usual prelude to capital punishment. An escort of soldiers conducted the Apostle to his place of martyrdom, outside the city walls as the laws required. Peter was marched to execution, followed by a large number of the Faithful, drawn by affection along his path, and for his sake defying every peril.

Beyond the Tiber, facing the Campus Martius, there stretches a vast plain, which is reached by the bridge named the Triumphal, whereby the city is put in communication with the Via Triumphalia and the Via Cornelia, both of which roads lead to the North. On its further side from the river, the plani is bounded on the left by the Januculum, and beyond that, in the background, by the Vatical hills whose chain continues along to the right in the form of an amphitheater. Along the bank fo the Tiber the land is occupied by immense gardens, which three years previously had been made by Nero the scene of the principal immolation of the Christians, just at this same season also. To the west of the Vatican Plain and beyond Nero’s gardens was a circus of vast extent, usually called by his name, although in reality it owes its origin to Caligula, who placed in its center an obelisk which he had transported from Egypt. Outside the Circus, towards its furthest end, rose a temple to Apollo, the protector of the public games. At the other end, the declivity of the Vatican hills begins, and about the middle, facing the Obelisk, was planted a turpentine tree well known to the people. The spot fixed upon for Peter’s execution was close to this said turpentine tree. There, likewise, was his tomb already dug. No other spot in all Rome could be more suitable for so august a purpose. From remotest ages, something mysterious had hovered over the Vatican. An old oak, said by the most ancient traditions to be anterior to the foundation of Rome, was there held in great reverence. There was much talk of oracles heard in this place. Moreover, where could a more choice resting-place be found for this old man who had just conquered Rome, than a mound beneath this venerated soil, opening upon the “Triumphal Way” and the “Cornelian Way,” thus uniting the memories of victorious Rome and the name of the Cornelii, which had now become inseparable from that of Peter?


It is Prudentius, the great Christian Poet of the Fourth Century, who has just come forward, in the above words, at witnesses of the enthusiasm wherewith the solemnity of the Apostles was celebrated in Rome at his time. Theodoret and St. Asterius of Amasea tell us that the piety of the Faithful on this feast was not less demonstrated in such distant Churches as those of Syria and Asia. In the codes which bear their name, Theodosius and Justianian lay down or repeat the prohibition of toil or trade, of law-suits and profane shows, on the day of the Martyrdom of the Apostles, the “Masters of Christendom.” In this respect even schism and heresy have not been suffered in the East to prevail over gratitude and love. Nearer home too, yea, in the very midst of the ruin brought about by the pretended reform in this protestant England of ours, its “Book of Common Prayer” still marks this feast of June 29th, and a fast, too, on its Vigil. Nevertheless, by a strange phenomenon, little in keeping with the tendencies of the “Establishment,” Saint Paul is discarded on this day, leaving all the festal honors to Saint Peter, of whom alone is mention made in the day’s service,—of him whose successor the Bishop of Rome is! whereas this same Anglican calendar retains no memory of St. Paul save the feast of his Conversion, January 25th.

The poem of Prudentius cited above brings to light a certain degree of difficulty formerly experienced by the Roman people, in order not to lose any part of the double station proper to this day. The distance was greed indeed from the Vatican Basilica to that on the Ostian Way; and the two streams of people to which the poet alludes, prove significantly that a great number of pilgrims, from the impossibility of their being present at both Masses, were reduced to the necessity of making choice of one or other. Added to this difficulty, let us remember, that the preceding night had not been without fatigue, if at that same period, as certainly was the case in later ages, the Matins of the Apostles begun at dusk, had been followed by those of the Martyrs at the first cock-crow. Saint Gregory the Great, wishing therefore to spare his people and clergy an accumulation of services which turned rather to the detriment than to the increase of honor paid to the two Princes of the Apostles, put off till the morrow the station on the Ostian Way, with its solemn Commemoration of the Doctor of the Gentiles. Consequently, it is not surprising that, save the Collect common to the two Apostles, the formulæ chanted at the Mass which is about to follow, relate exclusively to Saint Peter. This Mass was formerly on the first of the day, namely, the one which was celebrated in the early morning at the tomb of the Vicar of the Man-God.

Introit

In diebus illis: Misit Herodes rex manus, ut affligeret quosdam de ecclesia. Occidit autem Jacobum fratrem Joannis gladio. Videns autem quia placeret Judæis, apposuit ut apprehenderet et Petrum. Erant autem dies Azymorum. Quem cum apprehendisset, misit in carcerem, tradens quatuor quaternionibus militum custodiendum, volens post Pascha producere eum populo. Et Petrus quidem servabatur in carcere. Oratio autem fiebant sine intermissione ab ecclesia ad Deum pro eo. Cum autem producturus eum esset Herodes, in ipsa nocte erat Petrus dormiens inter duos milites, vinctus catenis duabus: et custodes ante ostium custodiebant carcerem. Et ecce angelus Domini astitit: et lumen refulsit in habitaculo: percussoque latere Petri, excitavit eum, dicens: Surge velociter. Et ceciderunt catenæ de manibus ejus. Dixit autem angelus ad eum: Præcingere, et calcea te caligas tuas. Et fecit sic. Et dixit illi: Circumda tibi vestimentum tuum, et sequere me. Et exiens sequebatur eum, et nesciebat quia verum est, quod fiebat per angelum: existimabat autem se visum videre. Transeuntes autem primam et secundam custodiam, venerunt ad portam ferream, quæ ducit ad civitatem: quæ ultro aperta est eis. Et exeuntes processerunt vicum unum: et continuo discessit angelus ab eo. Et Petrus ad se reversus, dixit: Nunc scio vere quia misit Dominus angelum suum, et eripuit me de manu Herodis, et de omni exspectatione plebis Judæorum.


The Gradual sings the power promised, in the sacred Epithalamium, to the companions and sons of the Bridegroom; they, too, have beheld numerous sons replacing the fathers whom they quitted, in order to follow Jesus.

Gradual
Gospel


Constitues eos principes super omnem terram: memores erunt nominis tui, Domine, in omni progenie et generatione.
Secret
Preface of Apostles

Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram ædificabo Ecclesiam meam.

Postcommunion

This greatest of days for the eternal city is speeding its course; the solemn Office of Vespers is once more gathering the Faithful around the tomb, where the Vicar of the Man-God reposes after his toilsome sacrifice. No more of labor, of prisons, of chains, in the Church’s song: the work is done; Peter has ended his militant life; naught remains of the thousand phases through which this life of his was passed, nor of the combat that terminated it, but the eternal triumph. Therefore, the Liturgy of Vespers returns no more, as it did yesterday and this morning, to those glorious episodes in the history of Simon Bar-Jona, which were but preliminaries of the final victory won upon this day. Our Evensong is to celebrate results acquired, and to hail them in all their imposing and immutable grandeur. By extension, the five Psalms which follow, with their Antiphons, have become those of the Second Vespers common to all the Apostles; but they primarily refer to Peter and his illustrious companion Paul.


Ps. Dixit Dominus, above.


Ps. Laudate pueri, above.

Credidi, propter quod lucutus sum: * ego autem humiliatus sum nimis. I have believed, therefore have I spoken: but I have been humbled exceedingly.
Ego dixi in excessu meo: * Omnis homo mendax. I said in my excess: Every man is a liar.
Quid retribuam Domino: * pro omnibus quæ retribuit mihi? What shall I render unto the Lord for all the things that he hath rendered unto me?
Calicem salutaris accipiam: * et nomen Domini invocabo. I will take the chalice of salvation, and I will call upon the Name of the Lord.
O Domine, quia ego servus tuus: ego servus tuus, et filius ancillæ tuæ. O Lord, for I am thy servant, and the son of thy handmaid.
Dirupisti vincula mea: tibi sacrificabo hostiam laudis, et nomen Domini invocabo. Thou hast broken my bonds: I will sacrifice unto thee the sacrifice of praise, and I will call upon the Name of the Lord.

In convertendo Dominus captivitatem Sion: * facti sumus sicut consolati. When the Lord brought back the captivity of Sion: we became like men that are comforted.
Tunc repletum est gaudio os nostrum: * et lingua nostra exsultatione, Then was our mouth filled with gladness: and our tongue with joy.
Tunc dicent inter gentes: * Magnificavit Dominus facere curm eis. Then shall they say among the Gentiles: The Lord hath done great things for them.
Magnificavit Dominus facere nobiscum: * facti sumus lætantes. The Lord hath done great things for us: we are become joyful.
Converte, Domine, captivitatem nostram: * sicut torrens in austro. Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as a stream in the south.
Qui seminant in lacrymis: * in exsultatione metent. They that sow in tears: shall reap in joy.
Euntes ibant et flebant: * mittentes semina sua. They went forth on their way and wept: casting their seed.

Domine, probasti me et cognovisti me: * tu cognovisti sessionem meam et resurrectionem meam. O Lord, thou hast proved me and known me: thou hast known my sitting down and my rising up.
Intellexisti cogitationes meas de longe: * semitam meam et funiculum meum investigasti. Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off: my path and my line thou hast searched out.
Et omnes vias meas prævidisti: * quia non est sermo in lingua mea. And thou hast foreseen all my ways: for there is no speech in my tongue.
Ecce, Domine, tu cognovisti omnia, novissima et antiqua: * tu formasti me, et posuisti super me manum tuam. Behold, O Lord, thou hast known all things, the newest and those of old: thou hast formed me and hast laid thine hand upon me.
Mirabilis facta est scientia tua ex me: * confortata est, et non potero ad eam. Thy knowledge is become wonderful to me: it is high, and I cannot reach to it.
Quo ibo a spiritu tuo? * et quo a facie tua fugiam? Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy face?
Si ascendero in cœlum, tu illic es: * si descendero in infernum, ades. If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I descend into hell, thou art present.
Si sumpsero pennas meas diluculo: * et habitavero in extremis maris: If I take my wings early in the morning: and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:
Etenim illuc manus tua deducet me: * et tenebit me dextera tua. Even there also shall thy hand lead me: and thy right hand shall hold me.
Et dixi: Forsitan tenebræ conculcabunt me: * et nox illuminatio mea in deliciis meis. And I said, perhaps darkness shall cover me: and night shall be my light in my pleasures.
Quia tenebræ non obscurabuntur a te, et nox sicut dies illuminabitur: * sicut tenebræ ejus, ita et lumen ejus. But darkness shall not be dark to thee, and night shall be light as the day: the darkness and the light thereof are alike to thee.
Quia tu possedisti renes meos: * suscepisti me de utero matris meæ. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast protected me from my mother’s womb.
Confitebor tibi quia terribiliter magnificatus es: * mirabilia opera tua, et anima mea cognoscit nimis. I will praise thee, for thou art fearfully magnified: wonderful are thy works, and my soul knoweth them right well.
Non est occultatum of meum a te, quod fecisti in occulto: * et substantia mea in inferioribus terræ. My bone is not hid from thee, which thou hast made in secret: and my substance in the lower parts of the earth.
Imperfectum meum viderunt oculti tui, et in libro tuo omnes scribentur: * dies formabuntur, et nemo in eis. Thine eyes did see my imperfect being, and in thy book all shall be written: days shall be formed, and no one in them.
Mihi autem nimis honorificati sunt amici tui, Deus: * nimis confortatus est principatus eorum. But to me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honorable: their principality is exceedingly strengthened.
Dinumerabo eos, et super arenam multiplicabuntur: * exsurrexi et adhuc sum tecum. I will remember them, and they shall be multiplied above the sand: I rose up and am still with thee.
Si occideris, Deus, peccatores: * viri sanguinum, declinate a me: If thou wilt slay the wicked, O God, ye men of blood depart from me:
Quia dicitis in cogitatione: * accipient in vanitate civitates tuas. Because you say in thought to Satan the prince of this world: They shall receive thy cities in vain.
Nonne qui oderunt te Domine, oderam? * et super inimicos tuos tabescebam? Have I not hated them, O Lord, that hated thee: and pined away because of thine enemies.
Perfecto odio oderam illos: * et inimici facti sunt mihi. I have hated them with a perfect hatred: and they are become as enemies unto me.
Proba me, Deus, et scito cor meum: * interrogata me, et cognosce semitas meas. Prove me, O God, and know my heart: examine me, and know my paths.
Et vide si via iniquitatis in me est: * et deduc me in via æterna. And see if there be in me the way of iniquity: and lead me in the way eternal.


The Canticle (Magnificat), above.



We must here set before the reader, the entire poem from which the strophe O Roma felix is taken. Other strophes of this same Hymn, namely, the fourth and the fifth, are likewise used on the two Feasts of St. Peter’s Chair, and on that of his Chains.


Let us study the following Hymn and Prayer of the Night Office. Exquisite indeed is their beauty, despite the impious Eutyches, to whom is chiefly due that separation which holds aloof from Mother Church, nations so fitted to be her glory.






The want of space will not permit us to continue the citation any farther. Still we cannot resist gathering a few pearls from the boundless sea in which the Greek Liturgy is wont to revel. Besides, it is worth our while to prove how, notwithstanding more than one fraudulent alteration, Byzantium up to this very day in her Liturgical texts, condemns her own schism; Peter is still proclaimed by her, the Rock and Foundation of faith, the Sovereign basis, the Prince and Premier of the Apostles, the Governor and Head of the Church, The Bearer of the keys both of grace and of the Heavenly Kingdom. (Menæa, passim)



Joy hast thou given to thy Church in thy holy Apostles, O God, thou Lover of men! In their midst, Peter and Paul stand out magnificently resplendent, blazing like two spiritual torches, or like two intellectual stars, whose rays are shed over the whole earth, whereby thou hast illumined the darkness of the West, thou potent Jesus, Redeemer of our souls.

Thou hast bestowed stability upon thy Church, Lord, by the solidity of the rock, Peter, and by the knowledge and splendid wisdom of Paul. O Peter, thou famous corypheus of Apostles, thou Rock of Faith; and thou, admirable Paul, thou Doctor and Light of Churches: standing before the divine Throne, do ye intercede for us, with Christ.

Let us blithely hail, throughout the whole universe, these disciples of Christ, these two coryphei, Peter and Paul: Peter, the Foundation-stone and Rock; ‘ and thou also, Paul, vessel of Election. Both of you, as it were, under the one yoke of Christ, did bring all to the confession of God, to wit, nations, cities, islands. Foundation-stone of Faith, delight of the world, confirm the sheep-fold ye have won over unto Christ your Ruler.

Peter, thou who dost feed the sheep, protect the flocks of thy fold, from the fraudulent wolf; keep thy servants from dire falls: for, thee have we obtained from God, to be our vigilant protector, and we are made safe by our joy in thee.

Paul, Torch of the earth, incomparable Mouth of Christ, the Living God, who like to a sun dost illumine the uttermost bounds by thy preaching of divine faith, burst the chains of sins for those who call upon thee in love, and who would fain imitate thee, confiding in thy protection.

Blessed do I call thee, Rome; to thee be praise, honour, glory, and concert of hymns: for in thee are preserved the bodies of the two coryphei; in thee the divine doctrines of men, who are such great luminaries; sacred remains of incorruptible vessels. most excellent Leader of Apostles, chief President, and Dispenser of the royal Treasure-house, Foundation-stone of all the Faithful, solidity, plinth, seal, and crown of the Catholic Church, Peter, thou lover of Christ, lead thy sheep to the best of pastures, put thy lambs in the grassy field.

O Peter, we also hail thy glorious tomb! Well does it behoove us, thy chosen sons of the West, to celebrate with faith and love the glories of this day. If all nations are moved at the tidings of thy triumphant death ; if all tongues proclaim that from Rome perforce must the Law of the Lord come forth, unto the whole world ; is it not because this death of thine has turned Babylon into that City of divine oracles hailed by the son of Amos, in his prophecy? (Isaias 2:1-5) Is it not because the mountain prepared, in distant ages, to bear the House of the Lord, begins to peer from out the mist, and now stands forth in full day-light to the eyes of the nations? The site of the new Sion is for ever fixed; for on this day, is the corner-stone laid, (Isaias 28:16) and Jerusalem is to have no other foundation, than this tried and precious Stone.

Peter, on thee must we build; for fain are we to be dwellers in the Holy City. We will follow our Lord’s counsel, (Matthew 7:24-27) by raising our structure upon the rock, so that it may resist the storm, and may become an eternal abode. Our gratitude to thee, who hast vouchsafed to uphold us, is all the greater, since this our senseless age, pretends to construct a new social edifice, which it would fix on the shifting sands of public opinion, and hence realizes naught save downfall and ruin! Is the stone rejected by our modern architects any the less, head of the corner? And does not its strength appear in the fact (as it is written) that having rejected and cast it aside, they stumble against it and are hurt, yea broken? (1 Peter 2:6, 8)

Standing erect, amid these ruins, firm upon the foundation, the rock against which the gates of hell cannot prevail, as we have all the more right to extol this day, on which the Lord hath, as our Psalm says established the earth. (Psalms 92:1) The Lord did indeed manifest his greatness, when he cast the vast orbs into space, and poised them by laws so marvelous, that the mere discovery thereof does honour to science ; but his reign, his beauty, his power, are far more stupendous when he lays the basis prepared by him to support that temple of which a myriad worlds scarce deserve to be called the pavement. Of this immortal day, did Eternal Wisdom sing, when divinely foretasting its pure delights, and preluding our gladness, he thus led on our happy chorus: “When the mountains with their huge bulk were being established, and when the earth was being balanced on its poles, when he established the sky above, and poised the fountains of waters, when he laid the foundations of the earth, I was with him, forming all things; and was delighted every day playing before him at all times; playing in the world, for my delights are to be with the children of men.” (Proverbs 8)

Now that Eternal Wisdom is raising up, on thee, O Peter, the House of her mysterious delights, (Proverbs 9) where else could we possibly find Her, or be inebriated with her chalice, or advance in her love? Now that Jesus hath returned to heaven, and given us thee to hold his place, is it not henceforth from thee, that we have the words of Eternal Life? (John 6:69) In thee, is continued the mystery of the Word made Flesh and dwelling amongst us. Hence, if our religion, our love of the Emmanuel hold not on to thee, they are incomplete. Thou thyself, also, having joined the Son of Man at the Right Hand of the Father, the cultus paid unto thee, on account of thy divine prerogatives, reaches the Pontiff, thy Successor, in whom thou continuest to live, by reason of these very prerogatives: a real cultus, extending unto Christ in his Vicar, and which consequently cannot possibly be fitted into a subtile distinction between the See of Peter, and him who occupies it. In the Roman Pontiff, thou art ever, Peter, the one sole Shepherd and support of the world. If our Lord hath said: No one cometh to the Father but by Me; we also know that none can reach the Lord, save by thee. How could the Bights of the Son of God, the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, suffer in such homages as these paid by a grateful earth unto thee? No we cannot celebrate thy greatness, without at once, turning our thoughts to Him, likewise, whose sensible sign thou art, an august Sacrament, as it were. Thou seemest to say to us, as heretofore unto our fathers by the inscription on thine ancient statue: Contemplate the God Word, the Stone divinely CUT IN THE GOLD, UPON WHICH BEING FIRMLY FIXED I CANNOT BE SHAKEN! (Deum Verbum intumini, auro divinitus sculptam petram, in qua stabilitus non concutior.- Dom Mabillion, Vetera analecta, t. iv)