Saints Peter and Paul the Apostles (12 July)

Christianity spread throughout the world through the preaching of the Apostles. The Church was founded upon the testimony of the Apostles, who, filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit from the day of Pentecost, proclaimed to the world the Gospel received from our Lord Jesus Christ. They brought the Gentiles ‘to the knowledge of God’, enlightening through the Holy Sacraments those who followed Christ and confessed Him as the Son of God and Saviour of the world.

Among the Apostles, the best known are Saints Peter and Paul, whom the Church commemorates together on 12 July. This joint celebration is linked to their martyrdom in Rome in the year 67, during the persecution under Emperor Nero, and the date of 12 July marks the transfer of the holy relics of “the two Holy Apostles to the place known as ad catacumbas, on the Via Appia in Rome, in 258” (Rev. Prof. Dr Ene Branişte, General Liturgy).

Saints Peter and Paul are regarded as the leading figures among the Apostles. Their apostolic work is linked to the proclamation of the Holy Gospel in the imperial capital, Rome, where they suffered a martyr’s death. On the sites where they were martyred, there are today two impressive basilicas: St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, and the basilica dedicated to St Paul the Apostle, outside the city walls.

‘In their icons, the two Apostles are depicted holding the Church in their hands in the form of a small Byzantine church – this is because these two Apostles were truly the pillars and cornerstones upon which the holy edifice of the Church of Christ was built. And united as one in a single feast, depicted together in the same icon, they symbolise the unity of the faith, the unity of the Church...”

Saint Peter the Apostle

He is the eldest of Christ’s Apostles and the brother of the first to be called to the apostolate, Saint Andrew the Apostle. The two Apostles were natives of Bethsaida in Galilee, and their father’s name was Jonah. At the time of his calling to the apostolate, Peter was living in Capernaum and was married. His name was Simon, and it was changed to Peter (Chefa in Hebrew means ‘rock’) by the Saviour Jesus Christ.

Saint Peter the Apostle followed Christ’s call, becoming His disciple. For over three years he remained at the side of our Lord Jesus Christ, bearing witness to all the events connected with the salvation of mankind. He confesses, on behalf of all the Apostles, that their Teacher is Christ, the Son of God (Matthew 16:16). Yet it was he who denied Christ on the night of the Holy Passion, only to be restored to the Apostles after the Resurrection by the Lord Jesus Christ when He appeared to the disciples at the Sea of Galilee. On the day of the Resurrection, Saint Peter witnessed the empty tomb and was then present at the appearances of the risen Lord Jesus Christ before the Holy Apostles.

He was present alongside the other disciples at the Lord’s Ascension into heaven, and after this event, he was the one who proposed the election of another apostle to replace Judas. After the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, he spoke to the Jews in Jerusalem, and following his sermon, ‘about three thousand souls’ (Acts of the Apostles 2:41), thus forming the first Christian community.

Until the year 50, his missionary work took place in the Holy Land. After the Apostolic Council, where he delivered an important address, he set off for Antioch, where he preached the Gospel. His missionary territory also included the Roman provinces of Asia Minor: Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia and Pontus. If we read his first epistle to the Church, we learn that he also preached in Babylon (1 Peter 5:13). According to a tradition ‘recorded by Origen and quoted by Eusebius, it is believed that he also preached in Macedonia’, and according to Saint Paul the Apostle (1 Corinthians 1:12–13) and Saint Clement of Rome, Saint Peter the Apostle ‘also spent some time in Corinth’ (Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Rămureanu, Universal Church History). His missionary work came to an end in Rome, where he was martyred.

Saint Paul the Apostle

He was known as the ‘Apostle to the Gentiles’ because of his extensive missionary work amongst the pagan peoples of the Roman Empire. He was originally from Tarsus, in the province of Cilicia in Asia Minor, and was a Jew from the Jewish diaspora. His first name was Saul. He received a classical Jewish education, but also absorbed elements of Greco-Roman civilisation. From childhood, he was highly proficient in Greek. He was a Roman citizen, which gave him a special status within the Roman Empire compared to other Jews who did not enjoy this privilege. He travelled to Jerusalem, where he studied at the school of the renowned rabbi Gamaliel.

During the messianic ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, he was a rabbi in Tarsus. He returned to Jerusalem when he learnt of the major impact that Christ’s Apostles were having on the Jews in the Holy Land, and became involved in the persecution of Christians in Judea. He was the one who guarded the clothes of those who stoned Saint Stephen to death (Acts of the Apostles 7:58). He distinguished himself during the persecutions to which the Christians in Jerusalem were subjected by the leaders of the Jewish community and was sent to destroy the Christian community in Damascus. On the way, he experienced a marvellous vision of our Lord Jesus Christ and became a Christian, receiving baptism in Damascus. There he proclaimed the divinity of Jesus Christ, and the Jewish community sought to kill him. He is helped by Christians to escape and retreats to Arabia for three years. He then came to Jerusalem, where he joined the circle of the Apostles. Following threats he received from the Hellenistic Jews, he left for Tarsus, from where he was called to Antioch by Barnabas to convert pagans to Christianity.

From Antioch he set out on his first missionary journey (45–48) and travelled to the island of Cyprus, where he took the name Paul from the Roman proconsul Sergius Paulus, whom he converted to Christianity, as highlighted by Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Rămureanu in *Universal Church History*. From Cyprus he travelled to Perga in Pamphylia and from there to Jerusalem. He took part in the Apostolic Council of AD 50 and played a decisive role in ensuring that Mosaic laws were not imposed on Christians of pagan origin.

His second missionary journey took place between the years 51 and 54. Saint Paul the Apostle travelled to Syria, Cilicia, Lycaonia, Galatia, Phrygia, Mysia, the city of Troas, the island of Samothrace, Neapolis, and Macedonia, and established the first Christian community in Europe at Philippi. He arrived in Thessalonica, where he converted many Greeks and Romans. From there he went to Berea and then to Athens, where he spoke at the Areopagus. He stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, where his preaching brought many to Christianity. He left due to Jewish unrest and arrived in Ephesus; from there, by sea, he travelled to Caesarea in Palestine, then to Jerusalem, from where, after Easter, he returned to Antioch. From there he set out on his third missionary journey (54–58). He visited the communities in Galatia and Phrygia, and remained in Ephesus for two and a half years. In the year 57, he travelled to Macedonia and from there to Illyria. He travelled down to Corinth in Greece, and from there, passing through Macedonia, reached Troas and Assos, then stopped at Miletus. From there, he travelled to Tyre, Ptolemais and Caesarea in Palestine. In the year 58, he was in Jerusalem, where he was arrested and sent to Caesarea in Palestine. Here he was imprisoned for two years. He appealed to the emperor for a trial (he was entitled to do so as a Roman citizen) and was sent to Rome. After a shipwreck off the coast of Malta, he arrived in Rome in the spring of 61. Here he was confined to a house, where he was free to receive visitors, for two years. In 63 he was released and continued his missionary work. He undertook further journeys to the eastern part of the Roman Empire, as we learn from his epistles. It seems he also reached the western part of the empire, in Spain. From Christian tradition we know that he met his martyr’s end in Rome in the year 67.

On their joint feast day tomorrow, let us too bear witness through the hymns of the feast: “You who sit in the foremost seats among the Apostles and are teachers of the world, pray to the Lord of all that He may grant peace to the world and great mercy to our souls.”