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Our Friends the Saints: Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Apostles (29 June)
The baldacchino above the high altar of the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome, where relics of SS. Peter and Paul are held. Statues of the two saints are visible behind the grille.
Peter and Paul, the two greatest leaders of the early Church, are commemorated separately, Peter on January 18, for his confession of Jesus as the Messiah, and Paul on January 25, for his conversion, but
A Byzantine icon of SS. Peter and Paul
they are commemorated together on June 29 in observance of the tradition of the Church that they both died as martyrs in Rome during the persecution under Nero, in 64.
Paul, the well-educated and cosmopolitan Jew of the Dispersion, and Peter, the uneducated fisherman from Galilee, had differences of opinion in the early years of the Church concerning the mission to the Gentiles. More than once, Paul speaks of rebuking Peter for his continued insistence on Jewish exclusiveness; yet their common commitment to Christ and the proclamation of the Gospel proved stronger than their differences; and both eventually carried that mission to Rome, where they were martyred. According to tradition, Paul was granted the right of a Roman citizen to be beheaded by a sword, but Peter suffered the fate of his Lord, crucifixion, though with head downward.
"The Martyrdom of Saint Peter", by Caravaggio (1601)
A generation after their martyrdom, Clement of Rome, writing to the Church in Corinth, probably in 96 A.D., says, “Let us come to those who have most recently proved champions; let us take up the noble examples of our own generation. Because of jealousy and envy the greatest and most upright pillars of the Church were persecuted and competed unto death. Let us bring before our eyes the good apostles–Peter, who because of an unrighteous jealousy endured not one or two, but numerous trials, and so bore a martyr’s witness and went to the glorious place that he deserved. Because of jealousy and strife Paul pointed the way to the reward of endurance; seven times he was imprisoned, he was exiled, he was stoned, he was a preacher in both east and west, and won renown for his faith, teaching uprightness to the whole world, and reaching the farthest limit of the west, and bearing a martyr’s witness before the rulers, he passed out of the world and was taken up into the holy place, having proved a very great example of human endurance.”
–from Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 1997, p. 282.
Almighty God, whose blessed apostles Peter and Paul glorified thee by their martyrdom: Grant that thy Church, instructed by their teaching and example, and knit together in unity by the Holy Spirit, may ever stand firm upon the one foundation, which is Jesus Christ our Lord; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The 13th century BC Egyptian obelisk in the center of St. Peter's Square in Rome, quite possibly the last thing St. Peter saw in his earthly life (though in a slightly different location)
P.S. See some amazing virtual tour of the Arcibasilica di San Giovanni in Laterano (St. John Lateran) in Rome; the Basilica di San Paolo fuori le Mura (St. Paul-Outside-the-Walls), built atop the site associated with Paul’s martyrdom; and St. Peter’s tomb in the Vatican Necropolis.
Anglican Cycle of Prayer: Pentecost II
In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer this week, we are invited to pray for the following:
Sunday 26 June 2011 Pentecost 2 Psalm: 8 Gen 3:20-24
On the Niger – (Province of the Niger, Nigeria) The Rt Revd Ken Okeke
Monday 27 June 2011 Psalm: 9:1-10 Acts 4:13-31
Ondo – (Province of Ondo, Nigeria) The Rt Revd George L Lasebikan
Tuesday 28 June 2011 Psalm: 10:1-12,16-18 Acts 4:32-37
Ontario – (Ontario, Canada) The Rt Revd George Bruce
Wednesday 29 June 2011 Psalm: 11:1-5,7 Gen 4:1-16
Oregon – (Province VIII, USA) The Rt Revd Johncy Itty
Thursday 30 June 2011 Psalm: 12 Gen 6:1-8
Orlu – (Province of Owerri, Nigeria) The Most Revd Bennett C I Okoro
Friday 01 July 2011 Psalm: 13 Acts 5:1-11
Oru – (Province of Owerri, Nigeria) The Rt Revd Geoffrey Chukwunenye
Saturday 02 July 2011 Psalm: 15 Gen 6:9-22
Osaka – (Japan) The Rt Revd Samuel Osamu Ohnishi
Our Friends the Saints: Irenaeus (28 June)
If theology is “thinking about faith” and arranging those thoughts in some systematic order, then Irenaeus has been rightly recognized by Catholics and Protestants alike as the first great systematic theologian.
There is considerable doubt about the year of Irenaeus’ birth; estimates vary from 97 to 160. It is certain that he learned the Christian faith in Ephesus at the feet of the venerable Polycarp, who in turn had known John the Evangelist. Some years before 177, probably while Irenaeus was still in his teens, he carried the tradition of Christianity to Lyons in southern France.
His name means “the peaceable one”–and suitably so. The year 177 brought hardship to the mission in Gaul. Persecution broke out, and a mounting tide of heresy threatened to engulf the Church. Irenaeus, by now a presbyter, was sent to Rome to mediate the dispute regarding Montanism, which the Bishop of Rome, Eleutherus, seems to embrace. While Irenaeus was on this mission, the aged Bishop of Lyons, Pothinus, died in prison during a local persecution. When Irenaeus returned to Lyons, he was elected bishop to succeed Pothinus.
Irenaeus’ enduring fame rests mainly on a large treatise, entitled The Refutation and Overthrow of Gnosis, Falsely So-Called, usually shortened to Against Heresies. In it, Irenaeus describes the major Gnostic systems, thoroughly, clearly, and often with biting humor. It is one of our chief sources of knowledge about Gnosticism. He also makes a case for Christianity which has become a classic, resting heavily on Scripture, and on the continuity between the teaching of the Apostles and the teaching of bishops, generation after generation, especially in the great see cities. Against the Gnostics, who despised the flesh and exalted the spirit, he stressed two doctrines: that of the creation as good, and that of the resurrection of the body.
A late and uncertain tradition claims that he suffered martyrdom, about 202.
–from Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 1997, p. 280.
Almighty God, who didst uphold thy servant Irenaeus with strength to maintain the truth against every blast of vain doctrine: Keep us, we beseech thee, steadfast in thy true religion, that in constancy and peace we may walk in the way that leadeth to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
P.S. See also the post on The Martyrs of Lyons (2 June). Irenaeus remains one of the most provocative and enduring of the Church Fathers of the second century. He is also well-known for his doctrine of the Incarnation as “recaptiulation”, developing a theme in the Epistle to the Ephesians: “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ” (Eph. 1.10-12). Irenaeus beautifully summed up the teaching of the early Church in the Incarnation in his preface to Book V of Against the Heresies: “In His immeasurable love, He became what we are in order to make us what He is.”
Our Friends the Saints: Alban (22 June)
The Cathedral of St. Alban
Alban is the earliest Christian in Britain who is known by name and, according to tradition, the first British martyr. He was a soldier in the Roman army stationed at Verulamium, a city about twenty miles northeast of London, now called St. Alban’s. He gave shelter to a Christian priest who was fleeing from persecution, and was converted by him. When officers came to Alban’s house, he dressed himself in the garments of the priest and gave himself up. Alban was tortured and martyred in place of the priest, on the hilltop where the Cathedral of St. Alban’s now stands. The traditional date of his martyrdom is 303 or 304, but recent studies suggest the years was actually 209, during the persecution under the Emperor Septimius Severus.
The shrine of St. Alban in the Cathedral named for him
The site of Alban’s martyrdom soon became a shrine. King Offa of Mercia established a monastery there about the year 793, and in the high Middle Ages St. Alban’s ranked as the premier Abbey in England. The great Norman abbey church, begun in 1077, now serves as the cathedral of the diocese of St. Alban’s, established in 1877. It is the second longest church in England (Winchester Cathedralis the longest, by six feet), and it is built on higher ground than any other English cathedral. In a chapel east of the choir and high Altar, there are remains of the fourteenth century marble shrine of St. Alban.
The Venerable Bede gives this account of Alban’s trial: “When Alban was brought in, the judge happened to be standing before an altar, offering sacrifice to devils…’What is your family and race?’ demanded the judge. ‘How does my family concern you?’ replied Alban; ‘If you wish to know the truth about my religion, know that I am a Christian and am ready to do a Christian’s duty.’ ‘I demand to know your name,’ insisted the judge. ‘Tell me at once.’ ‘My parents named me Alban,’ he answered, ‘and I worship and adore the living and true God, who created all things.’”
–from Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 1997, p. 276.
The memorable (and graphic) martyrdom of St. Alban from a 13th century manuscript of Matthew of Paris' Chronicles
Almighty God, by whose grace and power thy holy martyr Alban triumphed over suffering and was faithful even unto death: Grant to us, who now remember him with thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to thee in this world, that we may receive with him the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.