When I saw that February 22nd was the feast of the Chair of St. Peter, I immediately thought of Bernini and gilded opulence. The throne that Bernini designed was made to be a symbol of St. Peter’s spiritual authority in the church and Rome. The current chair was cast around the original to protect it from decaying further. Even though it isn’t known whether or not Peter actually sat in the chair, it’s still a powerful symbol of the church’s spiritual reach.
The prayer reads: Almighty God, You have built Your church on the rock of St. Peter’s confession of faith. Grant that nothing may divide or weaken our unity in faith and love. Amen
Saint Polycarp was an actual disciple of St. John the Evangelist. Unfortunately for early Christians, there were a lot of people who thought that everyone should think a particular way. He lived a pretty long time as the Bishop of Smyrna, but decided to go and meet the Pope so they could discuss when Easter should be celebrated; the people in the East were celebrating it at a different time than the people in the West. They decided that both sides should keep celebrating it when they had been traditionally and he set out to head back. That is when he was captured and persecuted. His captors tried to burn him alive, but the flames made an arc around his head and wouldn’t touch him, so they stabbed him to death instead and then burned his body so that other Christians couldn’t take it and worship it. They did take his bones though and they rest in the church of St. Ambrogio today.
Hebergeur
June 2nd, 2016 9:01
We cannot, however, deprive him of the critical leadership role that he played in the early church, nor dismiss the frequent references in the early church back to the successive bishops in Rome that derived their customs and rule of faith from Peter and Paul themselves. Irenaeus in particular, draws a detailed lineage back to these two apostles in Rome. He says