That Saint Peter, before he went to Rome, founded the see of Antioch is
attested by many Saints of the earliest times, including Saint Ignatius of
Antioch and Saint Clement, Pope. It was just that the Prince of the Apostles
should take under his particular care and surveillance this city, which was
then the capital of the East, and where the faith so early took such deep
roots as to give birth there to the name of Christians. There his voice
could be heard by representatives of the three largest nations of antiquity
— the Hebrews, the Greeks and the Latins. Saint Chrysostom says that Saint
Peter was there for a long period; Saint Gregory the Great, that he was
seven years Bishop of Antioch. He did not reside there at all times, but
governed its apostolic activity with the wisdom his mandate assured.
If as tradition affirms, he was twenty-five years in Rome, the date of
his establishment at Antioch must be within three years after Our Saviour’s
Ascension, for he would have gone to Rome in the second year of Claudius. He
no doubt left Jerusalem when the persecution which followed Saint Steven’s
martyrdom broke out (Acts 8:1), and remained in Antioch until he escaped
miraculously from prison and from the hands of Herod Agrippa, while in
Jerusalem in 43 at the time of the Passover. (Acts 12) Knowing he would be
pursued to Antioch, his well-known center of activity, he went to Rome.
In the first ages it was customary, especially in the East, for every
Christian to observe the anniversary of his Baptism. On that day each one
renewed his baptismal vows and gave thanks to God for his heavenly adoption.
That memorable day they regarded as their spiritual birthday. The bishops
similarly kept the anniversary of their consecration, as appears from four
sermons of Saint Leo the Great on the anniversary of his accession to the
pontifical dignity. These commemorations were frequently continued by the
people after their bishops’ decease, out of respect for their memory. The
feast of the Chair of Saint Peter was instituted from very early times.
Saint Leo says we should celebrate the Chair of Saint Peter with no less joy
than the day of his martyrdom, for as in the latter he was exalted to a
throne of glory in heaven, by the former he was installed Head of the Church
on earth.
Reflection: On this festival we are especially bound
to adore and thank the divine Goodness for the establishment and propagation
of His Church, and to pray earnestly that in His mercy He will preserve it
and extend its dominion, so that His name may be glorified by all nations
and all hearts even to the boundaries of the earth.
Sources: Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation
based on Butler's Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea
(Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894); Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des
Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 2.
Veronica - Our Lady now
is rising very high up into the sky, and She's--now the sky is becoming very,
very bright, very bright, and Our Lady is pointing upward with Her hand, and
there is a tremendous white cross now forming in the sky. It's a brilliant
cross. And now--it's a large cross, but behind it, I see many, many smaller
crosses. They are also white. It's like a field, a whole field of crosses.
Our Lady - "My child, you are observing many who shall wear the white robes in
Heaven. Many martyrs shall be made, My child, in the days ahead. Many shall
gain their crowns through suffering. It is truly the way of the cross, My
child, to Heaven. Do not let a moment go by, My child, without using, without
putting your suffering to good cause." - September 14, 1976
February 22nd
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