Day of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul

Day of the Holy ApostlesPeter, originally named Simon, a native of Bethsaida in Galilee, fished. Called by Jesus Christ to the apostles along with his brother Andrew and called Kifah ("stone"). Peter is destined to become the "foundation" of the Church of Christ, he is given the keys of the heavenly kingdom. According to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, this naming (and especially the words “keys of the kingdom of heaven”) indicates that Peter was given real power and legal powers, and that these powers – because the church will exist to the end of time – should be transferred to his successors. Devoted to Christ, Peter renounces him three times after the Last Supper.

Peter was the first apostle to whom Christ appeared after his resurrection. After the death of Christ, Peter was engaged in preaching. On Pentecost, he preached the first sermon to the people, announcing the death and resurrection of Jesus, and converting about three thousand people by this sermon. In the Catholic Church, according to Peter’s position as the “head of the apostles” and successor of Christ, there is a doctrine of the primacy of the Pope as the single head of the church.

Paul is the first Christian writer whose writings have come down to us, and the most authoritative figure in the history of Christian thought. The victory of Paul’s theological views played a huge role in the formation of Christianity as an independent religion, different from Judaism. He was born in the Asia Minor city of Tarsus (in Cilicia) into a Jewish Pharisee family.

Originally a zealous persecutor of Christians, Paul, who experienced a miraculous vision on the way to Damascus, accepts baptism and becomes an ardent preacher of Christianity among the Gentiles ("apostle of the Gentiles"). For extraordinary missionary and theological services to Christianity in the formation of it as a world religion, Paul, who was not one of the twelve apostles, is revered as the first-throned apostle. The Church ascribes to him 14 epistles included in the New Testament. Both apostles suffered for their faith in Christ on the same day in the year 67 in Rome. Paul, as a Roman citizen, was beheaded by the sword, and Peter was crucified. Since he believed that he was unworthy to be crucified on the cross as the Savior, he was crucified at his own request by the “stripheads” (that is, upside down). He was buried on Vatican Hill, and above his burial site is now the main altar of St. Peter’s.