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Although St. PETER & St.
PAUL (June 29th) both have their own separate saint’s day, they share this
joint commemoration because they both died as martyrs in Rome during the Emperor
Nero’s persecution (ca. 64). Also, they are universally linked as the two
greatest leaders of the early Church.
A depiction of the two from
the early 100’s shows Peter as sturdy and thickset, with a bald or tonsured head
and a curly beard, while Paul appears as thin and bald, with a long head, a
scantier beard, and deep-set eyes. As early as 96, they were widely upheld as
parallel, champion examples for the Church’s inspiration. Even so it is
important to note how very different they were from each other. Paul was a
well-educated Pharisee and a cosmopolitan Roman citizen. Peter was uneducated
and “rough,” content as a simple fisherman in Galilee. We see from many examples
in Scripture that they clashed over strongly differing opinions, according to
their own particular worldviews. More than once, Paul showed outright disdain
for Peter. Yet their common commitment to the Gospel of Christ proved stronger
than their differences—a much-needed example for the Church today!
Eventually, each took his
mission to Rome, where they were close associates in establishing the Church in
the center of civilization and power. That power hounded them for years before
finally executing them—Peter by crucifixion (upside down, according to his own
wish, so as not to assume equality with Jesus) and Paul beheaded by sword, the
preferred right of a Roman citizen. Recent archeology supports the traditional
site of Peter’s tomb in Rome and that the bones there are his. |
