June 29
Reading:
The divinely-blessed Peter was from Bethsaida of Galilee.
He was the son of Jonas and the brother of Andrew the First-called. He
was a fisherman by trade, unlearned and poor, and was called Simon;
later he was renamed Peter by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Who looked
at him and said, "Thou art Simon the son of Jonas; thou shalt be called
Cephas (which is by interpretation, Peter)" (John 1:42). On being raised
by the Lord to the dignity of an Apostle and becoming inseparable from
Him as His zealous disciple, he followed Him from the beginning of His
preaching of salvation up until the very Passion, when, in the court of
Caiaphas the high priest, he denied Him thrice because of his fear of
the Jews and of the danger at hand. But again, after many bitter tears,
he received complete forgiveness of his transgression. After the
Resurrection of Christ and the descent of the Holy Spirit, he preached
in Judea, Antioch, and certain parts of Asia, and finally came to Rome,
where he was crucified upside down by Nero, and thus he ascended to the
eternal habitations about the year 66 or 68, leaving two Catholic
(General) Epistles to the Church of Christ.
Paul, the chosen
vessel of Christ, the glory of the Church, the Apostle of the Nations
and teacher of the whole world, was a Jew by race, of the tribe of
Benjamin, having Tarsus as his homeland. He was a Roman citizen, fluent
in the Greek language, an expert in knowledge of the Law, a Pharisee,
born of a Pharisee, and a disciple of Gamaliel, a Pharisee and notable
teacher of the Law in Jerusalem. For this cause, from the beginning,
Paul was a most fervent zealot for the traditions of the Jews and a
great persecutor of the Church of Christ; at that time, his name was
Saul (Acts 22:3-4). In his great passion of rage and fury against the
disciples of the Lord, he went to Damascus bearing letters of
introduction from the high priest. His intention was to bring the
disciples of Christ back to Jerusalem in bonds. As he was approaching
Damascus, about midday there suddenly shone upon him a light from
Heaven. Falling on the earth, he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" And he asked, "Who art Thou, Lord?" And
the Lord said, "I am Jesus Whom thou persecutest; it is hard for thee to
kick against the pricks." And that heavenly voice and brilliance made
him tremble, and he was blinded for a time. He was led by the hand into
the city, and on account of a divine revelation to the Apostle Ananias
(see Oct. 1), he was baptized by him, and both his bodily and spiritual
eyes were opened to the knowledge of the Sun of Righteousness. And
straightway- O wondrous transformation! - beyond all expectation, he
spoke with boldness in the synagogues, proclaiming that "Christ is the
Son of God" (Acts 9:1-21). As for his zeal in preaching the Gospel after
these things had come to pass, as for his unabating labors and
afflictions of diverse kinds, the wounds, the prisons, the bonds, the
beatings, the stonings, the shipwrecks, the journeys, the perils on
land, on sea, in cities, in wildernesses, the continual vigils, the
daily fasting, the hunger, the thirst, the nakedness, and all those
other things that he endured for the Name of Christ, and which he
underwent before nations and kings and the Israelites, and above all,
his care for all the churches, his fiery longing for the salvation of
all, whereby he became all things to all men, that he might save them
all if possible, and because of which, with his heart aflame, he
continuously traveled throughout all parts, visiting them all, and like a
bird of heaven flying from Asia and Europe, the West and East, neither
staying nor abiding in any one place - all these things are related
incident by incident in the Book of the Acts, and as he himself tells
them in his Epistles. His Epistles, being fourteen in number, are
explained in 250 homilies by the divine Chrysostom and make manifest the
loftiness of his thoughts, the abundance of the revelations made to
him, the wisdom given to him from God, wherewith he brings together in a
wondrous manner the Old with the New Testaments, and expounds the
mysteries thereof which had been concealed under types; he confirms the
doctrines of the Faith, expounds the ethical teaching of the Gospel, and
demonstrates with exactness the duties incumbent upon every rank, age,
and order of man. In all these things his teaching proved to be a
spiritual trumpet, and his speech was seen to be more radiant than the
sun, and by these means he clearly sounded forth the word of truth and
illumined the ends of the world. Having completed the work of his
ministry, he likewise ended his life in martyrdom when he was beheaded
in Rome during the reign of Nero, at the same time, some say, when Peter
was crucified.
Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
First in prominence among the Apostles, and teachers to the
Universe, intercede to the Master of all for peace in the world and for
our souls great mercy.
Kontakion in the Second Tone
O Lord, receive unto the enjoyment of Your good things and Your
rest, the steadfast preachers of Godly words, the pinnacle of Your
Disciples. Receive their pain and death above every sacrifice, for You
alone know the hearts of men.
SOURCE:
SAINT OR FEAST POSTED THIS DATE 2010(with 2009's link here also and further, 2008's, even 2007!
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