FEBRUARY 22
SAINT PETER’S CHAIR AT ANTIOCH
By Abbot Dom Guéranger
We are called upon, a second time, to honour St. Peter’s chair: first, it
was his pontificate in Rome; today, it is his episcopate at Antioch. The seven
years spent by the prince of the apostles in the second of these cities, were
the grandest glory she ever had; and they are too important a portion of the
life of St. Peter to be passed by without being noticed in the Christian cycle.
Three years had elapsed since our Lord’s
Ascension. The Church had already been made fruitful by martyrdom, and from
Jerusalem she had spread into distant countries. Antioch, the first of the
cities of Asia, had received the Gospel; and it was there that those who
professed the faith of Jesus were first called Christians. Jerusalem was doomed to
destruction for having not only refused to acknowledge, but even crucified, the
Messias: it was time for Peter, in whom resided the supreme power, to deprive the
faithless city of the honour she had heretofore enjoyed, of possessing within
her walls the chair of the apostolate. It was towards the Gentiles that the Holy
Spirit drove those clouds, which were shown to Isaias as the symbol of the holy
apostles. Accordingly, it is in Antioch, the third capital of the Roman Empire,
that Peter first places the august throne, on which, as vicegerent of Christ,
he presides over the universal Church.
But the progress of the apostles was so rapid; the conquests they made,
in spite of every opposition, were so extensive, that the vicar of Christ was
inspired to leave Antioch, after he had honoured it with the chair during the
space of seven years. Alexandria, the second city of the empire, is also to be
made a see of Peter; and Home, the' capital of the world, awaits the grand
privilege for which God has long been preparing her. Onwards, then, does the
prince advance, bearing with him the destinies of the Church; where he fixes his
last abode, and where he dies, there will he have his successor in his sublime
dignity of vicar of Christ. He leaves Antioch, making one of his disciples, Evodius,
its bishop. Evodius succeeds Peter as bishop of Antioch; but that see is not to
inherit the headship of the Church, which goes whithersoever Peter goes. He
sends Mark, another of his disciples, to take possession, in his name of
Alexandria; and this Church he would have to be the second in the world, and
though he has not ruled it in person, he raises it above that of Antioch. This
done, he goes to Rome, where he permanently establishes that chair, on which he
will live, and teach, and rule, in his successors, to the end of time.
And here we have the origin of the three great patriarchal sees, which
were the object of so much veneration in the early ages: the first is Rome, invested
with all the prerogatives of the prince of the apostles, which, when dying, be
transmitted to her; the second is Alexandria, which owes her pre-eminence to
Peter’s adopting her as his second see; the third is Antioch, whither be
repaired in person, when he left Jerusalem to bring to the Gentiles the grace
of adoption. If, therefore, Antioch is below Alexandria in rank, Alexandria never
enjoyed the honour granted to Antioch, of having been governed, in person, by
him whom Christ appointed to be the supreme pastor of His Church. Nothing,
then, could be more just, than that Antioch should be honoured, as having, for seven
years, had the privilege of being the centre of Christendom; and this is the
object of today’s feast.
The children of the Church have a right to feel a special interest in every
solemnity that is kept in memory of St. Peter. The father’s feast is a feast for
the whole family; for to him it owes its very life. If there be but one fold,
it is because there is but one Shepherd. Let us, then, honour Peter’s divine
prerogative, to which Christianity owes its preservation; and let us often
reflect upon the obligations we are under to the apostolic see. On the feast of
the chair at Rome, we saw how faith is taught, and maintained, and propagated
by the mother-Church, which has inherited the promises made to Peter. Today,
let us consider the apostolic see as the sole source of the legitimate power, whereby
mankind is ruled and governed in all that concerns eternal salvation
Our Saviour said to Peter: ‘To thee will I give the keys of the kingdom
of heaven,” that is to say, of the Church. He said to him on another occasion:
‘Feed My lambs, feed My sheep.’ So that Peter is prince; for, in the language
of the sacred Scriptures, keys denote princely power: he is also pastor, and
universal pastor; for the whole flock is comprised under the two terms, lambs
and sheep. And yet there are other pastors in every portion of the Christian world.
The bishops, whom the Holy Ghost hath placed to rule the Church of God, govern,
in his name, their respective dioceses, and are also pastors. How comes it that
the keys, which were given to Peter, are found in other hands than his? The
Catholic Church explains the difficulty to us by her tradition. She says to us,
by Tertullian: ‘Christ gave the keys to Peter, and through him to the Church.’
By St. Optatus of Milevum: ‘For the sake of unity, Peter was made the first
among all the apostles, and he alone received the keys, that he might give them
to the rest.’ By St. Gregory of Nyssa: ‘It is through Peter that Christ gave to bishops the
keys of their heavenly prerogative.’ By St. Leo the Great: ‘If our Lord willed
that there should be something common to Peter and the rest of the princes of
His Church, it was only on this condition,
that whatsoever He gave to the rest, He gave it to them through Peter.
Yes, the episcopate is most sacred, for it comes from the hands of Jesus
Christ through Peter and his successors. Such is the unanimous teaching of Catholic
tradition, which is in keeping with the language used by the Roman pontiff's,
from the earliest ages, who have always spoken of the dignity of bishops as
consisting in their being ‘ called to a share of their own solicitude.’ Hence
St. Cyprian does not hesitate to say that ‘ our Saviour, wishing to establish
the episcopal dignity and constitute His Church, says to Peter: “To thee will I
give the keys of the kingdom of heaven”; and here we have both the institution
of bishops, and the constitution of the Church.’ This same doctrine is clearly
stated in a letter written to Pope St. Symmachus by St. Cesarius of Arles,‘ who
lived in the fifth century: ‘The episcopate flows from the blessed apostle Peter;
and consequently, it belongs to your holiness to prescribe to the several
Churches the rules which they are to follow.’ This fundamental principle, which
St. Leo the Great has so ably and eloquently developed (as we have seen on the
feast of the chair at Rome, January 18), this principle, which is taught us by
universal tradition, is laid down with all possible precision in the magnificent
letters, still extant, of Pope St. Innocent I., who preceded St. Leo by several
years.
Thus he writes to the Council of
Carthage, that ‘the episcopate, with all its authority, emanates from the
apostolic see’; to the Council of Milevum, that ‘bishops must look upon
Peter as the source whence both their name and their dignity are derived ’; to
St. Victricius, bishop of Rouen, that ‘the apostolate and the episcopate both
owe their origin to Peter.’
Controversy is not our object. All we aim at by giving these quotations
from the fathers on the prerogatives of Peter’s chair, is to excite the faithful
to be devoted to it and venerate it. This we have endeavoured to do, by showing
them that this chair is the source of the spiritual authority, which, in its
several degrees, rules and sanctifies them. All spiritual authority comes from
Peter; all comes from the bishop of Rome, in whom Peter will continue to govern
the Church to the end of time. Jesus Christ is the founder of the episcopate;
it is the Holy Ghost who establishes bishops to rule the Church; but the mission
and the institution, which assign the pastor his flock, and the flock its pastor,
these are given by Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost through the ministry of
Peter and his successors.
Ss. Peter and Paul - St. Andrew's
Daily Missal
How sacred, how divine, is this authority of the keys, which is first
given by heaven itself to the
Roman Pontiff'; then is delegated by him
to the prelates of the Church; and thus guides and blesses the whole Christian
world! The apostolic see has varied its mode of transmitting such an authority according
to the circumstances of the several ages; but the one source of the whole power
was always the same, the chair of Peter. We have already seen how, at the commencement,
there were three chairs: Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch; and all three were
sources of the canonical institution of the bishops of their respective
provinces; but they were all three chairs of Peter, for they were founded by him
that they might preside over their patriarchates, as St. Leo, St. Gelasius, and
St. Gregory the Great, expressly teach. But of these three chairs, the Pontiff
of Rome had his authority and his institution from heaven; whereas, the two
other patriarchs could not exercise their rights, until they were recognized
and confirmed by him who was Peter’s successor, as vicar of Christ. Later on,
two other sees were added to these first three: but it was only by the consent
of the Roman Pontiff that Constantinople and Jerusalem obtained such an honour.
Let us notice, too, the difference there is between the accidental honours
conferred on four of these Churches, and the divine prerogative of the Church
of Home. By God’s permission, the sees of Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople,
and
Jerusalem, were defiled by heresy; they
became chairs of pestilence; and having corrupted the faith they received from
Rome, they could not transmit to others the mission they themselves had
forfeited. Sad indeed was the ruin of such pillars as these! Peter’s hand had
placed them in the Church. They had merited the love and veneration of men; but
they fell; and their fall gave one more proof of the solidity of that edifice,
which Christ Himself had built on Peter. The unity of the Church was made more
visible. Obliged by the treachery of her own favoured children to deprive them
of the privileges they had received from her, Rome was, more evidently than ever,
the sole source of pastoral power.
We, then, both priests and people, have a right to know whence our
pastors have received their power. From whose hand have they received the keys?
If their mission come from the apostolic see, let us honour and obey them, for
they are sent to us by Jesus Christ, who has invested them, through Peter, with
His own authority. If they claim our obedience without having been sent by the
bishop of Rome, we must refuse to receive them, for they are not acknowledged
by Christ as His ministers. The holy anointing may have conferred on them the
sacred character of the episcopate: it matters not; they must be as aliens to
us, for they have not been sent, they are not pastors.
Thus it is that the divine Founder of the Church, who willed that she
should be a city seated on a mountain, gave her visibility; it was an essential
requisite; for since all were called to enter her pale, all must be able to see
her. But He was not satisfied with this. He moreover willed that the spiritual
power exercised by 'her pastors should come from a visible source, so that the
faithful might have a sure means of verifying the claims of those who were to
guide them in His name. Our Lord (we say it reverently) owed this to us; for,
on the last day, He will not receive us as His children, unless we shall have
been members of His Church, and have lived in union with Him by the ministry of
pastors lawfully constituted. Honour, then, and submission to Jesus in His
vicar! honour and submission to the vicar of Christ in the pastors he sends!
As a tribute of our devotion to the prince of the apostles, let us recite,
in his honour, the following hymn, composed by St. Peter Damian:
HYMN
O prince of the apostolic senate! Herald of our Lord! First pastor of
the faithful! watch over the flock entrusted to thee.
Lead us through verdant pastures, feeding us with the nourishment of the
word; and lead us, thus fed, into the heavenly fold, whither thou hast already
gone.
To thee, Peter, have been delivered the keys of heaven’s gate; and all
things, both in heaven and on earth, acknowledge thy authority.
‘Tis thou that choosest the city where is to be established the rock of
the true faith, the foundation of the building, on which the Catholic Church stands
immovable.
Thy shadow, as thou passest by, heals the sick; and Tabitha, that made
garments for the poor, was raised to life at thy bidding.
Bound with two chains, thou wast set free by an angel’s power; he bids
thee put on thy garments and thy sandals, and lo! the prison door is opened.
To the Father unbegotten, and to the only-begotten Son, and to the
coequal Spirit of them both, be praise and kingly highest power. Amen.
Glory be to thee, O prince of the apostles, on thy chair at Antioch, where
thou didst for seven years preside over the universal Church! How magnificent
are the stations of thy apostolate! Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria (by thy
disciple Mark), and Rome, these are the cities which have been honoured by thy
august chair. After Rome, Antioch was the longest graced by its presence:
justly, therefore, do we honour this Church, which was thus made, by thee, the
mother and mistress of all other Churches. Alas! all her beauty has now left
her; her faith is dead; she is in bondage to the Saracen. Save her, take her
once more under thy power, bring her into allegiance to Rome, where thou hast thy
chair, not for seven years only, but for all ages. The gates of hell have let
loose the fury of every tempest upon thee, firm rock of the Church! And we
ourselves have seen the immortal chair banished for a time from Rome. The words
of St. Ambrose then came to our minds: ‘Where Peter is, there is the Church.’
How could we despair? Did we not know, that it was God’s inspiration which made
thee choose Rome for the fixed resting-place of thy throne ‘No human will can
put asunder what God has united; the bishop of Rome must ever be the vicar of
Christ; and the vicar of Christ, let sacrilege and persecution banish him as
they will, must ever be the bishop of Rome. Holy apostle! Calm the wildness of
the tempest, lest the weak should 'take scandal. Beseech our Lord that He
permit not the residence of thy successor to be disturbed in that holy city,
which has been chosen for so great an honour. If it be that her inhabitants
deserve punishment for their offences, spare them for the sake of their
brethren of the rest of the world; and pray for them, that their faith may once
more become what it was when St. Paul praised it, and said to them: ‘ Your faith
is spoken of in the whole world.’
The apse with St. Peter's
Cathedra supported by four Doctors of the Church
THE CHAIR OF ST.
PETER AT ANTIOCH
Greater–double White vestments
Missa ‘Statuit ei Dominus’
INTROIT - Eccles.
45: 30; Ps. 131: 1
Statuit ei Dominus
testamentum pacis, et principem fecit eum: ut sit illi sacerdotii dignitas in
æternum. Ps. Memento Domine, David: et omnis mansuetudinus ejus. Gloria
Patri.
The Lord made to
him a covenant of peace, and made him a prince: that the dignity of priesthood
should be to him forever. Ps. O Lord, remember David: and all his meekness.
Glory be to the Father.
COLLECT
O God, Who,
committing to blessed Peter, Thine Apostle, the keys of the heavenly kingdom,
didst bestow on him the pontifical function of binding and loosing, grant that,
by the help of his intercession, we may be delivered from the bonds of our
sins. Who livest and reignest.
St. Peter Enthroned with Sts.
John the Baptist and Paul by Cima Da Conegliano
COMMEMORATION OF ST. PAUL
O God, Who by
the preaching of the blessed Apostle Paul didst teach the multitude of the
Gentiles, grant us, we pray Thee, that, honoring his commemoration, we may
experience the benefit of his patronal influence with Thee. Through our Lord.
COLLECT - FERIA IN LENT
Grant, we beseech You, almighty God, that Your servants who discipline
the body by fasting from food, may strive after righteousness by abstaining
from sin. Through our Lord.
EPISTLE - I Peter 1: 1-7
Lesson from the first letter of St.
Peter the Apostle
Peter,
an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers dispersed through Pontus, Galatía,
Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the fore-knowledge of God
the Father, unto the sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience, and sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ; grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Blessed
be the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ Who according to His great mercy
hath regenerated us unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that can
not fade, reserved in heaven for you, who by the power of God are kept by faith
unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time Wherein you shall greatly
rejoice, if now you must be for a little time made sorrowful in divers
temptations: that the trial of your faith, much more precious than gold (which
is tried by the fire), may be found unto praise, and glory, and honour, at the
appearing of Jesus Christ our Lord.
GRADUAL - Psalm 106: 32, 31
Let
them exalt him in the church of the people; and praise him in the chair of the
ancients. Let the mercies of the Lord give glory to him; and his wonderful
works to the children of men.
TRACT - Matthew 16:18-19
And I
say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the
keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it
shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it
shall be loosed also in heaven.
GOSPEL - Matthew 16: 13-19
At
that time, Jesus came into the quarters of Cæsarea Philippi, and He asked His
disciples, Saying, Whom do men say that the Son of man is? But they said, Some,
John the Baptist, and other some, Elias, and others, Jeremias, or one of the
prophets. Jesus saith to them, But whom do you say that I am? Simon Peter
answered, Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answering, said
to him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood hath not
revealed it to thee, but My Father Who is in Heaven: and I say to thee, that
thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it; and to thee I will give the keys of the kingdom
of Heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in
Heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in
Heaven.
OFFERTORY - Matthew 16: 18-19
Thou
art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it; and I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom
of Heaven.
SECRET
We
beseech Thee, O Lord that the prayer of the blessed Apostle Peter may commend the
sacrifices and supplications of Thy Church, so that the celebration we hold for
his glory may profit for our pardon. Through our Lord.
COMMEMORATION OF ST. PAUL
Sanctify,
O Lord, the offerings of Thy people by the prayer of Thine Apostle Paul, that
those things which are pleasing to Thee by Thine own institution may become the
more pleasing by the favour of his intercession. Through our Lord.
SECRET - FERIA IN LENT
May
this sacrificial gift offered in appeasement and praise, O Lord, make us worthy
of Your protection. Through our Lord.
PREFACE OF THE APOSTLES
It is
truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, to entreat Thee humbly, O
Lord, that Thou wouldst not desert Thy flock, O everlasting Shepherd; but
through Thy blessed Apostles, wouldst keep it under Thy constant protection;
that it may be governed by those same rulers, whom as vicars of Thy work, Thou
didst set over it to be its pastors. And therefore with Angels and Archangels,
with Thrones and Dominations, and with all the hosts of the heavenly army, we
sing the hymn of Thy glory, evermore saying…
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dóminus Deus Sábaoth. Pleni sunt cæli et
terra glória tua. Hosánna in excélsis. Benedíctus qui venit in nómine Dómini.
Hosánna in excélsis.
COMMUNION - Matthew 16: 18
Thou
art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church.
POSTCOMMUNION
Let
the gift we offer bring us joy, O Lord, that, as we declare Thee wonderful in
Thine Apostle Peter, so through him we may share the generosity of Thy
forgiveness. Through our Lord.
COMMEMORATION OF ST. PAUL
Sanctified
by the mystery of salvation, O Lord, we pray that his prayer may fail us not,
by whose patronage Thou halt granted us to be governed. Through our Lord.
POSTCOMMUNION – FERIA IN LENT
May
this Communion, O Lord, cleanse us of sin, and make us partakers of heavenly
healing. Through our Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment