Twin Pillars of the Church: Peter and Paul

Fr. Scott Haynes

Meditation for the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul

June 29

Today, Holy Mother Church celebrates with solemn joy the joint feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the twin pillars upon which Christ built His Church in the world. These two Apostles—so different in temperament, background, and path—are united forever in the mission, in the martyrdom, and in the mystery of the Church’s foundation.

As St. Augustine preached in 395:

“Both apostles share the same feast day, for these two were one; and even though they suffered on different days, they were as one. Peter went first, and Paul followed. And so we celebrate this day made holy for us by the apostles’ blood. Let us embrace what they believed, their life, their labors, their sufferings, their preaching, and their confession of faith.”¹

The Apostolic Foundation

St. Irenaeus of Lyons, writing in the late second century, referred to Rome as “the greatest and most ancient Church, founded by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul.”² The Bishop of Rome, St. Clement—himself believed to be ordained by St. Peter—bears the earliest witness to their shared mission and martyrdom.³

Even outside ecclesial texts, the reverence shown to these saints echoes through time. Archaeological findings from the catacombs of the third century bear witness to Christian devotion: “Peter and Paul, make intercession for Victor”, reads one inscription; another implores, “Do not forget Antonius Bassus.” These are not mythical figures of distant legend. These were real men, loved by real people.

Peter: From Betrayal to Shepherd

St. Peter, the bold fisherman of Galilee, was chosen by Christ to be the rock on which the Church would be built. And yet, he who confessed, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” (Matt. 16:16) would, that same night, deny his Lord three times.

St. Augustine notes that Christ allowed Peter to fall—not out of cruelty, but out of mercy:

“Peter was permitted to fall to teach him humility and compassion, especially since he was to become a shepherd over others. Let him who is to have charge of souls learn to weep over his own sins so that he may deal gently with the sins of others.”⁴

Indeed, Christ did not reject Peter. He turned and looked at him with love. That glance—recorded only in the Gospel of Luke—was enough to pierce Peter’s heart. “And Peter went out and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:62). That look of Christ was a silent absolution, a summons to return.

His penance, like David’s before him, was lifelong.

“I will wash my bed every night; I will water my couch with my tears” (Ps. 6:7).

St. John Chrysostom remarked,

“He sinned in one night, but he wept for the rest of his life.”⁵

Let this be a pattern for us. Do not despair when you fall. Do not mock the repentant. Never say, “He is a sinner,” without adding, “So am I.” Instead, like Peter, weep, confess, and resolve never to fall again.

Paul: From Persecutor to Apostle

Paul’s path to Christ was no less dramatic. Once the fierce persecutor of the infant Church, he was brought down on the road to Damascus by the blinding glory of Christ. His conversion was total. As he later wrote, “I count all things to be but loss for the excellent knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord” (Phil. 3:8).

No man could accuse Paul of lukewarmness. He who had once breathed threats now endured chains, shipwrecks, stonings, rejection, hunger, and imprisonment, all for love of Christ. “I am ready,” he said, “not only to be bound in Jerusalem, but also to die for the name of Jesus” (Acts 21:13).

St. Jerome wrote of him:

“Paul was bound, yet the word of God was not bound. He was confined to prison, yet he traveled to Spain. He was silent with his lips, yet his letters thundered from one end of the empire to the other.”⁶

Paul’s apostolic zeal took him to the ends of the known world. After his Roman imprisonment, he resumed preaching throughout Italy, Gaul, and even into Spain. His fearless preaching stirred the heart even of Nero’s concubines, whom he exhorted to abandon lives of sin. It was for this that Nero condemned him to death.

According to tradition, Paul was beheaded outside the walls of Rome. And it is said that his head, upon touching the ground, sprang up three times, and from each spot a spring of water gushed forth. To this day, the site—Tre Fontane—testifies to the sacred event.

St. John Chrysostom tells us:

“When the sword severed the head of Paul, it did not spill blood, but milk—as a sign that he had been entirely transformed by grace, that he was no longer the man who had once persecuted, but a new creation in Christ.”⁷

The Church’s Mercy to Sinners

What are we to make of this? The Church’s two greatest saints—Peter, who denied; and Paul, who persecuted—were both reclaimed by grace. Both repented. Both loved. Both gave their lives.

The message is clear: God loves to forgive. He desires not the death of the sinner, but that he turn and live (cf. Ez. 18:23). Let no one despair of salvation. Let no sin seem too great for mercy. If Peter and Paul can become saints, then no one is beyond hope.

Pope St. Leo the Great reflects:

“By the grace of God which worked in both Apostles, Peter and Paul did not hold back even their blood. They are the eyes in the body of the Church, the tongues of truth, the trumpets of salvation.”⁸

Conclusion: Imitating the Apostles

Let us, then, imitate their repentance, their humility, their love, and their tireless labor. Let us weep like Peter. Let us preach like Paul. Let us pray as they did. And let us, as St. Augustine exhorted, embrace their faith, their confession, and their suffering—for they have gone before us not merely to show the way, but to intercede for us as our elder brothers.

O Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, pray for us!

Footnotes

1.    Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 295, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. VI.

2.    Irenaeus of Lyons, Adversus Haereses III.3.2.

3.    Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians, ch. 5.

4.    Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 147, On the Passion of St. Peter.

5.    John Chrysostom, Homily 3 on the Betrayal of Judas.

6.    Jerome, Letter 53 to Paulinus.

7.    John Chrysostom, Homily 32 on 2 Corinthians.

8.    Leo the Great, Sermon 82, On the Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul.