Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/821

 PETER

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PETER

"De romani b. Petri itinere et episcopatu", Florence, 17H; also Tillcmont). Harnack endeavoured to est ablish the year 64 (i. e. thebeginning of the Neronian persecution) as that of Peter's death ("Gesch. der altchristl. Lit. bis Eusebius", pt. II, "Die Chro- nologie", I, 240 sqq.). This date, which had been ilioady supported by Cave, du Pin, and Wieseler, h:is been accepted by Duchesne (Hist, ancienne de ITslise, I, 64). Erbes refers St. Peter's death to 22 IVh., 63, St. Paul's to 64 ("Texte u. Untersuch- unsen", new series, IV, i, Leipzig, 1900, "Die Tode- .•;| :iRe der Apostel Petrus u. Paulus u. ihre rom. Denk- iiialer"). The date of Peter's death is thus not yet decided; the period between July, 64 (outbreak of the Neronian persecution), and the beginning of 68 (<m 9 July Nero fled from Rome and committed sui- cide) must be left open for the date of his death. The (Imv of his martyrdom is also unknown; 29 June, the aerepted day of his feast since the fourth century, cannot be proved to be the day of his death (see

l.el.)w).

Concerning the manner of Peter's death, we possess a tradition — attested to by Tertullian at the end of the second century (see above) and by Origen (in laisebius, "Hist. Eccl.", II, i) — that he suffered eruci- fixiiin. Origen says: "Peter was crucified at Rome Willi his head downwards, as he himself had desired t o suffer ". As the place of execution may be accepted with great probability the Neronian Gardens on the \atican, since there, according to Tacitus, were enacted in general the gruesome scenes of the Nero- lu.m persecution; and in this district, in the vicinity of the Via Cornelia and at the foot of the Vatican Hills, the Prince of the Apostles found his burial- place. Of this grave (since the word rphnaiov was, as already remarked, riglitly understood of the tomb) Caius already speaks in the t hird century. For a time t he remains of Peter lay with those of Paul in a vault on the Appian Way, at the place ad Calacumbns, where the Church of St. Sebastian (which on its erec- tion in the fourth century was dedicated to the two Apostles) now stands. The remains had probably lieen brought thither at the beginning of the Valerian ]ieisecution in 258, to protect them from the threat- ened desecration when the Christian burial-places \\,TC confiscated. They were later restored to their former resting-place, and Constantine the Great had a magnificent basilica erected over the grave of St. Peter at the foot of the Vatican Hill. This ba.silioa was replaced by the present St. Peter's in the six- ( eenth century. The vault with the altar built above It ironfessio) has been since the fourth century the tiiost highly venerated martyr's shrine in the West. In the substructure of the altar, over the vault which contained the sarcophagus with the remains of St. I'eter, a cavity was made. This was closed by a small door in front of the altar. By opening this door the ptiKrim could enjoy the great privilege of kneeling dnectlyover the sarcophagus of the Apostle. Keys of this door were given as precious souvenirs (cf. <iregory of Tours, "De gloria martyrum", I, xxviii). The memory of St. Peter is also closely associated with the Catacomb of St. Priscilla on the Via Sa-laria. According to a tradition, current in later Christian antiquity, St. Peter here instructed the faithful and alrainistered baptism. This tradition seems to have been based on still earlier monumental testimonies. The catacomb is situated under the garden of a villa of the ancient Christian and senatorial family, the Acilii Glabriones, and its foundation extends back to I he end of the first century; and since Acilius Glabrio !i|. v.), consul in 91, was condemned to death under I )omitian as a Christian, it is quite possible that the Christian faith of the family extended back to Apos- tolic times, and that the Prince of the Apostles had 1m 'en given hospitable reception in their house during lus residence at Rome. The relations between Peter

and Pudens, whose house stood on the site of the present titular church of Pudens (now Santa Puden- tiana) seem to rest rather on a legend.

Concerning the Epistles of St. Peter, see Peter, Epistles of Saint; concerning the various apocrypha bearing the name of Peter, especially the Apocalypse and the Gospel of St. Peter, see Apocrypha. The apocryphal sermon of Peter {K-ripvytia), dating from the second half of the second century, was probably a collection of supposed sermons by the Apostle; sev- eral fragments are preserved by Clement of Alexan- dria (cf. Dobschijtz, "Das Kerygma Petri kritisch untersucht" in "Texte u. Untersuchungen", XI, i, Leipzig, 1893).

V. Feasts op St. Peter. — ^As early as the fourth century a feast was celebrated in memory of Sts. Peter and Paul on the same day, although the day was not the same in the East as in Rome. The Syrian Martyr- ology of the end of the fourth century, which is an excerpt from a Greek catalogue of saints from Asia Minor, gives the following feasts in connexion with Christmas (25 Dec): 26 Dec, St. Stephen; 27 Dec, Sts. James and John; 28 Dec, Sts. Peter and Paul. In St. Gregory of Nyssa's panegyric on St. Basil we are also informed that these feasts of the Apostles and St. Stephen follow immediately after Christmas. The Armenians celebrated the feast also on 27 Dec; the Nestorians on the second Friday after the Epiph- any. It is evident that 28 (27) Dec. was (like 26 Dec. for St. Stephen) arbitrarily selected, no tradition concerning the date of the saints' death being forth- coming. The cnief feast of Sts. Peter and Paul was kept in Rome on 29 June as early as the third or fourth century. The list of feasts of the martyrs in the Chronograph of Philocalus appends this notice to the date: "III. Kal. Jul. Petri in Catacumbas et Pauli Ostiense Tusco et Basso Coss." (=the year 258). The "Martyrologium Hieronyminanum" has, in the Berne MS., the following notice for 29 June: "Romae via Aurelia natale sanctorum Apostolorum Petri et Pauli, Petri in Vaticano, Pauli in via Ostiensi, utrumque in catacumbas, passi sub Nerone, Basso et Tusco consulibus" (ed. de Rossi— Duchesne, 84).

The date 258 in the notices shows that from this year the memory of the two Apostles was celebrated on 29 June in the Via Appia ad Catacumbas^ (near San Sebastiano fuori le mura), because on this date the remains of the Apostles were translated thither (see above). Later, perhaps on the building of the church over the graves on the Vatican and in the Via Ostiensis, the remains were restored to their former resting-place: Peter's to the Vatican Basilica and Paul's to the church on the Via Ostiensis. In the place Ad Catacumbas a church was also built as early as the fourth century in honour of the two Apostles. From 258 their principal feast was kept on 29 June, on which date solemn Divine Service was held in the above-mentioned three churches from ancient times (Duchesne, "Origines du culte chretien", 5th ed., Paris, 1909, 271 sqq., 283 sqq.; Urbain, "Ein Martyr- ologium der christl. Gemeinde zu Rom an Anfang des 5. Jahrh.", Leipzig, 1901, 169 sqq.; Kellner, "Heortologie", 3rd ed., Freiburg, 1911,210 sqq.). Legend sought to explain the temporary occupation by the Apostles of the grave Ad Catacumbas by sup- posing that, shortly after their death, the Oriental Christians wished to steal their bodies and bring them to the East. This whole story is evidently a product of popular legend. (Concerning the Feast of the Chair of Peter, see Chair of Peter.)

A third Roman feast of the Apostles takes place on I August: the feast of St. Peter's Chains. This feast was originally 1he dedication feast of the church of the Apostle, erected on the Esquiline Hill in the fourth century. A titular priest of the church, Philippus, was papal legate at the Council of Kphesus in 431. The church was rebuilt by Sixtus III (432-40) at the