WRITTEN BY: Catechist Branislav Ilić, editor of the portal „Kinonia“
“Primate of the Apostles and teachers of the universe, pray to the Lord of all, that He may grant peace to the universe, and great mercy to our souls” (troparion).
Thus we address with prayer the holy and great apostles of Christ Peter and Paul. Of all the apostles, the Holy Church especially glorifies these two, calling them glorious and first-rate. Such high honour is bestowed upon them because of the great labours and struggles they undertook in the work of preaching the Gospel. Even Saint John Chrysostom could hardly express preference for any of them, repeatedly calling them pillars of the Church. Our Lord Jesus Christ chose them to carry His teaching to all the ends of the universe, which at that time was immersed in pagan darkness, drowning in debauchery and godlessness. It was precisely this darkness that the disciples of Christ were called to dispel and illuminate the earth with the light of the word of God.
As we celebrate their prayerful memory, we wonder how much faith, love, and devotion to God’s will were in the souls of these apostles? They carried the word of the Holy Gospel to all corners of the earth, baptizing all nations, enduring heat, cold, thirst, persecution, and suffering in order to serve the great work of salvation for the entire human race.
The Apostle Peter, a native of Bethsaida and the brother of the Apostle Andrew, lived with his family in Capernaum. He was a fisherman. His name was Simon, and he received the name Peter (which means “stone” or “rock”) from Jesus Christ. Peter’s life is highlighted in the Gospel story more than the lives of the other apostles because he was close to Christ, was especially attached to Him, and was the first to unconditionally believe in the divine mission of the Lord. For this reason, he was honoured with special closeness to the Lord. Peter became one of the most courageous preachers of the Gospel. On the day of Pentecost, he converted first 5,000, and then another 3,000 people to the faith of Christ. Peter became famous for many miraculous healings, and in Joppa he raised Tabitha from the dead. He fearlessly testified about Christ before the Jewish leaders and the Sanhedrin. He was imprisoned twice and sentenced to death, but after an angel miraculously delivered him, he continued his preaching. He travelled to various countries in the East and West, and was martyred in Rome around the year 57. At the moment of his suffering, he asked to be crucified upside down, considering himself unworthy to die like the Lord.
The church poet glorifies the Holy Apostle Peter in this way: “Peter, the foundation of the apostles and the rock of the Church of Christ, you are the beginning of Christians, therefore, pasture the flock of your fold in the sanctuary, protect your lambs from lying wolves, and deliver your flock from severe troubles, for we have gained you as a true and vigilant intercessor with God, and in you we all boast, for through you we are saved” (the first stanza to the verses commemorating the holy apostles Peter and Paul).
Before he was elected to the seventy apostles, the name of the Apostle Paul was Saul, which means “prayed for.” He was a native of Tarsus, whose inhabitants enjoyed the rights of Roman citizens. He was educated under Gamaliel, the most famous Jewish law teacher of that time. Saul grew up as a fervent defender of the laws of his country and the traditions of his fathers. The evangelical sermons of the apostle aroused his strong indignation, and he became one of the main persecutors of Christians. But the Lord, seeing in him a “chosen vessel,” miraculously called him to the apostolic ministry. The Apostle Paul, like the Apostle Peter, worked hard to spread the Christian faith and is rightly revered next to him as a “pillar” of the Church of Christ and the high priest of the apostles. Both of them were martyred in Rome under Emperor Nero, and their memory is celebrated on the same day. Saint John Chrysostom testifies that everything concerning Saul’s conversion was not a human act, but a work of God’s love. The Apostle Paul – previously Saul, the persecutor of the Church of Christ – became such a zealous preacher of the Gospel Truth that today we know that he wrote most of the canonical books of the New Testament, the fourteen epistles.
Hymnography emphasizes the importance of the God-wise Apostle Paul, so in one stichera we sing: “Paul, hunterof the people and advocate of Christians, the light of the whole world, and the unutterable mouth of Christ, the living God, like the sun you have passed over the whole world, and preached the holy faith, therefore free from the bonds of sin all who praise you and who are adorned with your prayers” (the second stichera on the verses commemorating the holy apostles Peter and Paul).
In one of the stichera we sing: “You have given strength to Your Church, O Lord, the firmness of Peter and the understanding of Paul.” “The firmness of Peter” refers to courage in confessing faith and in suffering. The very name “Peter,” given by the Lord, means “rock,” because Peter confessed his Teacher as the Son of God. On the rock of this confession, this Orthodox faith in the Lord, Christ founded His Church. “The wisdom of Paul” is a miraculous power that has drawn human hearts to God for two thousand years.
Each of us Christians receives an inheritance from the Lord – a field that we are called to cultivate. This field is our soul; this earthly life is the time for its cultivation. Our first and most important duty is to take care of our field, our soul and its salvation. From whom should we learn this, if not from the holy apostles, the greatest workers who dedicated their entire earthly life to cultivating the field of Christ. The lives of the holy apostles not only provide us with a saving example, but also point us to the path of salvation. The holy apostles possessed in their hearts a firm faith and love for the One who sent them on this great work. Imitating their life, a Christian should also have a strong faith and love for the One whose name the holy apostles preached.
We often face sorrows in life, so in order to endure them with salvifically, let us first of all clothe ourselves with patience and pray fervently to the holy apostles Peter and Paul, our heavenly protectors, asking them, through their prayerful intercession, to help us acquire sacred simplicity, living faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, ardent love for the Lord, purity of life, meekness and humility. The holy first-principal apostles, if we only ask for their help with faith, will always strongly support us in the temptations that befall us, so that we can fulfill the commandment of love for God and neighbour. Rereading their words, we will always find in them an abundance of spiritual nourishment.
May the example of the Apostle Peter, who quickly recognized his sin and washed it away with tears of repentance, inspire us, the weak and powerless, who constantly fall into sin, to recognize our transgressions and offer the Lord the fruits of repentance. Let us also learn humility from the Holy Apostle Paul. Each of us must be humble before the Lord, we are called to be humble before one another too, not exalting ourselves in any way — even if there are external, earthly reasons for this — because each of us is weak and filled with sinful weaknesses.