Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Argument
Three things must here be prefaced according to custom: first, concerning the authority and dignity of this Epistle; second, concerning its subject matter; third, concerning its author.
As to the first. This Epistle is the legitimate work of St. Peter, and is Canonical Scripture, by the confession of all Catholics, and no one ever doubted it, as Eusebius testifies in book V of his History, chapter III; wherefore the councils, Popes, and Fathers who compose the catalogue of Canonical books undoubtedly place this Epistle therein. Jodocus Coccius cites them exactly and fully in the Thesaurus Catholicus, vol. I, book VI, page 720.
It was written at Rome (for he calls it Babylon as a witness in chapter 5, verse 13), sent through Silas, or Silvanus, chapter 5, verse 12, in the year, as it seems, from the nativity of Christ 45: in which year Peter arrived at Rome, and transferred the Pontifical See thither from Antioch. This is clear from the fact that at the end of the Epistle he brings in St. Mark greeting the faithful. St. Mark, however, departed from Rome, sent by St. Peter to Alexandria, in the year of Christ 45, having first written his Gospel at Rome, as I said in the Chronotaxis. This year of Christ 45 was the third year of the Emperor Claudius, the tenth from Paul's conversion.
This Epistle was written before all of Paul's Epistles. So says Baronius, who also adds that it appears from St. Jerome that it was written by St. Peter in Hebrew, but translated into Latin by St. Mark; but St. Jerome only says that St. Peter varied His style: namely, that the style of the second Epistle differs from the style of the first; which is true, even though we may say that both were written by him in the same Latin or Greek language. Interpreters generally judge that it was written in Greek, since it was addressed to Greeks, namely the Cappadocians, Asians, Bithynians, and Pontians: whence in doubtful matters they have recourse to the Greek text as if to the original.
Furthermore, it was written primarily to Christians converted to Christ from among the Jews, who were dispersed throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, as is clear from the title of the Epistle and from chapter III, verse 6. So says St. Athanasius in the Synopsis; Eusebius, book III of the History, chapter IV; St. Jerome, On Ecclesiastical Writers, in [the entry on] Peter; Didymus, Oecumenius, Bede, Cajetan, and Titelmann here, and as chapter I, verses 4, 8, 9, and Epistle II, chapter III, verses 15 and 16 will show. For these were the first Christians, whom St. Peter had a little before converted by his preaching; whose particular care he therefore undertook, as is clear from Galatians. Yet secondarily and consequently it was written also to Christians converted from paganism. For St. Peter had been created by Christ as Pastor, Bishop, and universal Pontiff of these as well as of those, John 22:45 [21:15]. Hence in chapter II, verse 10, he confirms and celebrates the calling of the Gentiles from Hosea, chapter II, verse 10. He insinuates the same thing in chapter I, verse 18, and chapter IV, verse 3; Epistle II, chapter I, verse 1. So St. Augustine, book XXII Against Faustus, chapter LXXXIX; St. Thomas, Bede, the Gloss, Lyranus here; Ribera on Hosea II, number 4, and others. St. Boniface, the first Bishop of Mainz and Apostle of Germany, who fell as a martyr in Friesland, esteemed St. Peter's Epistles so highly that he requested they be copied for him in golden letters by the Abbess Eadburga, as is clear from his epistle in Baronius, vol. IX, page 39. Formerly five books circulated under St. Peter's name, namely the Acts, Preaching, Gospel, Apocalypse, and Judgment, but they were of suspect authenticity and spurious, as St. Jerome testifies in his book On Ecclesiastical Writers, in [the entry on] Peter, and Rufinus in his Exposition of the Symbol. So too the Itinerary published under the name of St. Peter by St. Clement, Gelasius placed among the apocrypha in the chapter Sancta Romana, distinction 15.
As to the second. The subject of the Epistle is twofold. The first concerns faith, the second concerns morals. For first he confirms and celebrates the admirable counsel and benefit of God concerning the Word's incarnation, passion, redemption, the calling of the Jews and Gentiles to the grace, salvation, and eternal glory of Christ. For he says this is the orthodox doctrine foretold by the Prophets and preached by the Apostles at God's command, which they should therefore constantly follow and retain, and for the defense of which they should bravely undergo all hardships, even death and martyrdom itself. Wherefore he exhorts all by Christ's example to endurance of persecutions and to constancy in the faith.
Secondly, he passes from faith to morals, and forms them according to Christ's norm and discipline. He therefore teaches that Christians ought to obey kings, princes, and magistrates even though they be heathen; slaves their masters, wives their husbands, youths their elders, the faithful their pastors and teachers, and conversely teaches what husbands owe to their wives, and pastors to their subjects. He exhorts to prudence, vigilance in prayers, mutual charity, hospitality, patience, humility, and temperance. But above all he renews and inculcates patience and the example of the suffering Christ, and that in every chapter, because the Christians then new, on account of Christ's new religion, were everywhere suffering many things from Jews and Gentiles, not only words and reproaches, but also plundering, prisons, scourgings, death, and martyrdom. It is written with Apostolic majesty and spirit, sublime and exulting. For he profoundly examines and admires the goods hidden in Christ and in Christ's cross and redemption, imparted to us from heaven.
Note: The same maxims are repeatedly found in St. Peter, St. Paul, St. James, and John; the reason for which is: First, that all the Apostles were moved by the same Holy Spirit, who suggested the same truths and maxims to them, and that as testimony both of truth and of concord. Second, that they all had the same understandings and judgments concerning the Christian virtues: but where the conception and understanding are the same, easily the same speech and maxim follow: for the word of the mouth corresponds to the word of the mind; for it is begotten and produced from it. Third, that, as before their separation they put forth a common Symbol of faith, so it is also likely that they used in common discourse, as well as in teaching and sermons, several of the same Christian gnomes and axioms, to form the morals of the faithful, which they afterwards committed to writing. Such are: that the Christian is to rejoice in tribulation; that those who suffer persecution are blessed; that we are to exult in the adoption as sons of God made through Christ; that we are to hope for the unfading crown of glory; that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble; that charity is the fullness of the law; that charity covers a multitude of sins; that we are to lay up treasure in heaven, not on earth; that our conversation ought to be in heaven; that we are always to pray, to overcome evil with good; to glory in the hope of eternal life; to be zealous for almsgiving and the salvation of souls.
As to the third. The author of the Epistle is St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, who was born at Bethsaida in Galilee, and living by fishing, was called by Christ and made His vicar on earth, and Pastor and Pontiff of the whole Church: concerning whose admirable wisdom, penance, austerity, charity, zeal, propagation of the faith throughout the whole world (into which He Himself sent His disciples to evangelize), passion, martyrdom, privileges, miracles, veneration, fame, and glory, see Baronius and other historians. Indeed Dionysius the Areopagite, On the Divine Names, chapter III, calls St. Peter the supreme glory, the heavenly ornament, the highest summit of the head, the strongest and most ancient base and column of theologians. For Peter is not only the monarch of the Church, but also, after Christ, the foundational rock. For this reason Christ called him Peter, when before he was called Simon, to signify that he would be the rock of the Faith and of the Church, which neither tyrants, nor philosophers, nor heretics, nor wicked men, I do not say overthrow, but could not even shake. This is what Christ, who is the eternal Truth, promised him, saying: "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 (upon thee, namely, whom I call and make Cephas, that is, the rock of the Church) I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give 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," Matt. 16:17. Again, Christ said to Peter alone among all the Apostles, and commanded him three times: "Feed My sheep," John 21. And about to go to the cross and to death: "Simon," He said, "behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren," Luke 22:32.
From these promises and gifts of Christ, gather the supreme authority of St. Peter and his most ample privileges. For twelve privileges were granted by Christ to St. Peter alone with respect to the whole Church (for I omit the private ones; see them in Bellarmine, book I On the Roman Pontiff, chapter 17 and following). And the first, that he was created by Christ the rock and foundation of the Church. "Since I (Christ) am the inviolable rock, etc., yet thou also art a rock, because thou art made firm by My strength, so that those things which are proper to Me by power may be common to Me with thee by participation," says St. Leo, Sermon 3 On the Anniversary of His Pontificate. Cephas therefore is Cepha. Peter is Petra, namely "Cephalon, and the immovable rock of the Capitol."
Second, that Peter was the head, superior, ruler, and judge of all the Apostles. Wherefore St. Jerome, in epistle 89 to St. Augustine: "So great," he says, "was the authority of Peter, that Paul wrote in his Epistle: Then after three years I went to Jerusalem to see Peter." Theodoret, epistle to Leo: "Paul," he says, "the herald of truth, the trumpet of the Most Holy Spirit, ran to the great Peter, that from him he might bring a solution to those who at Antioch were contending about the legal observances." Hence also St. Evodius, successor of St. Peter in the see of Antioch, in the Epistle called "The Light," teaches that Christ baptized only the Virgin His mother among women, only Peter among men: but that by Peter were baptized Andrew, James, and John, and by them the rest. And St. Epiphanius, heresy 51: "He chose Peter," he says, "to be leader of the disciples."
Third, that St. Peter was the hierarch, and that from him every hierarchical order — namely the ordination as well as the jurisdiction of all bishops, priests, and the rest of the Church's ministers — descends. Whence Innocent, in the epistle to the Council of Carthage, which is the 91st among the epistles of St. Augustine: "From whom (Peter)," he says, "the episcopate itself and the whole authority of this name emerged." Julius I, epistle 1 to the Easterns: "The see of Blessed Peter the Apostle," he says, "is to us the mother of priestly dignity." St. Leo, sermon 3 On the Anniversary of his Assumption to the Pontificate: "If," he says, "the Lord wished anything to be common to the other princes with him (Peter), He never gave it except through him whatever He did not deny to the others." The same, epistle 89: "The sacrament of this office," he says, "the Lord wished to pertain to the office of all the Apostles in such a way that He principally placed it in the Most Blessed Peter, the chief of all the Apostles; so that from him as from a kind of head, He might pour His gifts as if into the whole body."
Fourth, that Christ promised and gave to St. Peter and his successors the assistance of the Holy Spirit, for governing the Church and for teaching the true faith, so that he cannot err in it, but that whomever he condemns of heresy, the whole Church likewise condemns as a heretic. Whence Innocent I, in the epistle to the Council of Mileve, which is the 93rd in St. Augustine: "As often," he says, "as a question of faith is ventilated, I judge that all our brothers and fellow bishops ought to refer it to none other than to Peter, that is, to the author of their name and honor." This is clear from the usage and practice of all centuries. For the Roman Pontiffs declared and resolved all doubts in matters of faith, and condemned all heresies.
Fifth, that Peter and every Pontiff represents the person and authority of Christ; just as a viceroy represents a king. Hence Peter was most similar to Christ and most closely conjoined with Him in life, zeal, propagation of the faith, death, and martyrdom. Whence St. Gregory in Psalm IV of the Penitential: "To Peter," he says, "Christ said: I come to Rome to be crucified again. For He who had long ago been crucified in Himself, said He was to be crucified again in Peter." And Tertullian, book On Prescriptions: "Thou hast," he says, "Rome whence authority is at hand to us also. Happy Church, into which the Apostles poured all their doctrine with their blood, where Peter is made equal to the Lord's passion, where Paul is crowned with John's exit." And St. Maximus, sermon 5 On the Birthday of the Holy Apostles: "Peter," he says, "and Paul endured martyrdom in the city of Rome, which holds the primacy and head of the nations, so that namely where the head of superstition was, there the head of holiness might rest." And St. Paulinus, On the Birthday 3 of St. Felix:
"And Rome herself, mighty through Peter and Paul,
with the sacred monuments of her heavenly chiefs."
Sixth, that St. Peter and his successors the Roman Pontiffs preside over the whole Church as monarchs; and therefore make the Church one, and the kingdom and monarchy of Christ one. For just as there is one empire which has one emperor, one kingdom which is ruled by one king, one universe which one God founded and governs, one heaven which one sun illuminates: so likewise the Church could not be one visible kingdom of Christ unless it had one visible head, to whom the whole was subject, and by whom it was governed; which can be none other than St. Peter and his successors: just as the human body cannot consist without one head; otherwise it would be acephalous, lacking reason, rule, and ruler. Whence St. Ambrose, sermon 11: "The Lord," he says, "mounted only this ship of the Church, in which Peter was established as master, the Lord saying: Upon this rock I will build My Church. For just as Noah's ark, when the world was being shipwrecked, preserved unharmed all whom it had received; so also the Church of Peter, when the age burns up, will present unharmed all whom it embraces; and just as then, after the flood was passed, a dove brought the sign of peace to Noah's ark: so also, after the judgment is passed, Christ will restore the joy of peace to the Church of Peter." And St. Augustine, sermon 124 On the Season, treating of the penance of St. Peter: "In the very head of the Church," he says, "He cures the disease of the whole body; in the very summit He composes the health of all the members." And St. Leo, sermon 3 On the Anniversary of his Assumption to the Pontificate: "From so great a world," he says, "one Peter is chosen, who is set both over the calling of all nations, and over all the Apostles and all the Fathers of the Church: so that although in the people of God there are many priests and many pastors, yet Peter properly rules all those whom Christ principally rules." Just therefore as a member of the body cannot be that which is separated from the head, and which is not vivified and governed by the strength and influx of the head: so likewise he cannot be a member of the Church who is separated from Peter and the Roman Pontiff by schism or heresy; nor does he belong to the fold of Christ who does not pertain to Peter's flock: for those whom Christ cares for and governs, He cares for and governs through Peter His Pastor. Whence St. Jerome, in epistle 1 to Damasus, on the name of hypostasis: "I know," he says, "that the Church was built upon that rock (the see of Peter): whoever shall eat the lamb outside this house is profane: if anyone shall not be in Noah's ark, he will perish when the flood reigns." And below: "Whoever does not gather with thee (O Pope Damasus) scatters: that is, he who is not Christ's is Antichrist's." St. Cyprian, book I, epistle 8 to the People: "God," he says, "is one, and Christ is one, and the Church is one, and the chair is one, founded by the Lord's voice upon Peter. Another altar cannot be set up, or a new priesthood made besides the one altar and the one priesthood. Whoever gathers elsewhere scatters." The same, epistle 3 to Cornelius, book I: "For," he says, "heresies have not arisen elsewhere, nor have schisms been born, than from this: that the priest of God is not obeyed, and that one in the Church for a time is not thought of as priest, and for a time as judge in the place of Christ, to whom if the universal fraternity obeyed according to the divine teachings, no one would stir up anything against the college of priests."
Seventh, that the right and command of Peter is not only more sublime, but also more ample than that of any Kings and Emperors, both because it extends to the faithful dispersed throughout the whole world; and because it pertains also to the infidels, that he should take care that they be aggregated to Christ and the Church; and because it stretches itself to cannibals, Indians, and Barbarians, who live without king, without law, without God. Whence St. Prosper in his Poem on the Ungrateful:
"Rome, the See of Peter, which made the head of pastoral honor
to the world, whatever she does not possess by arms,
she holds by religion."
St. Cyril in the Thesaurus: "To Peter," he says, "all by divine right bow their heads, and the chiefs of the world obey as if to the Lord Jesus Himself." And again: "We who are members ought to adhere to our head, the Roman Pontiff, and to the Apostolic See." Wherefore the ancients in Canonical letters (which they called "formed" letters), so as to testify that the bearer of them was of the orthodox faith and Catholic communion, inscribed the name of Peter. For in the Formatae, by the decree of the Council of Nicaea, they inscribed these names as a token of the true faith, by their first letters: "Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Peter. Amen," to signify that the bearer of them had communion with the chair and successor of St. Peter, the Roman Pontiff, and was therefore Catholic. Whence Optatus of Mileve, book II, to prove himself Catholic, but the Donatists schismatics, enumerating the Pontiffs who sat in the chair of Peter up to Siricius, adds: "This is our colleague, with whom for us the whole world, by the exchange of the Formatae, agrees in one society of communion." But concerning the Donatists he subjoins that they are far from communicating by the Formatae with the chair of St. Peter. See Baronius, in the year of Christ 325.
Eighth, the right and command of St. Peter pertains not only to the earth, but also to those below and above. For he opens heaven not only to earth-born men, but also to souls in Purgatory. For he himself is the key-bearer of heaven: for he received its keys from Christ, Matthew chapter 16. Whence Arator at the end of the Acts of the Apostles:
"And worthy material for the crown of Peter and Paul,
to overcome Caesar's threats, and in the citadel of the tyrant
to unfold the laws of heaven, and in the supreme contest
to conquer the tribunal, lest a small enemy should reach their titles."
St. Bernard, book II On Consideration to Eugenius: "Thou," he says, "canst close heaven to a bishop, thou canst depose him from the Episcopate, and even hand him over to Satan." And Optatus of Mileve, book VII Against Parmenian: "For the good of unity," he says, "Blessed Peter merited to be preferred to all the Apostles, and alone received the keys of the kingdom of heaven to be communicated to the rest, etc. So many innocent ones stand by, and a sinner receives the keys: in order that the business of unity might be formed, it was provided that a sinner should open to the innocent, lest the innocent should close against sinners, and the unity which is necessary could not exist." And Peter Chrysologus, sermon 107: "Peter," he says, "is the guardian of the faith, the rock of the Church and the door-keeper of heaven."
Ninth, the power of St. Peter is propagated to his successors, and although the other Patriarchates fail, it endures unshaken to the present day for 1600 years, and will endure until the end of the world. Whence St. Cyprian, book I, epistle 3 to Pope Cornelius: "They dare," he says, "to sail to the chair of Peter and to the principal Church, whence priestly unity arose, to bring letters from schismatics and profane men: nor do they consider that they are Romans, to whom perfidy cannot have access." And St. Jerome, epistle 1 to Damasus, on the name of hypostasis: "I speak," he says, "with the successor of the fisherman and disciple of the cross. I am united to thy beatitude, that is, to the chair of Peter, by communion." Hence in the First Council of Ephesus, vol. II, chapter 16, Pope Celestine of Rome is called "the ordinary successor and Vicar of Blessed Peter, the Prince of the Apostles." And in the Council of Chalcedon, action 2, when Pope Leo's Epistle had been read, all acclaimed: "Peter has spoken through Leo;" and in the epistle to Leo, the whole Council says: "Leo was the interpreter of the voice of Peter," that is, Peter spoke through Leo. Peter, Bishop of Ravenna, in the epistle to Eutyches, which is found before the Council of Chalcedon: "We exhort thee, brother," he says, "that thou obediently attend to those things which have been written by the Blessed Pope of the city of Rome. Because Blessed Peter, who lives and presides in his own see, supplies to those who seek the truth of faith." Pope St. Siricius, epistle to Himerius, Bishop of Tarragona: "We bear," he says, "the burdens of all who are oppressed. Indeed, the Blessed Apostle Peter bears these in us, who in all things, as we trust, protects and guards us as heirs of his administration."
Tenth, the power and dignity of St. Peter surpasses the power of Abraham, Moses, Aaron, Melchizedek, and of all the ancient Pontiffs, Patriarchs, and Prophets, and was foreshadowed and prefigured by all of them. Hear St. Bernard to Pope Eugenius, book II On Consideration: "Who art thou? A great priest, the supreme Pontiff. Thou art the prince of bishops, thou art the heir of the Apostles. Thou art Abel in primacy, Noah in governance, Abraham in patriarchate, Melchizedek in order, Aaron in dignity, Moses in authority, Samuel in judgment, Peter in power, Christ in anointing. Thou art he to whom the keys have been delivered, to whom the sheep have been entrusted, etc.; and not only of the sheep, but also of the Pastors, thou alone art the pastor of all."
Eleventh, St. Peter, through the disciples sent by him, founded Churches throughout the whole world. Thus had bishops appointed by St. Peter: Sicily — Pancratius, Marcianus, Beryllus; Capua — Priscus; Naples — Asprenas; Terracina — Epaphroditus; the Equicolan people — Marcus; Nepi — Ptolemy; Fiesole — Romulus; Lucca — Paulinus; Ravenna — Apollinaris; Verona — Euprepius; Padua — Prosdocimus; Pavia — Syrus; Aquileia — Hermagoras; in Gaul, the Limousins, Bordelais, and Toulousians — Martial; the Tongerlanders, Colognians, and Trevirans — Maternus; the Rhemes — Sixtus; the Arles — Trophimus; the Senones — Sabinian; the Cenomans — Julian; Vienna and Mainz — Crescens; Châlons — Memmius; Bourges — Urgin; the Auvergne — Austremonius; the Saintes — Eutropius; Germany — Eucharius, Egistus, Marcianus; Spain — Torquatus, Ctesiphon, Secundus, Indalesius, Caecilius, Hesychius, etc., as is clear from the Martyrology. That St. Peter also gave the Byzantines their first bishop is taught by Pope Agapetus in the letters which are recited in the Fifth Synod, action 2. If we believe Metaphrastes on June 29, Peter, driven from Rome by Claudius in the 9th year of his reign, sailed to Africa, and erected the Church of Carthage, and set over it Crescens his disciple; thence he went to Alexandria, and having erected the Alexandrian Church, and there appointed Mark as bishop, and Rufus at Thebes, he set out for Jerusalem.
Historians of the affairs of England relate that St. Peter sent Joseph of Arimathea into England for the sake of evangelizing; others say that St. Peter himself set out for England and converted the English. Indeed from of old wondrous was St. Peter's pastoral care toward the English and conversely the devotion of the English toward St. Peter. To omit other things, it is memorable what Alredus, Cistercian abbot, who flourished in the year of the Lord 1164, writes in the Life of St. Edward, King of the English, namely: "When England was being devastated by the Danes, with the royal line extinct, and was nearest to ruin and destruction, a certain Bishop ardently poured out prayers to God for her with sighs and groans, and presently St. Peter appeared to him and said that St. Edward would be born, and that he would be a just, holy, and strong king, who would heal all these evils of England. For the kingdom of the English is the kingdom of Christ, and his own. So it was done: the outcome confirmed the truth of the oracle. For this reason St. Edward was wonderfully devoted to St. Peter, and St. Peter in turn was beneficent toward him," as I showed in Acts vii, 3. Let the English hear and read these things, that they may see from what great a pastor they have departed, and by right of return come back to him, and venerate him in his successor the Roman Pontiff. So they will feel his former care and aid. Hear Pope Innocent I, epistle 4: "It is manifest," he says, "that throughout all Italy, the Gauls, Spains, Africa and Sicily, and the intervening islands, no men instituted Churches, except those whom the venerable Apostle Peter, or his successors, constituted as priests."
Finally St. Chrysostom, homily 32 on the Epistle to the Romans: "Not so does heaven shine," he says, "when the sun emits its rays from itself, as does the city of the Romans, pouring forth those two lamps everywhere throughout the lands. Hence Paul shall be snatched up, hence Peter. Consider and shudder at what spectacle Rome shall behold, namely Paul suddenly rising with Peter from that case to be borne up to meet the Lord." And Elpis, the wife of Boethius, in the hymn On the Apostles:
"O happy Rome, who art empurpled
with the precious blood of such great princes!
Not by thine own praise, but by their merits,
thou dost surpass all the beauty of the world."
And St. Leo, sermon 2 On the Birthday of the Apostles: "The Church," he says, "is not diminished by persecutions, but increased, and always the Lord's field is clothed with a richer crop, while the grains which fall one by one are born multiplied. Whence to what great offspring those two illustrious shoots of the divine seed have germinated, the thousands of Blessed Martyrs testify, who as emulators of the Apostolic triumphs empurpled our city, and surrounded it far and wide with peoples reddening, and as if from the honor of many gems woven together, crowned it with one diadem."
Furthermore, Nicephorus, book II, chapter 37, paints the likeness of St. Peter from ancient images thus: "Peter indeed was of no thick stature of body, but rather somewhat upright, with a somewhat pale and very white face; the hair both of his head and of his beard was curly and thick, but not very prominent; his eyes as if sprinkled with blood (because he is reported to have wept continually), black; his eyebrows nearly plucked out; his nose was indeed somewhat long, yet not ending in a point, but rather pressed and snub."
Clement of Alexandria, book VII of the Stromata, relates that the wife of St. Peter was crowned with martyrdom: "They say," he says, "that Blessed Peter, when he had seen his wife led to death, did indeed rejoice on account of her vocation, and that she was returning home, yet, vehemently exhorting and addressing her by her own name, said: 'Hey, thou, remember the Lord.' Such was the marriage of the blessed." He is reported to have begotten by her St. Petronilla, who, being sought in marriage by Flaccus on account of her beauty, obtained death by her prayers from God, lest she lose the honor of her virginity: whose relics we venerate at Rome in the basilica of St. Peter.
St. Peter, with St. Paul, met a glorious martyrdom at Rome, because he had overthrown Simon Magus (who was in Nero's favor on account of his magical arts), crucified head downward, feet upward, as he had requested (lest he be made equal to Christ the Lord), in the Vatican, in the year of the Lord 69, the 13th and penultimate of Nero's reign, on the 29th day of June, after he had sat at Rome 24 years, 3 months, 11 days. Whence Tertullian, book On Prescriptions, chapter 36: "At Rome," he says, "Peter is made equal to the Lord's passion, because he was crucified as Christ was." And in the Scorpiace, chapter 14: "The faith rising at Rome, Nero was the first to make bloody: then Peter is girded by another, when he is bound to the cross." And St. Chrysostom, homily on the Prince of the Apostles: "Rejoice," he says, "O Peter, who hast enjoyed the wood of the cross, and to the likeness of thy Master indeed in upright posture, as our Lord, didst not wish to be crucified, but rather with head inverted, as if preparing a journey from earth to heaven. O those blessed nails, which pierced through those most holy members!" He was likewise buried in the Vatican beside the Triumphal Way: which place of burial Constantine the Great, Emperor, adorned with a magnificent basilica, which in this age the Popes have built anew from the foundations, but far larger, over a hundred years, so august and magnificent that it seems to be the marvel of the city and of the world.
Christians from every age and from the whole world have been accustomed to visit her for religion's sake, and to prostrate themselves prone before his very threshold, and to venerate Saint Peter and humbly to implore his aid. Hear St. Augustine, sermon 28 On the Saints: "Now to the memory of the Fisherman the knees of the Emperor are bent: there shine the gems of the diadem, where shine the benefits of the Fisherman." And epistle 42 to the Madaurians: "You see," he says, "the most eminent summit of the most noble empire, supplicating with diadem laid aside at the tomb of the fisherman Peter." And St. Chrysostom, homily that Christ is God: "Leaving all things, kings, and rulers, and soldiers run to the tombs of the fisherman and of the leather-worker (Paul who made tents from skins): and at Constantinople our kings think it a great grace, if not near the Apostles, but if even outside their vestibules their bodies are buried, and kings become door-keepers of fishermen."
At Rome therefore, where Peter the martyr fell, there also as victor he rose again, and having overthrown Nero, the Emperors, and idolatry, he as triumpher occupies the city and the world: from the Vatican he watches over, directs, and defends Rome, and the Roman faith and Church, as the mother, mistress, and lady of all Churches; so that hitherto heresy and perfidy have not been able to overthrow her, nor will they ever overthrow her; because, namely, she is built upon the firm rock, so that the gates of hell cannot prevail against her. Look down upon us from on high, St. Peter, and protect thy citizens, indeed clients and sons, and through the storms of this life direct us into the way of eternal salvation, that, the course of this pilgrimage being completed, with thee opening the gates of heaven we may merit to enter, and with thee to enjoy our Lord Jesus Christ for eternity. Amen.