Today we celebrate the feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle. If you go to the far back of St. Peter's Basilica, under the famous glass window of the Holy Spirit, you can find the Chair descending from Heaven adorned by angels, patriarchs, and bishops, and a plume of clouds carved in bronze by Bernini. It's quite impressive and thoroughly Baroque.
We are not, of course, honoring that chair suspended from the wall by brackets and screws. We are honoring what the chair represents: the Petrine Office, the Holy See, the mission, burden, and privelege of those who walk in the Shoes of the Fisherman. This is no light matter, as the architecture in the Basilica suggests. The world- nay, heaven itself- hangs suspended on the keys of St. Peter-- the authority given to Simon Peter by Christ to bind and loose.
"Tu es Petrus!" Jesus says in Matthew's Gospel.
What we find in Matthew 16 is the story of a humble fisherman elevated to a status he clearly did not comprehend or seemingly deserve. Even this is not remarkable within the history of the Church, but it confounds many who reflect on Scripture that so short-sighted, blundering, and impulsive a man would be ordained the Vicar of Christ and given all authority in Heaven and Earth. And yet Pentecost reveals the true nature of Simon Peter...the true nature of us all. Christ sees with a wisdom we cannot attain, merely learn in awe. Even those tangled in sin have the opportunity through Christ to be extraordinary!
I find it curious that this feast should coincide with the celebration of George Washington, our nation's first president. Aside from the fact that they were both Primae, there is the parallel that Washington too was a reluctant leader. True he was popularly acclaimed, but he never asked for the office of President. He merely set the finest precedent for those who would succeed him. Like Simon Peter, he was ever humble, and longed to return to his farm.
Great men are not necessarily born in the loftiest stations. Washington had sufficient education to be a farmer; St. Peter was a fisherman. Christ, the Savior of us all, was born in a stable. Appearances are not always what they seem.
2/22/2005
Quite a day
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from Zenit news article
By Elizabeth Lev
ROME, MARCH 3, 2005 (Zenit.org).-
The fashions of winter awards ceremonies found a worthy counterpart at St. Peter's Basilica this week. Bright lights and magnificent fashions adorned the basilica for the liturgical feast of Peter's Chair, on Feb. 22.
No catwalk or red carpet here, but the imposing marble nave of St. Peter's. Instead of paparazzi flashbulbs, the apse was lit with hundreds of candles arrayed around the bronze monument of the Cathedra of St. Peter designed in 1660 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
For this feast, St. Peter too dons festive garb. The ancient bronze statue of the prince of the apostles is well known to pilgrims who have caressed and kissed his feet over the centuries, wearing the toes to a smooth, nondescript mass.
But for his feast day the regal figure of the fisherman is cloaked in a heavy red robe. This mantle is fastened with a large gilt pin in the form of a dove. A large jeweled tiara is placed on his head and the parts of the statue left visible besides the head are the arm raised in blessing, the hand holding the keys and the worn little foot peeking out from under the hem of the robe.
The feast of St. Peter's Chair celebrates the day that St. Peter took up his mission as Bishop and held his first liturgical service at Antioch where he remained for seven years before moving on to Rome, where he served for 25 years until his martyrdom under Emperor Nero.
The feast of his Chair at Antioch falls on Feb. 22, while the feast of St. Peter's Chair in Rome used to fall on Jan. 18. They were both Roman feasts and celebrated grandly in the city, the first by the catacombs of Priscilla where tradition said, "St. Peter first sat, where Peter baptized," and the second in the Vatican basilica.
The Vatican ceremony in the splendid church built by Emperor Constantine involved two thrones. The first was a marble seat from which the pope celebrated the pontifical Mass surrounded by the Roman clergy. The second was a movable chair, made of wood, which was brought out only on Feb. 22. The pope sat in this throne as newly baptized Christians would file in from the baptistery to be confirmed by him.
The latter celebration was far more magnificent as well as closer to the city and as the years passed the first feast gravitated toward and was absorbed into the Feb 22 date. This was further enhanced by the belief that on this day Peter has been designated by Christ as the "rock" upon which Our Lord would "build my church."
The ancient wooden throne, patched and inlaid with ivory, was brought out for centuries for the feast, and until the papacy took up residence in Avignon, it was also brought out for the papal coronation.
Believed to have been originally in the Church of St. Prisca, the throne was transferred to the baptismal chapel of St. Peter's in the late fourth century by Pope Damasus.
Today it is incorporated into the immense bronze Bernini monument "Cathedra Petri," soaring above the altar. When the light of the afternoon sun comes streaming through the alabaster-paned window, the throne is bathed in a golden glow symbolizing divine light illuminating the authority of St. Peter.
Visitors to the basilica can see an exact copy of the chair as well as the miter used on the statue of St. Peter in the Treasury Museum of the church.
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