Житие, подвиги и страдание святого славного и всехвального верховного Апостола Петра

The brother of the first-called Apostle Andrew, the holy Apostle Peter, who bore the name Simon before being called by the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of the Jew Jonah from the tribe of Simeon, came from Bethsaida, an insignificant and little-known Galilean town in Palestine. He took as his wife the daughter of Aristobulus, brother of the holy Apostle Barnabas, and had children from her: one son and one daughter. Simon was a simple-minded and unbookish man; imbued with the fear of God, he kept all the commandments of the Lord, “walking before Him blameless in all his deeds.” Simon's occupation was fishing; With this labor of his hands, he, like a poor man, earned food for his family, feeding his wife, children, mother-in-law and his elderly father Jonah. Simon's brother Andrew, neglecting the vanity of the rebellious world, embarked on the path of a celibate life: he went to the Jordan to Saint John the Baptist, who preached about repentance (Matthew 3:1-17), and became his disciple. Hearing the testimony of his teacher about Christ the Messiah and especially his words pointing his finger at the Lord: “Behold the Lamb of God” (John 1:29-36), Andrei left John and, together with another baptismal disciple, followed the Lord’s footsteps, asking Him: “Go and see,” the Savior answered them. They went and saw where He lived, and stayed with Him that day (John 1:38-39). The next morning Andrei came to his brother Simon and said to him: – We have found the Messiah, Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said: – You are Simon, son of Jonah, you will be called Cephas, which means stone (Peter) 4205 (John 1:41–42). And immediately Saint Peter was inflamed with love for the Lord, believing in Him as the true Christ, sent by God to save the world. But he still did not leave his home and did not abandon his occupation, providing his family with the necessities of life; in this, for the sake of his elderly father, sometimes his brother Andrei helped Simon; This is how they lived until the time they were called by the Lord to apostolic service. Once, after the imprisonment of John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus Christ walked near the Sea of Galilee (it is also known as the Sea of Tiberias or the Lake of Gennesaret) and, seeing Peter and Andrew casting nets into the sea, he said to them: – Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men (Matthew 4:18–20). What kind of fishermen the Lord wanted to make them - He foretold this by miraculously catching fish. Entering Simon-Peter's boat, Christ commanded him to cast his nets, to which Peter replied: - Mentor! We worked all night and caught nothing; but according to Your word I will let down the net. Having done this, they caught a great many fish, and even their net broke, which was a prototype of the spiritual apostolic fishing - the apostles had to catch many nations to save those who were caught in the Word of God. Seeing such a miracle, Simon Peter fell at the knees of Jesus and said: - Get away from me, Lord! Because I am a sinful person. Horror seized him and all those who were with him from this fishing of the fish they caught. In response to Peter, who called on the Lord to leave him, the Savior, on the contrary, calls on him to follow Him: - Come after Me - from now on you will catch people for life, just as you previously caught fish for death. From that time on, the holy Apostle Peter followed Christ, as did his brother Andrew, and other newly called disciples. The Lord loved the Apostle Peter for his simple-heartedness: he visited the poor house of Simon, where with the touch of his hand he healed his mother-in-law, who was lying in a fever. And when in the morning the Lord, having risen, went off to pray in a deserted place, Peter and those who were with him, not tolerating even one hour of being without the Lord, followed Him, diligently looking for their beloved Teacher; and having found Him, they said to Him: – Everyone is looking for You, Lord (Mark 1:30–37). And the holy Apostle Peter did not leave the Lord, but was constantly with Him, enjoying His sight and His words “sweeter than honey.” He was an eyewitness to many great miracles of the Lord, clearly pointing to Christ as the Son of God, in whom he believed without any doubt. And just as he believed with his heart “in the truth,” so he confessed with his lips “for salvation.” When the Lord came to the countries of Caesarea Philippi 4206, He asked His disciples: – Who do people say that I, the Son of Man, am? - Some for John the Baptist, others for Elijah, and others for Jeremiah or one of the prophets. - Who do you think I am? – You are Christ, the Son of the Living God. The Lord honored this true confession of the Apostle with blessings and promises; He said to Saint Peter: “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven; and I say to you: you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it; and I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven 4207. Burning with warm love for the Lord, the holy Apostle Peter wished that no evil would touch Him; therefore, when the Lord predicted His suffering, he contradicted Him, saying out of ignorance: - Be merciful to yourself, Lord! Let this not happen to you! Although these words of the Apostle were not pleasing to the Lord Jesus, Who came for this purpose in order to redeem the human race from destruction through His suffering, nevertheless they were inspired by zealous love for the Lord; In addition, the kindness of the Apostle was revealed in them: having heard the reproachful word of the Lord, “Get away from Me, Satan!” 4208 You are an offense to Me,” the Apostle did not feel angry irritation and did not withdraw from Christ the Savior, but, having listened with love to the reproach, he followed the Lord with even greater zeal (Matthew 16:13–23). One day, many of the disciples, who could not comprehend the words of the Lord 4209, said about them: – What strange words! Who can listen to this? And then they walked away from the Savior and no longer walked with Him. Then the Lord Jesus said to the twelve: “Would you like to leave too?” - God! Who should we go to? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and known that You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God (John 6:53–58). Having such faith and such zeal for the Lord, the holy Apostle Peter dared to ask Him for permission to come to Him on the water 4210. The Lord did not forbid this. Then the holy Apostle Peter, getting out of the boat, “walked on the water to come to Jesus.” But not having, before receiving the Holy Spirit, perfect firmness in faith, he, “seeing a strong wind, was afraid and, beginning to drown, shouted: Jesus immediately stretched out his hand, supported him, and said to him: “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:28–31). The Lord, who delivered the holy Apostle from drowning, also delivered him from lack of faith, when he said to him 4211: – I prayed for you, so that your faith would not fail (Luke 22:31–32). Together with two other disciples, James and John, the holy Apostle Peter was honored to see the glory of the Transfiguration of the Lord revealed to them on Tabor and to hear with his own ears the voice of God the Father coming from above to the Lord Jesus. The holy Apostle mentions this in his epistle: “We announced to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, not by following cunningly woven fables, but by being eyewitnesses of His greatness. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when such a voice came to Him from the magnificent glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And we heard this voice coming from heaven while we were with Him on the holy mountain. 4212 When the Lord approached His free suffering and death on the cross, then the holy Apostle Peter revealed his zeal for the Lord not only in words, saying: - God! I am ready to go with You to prison and to death (Luke 22:33), but also in deed, drawing a sword and cutting off the ear of the bishop’s servant Malchus with a blow (John 18:10). Although God, in His discretion, allowed the Apostle Peter to fall into threefold denial of Christ the Savior, our Lord, he rebelled and corrected himself through true repentance, combined with bitter sobs (Matt. 26:69–75). Saint Peter, the first of all the Apostles, was honored to see the risen Lord Jesus Christ, as the holy evangelist Luke says about this: “The Lord has truly risen and appeared to Simon” (Luke 24:34); The Holy Apostle Paul writes about the same thing: Christ “rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures and appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve” (1 Cor. 15:4-5). Having seen the Lord, Saint Peter was filled with inexpressible joy, receiving from Him the merciful forgiveness of his sin. He finally erased his threefold renunciation of the Lord by a threefold confession of his love for the Savior, answering His question threefold: - Simon Ionin! do you love me? - God! You know everything; You know that I love You. And Christ the Savior restored Peter to apostolic dignity, making him a shepherd of the verbal sheep and giving him the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven (John 21:15–17). After the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, Saint Peter, as the supreme among the Apostles, appeared as the first teacher and preacher of the Word of God, acquiring in one hour the Church of Christ up to three thousand believing souls (Acts 2:14-41). At the same time, he discovered great miraculous power. Entering the church with Saint John for prayer, Saint Peter saw a man lame from birth, sitting at the doors of the church, called Red. He saw Peter and John and asked them for alms. Peter and John looked at him and said: And he looked at them intently, hoping to get something from them. But Peter said: - I don’t have silver or gold; and what I have I give to you: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise and walk. And taking him by the right hand, he raised him up; and suddenly his feet and knees became stronger, and he jumped up and began to walk, and entered the church with them, walking and jumping and praising God. Through this miracle and the preaching of the holy Apostle Peter, about five thousand people believed in Christ (Acts 3:1-26; 4:4). Saint Peter killed the inhabitants of Jerusalem Ananias and his wife Sapphira with a word for blasphemy and lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1-10). In Lydda 4213, he healed the paralytic Aeneas, who had been lying on his bed for eight years, saying to him: – Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you! (Acts 9:32–34) In Joppa 4214 he raised the dead maiden Tabitha (Acts 9:36–42). And not only his hands and words were miraculous, but even his very shadow brought healing: “so they carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and beds, so that the shadow of Peter passing by would overshadow some of them” (Acts 5:15). – And when King Herod raised his hands against some of those belonging to the church (in Jerusalem) in order to “do them harm” and, having killed James, the brother of John, with the sword 4215, seized Saint Peter and put him in prison, shackling him with two chains, the Angel of the Lord at night released him from his shackles and freed him from imprisonment (Acts 12:1-10). The Supreme Apostle Peter was the first to open the door of faith to the pagans, baptizing the Roman centurion Cornelius in Caesarea 4216 after a vision of a sheet descending from heaven, full of four-legged creatures and reptiles, and a voice commanding Peter to slaughter all this and eat and not consider unclean what God had purified; this vision was a sign of the conversion of the pagans to Christ (Acts 10:1–48). The Holy Apostle Peter denounced Simon, the Samaritan sorcerer, who hypocritically accepted baptism and wanted to buy the gift of the Holy Spirit with money: “Your silver,” said the Apostle to the sorcerer, “may it perish with you, because you thought of receiving the gift of God for money: you have no part or lot in this, for your heart is not right before God; Therefore, repent of this sin of yours and pray to God: perhaps the thought of your heart will be forgiven you, for I see you filled with bitter gall and in the bonds of unrighteousness (Acts 8:18-23). Here the mentioned and other acts of the Holy Apostle Peter are set out in more detail in the Holy Gospel and the Book of Acts of the Holy Apostles, which are constantly read in churches in the ears of believers. Therefore, there was no need to take in detail everything concerning the holy Apostle Peter from these books of the Holy Scriptures; These books should be well known to Orthodox Christians. About the further evangelistic deeds and labors of the Holy Apostle Peter, little known, Saint Simeon Metaphrastus 4217 says the following. From Jerusalem 4218 Saint Peter came to Caesarea Stratonia 4219, where he appointed a bishop from the presbyters who followed him; having healed many in Sidon 4220 and installed a bishop here, he arrived in Verit 4221, and here also installed a bishop; then he came to Vivla, and from here to Tripolis Phoenician 4222, where he lived with one reasonable man, Marson, whom he ordained as bishop by the faithful of this city. From Tripoli he came to Orthosia; then to Anthrada, then to the island of Arados, then to Valanea, Pant and Laodicea 4223; in the latter, he healed many sick people, drove out unclean spirits from those possessed, and gathered the church of the faithful, giving them a bishop. From Laodicea, Saint Peter came to Antioch, a city in Syria 4224, where Simon the Magus was hiding from the soldiers sent by the Roman emperor Claudius 4225 to take him; Having learned about the coming of the holy Apostle Peter, Simon fled to the cities of Judea. In Antioch, Saint Peter healed many sick people and, after preaching about the One God in Three Persons, installed bishops: Marcian for Syracuse in Sicily 4226 and Pancratius for Tauromenia 4227. From Antioch, Saint Peter came to Tinian in Cappadocia 4228, from here he visited Ancyra of Galatia 4229, in which he raised a dead man and built a church, proclaiming and baptizing many and appointing a bishop for them. Leaving Ancyra, he headed to Sinop, Pontic 4230, and from here he came to Amasia, which occupies the middle of the Pontic land. Then, having visited Gangra of Paphlagonia 4231, Claudiopolis of Honoriadia and Bithynia 4232 Nicomedia, the holy Apostle stopped in Nicaea 4233. Intending to go to Jerusalem for the Easter holiday, he turned back from Nicaea - he came to Pissinunt, and then to Cappadocia and Syria. Visiting Antioch again, he finally reached Jerusalem. During the days of his stay here, the holy Apostle Paul came to him, in the third year after his conversion to Christ, as he himself reports about this in his Epistle to the Galatians: – Three years later, I went to Jerusalem to see Peter and stayed with him for fifteen days (Gal. 1:18). Having established church laws during this time, Saint Paul went to the work to which he had been called; the holy Apostle Peter again visited Antioch, where he installed Bishop Euodius; having then arrived in Sinad, a city in Phrygia 4234, he retired from it to Nicomedia 4235; in it he installed Bishop Prochorus, who even after accepting the bishopric followed Saint John the Theologian. Coming from Nicomedia to Ilion, a city of the Hellespont 4236, the holy Apostle appointed Cornelius the centurion bishop here and returned to Jerusalem. Then the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to Saint Peter in a vision, saying: - Arise, Peter, and go to the West: the time has come for him to be enlightened by your preaching; I will be with you. At this time, Simon the Magus 4237 was already taken by the soldiers who were looking for him and brought to Rome 4238 to accept punishment for his deeds. But he, having darkened the minds of many with magical cunning, deceived them so much that not only did he not suffer punishment, but even began to be revered by many as a god. This forerunner of Satan so amazed Caesar Claudius himself with his magic that a statue of the sorcerer was sculptured and placed between two bridges on the Tiber with the following inscription: “To Simon, holy god.” Justin and Irenaeus write about this in detail. We (says Simeon Metaphrast) will return to the word that lies before us. The Great Peter, having informed the brethren about the vision that had happened to him, said goodbye to them and, visiting churches, again arrived in Antioch, where he found the Holy Apostle Paul. Here he installed bishops: Urvan Tarsus 4239, Epaphroditus Leucia of Adriatic, Appellius, brother of Polycarp, Smyrna and Figella Ephesus 4240; they say about the latter that he, having deviated from the right path, entered into communication with Simon. From Antioch, Saint Peter came to Macedonia 4241, where he also installed bishops: Olympus Philippians 4242, Jason Thessalonians 4243 and Corinthians 4244 Silas, whom he found staying with the holy Apostle Paul. Having installed Herodion as bishop of Patra, Saint Peter sailed to Sicily and, arriving in Tauromenia, stayed for a short time with Pancratius, a most eloquent man; Having proclaimed and baptized a certain Maximus here and installed him as a bishop, he arrived in Rome. In Rome, Saint Apostle Peter preached daily in the squares and in houses about the One God - the Almighty Father, and the One Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the true God from the true God and the One Holy Spirit, the Life-Giving Lord; and he attracted many to the faith of Christ, saving him through holy baptism from the seduction of idolatry. Seeing all this, Simon the Magus did not want to remain silent and hide his anger against Saint Peter - he considered the Apostle’s sermon, which overthrew his glory, to be a shame; and the sorcerer began to openly interfere with the true teaching of the Apostle with his false words and deeds - without any shame he reproached Saint Peter in the middle of the city. The sorcerer deceived the people, arousing strange dreams in them; he showed the ghosts that preceded and followed him, about which he told the people that these were the souls of the dead; He also showed those resurrected from the dead, bowing to him as if they were a god; healed the lame, restoring their ability to walk and jump. But all this was not reality, but a ghost, like the fabulous Proteus 4245, changing in various ways: now appearing with two faces, now, after a little time, turning into a goat, snake, bird, now likening fire, in a word, taking on every form to seduce the insane. But it was enough for the great Apostle of the Lord to look at the deeds of Simon - and the latter’s sorceries immediately disappeared. About the struggle of Saint Apostle Peter with Simon the Magus, in addition to Metaphrastus, the following is reported by the Prologue and the Great Menaion-Chetii. When Saint Peter came to Rome and learned that Simon, calling himself Christ, was performing great miracles before the eyes of the people, then, inflamed with zeal for the true God, he went to Simon’s house, at the gates of which he found a large crowd of people; they forbade the Apostle to enter the house. Then Saint Peter said: - Why are you preventing me from going to the flattering sorcerer? “He is not a sorcerer,” they answered from the crowd, “but a strong god; He has placed a watchman at his gates who knows the thoughts of men. With these words, the holy Apostle was pointed to a black dog lying in the gate, noting: - This dog kills everyone who thinks wrongly about Simon. “I’m telling the truth about him,” confirmed Saint Peter, “Simon is from a demon.” Then, approaching the dog, the Apostle said: - Go and tell Simon: Peter, the Apostle of Christ, wants to come to you. The dog went and in human speech conveyed to Simon what the holy Apostle Peter had ordered. Everyone who heard the dog speak was horrified. Simon, in turn, sent the same dog with the words: - Let Peter come here. When the holy Apostle entered the house, Simon began his sorcery before the people in front of St. Peter. The Holy Apostle, with the help of the power of Christ, showed great miracles. Which ones exactly? Of many of these miracles, the next great miracle is recalled by the ancient church historian, the Greek Egesippus, who lived around the time of the Apostles 4246. In Rome, a noble widow, from a royal family, had a son who died at a young age; and his mother cried inconsolably for him; those who pitied her remembered the men who appeared in Rome, Peter and Simon the Magus, who raised the dead; and so some called Peter to the dead, and others Simon. Many noble people and people gathered for the funeral of the young man. And Saint Peter said to Simon the sorcerer, who was magnified before all the people by his power: “Whichever of us resurrects this dead man, that teaching must be recognized as true.” The people approved of the Apostle's decision. Simon, relying on his magical cunning, turned to the people: “If I raise the dead, will you kill Peter?” “We’ll burn him alive before your eyes!” - the people shouted. Having approached the bed of the deceased, Simon began his magic and, with the assistance of demons, achieved that the dead man moved his head. And immediately the people began to shout that the young man was alive, that he had risen. They immediately wanted to lead Saint Peter to be burned. The Apostle, giving a sign with his hand, asked for silence and, when silence fell, he said: - If the young man is really alive, then let him stand up, and speak, and walk; Until you see this, do not doubt that Simon is seducing you with his magic. Simon walked around the bed for a long time, calling on demonic power, but to no avail; then he wanted to run away in shame; the people detained him. And Saint Peter, the true miracle worker, who resurrected Tabitha and performed many other glorious miracles, stood in the distance, raised his eyes and hands to heaven, and began to pray: - Lord Jesus Christ, who commanded us in Your name to raise the dead, I pray You, revive this young man, so that those present here will know that You are the true God and there is no other besides You, living and reigning with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen. After this prayer, he called out to the dead man: - Young man! Get up - my Lord Jesus Christ heals and resurrects you. And immediately the dead man opened his eyes, stood up and began to walk and talk. This narrative of Hegesippus is supplemented by Marcellus the Roman, first a disciple of Simon the Magus, later enlightened by the Apostle Peter with holy faith and holy baptism. In his letter to the holy martyrs Nero and Archilius, Marcellus speaks of the young man resurrected by the holy Apostle: The young man, falling at the feet of Saint Peter, exclaimed: – I saw the Lord Jesus commanding the Angels to return me, at your prayer, to my widowed mother. Then all the people began to cry: – There is one God and there is no other except what Peter confesses! Simon the sorcerer fled, giving his head the appearance of a dog by demonic power; nevertheless, the people seized him, some wanting to stone him and others to burn him. But the holy Apostle Peter opposed this, saying: - Our Lord and Teacher did not command to repay evil with evil - let him go; let him go wherever he wants: he has had enough of shame, reproach and the conviction of the helplessness of his magic. The liberated Simon, reports Marcellus, came to me, assuming that I knew nothing about the miraculous event. Simon tied a huge dog to the gate of my house with an iron chain and said to me: “I’ll see if Peter comes to you as usual.” And an hour later Saint Peter came to the door, untied the dog, saying to him: - Go tell Simon the sorcerer: stop deceiving people with demonic power for whom Christ shed His Blood. The dog went and, like a man, conveyed to Simon the words of the Apostle. Hearing this (says Marcellus), I hastened to meet Saint Peter and received him with honor into my home; Simon and the dog kicked out. The dog, without harming anyone else, rushed at Simon himself and, grabbing him with his teeth, threw him to the ground. Seeing this from the window, Saint Peter, in the name of Christ, forbade the dog to touch Simon’s body. The dog, without touching the sorcerer’s body, tore all his clothes, so that he became completely naked. At the sight of this, the people shouted at Simon, mocking and scolding him; and then he and the dog were kicked out of the city. Because of such disgrace and shame, Simon did not show up in Rome for a whole year, until Claudius’ successor Nero 4247, the wicked king, heard praise from evil people about the evil sorcerer; Nero found Simon, fell in love with him very much and brought him closer to him as a friend. The Prologue and the Great Menaion, in addition, say the following about Simon the Magus. Simon the Magus ordered himself to be beheaded with a sword, promising to resurrect on the third day; instead of himself, he put a ram under the sword, giving him the ability to appear human; so the ram was beheaded instead of the sorcerer. Saint Peter, having driven away the demonic obsession, exposed Simon’s lies: everyone saw that it was not Simon who was beheaded, but a ram. About the final victory of Saint Peter over the sorcerer, which destroyed the latter, everyone agrees in this way. Not being able to defeat the holy Apostle Peter in anything and no longer enduring shame and disgrace, the sorcerer promised to ascend to heaven. Having gathered all the demons who served him, Simon, with a laurel wreath on his head, came to the middle of the city of Rome to one high building; Having risen to the last one, he began to angrily speak to the people from the height of the building: - Since you, Romans, are still in your madness and, leaving me, follow Peter, then I also leave you; I will no longer defend the cities, but I will command my Angels to take me into their arms before your eyes and I will ascend to my father in heaven, from where I will send down great plagues on you because you did not listen to my words and did not believe my deeds. Having said this, the sorcerer clasped his hands and threw himself into the air; supported by demons, he began to fly through the air, rising upward. People said to each other in great amazement: – This is God’s work – to fly with flesh through the air! The Great Apostle Peter began loudly, in the hearing of everyone, to pray to God: - Lord Jesus Christ, my God! Reveal the deception of this sorcerer, so that those who believe in You will not be tempted! - To you, O demons! I command in the name of my God: do not carry it any more, but leave it where it is now in the air. And immediately the demons, obeying the Apostle’s prohibition, left Simon in the air; and the accursed sorcerer flew to the ground, like once the devil, cast down from heaven, and, falling, was broken. The people present exclaimed for a long time: – Great is the God preached by Peter and truly there is no other God besides Him! The fallen sorcerer, although he was badly broken, was still alive, according to God’s dispensation, to know the powerlessness of the damned demons and his own, to be filled with shame and to understand the power of the almighty God. With his limbs crushed, he lay on the ground, experiencing unspeakable suffering, and the next morning, with torment, he cast out his unclean soul, delivering it into the hands of demons to take it to hell to Satan, their father. Saint Peter, after the overthrow of Simon, stood on an elevated place and, giving a sign with his hand to silence, began to teach the people the knowledge of the true God; and with his long words he converted many to the Christian faith. King Nero, having learned about the shameful death of his friend, was extremely angry with Saint Peter and wanted to kill him. But, as Saint Metaphrastus narrates, the furious king did not immediately, but only several years later, fulfill his evil intention regarding Saint Apostle Peter. After the death of Simon the Magus, Saint Peter did not stay in Rome long; having converted many and baptized, established the church and installed Linus as bishop, he went from Rome to Tarracina 4248, where he installed Epaphroditus (another, not the above-mentioned) bishop. Arriving in Sirmium, a city in Spain, and here ordaining Epenetus as bishop, he retired to Carthage in Africa, where he ordained Criscentus as bishop. Having reached Egypt, he installed bishops in it: Rufus of Thebes at the Seven Gates, and Mark the Evangelist of Alexandria. Then, according to revelation, he was in Jerusalem on the day of the Dormition of the Most Pure Virgin Mary, and returned to Egypt again. Having passed through Africa, he reached Rome, from here he came to Mediolan 4249, and then Photikin, where he installed bishops and presbyters. Having retired to Britain in 4250, he lived here for a long time, attracting many peoples to the faith of Christ. In Britain, Saint Apostle Peter had an appearance of an Angel who said to him: - Peter! The time of your departure from this life is approaching. You must go to Rome, where, having suffered death on the cross, you will receive a worthy reward from Christ the Lord. Having thanked God, Saint Peter remained for several days in Britain after the appearance, establishing churches, appointing bishops, presbyters and deacons. In the twelfth year of Nero's reign, he arrived in Rome and installed Clement as bishop as an assistant in church administration, although the latter refused, not wanting to put such a yoke on himself. Heeding the admonitions of the Apostle, Clement, like an obedient son, bowed his neck under Christ's yoke and, together with his teacher and other sacred men, drew the chariot of the Word of God. And many noble and noble men and women in Rome were enlightened by faith and holy baptism. King Nero had two wives of remarkable beauty, whom he loved more than all his other concubines. Having accepted the holy faith, they decided to lead a chaste life and did not want to obey the lustful desires of the king. He, the most shameless and insatiable fornicator, was angry for this with the entire church of the faithful, and especially with the Apostle Peter, the culprit of the conversion of the mentioned wives to Christ, who began a chaste life, (the king remembered the death of his beloved friend Simon the Magus) and began to look for St. Peter for the death penalty. The aforementioned church historian Hegesippus reports that when they were looking for Saint Peter for murder, the faithful asked him, for the benefit of many, to hide - to leave Rome. The Apostle did not agree to this, wanting better to suffer and die for Christ; The believers, with tears, begged the Apostle to save their lives, which were so necessary for the holy Church, which was being overwhelmed by waves of troubles among the unfaithful. Having bowed to the tearful pleas of the entire verbal herd, Saint Peter made a promise to hide from the city, and the next night, having said goodbye to everyone after the cathedral prayer, he left alone. And when he was at the city gate, he saw the Lord Jesus Christ coming towards him into the city; Having bowed to him, Saint Peter asked: “I’m going to Rome to be crucified again,” the Lord answered him and became invisible. The astonished Apostle realized that Christ, who suffered in His servants, as in His actual members, wanted to suffer in his body in Rome. Therefore, he again returned to the faithful and was taken by the soldiers to death. Saint Metaphrastus says that Saint Peter was taken not alone, but with many faithful, among whom were: Clement, Herodion, Olympus; their tormentor condemned them to be beheaded by the sword, and Saint Apostle Peter to crucifixion. Having taken the convicts, the soldiers led them to the place of execution; They spared Clement, as a relative of the king, and released him; Herodion and Olympus, who came to Rome with the Apostle Peter, along with many believers, were killed with the sword. Saint Peter prayed to his crucifiers to crucify him upside down, thereby honoring his Lord, who was crucified on the cross by will - he did not want to be like Him in the image of the crucifixion, wanting to bow his head at His feet. This is how the great Apostle of the Lord, Saint Peter, died, having glorified God by death on the cross: enduring great torment from the nails in his hands and feet, he gave up his immaculate soul into the hands of God on June 29, 4251. His disciple, Saint Clement, having asked for the body of the Apostle, took it down from the cross, hid it and, having called the remaining faithful and saints, buried it with honor; They also gave an honorable burial to the bodies of Herodion, Olympus and other faithful who suffered with him, glorifying Christ God, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen. Cephas is a Syrian word and means stone; the Greek word Peter (“petra” - rock, stone) means the same thing. This city was located near the sources of the Jordan; it was built by Herod's son Philip in honor of Caesar Tiberius - hence its name. Here under the stone is of course not an up. Peter, and the faith confessed by him, or the Lord Himself; The Lord then, after His resurrection, repeated the promise of giving the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven to all the Apostles (John 20:21–23). Satan is a Syriac word that means adversary; in a narrow sense, this is what the Holy Scriptures call the chief of evil spirits (1 Thess. 2:18); in a broader sense, the word Satan generally means an opponent of the will of God, if only out of some simplicity and foolishness, as we see in the present case with St. ap. Peter. About the Sacrament of Communion of the Flesh and Blood of Christ. ( John 6:53–58 ). Just as the Lord Himself approached His disciples along the raging waves of Lake Gennesaret (Matthew 14:22–27). At the Last Supper with the disciples before His suffering. 2 Pet.1:16–18; compare Matt. 17:1–27; Mark 9ff, Luke 9ff. Lydda is a city in Palestine, near present-day Ramla, former Arimathea. Joppa is one of the oldest cities in northern Asia. – app. coast of the Mediterranean Sea between Caesarea and Gaza. James Zebedee, one of the twelve Apostles, brother of the Evangelist John. St. James, the first of the Apostles, suffered martyrdom during the persecution of Herod Agrippa, king of the Jews, in the year 44 after the Nativity of Christ. His memory is April 30. Of course, Caesarea in Palestine, located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea; this city was restored by Herod the Great, who named it Caesarea in honor of Caesar Augustus. The Apostle Paul was here (Acts 9:29–30, 18:28, 21:8); spent two years here as a prisoner (Acts 23:33, 24:27, 25:4); Apostle Philip lived here (Acts 21:8); Herod Agrippa died here, struck by an Angel and eaten by worms (Acts 12:19–33). The main city of Palestine, now a regional city of the Damascus vilayet (government general) in Syria (in the Turkish Empire) near the Kidron stream on the slopes of three spurs of the Judean mountains Acre, Zion and Moriah. Jerusalem is dear to every Christian as the center of the great events of Old Testament and New Testament history, as the mother of Christian churches, from where the word of the gospel spread throughout the entire universe. Caesarea Stratonia is one and the same with Caesarea Palestine. Sidon is a Phoenician city on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, along which Phenicia is located. Verit or Berit is a Phoenician city, famous in ancient times as a hotbed of enlightenment and education; now Berit, with the name Beirut, is the main city of the Asian-Turkish vilayet (government general) of Syria, being an important trading center. Byblos, Tripoli - cities of Phenicia. Laodicea is the main city of the Asia Minor region of Phrygia. Syria is a region of Asian Turkey on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Claudius - Emperor 41 - 54 Sicily is one of the large islands of the Mediterranean Sea, now part of the Kingdom of Italy. Tauromenia is a significant city on the eastern coast of Sicily near Mount Taurus - hence its name. Cappadocia is a region of Asia Minor on the border of Armenia and Cilicia. Galatia is a special country in Asia Minor, which was bordered in the west by Phrygia, in the south by Lycaonia and Cappadocia, in the east by Pontus, and in the north by Bithynia and Paphlagonia. Pontus is the northeastern region of Asia Minor. Paphlagonia is a rugged mountainous region in the northern part of Asia Minor. Bithynia is a region of Asia Minor adjacent to the Black Sea to the north. Nicaea is located in Bithynia (see previous note) on the eastern end of Lake Ascania; at one time a thriving trading city and even the residence of kings. The history of the Christian Church is remarkable in that it hosted the first (in 325) and seventh (in 787) ecumenical councils. Phrygia is the region of Asia Minor between Galatia to the north, Pisidia and Pamphylia to the south. Enlightened by St. ap. Pavel. Nicomedia is a city in Bithynia. The Hellespont was the name of the strait that separated the Thracian Chersonesus from Asia (Troads, Phrygia Minor). According to the testimony of St. Justin the Martyr Simon the Magus, who came from the Samaritan village of Gitta or Titto, studied philosophy in Alexandria, and then became famous as a magician, posing as the great power of God. “At that time, according to Roman and Greek testimonies, in different countries of the Greco-Roman world there were many people called magicians, Chaldeans, mathematicians, spell casters, who, having some knowledge of the mysterious forces of a then little explained nature, passed themselves off as extraordinary people, and healing certain diseases, conspiracy, fortune-telling, divination, sorcery, charlatan mystery and various tricks “they had such an effect on the ignorant masses of the people that they carried them along in large numbers and were reputed to be something extraordinary.” Simon the Magus also belongs to the category of such people. Rome, the main city of the Roman state, lies in the central part of Italy, in the region of Latium, on both sides of the Tiber River, where it flows into the sea. Tarsus is once a large and populated city in the southeast of Asia Minor, the main one in the province of Cilicia, near the river. Kidne, near the Mediterranean Sea. And now it is a significant and commercial city with 40 thousand inhabitants. Ephesus is a coastal trading city and the main city of the Asia Minor province of Joppa; it later became the center of activity of the apostle. John the Evangelist; here was the 3rd Ecumenical Council in 431; now Ephesus is the poor Turkish village of Ayasaluk. Troas is a seaside city, from where it was not far to cross the sea to Europe. – Macedonia is a coastal region adjacent to the Archipelago from the northwest. The city of Philippi, to whose Christians St. Ap. Paul wrote the letter while he was in Macedonia, near the Strymon River, not far from the Aegean Sea; was one of the most famous cities in this area, which is why the writer of the book of Acts calls it the first of the most famous cities in this area (Acts 16:12); The church in Philippi was founded by St. ap. Paul during his second apostolic journey. Corinth - west of Athens, on the isthmus, famous in antiquity for its extensive trade, then the residence of the Roman ruler. Proteus is a prophetic sea elder, one of the fabulous Greek gods, subject to Poseidon, the god of the sea, who tended the seal herds of the goddess Amphitride. His residence was considered to be the island of Foros or Korpafos, where he came out to rest from the water in the shade of the coastal rocks. To receive a prediction from him, he had to be caught and restrained by force or cunning, since he took on various forms, often thus eluding the omens expected from him. Hegesippus is the author of “Memorabilia,” a work in 5 books that has not reached us. Information about his life and writings, very fragmentary, is given by the father of church history, Eusebius, bishop. Caesarea. He reports that Hegesippus was a Jewish Christian who lived in the second century; traveled to Corinth and Rome, where he lived for a very long time, meeting here with many bishops and conducting conversations with them on dogmatic issues. Hegesippus died during the reign of Commodus (180–192). It is difficult to say anything definite about the content and nature of Hegesippus’s work; one can only note that in all likelihood it was of a historical and accusatory nature, being directed against Gnostic heresies. Tarraquina or Tarraco is an ancient Iberian settlement on the eastern coast of Spain between the Pyrenees and Iberos, near the Tulcisa River. Probably located in Gaul. By the name of Britain, the ancients originally meant all the islands that lay north of Gaul between the German Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Britain was mainly called the largest of them, which bore the native name of Albion. St. ap. Peter died in 67 after the Nativity of Christ at the same time as St. ap. Pavel. St. ap. Peter was buried on Vatican Hill, and St. ap. Paul near the Ostian road near Rome. According to the tradition of the Roman Church, the heads of both apostles are kept in the Lateran Cathedral in Rome; the body of St. Peter rests in the Vatican Cathedral, and St. Paul in his country church along the Ostian road. - From St. ap. Peter's St. The Church has, as a precious heritage, his two conciliar messages; of these, the first was written around 65 in Babylon, and the second shortly before his death in Rome. In these letters of St. ap. Peter urges Christians to lead a strict, holy and abstinent life, worthy of their high calling, warning against being carried away by the temptations of paganism and against the preaching of future false teachers. You might be interested in: