“O Peter and Paul, chief of the Apostles and teachers of the world, intercede with the Master of all that He may grant peace to the world, and great mercy to our souls. Amen! ”
Dismissal Hymn of the Feast
This weekend we celebrate the end of the Apostles Fast and the coming of the Feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, whom the Church calls, “the chief of the apostles”. From the Gospels we know that the Apostle Peter was the first who confessed Jesus as the Son of the living God, the leader of the early Church in Jerusalem and the future Bishop of Rome. St. Paul was known as the Apostle to the Gentiles and the preeminent missionary of the Christian faith, the Apostle who has been called the “One after the One (Christ).
The two Apostles are honored by the Church with a period of fasting, to exemplify their lives as true humble followers of the Lord, never boastful of their position as the first two apostles of the Lord, but more importantly as referring to themselves as unworthy and the least of the apostles. They showed great humility in their mission to spread the message of the Lord throughout the world. It is because of this humility and hospitality that we set aside in honor the memory of these two great disciples of the Lord.
May the message of Luke 14:11, “For everyone who makes himself great will be humbled and everyone who humbles himself will be made great” be our own inspiration for us to emulate as we continue to grow in our faith.
