PETER AND PAUL ^_[1]

WHITHER GOEST THOU?

1.  Christian tradition preserves a marvelous story about the elderly St. Peter who was believed to have lived in Rome for some years after founding its local Church. After a great fire had destroyed much of the ancient metropolis, the Emperor Nero (54-68 AD) condoned the malicious accusation that the pagans, that is, the superstitious Christians had started it. This coincided with the first of the great persecutions and established the veneration of martyrs in the early Church. As the persecution increased in scope and intensity in the years 64-68 AD, many of the Christian converts grew concerned about St. Peter. Believing that the Church was absolutely dependent upon him for survival, they begged him to escape. St. Peter, consenting to their arguments, fled the city along the Appian Way. Two miles from the city gates, however, he met Our Lord who was walking towards the city. In wonder and awe, St. Peter inquires, Lord, whither goest thou? (Lat. Domine, quo vadis?) Christ, looking at Peter with eyes of sadness and some reproach, speaks somberly, I go to Rome to be crucified a second time. Then Jesus vanishes, leaving the shaken, old apostle by himself on the Roman road. Gathering his wits and emotions after this powerful vision, Peter chooses to return to Rome and accept martyrdom. In any event, Peter is said to have been confined to the Mamertine dungeons under the Capitol. Condemned to death shortly thereafter, Peter, who was not a Roman citizen, was taken to the circus of Caligula at the foot of the Vatican Hill. There he was crucified between the two goals of the oval circus track upon which the chariots raced. Other accounts report that Peter was taken to the military camp of the Janiculum and executed there. Early Church documentation notes the date of Peter's death as June 29, as early as 57 AD. Believing himself to be unworthy of his Saviour's death by upright crucifixion, Peter was, at his own request, crucified upside down. His death was especially painful and ignominious, that is, it was particularly shameful according to Roman social and judicial codes. The location of Peter's relics and final tomb has been confirmed definitively by scientific investigation in the later part of the 20th century. It was discovered in Rome under the basilica bearing his name.

MIGHTY WORK IN ROME

2.  St. Paul suffered martyrdom during Nero's persecutions as did St. Peter, though not in the same place or manner. Paul had been arrested in Jerusalem. A serious riot erupted in the Temple area following a debate in which he had denounced religious factions which did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. The Roman tribune ordered Paul to be taken to the procurator Felix at Caesarea. Felix remanded Paul to the Sanhedrin, the Jewish religious council in Jerusalem. As a Roman citizen, born in Tarsus in present-day Turkey, Paul demanded that his case be heard by the imperial tribunal in Rome. After three or more years in Judean prison, Felix' successor Festus ordered Paul to Rome. Jesus himself appeared to Paul in Palestinian confinement, directing him to prepare for a mighty work in Rome:  "Take courage, for as you have testified about me at Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also at Rome."  [Acts 23:11]  Sailing to Rome and his destiny in the company of a charitable tribune, Paul arrived after numerous, harrowing experiences, including shipwreck off the coast of Malta and a day and night of floating on the sea. [cf. 2Cor 11:25]  After about two years in Rome under a form of house arrest, and quite probably another missionary journey, Paul's case was presented to the imperial court. Unlike Peter, Paul was exempt from public humiliation in the circus arena. Citizens of the empire were not crucified. After being condemned to death, Paul was taken to a place two miles outside of the city. There he was beheaded on the Via Ostiense, the road to the Port of Ostia. One apocryphal account asserts that three fountains sprang up from the earth where Paul's head struck the ground. Soon three chapels were built and the site was thereafter deemed forever sacred by Christians. Perhaps the fountains symbolize the power of the living water  [cf. Jn 4:10]  of Christ triumphing in life and death. It may be a reference to the blood of the martyrs being the seed of the Church. According to Christian tradition, St. Paul's body was buried in a vineyard by the Roman matron Lucina. It is said that the major basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome stands on this sacred ground.