Traditions of celebrating the day of the holy apostles Peter and Paul. Feast of the Holy Chief Apostles Peter and Paul. Apostles Peter and Paul: international names
Among the earliest followers of Jesus Christ, who became the founders of His Universal Church, there are two apostles called the supreme ones. Peter and the Apostle Paul. In earthly life they were completely different people, not only in their social status, but also in their way of thinking and perception of the world. They were united by faith in the resurrection of the Son of God, who opened the gates to Eternal Life.
Fisherman from Lake Gennesaret
We know about the holy Apostle Peter that he came from the city of Bethsaida, located in the north of Lake Gennesaret. His father Jonah came from the tribe of Naphtali. Before meeting Jesus Christ, the Apostle Peter was called Simon. He lived in Capernaum with his wife and mother-in-law. Simon was a simple and modest fisherman. Together with his brother Andrew, the future Apostle Andrew the First-Called, he earned his bread with hard work, did not think about the mysteries of the universe, and all his interests were reduced to the concerns of the current day.
At the very beginning of His earthly ministry, Jesus, calling both brothers to Himself, gave Simon a new name - Peter, which translated means “stone”. The words spoken by Jesus that on this “rock” He would build a church inaccessible to hell testify to the special role that He destined for this man. And Peter from the very beginning wholeheartedly believed his Teacher. There was no room for doubt in his simple and open soul. Leaving everything that connected him with his former life, he, without hesitation, followed Christ.
Epiphany of the Apostle Paul
The Apostle Paul seems completely different to us. He was born in the city of Tarsus, in the family of a Jew who had Roman citizenship, which legally provided him with a privileged position. He originally bore the name Saul and was a fanatical adherent of the Jewish Law. In Jerusalem, joining the Pharisees, he received an excellent education under the guidance of one of the most famous rabbis of that time. This made him an even greater zealot of Judaism and a persecutor of Christians.
But the Lord was pleased to enlighten his mind with the light of true faith. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Paul, with all the fervor of his heart, began to preach in the synagogues the doctrine that only yesterday he had denounced as false and whose supporters he accused of crimes against the Law. He was an educated man, and this gave his sermons special power. Entering this new for him life path, Saul began to be called Paul, which is deeply symbolic - a change of name meant a change in his whole life.
The martyrdom of the holy apostles
According to Holy Tradition, the Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul, after their many years of service, died at the hands of the Jews on the same day - July 12 (NS). It became their day of remembrance. Every year on this day a holiday is celebrated - Peter and Paul Day. put the Apostle Peter to death after he learned that Peter, with his preaching, had significantly increased the number of converted Christians. The apostle was condemned to crucifixion, like him great teacher, but begged the executioners to nail him to the cross upside down, since he considered himself not worthy to repeat the death of Christ, crucified while standing.
The Apostle Paul was a Roman citizen, and, according to the law, he could not be crucified, since such an execution was considered shameful, and only fugitive slaves and those who belonged to the lowest strata of society were subjected to it. By order of the emperor, he was taken outside Rome and beheaded with a blow of a sword on the Ostian road. Tradition says that at the place where the head of the holy apostle fell, a miraculous spring gushed out of the ground.
During the period of early Christianity, the veneration of these saints followed immediately after their martyrdom, and the burial place was one of the greatest shrines. At the same time they began to celebrate the holiday - Peter and Paul Day. It is known that when in the 4th century, under Emperor Constantine the Great, Christianity finally received official status and became the state religion, temples were built in Rome and Constantinople in honor of these apostles.
Russians' veneration of the holy apostles
From the first days of the adoption of Christianity in Rus', Apostle Peter and Apostle Paul became one of the most revered and beloved saints by Russians. The Baptist of Rus', Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, returned from Korsun and brought an icon with their image to Kyiv. Subsequently, it was donated to Novgorod, where it was kept in the St. Sophia Cathedral for a long time. Later it was lost, but even today under the arches of this temple you can see an ancient fresco of the 11th century representing St. Apostle Peter.
Wall paintings dating back to the 11th-12th centuries testify to the centuries-old tradition of venerating the supreme apostles in Rus'. They also depict the Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul. Two ancient Russian monasteries in honor of these saints were founded at the beginning of the 12th century, one in Novgorod on Sinichaya Mountain, and the other in Rostov. A century later, the Peter and Paul Monastery appeared in Bryansk. During this period, many liturgical texts were written, including the akathist to Peter and Paul.
The popularity of the apostles Peter and Paul is also evidenced by the widespread popularity of their names among the Orthodox inhabitants of our country. It is enough to recall the vast host of ancient Russian saints. Among them, many at baptism, and some at monastic tonsure or acceptance of the Great Schema, were named after the supreme apostles. This list can be continued with the names of people who left their mark on Russian history, as well as those countless Peters and Pauls who lived their lives in the vast expanses of Russia.
The most ancient images of the supreme apostles
Speaking about the development of the iconography of these images, it should be noted that the holy apostles Peter and Paul were depicted by the first Christians on the walls of the catacombs where they performed their services. At that time, such wall paintings posed a very definite danger for adherents of the new faith, and for this reason they often resorted to the help of symbols. However, individual frescoes dating back to this period are known, in which the apostles are given very definite, similar portrait features, which allows researchers to assume their real similarity with historical prototypes. It should be noted that in the literary monuments that have come down to us from those distant times, the same tendency is noticeable: some of them contain quite similar descriptions of the appearance of the apostles.
Apostles Peter and Paul in Russian icon painting
With the establishment of Orthodoxy, St. Peter and Paul became those saints whose image was certainly included in the sacred images of every temple. As a rule, their compositions were based on scenes from the New Testament, but scenes from the Holy Tradition are also known. One of them is the widespread hugging while looking into each other's eyes. It shows the audience the moment of the meeting of the apostles in Rome shortly before the execution. A similar image in the half-length version has become widespread.
However, greater popularity since the time Ancient Rus' received icons on which the apostles Peter and Paul are represented standing at full height, slightly facing each other. One of them is the oldest icon that has come down to us, kept today in the St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod. This is the same icon brought, according to legend, by Prince Vladimir from Korsun, which was mentioned above.
The increasing importance of apostolic images
Over time, the importance of the images of Saints Peter and Paul increased so much that they became an integral part of the Deesis row of each iconostasis. It has become a tradition to place the image of the Apostle Peter to the left of the central icon of Jesus Christ, immediately after the images of the Mother of God and the Archangel Michael, and the icon of the Apostle Paul to the right, immediately behind the icon of John the Baptist and the image. The most famous of these images are the creations of Andrei Rublev, which have survived to this day in the Assumption Cathedral of Vladimir.
Since the end of the 17th century, the influence of Western European schools has increased in Russian icon painting. This explains the appearance of themes related to the martyrdom of the apostles. In former times, their traditional attributes were: for Peter - the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, and for Paul - a scroll - a symbol of wisdom. Now in the hands of the apostles we see the instruments of their martyrdom - Peter had a cross, and Paul had a sword. There are even known icons in the background of which scenes of execution are depicted.
Over the years, a ritual order dedicated to them was established church services. The texts of the chants accompanying them date mainly to the 7th-8th centuries. Their authorship is attributed to such pillars of the Christian church as Herman and St. Andrew of Crete, whose penitential canon is read annually during Lent. In addition to them, the names of St. John of Damascus and Kozma of Mayum are mentioned. At services, an akathist to Peter and Paul is always performed, as well as solemn stichera.
Names of saints immortalized in architecture
The names of the holy apostles Peter and Paul are forever immortalized in church architecture. This applies equally to Russia and Western countries. Suffice it to recall the main Catholic church - St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The greatest artists and architects worked on the creation of this largest historical Christian church. Among them are the following: Michelangelo, Raphael, Bramante, Bernini and many others.
On Orthodox Rus' The tradition of erecting churches in honor of the supreme apostles Peter and Paul goes back to the time of Saint Prince Vladimir. It is known that during the period of his reign, the first church of the apostles Peter and Paul appeared on the Dnieper banks, and after it, throughout the vast territory of Russia, in cities, villages and even completely remote villages, many churches were built dedicated to these two great ascetics.
Cathedral on the Neva
The Cathedral of the Apostles Peter and Paul in St. Petersburg occupies a special place among them. It is also called the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Erected according to the design of the architect D. Trizini in 1712-1733, it became the tomb of the Russian tsars. The cathedral is located on the territory of the Peter and Paul Fortress, founded in 1703 by order of Peter I to protect the mouth of the Neva from a possible Swedish invasion.
First, the wooden church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul appeared. When the construction of the stone church began in 1712, it was carried out in such a way that the previous building remained undamaged within the newly erected walls, and services in it did not stop during the entire period of work. The new cathedral, built in the Peter the Great Baroque style, became one of the architectural masterpieces that still adorn the city on the Neva.
Temple in Sestroretsk
In 2009, the Church of Peter and Paul, built in the suburbs of St. Petersburg, was solemnly consecrated. Sestroretsk is a small resort town near the Northern capital. At the beginning of the 18th century, a wooden church was built here in honor of the supreme apostles. Over time, it was replaced by a stone temple, which became an outstanding achievement of architecture. However, during the years of the atheism it was destroyed, and only with the advent of democratic reforms did its restoration begin.
Rebuilt and consecrated, the Church of Peter and Paul (Sestroretsk) is a memorial monument to Russian submariners. The fact is that it was built on the very spot where in ancient times the Russian genius-nugget, peasant Efim Nikonov, demonstrated his invention to Tsar Peter I - the first submarine. This has been preserved in the memory of today's sailors, and an entire memorial to the heroes of the Russian submarine fleet has been created on the territory of the temple.
Temples of different cities and different faiths
One cannot help but recall two more churches located in St. Petersburg. One of them is the Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul at Medical Academy. It is located on Piskarevsky Prospekt. And the other, which is located in the very center of the city on Gorokhovaya Street - it is the house church of the A. I. Herzen Pedagogical University. Both of them, created before the revolution, were closed in Soviet period, and today they have reopened their doors to parishioners.
In many cities of the country there are now churches in honor of the holy apostles. Among them are Moscow, Smolensk, Sevastopol, Karaganda, Barnaul, Ufa and many others. Except Orthodox churches Services to Peter and Paul are regularly performed in cathedrals of other Christian denominations. Residents of the capital, for example, are very familiar with the building of the Lutheran Cathedral of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Starosadsky Lane, restored after the atheistic hard times. The majestic Catholic church of the mentioned saints also stands in Veliky Novgorod. And this list can be continued for a long time.
Cities named after the apostles Peter and Paul
The memory of the holy apostles is immortalized in the names of some cities. The most famous among them is St. Petersburg, which bears the name of its heavenly patron - the Apostle Peter. It was founded in 1703. A city in the Far East, Petropavlovsk, is also named after the holy apostles. The fort, which became his cradle, was founded by the Cossacks in 1697. Over time, a settlement formed around it, from which the city grew.
Another Petropavlovsk is located on the territory that today belongs to Kazakhstan. Initially, it was a military fortress located at the intersection of important trade routes. Over time, it lost its military significance and turned into a large settlement - a junction station of the Trans-Siberian railway.
Distortion of apostolic images in modern culture
Since ancient times, the supreme apostles Peter and Paul became characters in both the apocrypha (rejected by the church and not included in the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments) and folklore stories. Traditionally, the Apostle Peter was presented in them as the keymaster at the gates of heaven or as a companion of Jesus Christ when He appeared to people. The image of a resident or guardian of paradise corresponded to the Apostle Paul. He was often credited with protecting fire and the sun.
This vulgar interpretation of sacred images, characteristic of the lower classes, has unfortunately become widespread in our days; it has taken root in many areas of modern culture. This is especially noticeable in cinema and animation. For the reason that both apostles are traditionally depicted together, and the day of their memory is celebrated at the same time - July 12, Peter and Paul were combined into a single image. For example, in the popular consciousness, both are considered patrons of fishermen, despite the fact that only the Apostle Peter was engaged in this fishery. It is also unfair that both are identified with the rock on which the church building is erected, since these words of Jesus refer only to the Apostle Peter.
Among all the followers of Christ, the supreme apostles Peter and Paul occupy a very special place. Calling them “the supreme ones”,The Church points out that they worked harder than others in spreading Christ’s teaching on earth. The word "apostle" translated from Greek th means "messenger".
Jesus Christ, sending them to preach, said: “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). “Teach all nations... teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19).
And the apostles, obeying the voice of God, went throughout the entire earth and carried the light of Christ's faith. The world they went to was corrupted and satiated, shining in splendor and grandeur. Powerful and magnificent in appearance, it was the world of Spartacus and Caesar, Pliny and Tacitus, that is, it was Rome and Greece in the era of its most brilliant and refined decay.
From a human point of view, the task that faced the apostles, people from a distant province, namely the spiritual conquest of this ancient world, could seem like complete madness. The Jews demanded signs, the Greeks demanded philosophical proof, and in response they heard: “We preach Christ crucified,” for the apostles knew that the Lord was with them. They remembered His words: “Take courage, I have overcome the world! I am with you until the end of time." And the Apostle Paul joyfully exclaims: “If Christ is with us, who can be against us?”
During their lives, both apostles were completely different and dissimilar people. Peter was a rural resident of the seaside village of Beth-saida on the shores of Lake Tiberias. Paul came from the Asia Minor city of Tarsus and even had Roman citizenship (Acts 16:37).
The Apostle Peter was married. It is known from the Gospel that the Lord healed his sick mother-in-law. The Apostle Paul was single. Only his married sister and nephew lived in Jerusalem.
Before his calling, Peter was engaged in fishing and was completely illiterate. Paul received an excellent education at the academy of the Jerusalem rabbi Gamaliel and was well versed in Greek philosophy and classical literature. This is supported not only by his quotes from pagan little-known poets, namely from Aratus and the Athenian poet Cleander (Acts 17:28), from the Cretan poet Epimenides (Titus 1:12) and the Athenian poet Menander (1 Cor. 15, 23), but also his even deeper thoughts about the essence and development of pagan religion and philosophy (1 Cor. 1).
The Apostle Peter from the moment of his calling was constantly with Christ. The Apostle Paul, according to some sources, had never seen Christ before his conversion. The Apostle Peter at the beginning of his activity was very far from a correct understanding of the work of God and often even tried to contradict Christ. The Apostle Paul immediately after his calling became a tireless follower of Christ until his last hour on earth.
Why does the Lord choose these two? different people for the great service of the Gospel? Because, despite the mistakes, their hearts were pure and there was a great burning of faith in them. In addition, both apostles were united by their ardent love for Christ and all humanity. Therefore, the Church united their memory in one holiday.
According to his ancestry, the Apostle Peter came from the tribe of Simeon and initially bore the name Simon. Before meeting Christ, he and his brother Andrei were fishing. The Lord, walking along the shore of Lake Tiberias, saw them and said: “Follow Me. I will make you fishers of men." And they, leaving everything, followed Christ.
The Apostle Peter's soul was simple and good-natured, like that of a child. Due to the ardor of his heart, he responded faster than others to the words of Christ, often revealing his human weaknesses and misunderstanding of the spirit of Christ’s teaching, for which the Lord sometimes severely rebuked him. But before others, Peter showed his faith and ardent love for the Savior. So he was the first to confess Jesus Christ as the Son of God (Matthew 16:16). With a sword in his hands, he defended Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. But when the terrible hour of testing came, Peter could not resist and denied his Teacher three times. However, the hot heart of the apostle could not withstand the gaze of the Lord after this cowardly act, and Peter bitterly repented. An ancient legend says that throughout his subsequent life, when he heard a rooster crow at night, he woke up from sleep, stood up to pray and began to cry. These frequent tears caused two deep furrows to appear under the apostle’s eyes.
At first, Peter preached the gospel only to the Jews. But then he was told to go to the pagans too. Then the apostle baptized the family of Cornelius the centurion and from that moment began to preach to the pagan world. Peter's spiritual power was great. The Scripture says that when he passed through cities and villages, they “carried out the sick into the streets, so that even though the shadow of Peter passing by would overshadow one of them... and everyone would be healed.”
For his faith and devotion, the Lord called Peter “a stone” and promised to give him the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, that is, the power to loosen and bind human sins. Therefore, in Christian iconography, the Apostle Peter is often depicted with keys.
Before his calling, the Supreme Apostle Paul also bore a different name - Saul. He had a strong and impetuous character. A zealous follower of Jewish law, he was at first an implacable enemy of Christianity. “I thought that I should act a lot against the name of Jesus... I imprisoned many saints... and in excessive rage against them I persecuted even in foreign cities” (Acts 26: 9-11). This is what he himself testifies.
Having dealt with the Christian community in Jerusalem, Saul went to Damascus to continue the persecution there, but on the way he was suddenly enveloped in a strong light and heard the voice of Christ, who reproached him for the persecution. The light became so bright that Saul fell to the ground, blinded. The revolution that took place in his soul at that moment is one of the unusual events that became the greatest and most complex psychological act. The persecutor of Christians, Saul, fell to the ground, and the great apostle of languages, Paul, rose up.
What could have produced such a revolution in the soul of the pursuer? What force turned a murderer into an evangelist? We would look in vain for the earthly source of this miraculous power, for it is not here. Just as the tongue of the Divine flame burned over Peter in the upper room of Zion, so an ineffable light shone from heaven for Paul on his way to Damascus. From there, from the transcendental heights, he heard a voice saying: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
Saul's companions took him hand in hand to Damascus, where he saw nothing and did not eat anything for three days. Then he received Baptism and began to be called Paul.
When the news spread across Damascus that yesterday's persecutor had been baptized in the name of Jesus, the fear of Christians was replaced by joy. Paul retired to Arabia, where he lived alone for several years. Everything that happened required solitude and preparation for a new life. These years were a time of intense spiritual work.
Upon returning to Damascus, Paul began preaching about Christ and soon suffered severe persecution. Enemies of Christians conspired to kill Paul, patrols were stationed at the city gates, but believers lowered the apostle from the city wall in a basket at night, and he managed to avoid arrest. After this, Paul went to Jerusalem, a city where he was remembered as a persecutor of the Church. Therefore, he was greeted with restraint and even with some suspicion. The apostle felt alien and lonely in Jerusalem, and only the kind and insightful Christian Barnabas was concerned about his fate. He did everything to dispel misunderstandings and bring the Apostle Paul closer to Peter. The two weeks that Paul spent under the hospitable roof of a Galilean fisherman remained as one of his fondest memories. Here he first heard about the life of the Savior from eyewitnesses. Thus began the friendship of the two great apostles, which did not break until the end of their lives.
After this meeting, the famous missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul begin, first with Barnabas to Syria, then to Cyprus, Asia Minor, Macedonia, Greece and Rome, where he founded churches and established Christianity. He was accompanied by Barnabas' nephew Mark, who wrote the second Gospel.
The apostle walked thousands of kilometers, preaching the Word of God. He supported his preaching with the power of miracles performed by his hands. Believers even placed scarves and belts from his body on the sick, and their illnesses ceased. He was imprisoned many times for preaching the Gospel. Countless times he came close to death. The fanatics stoned him, leaving him half-dead, and the Roman guards threw him into prison. Three times he was shipwrecked and spent a whole day floating on the wreck of a ship. But the Lord protected His chosen one. Remembering that he had once been a persecutor of Christians, Paul said with deep sorrow: “I, like a certain monster, am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God.”
To top it all off, the apostle was constantly accompanied by a painful illness, which he called “the thorn of the flesh.” “O wretched man that I am,” exclaims the apostle, “who will deliver me from this body of death” (Rom. 7:2-4). “Three times I begged the Lord to deliver me from this. But the Lord said: “My grace is enough for you, but the power of God is made perfect in weakness.”
John Chrysostom, admiring the Apostle Paul, says: “I cannot find words to describe the kind of love for people that the heart of this apostle burned with. His love was wider than the ocean and hotter than fire. He loved people as if he were their father; he was ready to go to hell himself, if only those to whom he preached the Word of God would be saved.”
For this reason, he was destined to be the very first of the apostles to set foot on the soil of Europe to enlighten the pagans. The first European city where Paul arrived was in northern Greece, в Македонии, и назывался Филиппы. Апостол основал здесь Церковь и, уходя дальше, оставил его жителям письменное назидание, которое называется «Послание к Филиппийцам». !}
A special difficulty in preaching awaited him in Athens. Here the word of the cross was to be announced to “the wise of this age” - philosophers, rhetoricians, poets. The city was full of pagan idols, and, having examined it, the apostle was troubled in spirit. But among the many greek gods Paul found the inscription “To the Unknown God.” And then he began to say: “Athenians! Passing and examining your shrines, I found an altar on which is written “To the Unknown God.” This, whom you ignorantly revere, I preach to you.” Here, in the Athenian Areopagus, Paul, thanks to his preaching, found a follower and student - Dionysius the Areopagite.
These missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul were of great importance. Firstly, a number of churches were founded on the European continent, and secondly, they laid the foundation for literary monuments of Christian culture. John Chrysostom calls these written instructions, which have come down to us intact, “an inexhaustible storehouse of wisdom.” No matter how much we learn from these apostolic epistles, no matter how much we draw from this well, there is always a lot in it for us that is new, edifying and necessary for our salvation and the strengthening of our weak faith.
Having founded a number of churches in Greece, the Apostle Paul decided to go west and reach Spain. He could have chosen Rome as a base for this journey, where at that time there was already a large Christian community. The Apostle wrote the Epistle to the Romans, in which he systematically outlined his view of the relationship of the Old Testament to the Gospel. The last meeting of the two great apostles took place in Rome.
At this time, the capital of the world was a sad sight. The last emperor of the Julius-Augustus dynasty, Caesar Nero (54-68 AD), achieved the Roman throne at the cost of many crimes. He established real terror in Rome (Tacitus. “Annals” 13, 45). Having abandoned government affairs, he often appeared before the public as a singer, forcing himself to applaud. (Suetonius. “Nero” 2, 20). Obsessed with crazy ideas, he decided to rebuild Rome and set fire to the old quarters of the suburbs. But the whole city caught fire. Animals were released from the menageries, and panic began. Crowds of thousands of people, fleeing fire and wild animals, crushed each other. The flames raged for a whole week, killing tens of thousands of Romans. Of the fourteen blocks of the capital, only four survived, and then ominous rumors began to spread among the people. The rebellion against Caesar was ripe. Wanting to absolve himself of blame, Nero turned the people's anger against Christians, accusing them of arson. Mass arrests and executions of all who openly professed Christ began. Among the many martyrs whose names are unknown to us were the apostles Peter and Paul.
According to legend, Peter managed to escape from Rome under the cover of darkness with his wife. But early in the morning Christ appeared to him on the Appian Way, and after that the apostle returned to Rome, where he was crucified upside down on the cross. Already in the 2nd century, a tomb was built at the site of the execution of the Apostle Peter, discovered by archaeologists in 1950.
ABOUT last days We know much less about the life of the Apostle Paul. In any case, he spent them in prison under circumstances to which his second letter to Timothy eloquently testifies. This is the swan song of the apostle walking towards death. In giving his final instructions to Timothy, Paul communicates the hopelessness of his situation. “I am already becoming a victim,” writes the apostle, “and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished my life, I have kept the faith. And now there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing...” (2 Tim. 4:6-8). In the same message there are significant words testifying to the indestructible strength that supported the tormented body and the weary soul: “I know in whom I have believed.”
He lived by Christ and in Christ, through him the Lord spoke to the world, and the fiery word of God burned in the heart of the hunched old man just as it burned in the heart of the young man Saul, who many years ago entered Damascus. As a Roman citizen, he was not subjected to torture on the cross, but was beheaded with a sword. An ancient legend says that he was executed on the same day and hour as the Apostle Peter. According to Tertullian, this happened three miles from Rome, on the Ostian road.
In the history of mankind it is difficult to find more holistic images than the apostles Peter and Paul. They were entrusted with a great mission: to bring the light of the Kingdom of God to the world, and they gave their lives to serve this mission. For thirty years, from the first steps of preaching until death, they maintained unity in their activities. This spiritual unity was created by their love for God and people. This devotion to Christ in the spread of the Gospel, devoid of national narrow-mindedness, was the purpose of their lives. And nothing could turn them away from the way of the cross. Thanks to these two apostles, all the peoples of the Greco-Roman Mediterranean received Christian enlightenment. It was they who breathed into the decrepit forms of the ancient world new life, which bore great fruit in European culture.
These apostles and the entire early Christian Church achieved glory throughout the centuries, of course, not by earthly paths and not by human wisdom, not by the cunning of words and the ability to use the situation, but only by the power of faith, prayer and love. The praise inexpressible by human means, which the apostles deserved, must first of all be given to the One by whose power the calling of Peter and the conversion of Saul to Paul was accomplished, and who Himself made everything difficult possible, for “the power of God is made perfect in weakness.”
Centuries will pass, millennia will fly by. But in the depths of the Holy Church and in the people’s memory the names of the apostles Peter and Paul will always live.
You can pray to Saints Peter and Paul depicted on the icon together, or you can turn to them separately.
First of all, they pray to the Holy Chief Apostles Peter and Paul to be established in the faith. If necessary, they pray to the holy apostles to help in converting non-Christians to the faith of Christ and in helping those people who have lost faith in Christ.
Saints Peter and Paul can help in healing from physical and mental illnesses; during their lifetime they were given miraculous abilities to heal people.
The Apostle Peter is the patron saint of fishermen; July 12 is considered their holiday “Fisherman's Day”. And prayers in front of the icon of St. Paul can help in studying; he was a very educated person for that time.
The Supreme Apostles Peter and Paul did a lot to spread Christianity on earth and they, of course, can help in any of your godly endeavors.
It must be remembered that icons or saints do not “specialize” in any specific areas. It will be right when a person turns with faith in the power of God, and not in the power of this icon, this saint or prayer.
And .
HOLIDAY - REMEMBRANCE DAY OF THE HOLY APOSTLES PETER AND PAUL
On the day of remembrance of the holy apostles Peter and Paul Orthodox Church glorifies two people who made enormous efforts to spread faith in Christ. For their labors they were called the supreme ones.
These saints had different paths to Heavenly glory: the Apostle Peter was with the Lord from the very beginning, later he rejected the Savior, renouncing him, but then repented.
The Apostle Paul was at first an ardent opponent of Christ, but then he believed in Him and became His firm supporter.
The celebration of the memory of both apostles falls on the same date - they were both executed in 67 in Rome on the same day under Emperor Nero. Immediately after their execution, the veneration of the holiness of the apostles began, and the burial place became a Christian shrine.
In the 4th century, in the then Orthodox cities of Rome and Constantinople, Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine erected churches that were consecrated in honor of the holy supreme apostles Peter and Paul on their memorial day, July 12 (new style).
LIFE OF THE APOSTLE PETER
Before being called to Christ, the saint lived in Capernaum, was married, and then his name was Simon. Seeing Jesus Christ during fishing on Lake Gennesaret, Simon followed the Lord and became His most devoted disciple.
He was the first to confess Jesus Christ as the Messiah - Jesus is
“Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16)
and then from the Lord himself he received the name Peter, which translated from Greek means stone or rock on which Jesus Christ promised to create the Church
“I tell you: you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).
They said about the Apostle Simon Peter that he was impatient and sincere, like a child, and his faith in Christ was strong and unconditional. One day, while at sea in a boat, Peter tried, at the call of the Lord, to walk on the water as on earth.
Peter, together with James and John, had the honor of seeing with his own eyes the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor. These were his words:
"God! It’s good for us to be here…” (Matthew 17; 4).
Peter, with all his ardor, defended the Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane; he cut off with his sword the ear of the man who came to arrest the Teacher.
The Gospel records how Peter denied three times that he was a follower of Jesus Christ. At his core, he denied the Lord, but then he deeply repented of this, after which Jesus Christ again “restored” him to apostolic dignity when he commissioned him (also three times) to shepherd His flock:
“Feed My lambs.”
The Lord used the most powerful weapon on the Apostle Peter - forgiveness. It is in forgiveness, and not in punishment, that a person remains with his shame, and perhaps, thanks to this situation, the Apostle Peter became a real shepherd, a guide on the path of people to faith in God.
After fifty days after the Resurrection of the Lord, after the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, Saint Peter preached the first sermon in his life. The words of Peter about the life of Jesus Christ and His martyrdom sank deep into the souls of the assembled people.
« What should we do?- they asked him.
“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:37-38)
After listening to his speech, about three thousand people became Christians that day. Very little time passed, Peter, with God’s help, healed the lame man,
“who was carried and seated every day at the door of the temple”
The patient got up and began to walk, praising God. Having seen such a miracle and heard what Peter said in his second sermon that the healing was not from him, but from God, another 5,000 people turned to faith. Once again, the Jewish priests rebelled against the belief in the resurrection of the dead, but this time their hatred was directed not at Jesus, but at His disciples Peter and John, who were captured and sent to prison. Members of the Sanhedrin tried to bargain with them, promising them freedom in exchange for not preaching about Christ. To this they received an answer from Peter:
“Judge, is it fair before God to listen to you more than to listen to God? We cannot help but say what we saw and heard.”
Fearing popular intercession for the apostles, they were soon released and with new strength continued to testify about the resurrection of the Lord. 
The new faith in Christ became very popular among the people, many people began to sell their lands and estates and brought money for the apostles to help those in need. This is what the Lord Jesus Christ taught. But this had to be done voluntarily, without regret, then the money would go to a good cause. " A certain man named Ananias with his wife Sapphira“He also sold his estate, but having agreed, they decided not to give all the money to the apostles. When Ananias came to Saint Peter, he told him that God did not need such a sacrifice - this is a lie not before " to people, but to God" Ananias was overcome with fear and died of fright. And three hours later his wife came and, not yet knowing about what had happened, also confirmed the smaller amount of money for which the land was sold. The saint asked:
“Why did you agree to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, those who buried your husband are entering the door; and they will carry you out. Suddenly she fell and gave up the ghost.”
Thus, at the very beginning of the establishment of life according to Christ’s laws, God’s anger manifested itself against its violators.
In 42, Herod Agrippa, who was the grandson of Herod the Great, began persecuting Christians. By his order, the Apostle James of Zebedee was executed, and Peter was taken into custody. While in prison, through prayers to the Lord, an Angel of God appeared to Peter at night, freed the prisoner and led him out of captivity.
Saint Peter put in a lot of work in spreading the faith of Christ. He preached in Asia Minor, then in Egypt, where he ordained the first bishop of the Alexandrian Church, Mark. Then in Greece, Rome, Spain, Carthage and England.
According to legend, it was from the words of St. Peter that the Gospel was written by the Apostle Mark. From the New Testament books, two Council Epistles of the Apostle Peter have come down to us, which were addressed to the Christians of Asia Minor. In the First Epistle, the Apostle Peter addresses his brothers during their persecution by the enemies of Christ, thereby helping them, confirming their faith. In the Second Epistle, which was written shortly before his death, the apostle warns Christians against false preachers who appeared in Peter’s absence, distorting the essence of Christian morality and ethics, who preached licentiousness. 
While in Rome, the Apostle Peter converted two wives of Emperor Nero to Christianity, which greatly angered the ruler. By his order, the apostle was imprisoned, but Peter managed to escape from custody. And so, according to legend, the apostle, who was walking along the road, met Christ, whom he asked:
“Where are you going Lord?”
and heard the answer:
“Since you are leaving my people, I am going to Rome for a new crucifixion.”
After these words, the Apostle Peter turned and went back to Rome.
This happened in the year 67 (according to some studies in the 64th) from the Nativity of Christ. When Saint Peter was led to execution, he asked to be executed upside down, since he believed that he should be bowed at His feet. The apostle never forgave himself for his triple denial of the Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane.
The body of Saint Apostle Peter was buried at the site of execution on Vatican Hill by Christians led by the Hieromartyr Clement of Rome.
THE LIFE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL
Unlike the Apostle Peter, Saint Paul was at first an ardent opponent of the Christian faith. He was one of the Pharisees, his name then was Saul. He received an excellent education and was firmly convinced that the persecution of Christians was pleasing to God. After all, Christian teaching rebelled against Jehovah of the Old Testament and insulted his beloved Mosaic law.
Saul was among the persecutors of the faith of Christ, he was with those who executed the first martyr Stephen, falsely accused of blasphemy against Moses and God. 
But one day, on the way to Damascus, around noon, the great light from heaven and, as Paul himself later spoke about it:
Blinded by this light, Saul was led by the hand to Damascus. After three days, during which Saul was in prayer, one of the Lord’s disciples, Ananias, came to him, laid his hand on him, baptized him, and Saul received his sight. At first Ananias did not want to go to Saul, but the Lord said to him in a vision:
“...he is My chosen vessel to proclaim My name before nations and kings.”
The Apostle later wrote about it this way:
“What was an advantage to me, I counted as loss for Christ’s sake. And I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.”
By the will of God, Saul became a zealous preacher of that teaching, which he had previously been a fierce persecutor of. In Damascus, precisely in the place where he had previously sought to eradicate Christianity, he began to testify about the Messiah. Former associates of Saul (Paul), Jews, " agreed to kill» him, having heard new sermons and began to lie in wait for him as he left the city gates. 
But the disciples lowered Saul in a basket from the city wall at night and secretly escorted him to Jerusalem, where he arrived in the year 37. Saul wanted to meet the apostles and, above all, Peter, but at first they did not believe that he, too, had become a disciple of the Lord until Barnabas began to testify for him. Saul lived with Peter for fifteen days and one day, while in prayer, he had a vision that the Lord was sending him away. far to the pagans" After which he went home to the city of Tarsus, and from there, together with Barnabas, who joined him, to Antioch, where they taught a considerable number of people who accepted Christianity. After Antioch, Saul and Barnabas went to Cyprus, where the proconsul Sergius Paulus wished to hear the word of God. After the sermon, despite the opposition of the Magi, the proconsul
“I believed, marveling at the teaching of the Lord.”
After this incident, in the Holy Scriptures, Saul began to be called Paul. Around the year 50, the saint arrived in Jerusalem to resolve a dispute between converted Christians from Jews and pagans about the observance of rituals. Having resolved this dispute, Paul, by decision of the Apostolic Council, together with his new companion Silas, set off on a new apostolic journey to “ Syria and Cilicia, establishing churches» 
In Macedonia, the holy apostle healed a maid possessed by the spirit of prophecy, “ who through divination brought great income to her masters" Its owners became terribly angry with Pavel, grabbed him and dragged him to the authorities. Blaming the people for the indignation, Paul and Silas were imprisoned. At night, after their prayers to the Lord, there was a great earthquake, the doors were opened, and their bonds were weakened. The guard, seeing this miracle, immediately believed in Christ. After what happened at night, the next morning the governors decided to release " of those people", but the Apostle Paul answered:
“We, Roman citizens, were publicly beaten and thrown into prison without trial, and now we are being secretly released? No, let them come and take us out themselves.”
Roman citizenship helped Pavel, the governors came to them and honorably released them from prison.
After Macedonia, Saint Paul preached in the Greek cities of Athens and Corinth, where his epistles to Thessalonians were written. On his third apostolic journey (56-58), he wrote a letter to the Galatians (regarding the strengthening of the Judaizing party there) and the first letter to the Corinthians.
12 chapters of the New Testament are devoted to the works of the Apostle Paul, and another 16 are a story about the exploits of the saint, about his labors in building the Church of Christ, about the suffering he endured. Saint Paul believed that he
“I am not worthy to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the church of God” (1 Cor. 15:9).
Like Saint Peter, who until the end of his life suffered from denial of the Lord, Paul also remembered until the end of his days that in the past he was a persecutor of his beloved Christ, whom God’s grace pulled out of destructive error:
“Thou hast given an image of the conversion of those who sinned, both of Thy apostles: the one who rejected Thee during the passion and repented, but resisted Thy preaching and believed...”
As a troublemaker, the supreme apostle Paul was executed. Peter was crucified on Vatican Hill, and Paul, as a Roman citizen, could not be put to such a shameful death, so he was beheaded outside Rome.
Such different personalities, such different destinies!
As Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh said in one of his sermons on the Day of Remembrance of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul:
“The radical persecutor and the believer from the beginning met in one, united faith about the victory of Christ - the Cross and the Resurrection... They turned out to be fearless preachers: neither torture, nor the cross, nor crucifixion, nor prison - nothing could separate them from the love of Christ, and they preached , and this sermon really was what the Apostle Paul calls it: “Our faith has overcome the world.”
Speaking about the importance of the days of remembrance of all the saints of Orthodoxy, Bishop Philaret says:
“Remember your teachers, imitate their faith.”
On July 12, we remember the holy supreme apostles Peter and Paul, which means that, remembering them, we must imitate them, inherit their apostolic ministry to the best of our ability, joyfully testifying to the Lord Jesus Christ. How much can we imitate them? What strength do you need to have for this? Most often we do not have such strength, but this is not a reason for despondency, because Bishop Anthony says:
“If we cannot achieve such strong faith as that of the Apostle Peter in order to walk on waters and raise the dead, if we cannot acquire such Divine wisdom as that of the Apostle Paul in order to convert thousands of people to Christ with our words, then let us try to imitate them unfeigned repentance and deepest humility."
GREATNESS
We magnify you, Christ's apostles Peter and Paul, who enlightened the whole world with your teachings and brought everything to Christ.
VIDEO
one day, the Church seems to want to remind us of the diversity of human characters and the paths that lead to God. Memorial Day of the Apostles Peter and Paul - July 12.
Both apostles are called supreme, but their primacy is not at all the same. Peter was one of Christ’s closest disciples during His earthly life, and Paul had nothing to do with the gospel events at all. He began preaching much later, and was not even “officially confirmed” as one of the twelve apostles. And yet we can compare in the most general outline these two destinies.
Saint Peter (Simon)
Simon, later nicknamed Peter, like his brother Andrew, was a simple Galilean fisherman. Galilee was the farthest region of Palestine from Jerusalem, and many pagans lived there. Residents of the capital looked down on the Galileans as provincials. They even spoke with a noticeable accent, by which Peter was once identified in the courtyard of the high priest. And fisherman is the simplest and most unpretentious profession. They fished on Lake Galilee mainly at night, so the fisherman did not always have time to sleep, he smelled of fish, his income was too unpredictable, everything depended on luck. In general, the life of the Galilean fishermen was not very enviable, and perhaps that is why Simon and Andrew, as soon as they heard the invitation of the wandering Preacher: “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men,” immediately obeyed Him, even throwing down the nets that after each catch it was supposed to be cleaned and repaired. And so they became the first called apostles.
Saint Paul (Saul)
Paul, or, more precisely, Saul (as he was called before turning to Christ), on the contrary, was from the then elite. He was born in the Hellenistic city of Tarsus, the capital of the province of Cilicia, and was from the tribe of Benjamin, like King Saul, after whom he was named. At the same time, he was a Roman citizen by birth - a rare privilege for provincials, which gave him many special rights (for example, to demand a trial personally from the emperor, which he later used to get to Rome at public expense). Paulus, that is, "small", is a Roman name - he probably had it from the very beginning, but only after converting to Christianity did he begin to use it instead of his former name Saul. He received his education in Jerusalem, from the most authoritative theologian of that time, Gamaliel. Saul was one of the Pharisees - zealots of the Law, who strove to exactly fulfill all its requirements and all the “traditions of the elders.” Although Christ denounced the Pharisees, we know several examples when it was the Pharisees who became His devoted disciples, so Saul-Paul was not alone in this.
Apostles Peter and Paul
But Simon and Saul had a lot in common in character. Having learned from Gamaliel, Paul did not simply immerse himself in the interpretation of the Mosaic Law. No, he had to apply and even enforce this Law in practice - and the most suitable area of application seemed to him to be the fight against the recently emerged “heresy”, whose supporters talked about a certain resurrected Jesus and that faith in Him is much more important than the works of the Law! Saul could not bear this. When Deacon Stephen was stoned for such a sermon, he only guarded the clothes of the slayers, but soon the zealous young man himself set out on the road to punish the infidels in Damascus. It was on this path that a meeting would occur that would change his life forever.
And Simon, from the very beginning former student Christ? He is just as fiery and impatient. So Christ orders him, still a fisherman, and not an apostle, to cast the net again after an unsuccessful night fishing - and he obeys, and when the net brings an extraordinary catch, he says to the Teacher: “Get out from me, Lord! because I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8). He felt so acutely his unworthiness and his uncleanness... But later, seeing the Savior walking on the water, he, on the contrary, immediately asks: “... Command me to come to You on the water” (Matthew 14: 28). Yes, then he doubted and began to drown, but the rest of the apostles did not even dare to try! When a miracle happens next to Simon, he must immediately react to it; everything happens for him here and now. And it is no coincidence that he is the one who, without hesitation, pronounces his confession of religion, long before the Resurrection of Christ: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:16). But even John the Baptist sent disciples to Christ with the question whether He really was... Peter has no doubt, and in response to these words, Christ calls him the stone on which He will build His Church. The Aramaic and Greek words for rock, Cephas and Peter, respectively, become Simon's new names.
In the life of each of them there was crucial moment who made them what they became. The Risen Christ appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus and asked him: “Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting Me? (Acts 9:4). From that moment on, everything changed in his life - more precisely, this life was no longer his own, it was devoted to the preaching of the One whom he had previously persecuted.
But for Peter, such a moment was, on the contrary, renunciation. On the eve of the crucifixion, he promised Christ that he would not leave Him even under pain of death, but Christ replied: “...This night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times” (Matthew 26:34). Perhaps, if the executioners had immediately approached him, he would have courageously gone to execution, but there was a long night ahead, full of fears and the unknown... And Peter somehow imperceptibly renounced Christ, in an everyday way, without noticing it himself - right up to cockcrow. On by example the first of the apostles saw how easy it was to become the last. And only after Peter’s tears of repentance were the words of the Savior addressed to him: “...Feed My sheep” (John 21: 17). But first He asked him a very simple question: “Do you love Me?” He asked it three times, so that Peter was even upset, but after the night with the rooster it was not out of place: the one who denied three times confessed his love three times.
And both of them, Peter and Pavel, knew very well that this love would have to be paid for with peace and comfort. Immediately after Peter confesses his love, Jesus prophesies about his death: “You will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and lead you where you do not want to go” (John 21:18). Martyrdom was a kind of condition of apostleship, and how could Peter, who saw the crucifixion of the Teacher, not understand this, and how could Paul, who himself had previously tormented Christians, not understand this! Both were executed in Rome in the sixties A.D., before the last book of the New Testament was even completed.
The book of Acts tells about their preaching. From the very beginning, the gospel was addressed primarily “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” and Peter needed a miraculous vision to be convinced that God was calling the Gentiles to faith in the same way as the Jews. Nevertheless, he mainly preached to his fellow believers, and it was, perhaps, difficult for a simple Galilean fisherman to address an audience of foreign languages and other faiths. But this worked out well for the educated Paul, who said: “...I have been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, as Peter was to the circumcised” (Gal. 2:7).
In general, there are quite a lot of differences between them. For example, Peter was married before meeting Christ, but Paul decided to always remain single so that family matters would not interfere with his main calling. However, Paul himself said about Peter that his wife was his companion (see 1 Cor. 9:5), which means family life does not have to be a hindrance to missionary work.
It is possible to compare the two apostles, who were later called supreme, for a long time and in detail, noting the general and special in the life of each of them. But it is best to give the floor to them themselves, so that they tell us what it is like to be the first among the apostles.
Peter: “I implore your shepherds, a fellow shepherd and witness of the sufferings of Christ and a sharer in the glory that is to be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, overseeing it not under compulsion, but willingly and in a godly manner, not for vile gain, but out of zeal, And not by lording it over the inheritance of God, but by setting an example to the flock; And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive an unfading crown of glory” (1 Peter 5:1-4).
Paul: “...I, circumcised on the eighth day, from the family of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, a Jew of the Jews, according to the teaching of a Pharisee, By zeal I am a persecutor of the Church of God, but by legal righteousness I am blameless. But what was an advantage for me, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. And I count all things as loss for the sake of the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for Him I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I might gain Christ... I say this not because I have already attained or been perfected; but I press on lest I may attain as Christ Jesus attained to me” (Phil. 3:5-8, 12).
Peter and Paul are so different. The fisherman is a hard worker and a smart guy. The closest disciple of Christ and a preacher who had nothing to do with the gospel events. The story of Peter and Paul is a story of the diversity of human characters and the paths leading to God.
1. Before meeting Christ, the Apostle Peter’s name was Simon; he was a simple, poor fisherman, almost illiterate. Simon worked hard every day, earning his living by fishing on Lake Galilee. At the very first word of the Savior, thanks to fiery faith and fear of God, he left everything: craft, home, property - and followed Christ.
St. Peter and Paul in their lives. From the Church of St. Peter and Paul in Kozhevniki in Novgorod. XVI century
2. Paul came from a noble family, was from the tribe of Benjamin and before his conversion bore the name Saul. An honorary Roman citizen, a strict executor of the Jewish law, a student of the famous teacher of the law Gamaliel, a man respected by all the people - that’s who Saul was. He was endowed with great power: he had special powers from the high priest to persecute Christians and put them to death. But one day the Lord Jesus Christ Himself revealed himself to him on the way to Damascus, then Saul, with the same zeal, stood up to defend the Church and preach Christianity.
Peter and Pavel. Karelia. XV century
3. Peter preached with such power that he converted three and even five thousand people to Christ at once. He healed the hopelessly sick and resurrected the dead. People carried the sick right into the streets so that at least the shadow of the Apostle Peter would overshadow them. He was the first apostle to be imprisoned, persecuted and beaten. However, Peter only rejoiced that he suffered torment for Christ and continued to fearlessly preach in different countries.
Peter and Pavel. S. Sludka, Ilyinsky district, 1603-1624.
4. Paul traveled constantly preaching the Gospel, during which time he wrote 14 epistles. John Chrysostom said that these messages protect the Universal Church like a wall built of adamant. He converted people to Christ with his wisdom and eloquence. When handkerchiefs taken from the Apostle Paul were placed on the sick and suffering, their illnesses stopped, and evil spirits came out of them. The Jews repeatedly tried to kill the Apostle Paul, once over forty people even swore not to eat or drink until they killed him. But Paul continued his ministry.
The supreme apostles Peter and Paul, with their acts in 12 hallmarks. North. Second half of the 17th century.
5. “Thou hast given the establishment of Thy Church, O Lord, to Peter’s firmness and Paul’s mind,” says the stichera of the holiday. “Peter’s firmness” is courage in confessing faith and in accepting suffering. It is not for nothing that the name “Peter”, given to Simon by the Lord, means “stone”. And “Pavlov’s Mind” is an extraordinary wisdom that has been attracting people’s hearts to God for two thousand years.