St. Peter´s Day

Giotto.St Peter. Upper Church San Francesco Assisi

Before he met Jesus his name was Simon.

The apostle Saint Peter was the first Pope and reigned the longest of all Popes, thirty-four years, from the year 33 to the year 67.

He was called by Jesus the rock on which the Church would be built. 

Round the dome of St. Peter´s Basilica in Rome are Christ´s words to Peter: Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam et tibi dabo claves regni coelorum (Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my Church and I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven).

He moved the Church from Jerusalem to Antioch in 36 and from Antioch to Rome in 42. 

The basilica of St. Peter in Rome is the burial site of Saint Peter. The square fills a large part of the Circus where some of the cruelest games were held during Nero´s persecutions. 

Panel from the Central Door of St Peter's Basilica 

At his own request, Peter was crucified upside down, on June 29 in the year 67. 

His feast day is celebrated in Madeira island. I remember the “arraial” we had at home when I was a teenager, the decorations with colourful papers, and the menu that always consisted of fish (tuna fish) perhaps because Peter was a fisherman.

The fish is an early Christian coded symbol for the name Christ: the letters of the Greek word for fish “Ixthus” from the initial letters of the phrase “Jesus Christ, God´s Son, Saviour”.

(All the photos were taken from the net)