De sancto Petro apostolo
The Names and Virtues of Peter
An exploration of the etymology and spiritual significance of the names given to the Apostle Peter.
Peter had three names; for he was called Simon Bar-Jona. Simon is interpreted as 'obedient' or 'one who puts away sorrow'; Bar-Jona means 'son of the dove'—'bar' in the Syrian tongue meaning 'son', and 'Jona' in Hebrew meaning 'dove'. He was truly obedient when Christ called him, obeying the Lord at a single command. He put away sorrow after denying Christ, for he went out and wept bitterly. He was the 'son of the dove' because he served God with a simple intention. Secondly, he was called Cephas, which means 'head', 'rock', or 'one who rebukes with the mouth': 'head' because of his leadership, 'rock' because of his firmness in suffering, and 'one who rebukes with the mouth' because of his constancy in preaching. Thirdly, he was called Peter, which means 'one who acknowledges', 'one who unshoes', or 'one who dissolves'. He acknowledged Christ's divinity when he said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,' and he unshoed his affections from every dead and earthly work when he said, 'Behold, we have left everything.' He also dissolves the bonds of sin for us, which he does through the keys he received from the Lord. He also had a triple surname: Simon Johanna, meaning 'the beauty of the Lord'; Simon Johannis, meaning 'to whom it has been given'; and Simon Bar-Jona, meaning 'son of the dove'. This signifies that he possessed beauty of character, the gifts of virtue, and an abundance of tears, since the dove moans instead of singing. Jesus, however, was the first to give him the name Peter. He allowed it to be imposed upon himself and said, John. First, you will be called Cephas, which is interpreted as Peter; second, he imposed a promise, as it is said in Mark 3: 'and he gave Simon the name Peter'; third, he confirmed what was imposed when he said in Matthew: 16: 'And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, etc.' His martyrdom was written about by Marcellus, Pope Linus, Hegesippus, and Pope Leo.
Apostolic Zeal and Early Miracles
A collection of accounts detailing Peter's fervor, ascetic life, and early miraculous deeds.
The Apostle Peter stood out among the other apostles—and even above them—for his greater fervor. He wanted to know who would betray the Lord because, as Augustine says, if he had known who it was, he would have torn him apart with his teeth. For this reason, the Lord didn't want to name his betrayer, because, as Chrysostom says, if he had named him, Peter would have risen up immediately and killed him on the spot. He walked on the sea toward the Lord, was chosen by the Lord at the Transfiguration and at the raising of the girl, found a coin in the mouth of a fish, received the keys to the kingdom of heaven from the Lord, was entrusted by Christ to feed his sheep, converted three thousand people in his preaching at Pentecost, foretold the death of Ananias and Sapphira, healed Aeneas the paralytic, baptized Cornelius, raised Tabitha, and healed the sick with the shadow of his body; he was imprisoned by Herod, but was freed by an angel. As for his food or clothing, he testifies to this himself in the book of Clement: 'Bread alone,' he says, 'is what I eat, with olives and rarely with vegetables. As for clothing, this is what I have, as you see: a tunic with a cloak, and having this, I ask for nothing else.' It is also said that he always carried a handkerchief in his robe, with which he would frequently wipe away his flowing tears, because whenever he remembered the sweet conversation and presence of God, he couldn't hold back his tears due to the overwhelming sweetness of love. When he also brought to mind the guilt of his denial, he would shed tears abundantly. From this, he made it such a habit to weep that his whole face appeared scorched by tears, as Clement says. The same author also says that he was accustomed to rise for prayer when he heard the rooster crow in the night, and at those times he was likewise accustomed to burst into tears. Clement also reports, according to what is found in the Ecclesiastical History, that when Peter's wife was being led to her martyrdom, Peter rejoiced with great joy and, calling her by her name, shouted after her: 'O wife, remember the Lord.' On one occasion, while the Apostle Peter had sent two of his disciples out to preach, and they had traveled twenty stages, one of them died, but the other returned to Peter and reported what had happened; this man is said to have been the blessed Martial, or according to some, Maternus. Elsewhere it is read that the first was blessed Fronto; the companion who died was the second, the priest Georgius. Then Peter handed him his staff, instructing him to go to his companion and lay it upon him. When he had done this, the man who had already been lying dead for forty days immediately rose up alive. — 2. At that time there was in Jerusalem a certain magician named Simon, who claimed to be the primary truth, asserted that those who believed in him would become eternal, and said that nothing was impossible for him. It's also written in the book of Clement that he himself said: "I will be worshipped publicly as God, I will be gifted with divine honors, and I will be able to do whatever I wish." Once, when my mother Rachel ordered me to go out to the field to reap, I saw a sickle lying there and commanded it to reap by itself, and it reaped ten times more than the others. He also added, according to what Jerome says: "I am the Word of God, I am the beautiful one, I am the Paraclete, I am all things of God."
The Conflict with Simon Magus
The dramatic confrontation between Peter and the magician Simon, culminating in the magician's fall.
He also made bronze snakes move, made bronze and stone statues laugh, and made dogs sing. So, as Linus says, wanting to debate Peter and prove he was God, Simon arrived on the appointed day at the place of the contest, and Peter said to those standing by: 'Peace be with you, brothers, you who love the truth.' Simon replied, 'We have no need of your peace; for if there is peace and harmony, we won't be able to accomplish anything in finding the truth.' Thieves have peace among themselves, which is why you shouldn't call for peace, but for conflict; for when two are fighting, there will be peace only when one has been defeated. And Peter asked, 'Why are you afraid to hear of peace?' Wars are born from sins, but where there is no sin, there is peace; truth is found in debates, and justice is found in deeds. Simon said, 'You say nothing, but I will show you the power of my divinity so that you will immediately worship me; I am the first virtue, and I can fly through the air, create new trees, turn stones into bread, endure in fire without harm, and I can do everything I want.' Peter debated against him, therefore, and exposed all his evil deeds. Then Simon, seeing that he couldn't stand against Peter, threw all the books of his magic arts into the sea so he wouldn't be exposed as a magician, and he set off for Rome to be held as a god there. When Peter found out, he followed him all the way to Rome. In the fourth year of the Emperor Claudius, Peter arrived in Rome and stayed there for twenty-five years; and, as John Beleth says, he ordained two bishops, Linus and Cletus, as his assistants—one outside the city walls and the other inside. He persisted in his preaching and converted many to the faith, healing a great number of the sick; furthermore, by always praising and promoting chastity in his preaching, he converted four of the prefect Agrippa's concubines to such a degree that they refused to return to the prefect, which made the prefect angry and led him to look for an opportunity against Peter. After this, the Lord appeared to Peter and said, "Simon and Nero are plotting against you, but don't be afraid. I am with you to protect you, and I will give you the comfort of my servant Paul, who will arrive in Rome tomorrow." Knowing, as Linus says, that the laying aside of his earthly tabernacle was near, Peter took Clement by the hand while in the assembly of the brothers, ordained him as bishop, and compelled him to sit in the chair in his place. Afterward, Paul arrived in Rome just as the Lord had predicted and began to preach Christ alongside Peter. Simon the magician, however, was so loved by Nero that he was considered, without a doubt, the guardian of his life, his safety, and the entire city. One day, however, as Pope Leo says, while he was standing before Nero, his appearance suddenly changed and he looked now like an old man, now like a young one. When Nero saw this, he believed him to be the true Son of God. Simon Magus then said to Nero, as Leo also reports: "So that you may know for certain, Emperor, that I am the Son of God, order me to be beheaded, and I'll rise again on the third day." Nero therefore ordered the executioner to behead him. When the executioner thought he was beheading Simon, he beheaded a ram instead; Simon, however, escaped unharmed through magic, gathered the ram's limbs and hid them, and kept himself hidden for three days, while the ram's blood remained frozen on the spot. On the third day, he appeared to Nero and said: "Have my blood, which was spilled, wiped away, for look, I who was beheaded have risen again on the third day, just as I promised." When Nero saw him, he was stunned and believed him to be the true Son of God. So says Leo. Sometimes, even when he was in a private room with Nero, a demon in his likeness would speak to the people outside; eventually, the Romans held him in such high regard that they made a statue of him and inscribed this title upon it: "To Simon the Holy God." As Leo records, Peter and Paul entered before Nero and exposed all of his evil deeds; Peter added that just as there are two substances in Christ—namely, God and man—so too in this magician there are two substances: man and the devil. Simon then said, as Saint Marcellus and Leo testify, "So that I don't have to put up with this enemy any longer, I will command my angels to avenge me against him." To which Peter replied, "I don't fear your angels; they are the ones who fear me." Nero asked, "Aren't you afraid of Simon, who proves his divinity through his actions?" Peter replied, "If divinity is in him, let him tell me now what I am thinking or what I am doing, for I am whispering my thought to your ears first, so that he cannot lie." Nero said, "Come here and tell me what you're thinking." Peter, however, stepped forward and said in secret, "Order some barley bread to be brought to me and given to me in private." When it had been brought, and Peter had blessed it and hidden it in his sleeve, he said, "Let Simon, who has made himself a god, tell us what has been thought, what has been said, or what has been done." Simon answered, "Let Peter tell us instead what I am thinking." Peter said, "I will teach you that I know what Simon is thinking, once I have done what he has been thinking about." Then Simon, indignant, shouted: "Let great dogs come forth and devour him!" And suddenly, great dogs appeared and attacked Peter, but he offered them blessed bread, and immediately he turned them to flight. Then Peter said to Nero: "See, I have shown that I know what Simon was thinking against me, not with words, but with deeds." For he who promised that angels would come against me produced dogs, to show that he has no divine angels, but only dog-like ones. Simon said: "Listen, Peter and Paul, if I can do nothing to you here, we will come to where I must judge you; but for now, I am sparing you." So says Leo. Then Simon, as Hegesippus and Linus say, puffed up with pride, dared to boast that he could raise the dead; and it happened that a certain young man died, so with Peter and Simon summoned, everyone agreed to Simon's will that the one who could not raise the dead should be put to death. Therefore, while Simon was performing his incantations over the dead man, those standing around saw the deceased move his head. Then everyone shouted and wanted to stone Peter, but Peter, having barely managed to quiet them, said: "If the dead man is alive, let him rise, walk, and speak; otherwise, know that it's a phantom that the dead man's head is moving. Let Simon be separated from the bed so that the devil's tricks may be fully exposed." Simon was then separated from the bed, and the boy remained motionless; Peter, however, standing at a distance and having finished his prayer, shouted: "Young man, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk!" And immediately he rose up alive and walked. When the people wanted to stone Simon, Peter said: "It's punishment enough for him that he acknowledges he has been defeated in his own arts; besides, our Master taught us to return good for evil." But Simon said: "Know this, Peter and Paul: you won't get what you desire, for I won't deem you worthy of being crowned by martyrdom." Peter said: "May what we desire come to us, and to you." But may it never go well for you, because whatever you say is a lie. Then Simon, as Saint Marcellus says, went to the house of Marcellus, his disciple, and tied a large dog to the door of his house, saying: "Now I will see if Peter, who is used to coming to you, will be able to enter." A little while later, Peter came and, having made the sign of the cross, released the dog. The dog, though gentle to everyone else, pursued only Simon, who, grabbing him, threw him to the ground beneath himself and wanted to strangle him. Peter, running up, shouted to the dog not to harm him, and the dog did not hurt his body, but tore his clothes so badly that he was left naked. The people, and especially the children, chased after him with the dog until they drove him out of the city like a wolf. Unable to bear the shame of this disgrace, he disappeared for a year; Marcellus, however, seeing these miracles, attached himself to Peter from that time on. Later, though, Simon returned and was once again welcomed into Nero’s favor. Simon, therefore, as Leo reports, called the people together and declared that he had been gravely offended by the Galileans; for that reason, he said he wanted to abandon the city he had been accustomed to protect, and he set a day on which he was to ascend into heaven, because he no longer deigned to dwell on earth. On the appointed day, he climbed a high tower or, according to Linus, the Capitol, and throwing himself down from it, he began to fly, crowned with laurel. But Paul said to Peter, “It’s for me to pray, and for you to command,” and Nero said, “This man is truthful; you, however, are deceivers.” Peter, however, said to Paul, “Paul, lift up your head and look.” And when he had lifted his head and seen Simon flying, he said to Peter, “Peter, why do you hesitate? Finish what you have begun, for the Lord is already calling us.” Then Peter said, “I adjure you, angels of Satan, who...”1 You carry him into the air, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that you no longer carry him, but let him fall; and immediately, being released, he fell and died with his neck broken. Hearing this, Nero grieved that he had lost such a man and said to the apostles, "You have acted with a suspicious mind toward me; therefore, I will destroy you as a bad example." So says Leo.
The Martyrdom of the Apostles
The final days of Peter and Paul, including the Quo Vadis encounter and their glorious deaths.
He handed them over to the custody of Paulinus, a most distinguished man, and Paulinus delivered them into the Mamertine prison under the care of the soldiers Processus and Martinianus, whom Peter converted to the faith, whereupon they opened the prison and set them free. Consequently, after the passion of the apostles, Paulinus summoned Processus and Martinianus, and upon discovering they were Christians, they were beheaded by Nero's order. The brothers begged Peter to leave, and when he refused, he was finally overcome by their prayers and departed. When he reached the gate—as Leo and Linus testify, at the place now called 'Saint Mary at the Steps'—he saw Christ coming toward him and said, "Lord, where are you going?" He replied, "I am coming to Rome to be crucified again." Peter asked him, "Are you to be crucified again?" The Lord answered, "Yes," and Peter said, "Then, Lord, I will return so that I may be crucified with you." With these words said, the Lord ascended into heaven while Peter watched and wept. When he realized this was about his own passion, he returned; and after reporting this to the brothers, he was seized by Nero’s ministers and brought before the prefect Agrippa, and his face became like the sun, as Linus says. . He said to him, "Are you that man who boasts among the common people and the women you separate from their husbands' beds?" The apostle, rebuking him, said that he boasted in the cross of the Lord. Then Peter was ordered to be crucified as a foreigner, while Paul, being a Roman citizen, was ordered to be beheaded. Regarding this sentence passed upon them, Dionysius says in his letter to Timothy about the death of Paul in these words: "O my brother Timothy, if you had seen the struggles of their end, you would have surely fainted from sadness and grief." (Who wouldn’t weep?) It was at that hour when the decree of the sentence went out against them, that Peter, specifically... ...was to be crucified, and Paul was to be beheaded. You would have seen crowds of Gentiles and Jews striking them and spitting in their faces. When the terrible time of their end arrived and they were separated from one another, they bound the pillars of the world, certainly not without the groaning and weeping of the brothers. Then Paul said to Peter, 'Peace be with you, foundation of the churches and shepherd of the sheep and lambs of Christ.' Peter said to Paul, 'Go in peace, preacher of good morals, mediator and guide of the salvation of the just.' Once they were separated, I followed my master, for they did not kill them on the same street. Dionysius says this. Peter, however, as Leo and Marcellus testify, said when he reached the cross: "Since my Lord came down from heaven to earth and was lifted up on an upright cross, but I, whom He deigns to call from earth to heaven, must have my cross show my head toward the earth and direct my feet toward heaven." "Therefore, because I am not worthy to be on the cross as my Lord was, turn my cross around and crucify me with my head bowed down." Then they turned the cross and... ...fixed his feet upward and his hands downward. But the people, filled with fury, wanted to kill Nero and the prefect and free the apostle, who begged them not to hinder his passion. The Lord, however, as Hegesippus and Linus say, opened the eyes of those who were weeping there, and they saw angels standing with crowns of roses and lilies, and Peter on the cross standing with them, receiving a book from Christ and reading there the words he was speaking. "Then Peter, as the same Hegesippus testifies, began to speak from the cross: 'I have longed to imitate You, Lord, but I did not presume to be crucified upright. You are always upright, exalted, and high; we are children of the first man, who plunged his head into the earth—whose fall the nature of human generation signifies; for we are born in such a way that we seem to be poured out prone upon the earth.'" "The condition is also changed, so that the world thinks that is right which is known to be left. You, Lord, are everything to me; You are my all, and there is nothing else but You alone. I give thanks to You with my whole spirit, by which I live, by which I understand, by which I intercede." Two other reasons are mentioned here for why the upright man did not want to be crucified. Seeing that the faithful had witnessed his glory, Peter gave thanks and, commending the faithful to God, gave up his spirit. Then Marcellus and Apuleius, brothers and his disciples, took him down from the cross, anointed him with various spices, and buried him. Isidore, in his book On the Birth and Death of the Saints, says this: 'After Peter founded the church at Antioch under Claudius Caesar, he went to Rome to oppose Simon Magus, and there he preached the Gospel and held the pontificate of that same city for twenty-five years; but in the thirty-sixth year after the Lord's Passion, he was crucified by Nero upside down, just as he himself had wished.' That is what Isidore says. On that very day, Peter and Paul appeared to Dionysius, just as he says in the aforementioned letter: 'Pay attention to a miracle, behold a prodigy, my brother Timothy, on the day of their sacrifice.' For I was present at the time of their separation; but after their death, I saw them entering the gates of the city hand in hand, clothed in robes of brightness, or a garment of light, and adorned with crowns of clarity and light. That is what Dionysius says.
The Wickedness of Nero
A historical account of the crimes and eventual demise of the Emperor Nero.
Nero didn't go unpunished for this crime and the others he committed, as he ended up killing himself with his own hand; let's briefly include some of those crimes here. When Seneca, his teacher, was hoping for a fitting reward for his labor—as is read in a certain history, though it be apocryphal—Nero ordered him to choose the branch of a tree from which he would hang, saying that he would receive this as the reward for his labor from him. When Seneca asked why he had deserved this punishment of death, Nero had a sharp sword repeatedly brandished over his head; Seneca, however, would flinch at the threatening sword with a nod of his head, fearing greatly to risk the danger of death. Nero said to him, "Teacher, why do you flinch at the threatening sword with a nod of your head?" Seneca replied, "I am a man, and therefore I fear death and die unwillingly." Nero said to him, "I still fear you just as I was accustomed to fear you as a boy, which is why I won't be able to live in peace while you're alive." Seneca said, "If it is necessary for me to die, at least grant me that I may choose the kind of death I want." Nero replied, "Choose quickly, just don't delay dying." Seneca then had the veins in both his arms opened while sitting in a bath of water, and he ended his life there from the massive blood loss; in this way, Seneca’s name acted as an omen, as if it meant 'killing himself,' because he did indeed take his own life, though under compulsion. It is recorded that this Seneca had two brothers. One was Julianus Gallio, an outstanding orator, who killed himself with his own hand; the other was Mela, the father of the poet Lucan, who is said to have died by opening his veins at Nero's command. Driven by the wicked madness of his mind, as the same apocryphal story recounts, Nero ordered his mother to be killed and cut open so he could see how he had been nurtured in her womb. But the physicians, rebuking him for destroying his mother, said: 'The laws forbid it, and natural decency prohibits a son from killing the mother who bore him with pain and raised him with such great labor and care.' Nero replied to them: 'Make me pregnant like a boy and then have me give birth, so that I may know how much pain my mother suffered.' He had conceived this additional desire to give birth because, while passing through the city, he had heard a woman crying out in labor. They told him: 'It isn't possible, for it is contrary to nature, nor is it easy, for it isn't consistent with reason.' Therefore Nero said to them: 'Unless you make me pregnant and have me give birth, I will have you all die a cruel death.' Then they secretly gave him a frog to drink, and by their own artifice made it grow inside his belly; suddenly his belly swelled, unable to bear what was contrary to nature, so that Nero thought he was pregnant with a child, and they made him keep to a diet they knew was suitable for nourishing a frog, telling him that because of his pregnancy he had to observe such things. Finally, tormented by intense pain, he told his doctors, "Hurry up the birth, because I can barely breathe from the exhaustion of labor." Then they gave him something to make him vomit, and he brought up a frog—a terrifying sight, covered in fluids and blood. When Nero looked at his 'offspring,' he was horrified and wondered how it could be so monstrous, but they told him he had produced such a deformed fetus because he hadn't waited for the full term of the pregnancy. He asked, "Was this really what came out of the mother's womb?" They replied, "Yes." He then ordered that his 'offspring' be fed and kept inside a stone shell. These events, however, are not found in the chronicles; they are apocryphal. Later, wondering what the burning of Troy had been like and how massive it was, he had Rome set on fire for seven days and nights. As he watched from a high tower, he rejoiced in the beauty of the flames and sang the Iliad in a pompous manner. He, as is recorded in the chronicles, fished with golden nets and devoted himself to singing, to the point that he surpassed all harpists and tragedians; he took a man as his wife, and was himself accepted by the man as a wife, as Orosius says; the Romans, however, no longer able to endure his madness, attacked him and pursued him right out of the city. Seeing that he could not escape, he sharpened a stake with the bites of his teeth and pierced himself through the middle with it, ending his life by such a death; elsewhere, however, it is read that he was devoured by wolves. The returning Romans found a frog hiding in a tortoise shell, threw it outside the city, and burned it. Some say that is why the part of the city where the frog had hidden was named Lateran. — 4.
Miracles and Devotion at the Apostolic Tombs
Accounts of the preservation of the apostles' relics and miracles performed through their intercession.
During the time of Pope Saint Cornelius, Greek believers stole the bodies of the apostles and were carrying them away. However, the demons dwelling in the idols were compelled by divine power to cry out, "Roman men, help, for your gods are being taken away!" Therefore, a multitude of the faithful and the unfaithful gathered to pursue them—the faithful understanding them to be the apostles, the Gentiles believing them to be their own gods—and so the Greeks, fearing, threw the bodies of the apostles into a well near the catacombs, but they were later extracted by the faithful. Gregory, however, says in his register that such a force of thunder and lightning terrified and scattered them that they left them at the catacombs; but when they doubted which bones were those of blessed Peter and which were those of blessed Paul, as the faithful prayed and insisted with fasts, a response was given to them from heaven: 'The larger bones are those of the preacher, the smaller, however, are those of the fisherman.' And thus the bones separated from each other, and they placed them in their own churches, which they had built for each. Others say, however, that Pope Sylvester, wishing to consecrate the churches, weighed both the large and small bones in a scale with the utmost reverence and placed half in one church and half in the other. In his Dialogues, Gregory reports that a man named Agontius, known for his great humility and holiness, served in the church of Saint Peter, where the apostle's body rests. But when... A certain paralyzed girl who lived in his church would crawl on her hands, dragging her body along the ground with her hips and feet useless, and having long sought healing from blessed Peter, he appeared to her in a vision and said, "Go to Agontius the sacristan, and he will restore you to health." So she began to drag herself here and there throughout the church, looking for who Agontius might be, and he happened to cross her path; she asked for him, and he said to her, "Our shepherd and guardian, the blessed apostle Peter, sent me to you so that I might free you from your infirmity." He answered her, "If you were sent by him, get up," and taking her by the hand, he lifted her, and she was fully healed, with no trace of her sickness remaining. In the same book, Gregory also writes that Galla, a noblewoman of Rome and daughter of the consul and patrician Symmachus, was married, but her husband died within a year. Although her age and wealth invited her to marry again, she chose instead to be joined to God in a spiritual marriage—one that begins with sorrow but leads to eternal joy—rather than submit to a carnal marriage, which always begins with happiness but tends to end in sorrow. However, because she had a very fiery skin condition, doctors began to say that unless she returned to the embraces of a husband, she would grow a beard due to the excessive heat, which was contrary to nature. And that is exactly what happened; but she feared no outward deformity because she loved her inner beauty, and she was not afraid that if this were marred in her, she would not be loved by her heavenly Spouse. So, she cast off her worldly clothes, gave herself to the monastery at the church of Saint Peter, and there, in our own time, served God in simplicity through prayer and almsgiving. Eventually, she was struck by a cancerous ulcer on her breast; yet, because she was a friend of the light and hated not only spiritual but also physical darkness, two candles were always kept burning before her bed, and she saw the blessed apostle Peter standing between those two lights before her bed. Taking courage from her love, she rejoiced and said, "What is it, my Lord?" "Have my sins been forgiven?" He nodded with a most gentle expression, bowing his head, and said, "They are forgiven." "Come." And she replied, "I ask that my blessed sister may come with me." And he said, "No, though she may come with you as she is." She revealed this to the abbess on the third day, after she had passed away. Furthermore, in the same book, Gregory says that when a certain priest of great holiness was near death, he began to call out with great joy, saying: 'My lords are coming, my lords are coming; that you have deigned to come to such a lowly servant.' 'I am coming, I am coming; I give thanks, I give thanks.' And when those who were standing by, to whom he was speaking, asked him about it, he replied in wonder: 'Do you not see the holy apostles Peter and Paul who have come here?' When he repeated this again as before, that holy soul was released from the flesh.
The Shared Witness and Liturgical Commemoration
A reflection on the unity of the apostles in their death and the tradition of their liturgical celebration.
However, some doubt whether Peter and Paul suffered on the same day. They said, however... ...some say that they suffered on the same day a year later, but Jerome and almost all the saints who write about this agree that they suffered on the same day and in the same year, as is also clearly held in the letter of Dionysius and as Leo or Maximus says according to some in a certain sermon, where he speaks thus: 'For we do not think it happened without cause that they endured the sentence of one tyrant on one day and in one place.' They suffered on the same day so they could reach Christ together, in the same place so Rome wouldn't be missing one of them, and under the same persecutor so an equal cruelty might bind them both. The day, therefore, was decreed for their merit, the place for their glory, and the same persecutor for their virtue—so says Leo. Although they suffered on the same day and at the same hour, they didn't suffer in the same place, but in different ones; and when Leo said they suffered in the same place, he was speaking from the fact that both suffered in Rome. Regarding this, someone spoke in these verses: Paul is crowned by the sword, Peter by the cross; they share the same leader, the same light, the same place; Nero is the leader, Rome is the place. Another one: The same light, leader, and city sanctify Paul by the sword and Peter by the cross. Although they suffered on the same day, Pope Gregory nevertheless ordained that the solemnity of Peter should be celebrated more specifically on that day, with the commemoration of Paul on the following day—partly because the church of Saint Peter was dedicated on that day, partly because he is greater in dignity, partly because he was converted earlier, and partly because he held the primacy in Rome.
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Petrus trinomius exstitit, vocatus enim est Symon Bariona, Symon interpretatur obediens vel ponens tristitiam, Bariona filius columbae, bar lingua Syra filius, Jona hebraice columba. Fuit enim obediens, quando Christus cum vocavit, et ad unius jussionis vocem domino obedivit, ponens tristitiam, quando Christum negavit, cum egressus foras flevit amare, filius columbae, quia Deo simplici intentione servivit. Secundo vocatus est Caiphas, quod interpretatur caput vel petra vel increpans ore: caput ratione principatus in praelatione, petra ratione firmitatis in passione, increpans ore ratione constantiae in praedicatione. Tertio vocatus est Petrus, quod interpretatur agnoscens vel discaleians vel dissolvens, quia Christi divinitatem agnovit, cum dixit: tu es Christus filius Dei vivi, et pedes affectuum suorum ab omni opere mortuo et terreno discalciavit, cum dixit: ecce nos reliquimus omnia etc. , et vincula peccatorum a no bis dissolvit et hoc per claves, quas a domino accepit. Habnit autem triplex cognomen, dictus est enim Symon Johanna, quod interpretatur domini pulchritudo; secundo Symon Johannis, quod interpretatur: cui donatum est; tertio Symon Bariona, quod interpretatur filius columbae, per quod datur intelligi, quod ipse habuit pulchritudinem morum, dona virtutum, abundantiam lacrymarum, quia columba habet gemitum pro cantu. Istud autem nomen Petrus Jesus primo. sibi imponenduft permisit et dixit Joh.
I: tu vocaberis Cayphas, quod interpretatur Petrus; secundo promissum imposuit, sicut dicitur Marc, lll: et imposuit Symoni nomen Petrus; tertio impositum confirmavit, cum dixit Matth. XVI: et ego dico tibi, quia tu es Petrus et super hanc petram etc. Ejus martirium Marcellus, Linus papa, Hegesippus et Leo papa sceripserant.
Petrus apostolus inter caeteros et super caeteros apostolos majoris fervoris exstitit, nam et scire domini proditorem voluit, quia, ut dicit Augustinus, si eum scivisset, dentibus discerpsisset et ob hoc dominus proditorem suum nominare nolebat, quia, ut ait Chrysostomus, si ipsum nominasset, Petrus continuo surrexisset et ipsum protinus trucidasset. Hic super mare ad dominum ambulavit, in domini transfiguratione et puellae suscitatione a domino electus fuit, siaterem in ore piscis invenit, claves regni caelorum a domino accepit, pascendas oves a Christo suscepit, tria millia hominum in pentecoste sua praedicatione convertit, Ananiae et Saphirae mortem praedixit, Aeneam paraliticum curavit, Cornelium baptizavit, Tabitam suscitavit, umbra sui corporis infirmos sanavit, ab Herode incarceratur, sed ab angelo liberatur. Qualis autem ejus cibus vel indumentum fuerit, ipse hoc in libro Clementis testatur: panis, inquit, solus est mihi cum olivis et raro cum oleribus in usu est; indumentum autem hoc est mihi, quod vides, tunica cum pallio, et hoc habens nihil aliud requiro. Fertur quoque, quia in sinu semper sudarium portabat, quo crebro fluentes lacrymas tergebat, quia, quando dulcis allocutiomis et praesentiae Dei memor grat, prae nimia amoris dulcedine lacrymas continere non poterat. Quando etiam culpam negationis ad memoriam reducebat, ubertim lacrymas emittebat, unde adeo in consuetudine habuit flere, ut ejus facies tota adusta lacrymis videretur, sicut dicit Clemens. Idem etiam dicit, quod audito in nocte gallicantu ad orationem surgere consueverat, et tunc similiter ad fletum prorumpere consuevit. Refert quoque Clemens, secundum quod in hystoria ecclesiastica invenitur, quod, cum uxor Petri ad passionem duceretur, Petrus ingenti gaudio exsultavit ac eam proprio vocans nomine, post eam clamavit: o conjux, memento domini. Quadam vice dum Petrus apostolus duos de discipulis suis misisset ad praedicandum, dum viginti diaetas ivissent, unus illorum defunctus est, alter vero ad Petrum rediit et, quod acciderat, nuntiavit, Hic dicitur fuisse beatus Martialis vel secandum quosdam Maternus.
Alibi legitur, quod primus fuit beatus Fronto; socius, qui defunctus est, secundus fuit presbiter Georgius. Tunc Petrus suum baculum sibi tradidit praecipiens, ut ad socium pergeret et eum super illum poneret. Quod cum fecisset ille, qui jam per XL dies jacebat mortuus, protinus surrexit vivus. — 2. Eo tempore erat in Jerusalem quidam magus nomine Symon, qui se primam veritatem dicebat et sibi credentes perpetuos effici asserebat et nulla sibi impossibilia dicebat. Legitur etiam in libro Clementis, ipsum dixisse: adorabor, ut Deus, publice, divinis donabor honoribus et, quidquid voluero, facere potero. Aliquando cum mater mea Rachel juberet me exire ad campum, ut meterem, ego falcem videns positam praecepi falci, ut per se meteret, et messuit decuplo amplius caeteris. Addidit quoque, secundum quod dicit Hieronymus: ego sum sermo Dei, ego speciosus, ego paraclitus, ego omnia Dei.
Serpentes quoque aeneos faciebat se movere, statuas àeneas et lapideas ridere, et canes cantare. Hic igitur, ut Linus ait, volens disputare eum Petro et ostendere, quod Deus esset, statuta -die venit Petrus ad locum certaminis et adstantibus Petrus dixit: pax vobis, fratres, qui veritatem amatis. Cui Symon: nos taa pace opus non habemus, si enim pax sit et concordia, ad inveniendam veritatem nihil proficere poterimus. Habent enim intra se pacem latrones, propter quod noli invocare pacem, sed pugnam: duobus enim dimicantibus tune erit pax, cum alter fuerit superatus. Et Petrus: cur times audire pacem? Ex peccatis enim bella nascuntur, ubi autem peccatum non fit, pax est; in disputationibus veritas, in operibus justitia invenitur. Et Symon: nihil dicis, sed ego ostendam tibi deitatis meae potentiam, ut repente adores me; ego sum prima virtus et possum volare per aéra, novas arbores facere, lapides in panem mutare, in igne sine laesione durare et omnia, quae volo, possum facere. Contra hunc igitur Petrus disputabat et omnia ejus maleficia detegebat.
Tunc videns Symon, quia Petro non posset resistere, omnes libros suae magicae artis, ne forte magus proderetur, in mare projecit et Romam, ut ibi Deus habeatur, perrexit. Quod ubi Petrus comperit, ipsum insequitur et Romam usque proficiscitur. Quarto igitur anno Clandii imperatoris Petrus Romam applicuit et ibi annis XXV sedit et dnos episcopos Linum et Cletum sibi coadjutores, ut ait Johannes Beleth, unum extra muros urbis, alium inira ordinavit. Praedicationi antem insistens multos ad fidem convertebat et infirmos quam plures curabat, sed et in praedicatione sua semper laudans et praeferens castitatem quatuor concubinas Agrippae praefecti adeo convertit, quod ad praefectum redire ulterius recusarent, unde iratus praefectus adversus Petrum occasionem quaerebat. Post hoc apparuit dominus Petro dicens: Symon et Nero contra te cogitant, sed ne timeas, quia tecum sum, ut ernam te, et dabo tibi servi mei Pauli solatium, qui cras Romam ingredietur. Sciens igitar Petrus, ut ait Linus, quia velox esset depositio tabernaculi sui, in conventu fratrum poSitus manum Clementis apprehendit et eum in episcopum ordinavit et in cathedra loco suo sedere coegit. Post hoc Paulus, sicut dominus praedixerat, Romam venit et cum Petro Christum praedicare coepit, Symon autem magus in tantum a Nerone amabatur, quod vitae ejus et salutis et totius civitatis custos sine dubio putabatur. Quadam autem die,, sicut dicit Leo papa, dum ante Neronem adstaret, ejus effigies subito mutabatur et modo senior, modo adolescentior videbatur.
Quod cum videret Nero, verum hunc esse Dei filium aestimabat. Dixit itaque Symon magus Neroni, sicut idem Leo refert: ut scias optime, imperator, me Dei filium esse, jube me decollari et die tertia resurgam. Praecepit igitur Nero carnifici, ut eum decollare deberet. Qui cum putaret se decollare Symonem, decollavit arietem, Symon autem arte magica illaesus evaSit et arietis membra colligens ea abscondit et tribus diebus se ocenltavit, sanguis autem arietis ibidem congelatus remansit. Die autem tertio ostendit se Neroni dicens: fac sanguinem meum, qui effusus est, extergi, quia ecce ego, qui decollatus fueram, sicut promisi, die tertia resurrexi. Quem Nero videns obstupuit et ip24 sum verum filium Dei putavit. Haec Leo. Aliquando etiam cum in conclavi cum Nerone esset, daemon in ejus specie foris populo loquebatur: denique Romani in tanta veneratione eum habuerunt, quod eidem imaginem fecerunt et hunc titulum superscripserunt : Symoni Deo sancto.
Petrus autem et Paulus, ut Leo testatur, ad Neronem introierunt et omnia ejus maleficia detegebant, addidit quoque Petrus, quod sicut in Christo sunt duae substantiae, scilicet Dei et hominis, sic et in isto mago sunt duae substantiae, scilicet hominis et dyaboli, dixitque Symon, ut testatur sanctus Marcellus et Leo: ne diutius hunc patiar inimicum, praecipiam angelis meis, ut vindicent me de isto, Cui Petrus: angelos tuos non timeo, sed ipsi me timent. Nero dixit: non times Symonem, qui divinitatem suam rebus affirmat? Cui Petrus: si divinitas est in ipso, dicat nune mihi, quid cogito vel quid facio, quam cogitationem meam prius auribus tuis insinuo, ut non audeat mentiri. Nero dixit: accede huc et dic mihi, quid cogitas. Petrus autem accedens secreto dixit: jube mihi panem hordeaceum afferri et occulte dari. Qui cum allatus fuisset et Petrus illum benedixisset et sua manica abscondisset, dixit: dicat Symon, qui se Deum fecit, quid sit cogitatum, quid dictum vel quid sit factum. Respondit Symon: Petrus magis dicat, quid cogitem ego. Dixitque Petrus: quid cogitet Symon, me scire docebo, dum, quod cogitaverit, fecero.
Tunc Symon indignatus clamavit: procedant canes magni et devorent eum. Et subito canes maximi apparuerunt et in Petrum impetum fecerunt, ille vero panem benedictum obtulit et subito ipsos in fugam convertit. Tunc dixit ad Neronem Petrus: ecce ostendi me nosse, quod contra me cogitaverat Symon, non verbis, sed factis. Nam qui promiserat contra me angelos venturos, exhibuit canes, ut ostendat se divinos angelos non habere, sed caninos. Dixitque Symon: audite, Petre et Paule, si hic vobis nihil possum facere, veniemus, ubi oportet me vos judicare; ego autem modo vobis parco. Haec Leo. Tunc Symon, ut ait Hegesippus et Linus, in superbiam elatus ausus est jactare, quod posset mortuos suscitare, et accidit, ut quidam juvenis moreretur, vocatis ergo Petro et Symone hanc omnes de voluntate Symonis sententiam firmaverunt, ut ille occideretur, qui mortuum suscitare non posset. Symon igitur dum super mortuum suas incantationes faceret, visus est a circumstantibus caput agitare defunctus.
Tunc omnes exclamantes Petrum lapidare volebant, Petrus antem vix impetrato silentio dixit: si vivit defunctus, surgat, ambulet et loquatur, alioquin sciatis phantasma esse, quod caput mortui commovetur; separetur Symon a lectulo, ut plene figmenta dyaboli denudentur. Separatur igitur Symon a lectulo et puer immobilis remansit, Petrus autem a longe stans et oratione facta exclamavit dicens: adolescens, in nomine Jesu Christi Nazareni surge et ambula, etstatim vivus surrexit et ambulavit. Cum autem populus vellet Symonem lapidare, ait Petrus: satis est illi ad poenam, quod se in suis artibus agnoscit superatum, magister autem noster nos docuit, ut pro malis bona reddamus. Dixit autem Symon: scitote, vos, PetreetPaule, non vobis continget, quod cupitis, ut martirio vos digner coronare. Ait Petrus: adveniat nobis, quod cupimus, tibi. autem nunquam bene sit, quia quaecumque loqueris, mentiris. Tunc Symon, ut ait sanctus Marcellus, ivit ad domam 'Marcelli discipuli ejus ligavitque maximum canem ad ostium ejus domus dicens: nunc videbo, si Petrus, qui ad te venire consuevit, ingredi poterit. Post paululum venit Petrus et facto signo crucis canem solvit, canis autem omnibus aliis blandus, solum Symonem persequebatur, qui apprehendens eum ad terram subter se dejecit et eum strangulare volebat, accurrens autem Petrus cani clamavit, ne ei noceret, et canis quidem corpus ejus non laesit, sed vestes adeo laceravit, ut ille nudus positus remaneret, populus autem et maxime pueri cum cane tamdiu post eum concurrerunt, donec illum quasi lupum de civitate fugarent.
Cujus opprobrii pudorem non ferens per annum nusquam comparuit, Marcellus autem haec miracula videns deinceps Petro adhaesit. Postea autem Symon rediens iterum in Neronis amicitiam est receptus. Symon igitur, ut refert Leo, populum convocavit et se a Galilaeis graviter offensum perhibuit et ideo urbem, quam tueri solebat, se deserere velle dixit et diem statuere, qua coelum deberet adscendere, quia non dignabatur in terris amplius habitare. Statuto igitur die turrim excelsam vel, secundum Linum, Capitolium adscendit et inde se dejiciens coronatus lauro volare coepit. Dixit autem Paulus ad Petrum: meum est orare et tuum est imperare, dixitque Nero: verax est hie homo; vos autem seductores estis. Petrus autem dixit ad Paulum: Paule, erige caput et vide. Cumque elevasset caput et vidisset Symonem volantem, dixit ad Petrum: Petre, quid cessas, perfice quod coepisti, jam enim vocat nos dominus. Tune Petrus ait: adjuro vos, angeli Sathanae, qui.
eum in aéra fertis, per dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, ut ipsum amplius non feratis, sed corruere dimittatis: et continuo dimissus corruit et confractis cervicibus exspiravit. Audiens hoc Nero talem virum se perdidisse doluit dixitque apostolis: suspecto animo me fecistis, propterea malo exemplo vos perdam. Haec Leo. Deditque eos in manu Paulini viri clarissimi et Paulinus tradidit eos in custodia Mamertini sub cura militum Processi et Martiniani, quos milites Petrus ad fidem convertit, unde carcerem aperuerunt et eos liberos dimiserunt. Quapropter Paulinus post passionem apostolorum Processum et Martinianum accersivit et comperto quod christiani essent, )jussu Neronis capite caesi sunt, Rogabant ergo fratres Petrum, ut inde discederet, et cum discedere nollet, tandem victus precibus abscessit et, cum venisset ad portam, ut Leo et Linus testantur, ad locum, ubi nunc dicitur sancta Maria ad passus, vidit Christum sibi occurrentem et ait: domine, quo vadis? Qui respondit: venio Romam iterum crucifigi. Cui Petrus: iterum crucifigeris? Cui dominus: etiam, Petrus vero ait: ergo, domine, revertar, ut tecum crucifigar.
His dictis dominus vidente Petro et lacrymante in coelum adscendit. Quod cum de sua passione dictum intelligeret, rediit: cumque hoc fratribus retulisset, a ministris Neronis capitur et praefecto Agrippae praesentatur factaque est ejus facies sicut sol, ut ait Linus. . Cui dixit: tune es ille, qui in plebibus et mulierculis, quas a toro virorum separas, gloriaris? Quem apostolus increpans dicebat, se in cruce domini gloriari. Tune Petrus tamquam alienigena jussus est crucifigi, Paulus vero, quia civis erat romanus, jussus est capite truncari. De hac autem sententia in ipsos data dicit Dionysius in epistola ad Timotheum de morte Pauli in haec verba: o frater mi Timotheus, si vidisses agones consummationis ipsorum, defecisses quidem prae tristitia et dolore. (Quis non fleret.
illa hora, quando praeceptum sententiae egressum in eos est, ut Petrus scilicet. erucifigeretur et Paulus decollaretur. Vidisses tunc turbas gentilium et Judaeorum percutientes eos et exspuentes in facies eorum. Adveniente autem terribili tempore consummationis ipsorum, cum separarentur ab invicem, ligaverunt columnas mundi, non utique absque fratrum gemitu et planctu. Tunc inquit Paulus Petro: pax tecum fundamentum ecclesiarum “et pastor ovium et agnorum Christi. - Petrus ait ad Paulum: vade in pace, praedicator bonorum morum, mediator et dux salutis justorum. Cum autem elongassenl eos ab invicem, secutus sum magistrum meum, non enim in eodem vico occiderunt eos. Haec Dionysius.
Petrus autem, ut Leo et Marcellus testantur, dum venisset ad crucem, ait: quoniam dominus meus de coelo ad terram descendit, recta cruce sublimatus est, me autem, quem de terra ad coelum vocare dignatur, crux mea caput meum in terra debet ostendere et pedes ad coelum dirigere. Ergo quia non sum ita in cruce esse dignus, ut dominus meus, crucem meum girate et capite demisso me crucifigite. Tunc illi crucem verterunt et. pedes sursum, manus autem deorsum fixerunt. Tunc autem populus furore repletus volebat Neronem et praefectum occidere et apostolum liberare, qui eos rogabat, ne passionem suam impedire deberent. Dominus antem, ut ait Hegesippus et Linus, aperuit oculos eorum, qui ibi flebant, et viderunt angelos stantes cum coronis de floribus rosarum et liliorum et Petrum in cruce stautem cum iis et librum a Christo accipientem et ca verba, quae loquebatur, ibi legentem. "Tunc Petrus, ut testatur idem Hegesippus, de cruce dicere coepit: te, domine, imitari optavi, sed rectus crucifigi non usurpavi: tu semper rectus, excelsus et altus, nos primi hominis filii, qui caput suum -demersit in terram, cujus lapsum significat species generationis humanae: sic enim nascimur, ut proni in terram videamur effundi. Mutata quoque conditio est, ut hoc putet mundus dextrum, quod constat esse sinistrum: tu, domine, mihi omnia es, totum, quod es tu mihi totum, et nihil aliud nisi tu solus: gratias tibi ago spiritu toto, quo vivo, quo intelligo, quo interpello.
Ubi duae aliae rationes tanguntur, quare rectus noluit crucifigi. Vidensque Petrus, quod fideles gloriam suam vidissent, gratias agens et Deo fideles commendans spiritum emisit. Tunc Marcellus et Apulejus fratres, discipuli ejus, eum de cruce deposuerunt et diversis condientes aromatibus sepelierunt. Ysidorus in libro de ortu et obitu sanctorum sic ait: Petrus postquam Antiochenam fundavit ecclesiam sub Claudio Caesare contra Symonem magum Romam pergit ibique praedicans evangelium XXV annis ejusdem urbis pontificatum tennit, tricesimo autem sexto anno à passione domini a Nerone deorsum, ut ipse voluit, crucifixus est. Haec Ysidorus. In ipsa autem die Petrus et Paulus Dionysio apparuerunt, secundum quod ipse dicit in praedicta epistola in haec verba: attende miraculum, vide prodigium, frater mi Timotheus, diei victimationis ipsorum. Nam praesto fui in tempore separationis ipsorum : post mortem autem illorum vidi eos invicem manu ad manum intrantes portas urbis, indutos vestibus luminositatis vel veste luminis et coronis claritatis et lucis ornatos. Haec Dionysius.
Nero autem non impunitus exstitit super hoc scelere et aliis, quae commisit, nam manu propria se peremit, quorum scelerum hic aliqua breviter inseramus. Cum Seneca magister suns, ut in quadam hystoria, licet apocrypha, legitur, condignam mercedem laboris sui speraret, jussit Nero ipsum eligere, in cujus arboris ramo suspendium affectaret, dicens, quod hoc praemium laboris sui ab eo recepturus esset. Cum autem Seneca requireret, unde hoc mortis supplicium meruisset, acutum gladium super ejus verticem crebro vibrari fecit, Seneca autem nutu capitis minanti gladio cedebat, vehementer timens periclitari mortis periculum. Cui Nero ait: magister,ad quid nutu capitis minanti gladio cedis? Cui Seneca respondit: homo sum et ideo mortem vercor et invitus morior. Cui Nero ait: sic ego adhuc te metuo, ut puer metuere consuevi, quare te vivente quiete nom potero vivere. Dixitque Seneca: si me mori necesse est, saltem mihi concede, ut, quod voluero, eligam genus mortis. Cui Nero: festinus eligas, tantum mori ife differas.
Tunc Seneca balneo in aqua facto in utroque brachio sibi minui fecit et sic nimio sanguinis fluxu ibidem vitam finivit et sic quodam praesagio Seneca nomen habuit quasi se necans, quia quodammodo licet coactus manu propria se necavit. Hic Seneca duos fratres habnisse legitur. Unus fuit Julianus Gallio declamator egregius, qui manu propria se peremit, alius Mela pater Lucani poetae, qui Lucanus jussu Neronis incisione venarum obiisse legitur. Rursus Nero nefaria mentis vesania ductus, ut in eadem hystoria apocrypha reperitur, matrem occidi et scindi jussit, ut videret, qualiter in ejus utero fovebatur, physici vero eum de matris perditione arguentes dicebant: jura negant et fas prohibet, nt filius matrem necet, quae ipsum cum dolore peperit et cum tanto labore et sollicitudine enutrivit. Quibus Nero: faciatis me puero impraegnari et postea parere, ut, quantus dolor matri meae fuerit, possim scire. Hane insuper voluntatem pariendi conceperat eo, quod per urbem transiens quandam mulierem parientem vociferantem audiverat. Dicunt ei: non est possibile, quod naturae contrarium est, nec estfacile, quod ration non est consentaneum. Dixit ergo iis Nero: nisi me feceritis impraegnari et parere, omnes vos faciam crudeli morte interire.
Tunc illi enm impotionantes ranam sibi occulte ad bibendum dederunt, et eam artificio suo in ejus ventre excrescere fecerunt et subito venter ejus naturae contraria non sustinens intumuit, ita ut Nero se puero gravidum aestimaret, faciebantque sibi servare diaetam, qualem nutriendae ranae noverant convenire dicentes, quod propter conceptum talia eum observare oporteret. Tandem nimio dolore vexatus medicis ait: accelerate tempus partus, quia languore pariendi vix anhelitum habeo respirandi. Tunc ipsum ad vomitum impotionaverunt et ranam visu terribilem, humoribus infectam et sanguine edidit crnentatam, respiciensque Nero partum suum ipsum abhorruit et mirabatur adeo monstruosum, dixerunt autem, quod tam difformem fetnm protulerit, ex eo, quod tempus partus noluerit exspectare. Et ait: fuine talis de matris egressus latibulis? Et illi: etiam. Praecepit ergo, ut fetus suus aleretur et testudini lapidum servandus includeretur. Haec autem in chronicis non leguntur, sed apocrypha sunt. Deinde miratus, qualis et qnanta fuerit succensio Trojae, Romam per VII dies et noctes succendi fecit, quod ex altissima turri prospectans laetatusque flammae pulchritudine turgido habitu )lIliadem decantabat.
Hie, sicut habetur in chronicis, retibus aureis piscabatur, cantibus intendebat, ita ut omnes cytharistas et tragoedos superaret, virum in uxorem duxit, ipsea viro, ut uxor, acceptus est, ut ait Orosius, Romani vero ejus vesaniam -ulterius non ferentes in eum impetum fecerunt et usque extra civitatem persecuti sunt. Qui videns, quod evadere non posset, fustem dentium morsibus exacuit et se per medium palo transfixit et tali morte vitam finivit, Alibi tamen legitur, quod a lupis devoratus sit. Redeuntes Romani ranam in testudine latitantem invenerunt et ipsam extra civitatem projicientes combusserunt, unde et pars illa civitatis, ut aliqui dicunt, ubi latuerat rana, Lateranensis nomen accepit. — 4. Tempore sancti Cornelii papae Graeci fideles apostolorum corpora furati eadem asportabant, sed daemones in ydolis habitantes divina coacti virtute clamabant: viri Romani, succurrite, quia Dii vestri auferantur. Quapropter fidelibus intelligentibus de apostolis, gentilibus vero de suis Diis multitudo adunata fidelium et infidelium eos persequitur, unde Graeci timentes apud catacombas apostolorum corpora in puteum projecerunt, sed a fidelibus inde postmodum sunt extracta. Gregorius tameu in registro dicit, quod tanta eos vis tonitrui atque fulguris terrnit ac dispersit, ut ea apud catacombas dimitterent, sed cum dubitarent, quae ossa essent beati Petri et quae beati Pauli, orantibus fidelibus et jejuniis insistentibus de coelo eis responsum est: majora ossa sunt praedicatoris, minora vero piscatoris, et sic ossa se ab invicem separaverunt et in suis ecclesiis, quas cuilibet aedificaverant, posuerunt. Alii vero dicunt, quod Silvester papa volens ecclesias consecrare tam magna quam parva ossa in lance summa reverentia ponderávit et medietatem in una ecclesia et medietatem in alia collocavit.
Refert Gregorius in dyalogo, qnod in ecclesia sancti Petri, ubi corpus ejus requiescit, vir quidam erat, Agontius nomine, magnae humilitatis et sanctitatis exsistens. Cum vero . quaedam puella paralitica in ejus ecclesia permanens manibus reperet et dissolutis renibus et pedibus corpus per terram traheret diuque a beato Petro sanitatem peteret, ei per visionem adstitit dicens: vade ad Agontium mansionarium et ipse te saluti restituet. Coepit igitur illa per ecclesiae loca se huc atque illuc trahere et, quis esset Agontius, investigare, cui repente obviam ipse factus est, quem quaerebat, eique dixit: pastor et nutritor noster beatus Petrus apostolus ad te me misit, ut ab infirmitate mea me liberes, Cui ille respondit: si ab ipso missa es, surge, apprehensaque ejus manu ipsam levavit illaque nullo languoris vestigio remanente plene sanata fuit. In eodem quoque libro ait Gregorius, quod Galla urbis Romae nobilissima puella Symmachi consulis ac patricii filia marito tradita in unius anni spatio ejus est morte viduata. Quam dum ad iterandum thalamum aetas et opes vocarent, elegit magis spiritualibus nuptiis copulari Deo, in quibus a luctu incipitur, sed ad aeterna gaudia pervenitur, quam carnalibus nuptiis subjici, quae a laetitia semper incipiunt, sed ad finem cum luctu tendunt. Huic autem cum valde ignea conspersio corporis inesset, coeperunt medici dicere, quia, nisi ad amplexus viri rediret, calore nimio contra naturam barbam habitura esset. Quod ita post factum est: sed illa nihil exterius deformitatis timuit, quod interiorem speciem amavit, nec verita est, si hoc in ea foedaretur, quod a coelesti Sponso non amaretur.
Abjecto igitur saeculari habitu apud ecclesiam sancti Petri monasterio se dedit ibique nostris annis in simplicitate orationibus et elemosinis Deo servivit. Tandem cancri ulcere in mammilla percussa, dum ante ejus lectum duo candelabra semper lucerent, quia velut amica ncis non solum spirituales, sed et corporales tenebras odio habebat, vidit beatum Petrum apostolum inter ipsa duo luminaria ante ejus lectum constitisse. Quae ex amore sumens audaciam exsultavit et dixit: quid est, domine meus? Dimissa sunt mihi peccata mea? Cai ille benignissimo vultu inclinato capite annuit dicens: dimissa. Veni. Et illa: rogo, ut soror benedicta mecum veniat. Et ille: non, licet talis veniat tecum.
Quod illa abbatissae indicans die tertia cum illa defuncta est. In eodem insuper libro Gregorius dicit, quod dum fresbiter quidam magnae sanctitatis ad extrema deductus esset, cum magna laetitia clamare coepit dicens: bene veniunt domini mei, bene veniunt domini mei, quod ad tantillum servum viram digmati estis venire. Venio, venio: gratias ago, gratias ago. Cumque, qui adstabant, quibus ' haec diceret, interrogarent, ile admirando respondit: numquid convenisse huc sanctos apostolos Petrum et Paulum non videtis? Cum vero iterum ut prius repeteret, saneta illa anima e carne soluta est. Dubitatur autem ab aliquibus, utrum eadem die Petrus et Paulus passi sint. Dixerunt autem. quidam, quod eadem die revoluto anno, sed Hieronymus et omnes fere sancti, qui de hoc tractant, in hoc concordant, quod eodem die et anno passi sunt, sicut manifeste etiam habetur ex epistola Dionysii et sicut dicit Leo vel Maximus secundum quosdam in quodam sermone, ubi sic ait: non enim sine causa factam putamus, quod una die in uno loco unius tyranni toleravere sententiam.
1n uno die passi sunt, ut ad Christum pariter pervenirent, uno loco, ne alteri Roma deesset; sub uno persecutore, ut aequalis erudelitas utrumque constringeret. Dies ergo pro merito, locus autem pro gloria, persecutor autem idem decretus est pro virtute Haec Leo. Licet autem eadem die et hora passi sint, non tamen eodem loco, sed in diversis: et quod dixit Leo, quod eodem loco passi sunt, hoc dicit ex eo, quod ambo Romae passi fuerunt. De hoc quidam sic versibus dixit:
Ense coronatur Paulus, cruce Petrus, eodem Sub duce, luce, loco, dux Nero, Roma locus. Item alius:
Ense sacrat Paulum par lux, dux, urbs cruce Petrum.
Licet autem eadem die passi fuerint, ordinavit tamen Gregorius, ut ipsa die specialius fieret, quo ad officium, sollemnitas Petri, et in sequenti die commemoratio Pauli, tum quia ea die fuit dedicata ecclesia sancti Petri, tum quia major est dignitate, tum quia prior conversione, tum quia primatum tenuit Romae.
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin text ends abruptly at 'qui'.
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