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SUMMARY:Sunday 29th June\, Holy Eucharist for St Peter and St Paul
DTSTART:20250629T103000Z
DTEND:20250629T113000Z
DTSTAMP:20260419T021850Z
UID:12060962025-06-29 10:30:00+00:00achurchnearyou
CATEGORIES:
DESCRIPTION:It is surprising that two top drawer saints have to share a fe
 ast day instead of having one each. In fact St Paul does get his own day\,
  January 25th\, but it is dedicated to his conversion alone and not to the
  rest of his ministry or his writings. St Peter does not.\n\nSaint Peter\,
  also known as Simon or Cephas\, was one of the twelve apostles. He appear
 s repeatedly and prominently in the gospels and the Acts of the Apostles\,
  usually in a leadership role.\n\nRoman Catholic tradition regards Peter a
 s the first bishop of Rome - or Pope - and subsequent Popes as the success
 or to Saint Peter. Based on contemporary historical data\, Peter's papacy 
 is estimated to have spanned from AD 30 to his death\, which would make hi
 m the longest serving Pope of all time\, at some 34 years.\n\nEarly Church
  tradition says that Peter died by crucifixion under Emperor Nero at the t
 ime of the Great Fire of Rome in 64AD\, for which the emperor was happy to
  blame the Christians. The crucifixion took place at Vatican Hill\, and he
  was buried where the Basilica of Saint Peter was later built\, directly b
 eneath the high altar. There is also a tradition that he was crucified hea
 d down.\n\nSt Paul had a very different story. As a devout Jew\, he set ou
 t to discredit and then persecute the early church\, and was on his way to
  Damascus on one such mission when he was stopped in his tracks by a brigh
 t light and heard the voice of God\, “Why are you persecuting me?” Fro
 m that moment on he became a passionate follower of Jesus\, in two ways.\n
 \nFirstly he travelled extensively\, spreading the teachings of Jesus thro
 ughout the Eastern Mediterranean. He preached the gospel and founded sever
 al Christian communities in Asia Minor and Europe from the mid-40s to the 
 mid-50s AD\, as detailed in the latter half of the Acts of the Apostles. S
 econdly he wrote extensively\, mainly to the churches he had founded\, and
  often to resolve disputes of theology or church order. 14 of the 27 books
  in the New Testament have traditionally been attributed to St Paul\, thou
 gh there is doubt about some 7 of these.\n\nIn 57AD\, he arrived in Jerusa
 lem where he was accused of defiling the Jewish temple by allowing Gentile
 s to enter\, and was dragged out by an angry mob. He was taken to Caesarea
 \, where he was held for two years until a new Roman governor suggested he
  be taken back to Jerusalem to stand trial. Paul then exercised his right 
 as a Roman citizen to appeal to Caesar and set sail for Rome. He arrived i
 n Rome c 60 AD\, and spent another two years\, often preaching the gospe
 l. His death is also believed to have occurred around the time of the Grea
 t Fire of Rome in 64AD. \n\nSo why do they share a feast day? One traditio
 n states that Peter and Paul were martyred "at the same time"\, Peter bein
 g crucified while Paul was beheaded. This feast day celebrates their joint
  martyrdom in Rome\, the date selected being the anniversary probably of t
 heir death. Perhaps not surprisingly SS Peter and Paul are today the patro
 n saints of Rome.\n\nToday we will also be celebrating 21 years since Fr L
 ouis' ordination to the diaconate. Please join him after the service for c
 ava and cake🥂🍰!\n\nThe picture above combines a portrait of Saint Pe
 ter from the Basilica of Saint Paul outside the Walls\, Rome (Public domai
 n\, via Wikimedia Commons) and a fresco of St Paul\, dating back to the 4t
 h Century AD\, from the Catacomb of Saint Thekla - the oldest one known of
  in a Roman catacomb (as reported By Nick Pisa in The Telegraph\,28 June 2
 009 - see https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/vaticancityand
 holysee/5675461/Oldest-image-of-St-Paul-discovered.html)
GEO:-4.407165;36.721145
LOCATION:St George's Church\, Málaga
URL:https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/8530/service-and-events/events/1
 206096/
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