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CURRICULUM VITAE

He came from Ireland and as a bishop he went to preach the Gospel to Herbipolis (Würzburg) in Austrasia (today’s Saxony in Germany). Like John the Baptist, he rebuked the local Duke Gosbert. And like John, for his exhortation to faithful observance of Christian morals, he achieved martyrdom by being excommunicated from the guidance of a sinful woman.

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HE PAID WITH HIS HEAD FOR CHURCHING MORALS

He was born in Mullagh, in an Irish-Scottish family. He was reportedly educated in an Anglo-Saxon monastery and received the sacrament of priesthood as a monk. He longed for missionary work. 11 companions, including the priest Coloman (or Kolonat) and the deacon Donat (Tatnat), set out with him on a journey to preach the Gospel to the pagans. Kilian set out with them on a journey through France and what was then Austrasia, where 9 companions remained. The other three then sailed from Aschaffenburg on the Rhine to Würzburg in Bavaria. They arrived at the castle on the left bank of the Main, where the Thuringian Duke Gosbert ruled, in 686.

The place seemed most suitable to Kilian, but he considered it necessary to have a papal commission and blessing. That same year he therefore set out for Rome with Coloman and Donatus. Kilian obtained Pope Colonus’s willing permission and blessing and returned as a bishop.

Kilian began to work very zealously in Würzburg and its surroundings. Gosbert converted to Christianity and other nobles followed him. This was not enough for Kilian, he especially demanded that the monarch lead an orderly Christian life. But Duke Gosbert lived with his brother’s wife, Gailana, according to pagan custom, which Kilian reproached him for. Although it was difficult for the duke, he decided to release her. Before this could happen, Gosbert had to go into battle. Gailana decided to have Kilian murdered out of revenge. She entrusted the task to two hired assassins, and the night of July 8 was agreed upon for the execution. The saint, praying with his companions, told them at midnight that the longed-for hour of meeting with the Lord had come, so that they would be obedient to his voice and not fear those who kill the body because they cannot kill the soul. At that moment, an ambush occurred.

After committing the crime, the murderers dug a pit in which they buried the bodies of the martyrs on the spot, along with liturgical books, vessels and robes, as Gailana had wished. Some sources give the year of Kilian’s death as 689, but since this information is not considered reliable by experts, only the 7th century is given in the martyrology.

The legend details Kilian’s biography beyond the scope of possible historical evidence. This probably partly concerns his companions, who are not named in the martyrology today. The legend states that although the martyrs’ deaths remained a secret from the people, God revealed the murderers. After Gosbert’s return from the war, Gailana lied to him that she did not know where the missionaries had gone. However, one of the murderers, tormented by his conscience, had a mental breakdown and revealed the crime. The monarch imprisoned him and called on the people to express their opinion on what punishment should be meted out to him. Gailana’s envoy then proposed that he be left free to be punished by the God of the Christians, to prove that he was as powerful and just as he had been proclaimed. And if he did not take revenge, the people should return to the gods their ancestors had served.

Gosbert agreed to the proposal. The murderer, after being freed, is said to have begun to tear his own body in madness until he died. After the horrific scene, the Christians were strengthened in their faith. The second murderer also committed suicide, and Gailana is said to have suffered and died in pain.

The tomb of St. Kilian and his companions was discovered after about fifty years. Bishop Burkhard collected Kilian’s remains on July 8, 752, or, according to others, in 743, and had them transferred to the Church of Our Lady at Würzburg Castle. Later, perhaps in 788, they were transferred to the Würzburg Cathedral of St. Salvatore under the castle. This is said to be the place of their martyrdom. Charlemagne also participated in the transfer.

In the rebuilt church, the heads of his alleged co-martyrs are placed in a reliquary on the main altar with Kilian’s head. Kilian’s sarcophagus is located in the crypt there. Charles IV obtained two of Kilian’s shoulder bones for St. Vitus Cathedral.

Willibaldus

CURRICULUM VITAE

He came from an exceptional royal family in England. He entered the clergy in Rome. While traveling to the Holy Land, he was imprisoned in Syria on false suspicion. After his release, he visited the Holy Land and, on his way through Constantinople, entered the monastery of Montecassino, where he was appointed gatekeeper. On his third trip to Rome, St. Boniface chose him as a collaborator in preaching the Gospel to the Germanic tribes and consecrated him as bishop of Eichstädt. He and his brother Vunibald founded two monasteries. In one, Vunibald was the abbot, in the other, their sister Valburga was the abbess.

Willibald always remained humble, charitable, and zealous in apostolic work.

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A PILGRIM ON THE PATH OF HOPE, FAITH AND LOVE

He was born on 22 October 700 in southern England. He is one of the three canonized children of King St. Richard. His siblings are Vunibald, commemorated on 18 December, and Valburga, commemorated on 25 February. His father was related to the Anglo-Saxon court, and his mother Bona was a close relative of St. Boniface.

In the third year of his life, Willibald fell seriously ill and the doctors gave him no hope. His parents dedicated him to the Lord in front of the cross, promising that if he recovered, he would devote himself to the service of God. The child miraculously recovered, and from the age of six his parents entrusted his upbringing to the monks of the Valtheim monastery, where Egbald was the abbot. Already in his childhood, Willibald began to voluntarily submit to the religious rules and cultivate the virtues of obedience, humility, and self-denial. He studied in the monastery and longed to make a pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem, which his royal father not only allowed him to undertake but also joined him on, along with his younger son Vunibald.

During their pilgrimage, their father died before reaching Rome in Lucca, Tuscany. He is commemorated as a saint on 7 February. They arrived in Rome on 12 November 720 and entered the spiritual state in the Benedictine monastery there. In the spring, after overcoming a fever, Willibald, accompanied by two companions, set out on another pilgrimage, during which they fasted strictly, slept on the bare ground, and visited memorable churches. From Naples, they sailed to Sicily, visited the tomb of St. Agatha in Catania, sailed to Cyprus, where they venerated the tomb of St. Epiphanius in Salamis, and with four other pilgrims, they arrived in Emessa in Syria. There, the Mohammedans considered them spies and imprisoned them. However, a Christian merchant took them in, from whom they received food and even allowed them to go out in the company of his son. Finally, a Spaniard, who was highly respected at the ruler’s court, secured their freedom.

After a stop in Damascus, Willibald’s group arrived in Palestine in the autumn of 724. In Galilee, the pilgrims visited all the sacred places consecrated by the life of Christ. After bathing in the place of the baptism of the Lord, they reached Jerusalem via Jericho around November 725. In this city, Willibald fell seriously ill (it is said to have been malaria) and lovingly linked his suffering with the suffering of Jesus carrying the cross. After recovering and saying goodbye to the city in which our salvation was completed, he continued his journey to Bethlehem. He then stopped at the places mentioned in the Bible and visited the sacred temples. His return journey from the Holy Land deliberately led via Constantinople. There he stayed at famous places, including the great temple in Nicaea. Finally, he returned from the eastern countries by ship to Italy with papal and imperial envoys.

Near Naples, in Lucullan, he venerated the tomb of St. Severinus and in 729 came to the main monastery of the Order of St. Benedict in Montecassino. There he became a porter, displaying humility, kindness, and using his experience to serve others.

His uncle Boniface (commentary 5. 6.) knew about him and during his third trip to Rome in 738, he asked Pope Gregory III for Willibald as a collaborator for the apostolate in Germany. At that time, Willibald was sent to Rome as an escort at the request of a Spanish priest. When he met with the Pope, he was told of a call to joint apostolic work with Boniface, whose assistant was also his brother Vunibald. On his way to Bavaria, he stopped by his father’s grave in Lucca. In Bavaria, he visited Duke Odile and then the Frankish Count Svitgar, who offered Boniface the Eichstätt region to found a new bishopric. Willibald was sent to assess the area and arrange the necessary matters. To establish a bishopric with a monastery, he chose a place with a Marian church visited by the inhabitants of the surrounding huts. He then participated in the construction of the large church of the Mother of God and the monastery buildings. In that church, Willibald received the sacrament of priesthood on June 22, 740. Soon a large settlement grew up in the area and more houses were constantly being built.

Willibald became bishop around 21 October 741 and the following year he participated in the church council in Attigany. In the Eichstätt monastery he trained missionaries who helped him spread the gospel among the pagans. In 748 his own sister Valburga joined him as a collaborator, for whom Willibald built a monastery near Eichstätt and made her abbess. Then he and his brother built two larger monasteries in a place called Heidenheim. Through Willibald’s efforts, faith and Christian education spread throughout his Eichstätt bishopric. He outlived both of his siblings in his zealous work.

He was canonized in 938 by Pope Leo VII.

Maria Goretti

CURRICULUM VITAE

When she was 10, her father died. She was left to take care of her four siblings. She also had to do chores for the Serenelli family, who were not good neighbors. The elder drank and his son, who was about 16 years old and had previously worked with sailors, harbored a sinful passion. Marie could not attend catechism, but she understood the basic truth well: that the real evil is not poverty, but sin, and that the only effective weapon against it is prayer. She was diligent and kept her home and her soul clean. When she was less than 12 years old, she was attacked by a lustful young man from the neighborhood. She defended her purity with the risk of her life. They counted 14 stab wounds on her body. Before she died the next day, she completely forgave the murderer.

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LOVE FOR GOD IS ALSO CONNECTED WITH THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE DECREES

She was born on October 16, 1890, into a very poor family in Corinaldo. They called her Marieta, although she was baptized Marie. After four years, they all moved to Paliene, where their father rented a piece of land. There, Marieta’s two older siblings were joined by two more, and her parents were then lured by the offer of work draining the Pontine marshes. The total area of ​​these marshes is 350 km². When they moved to Ferriere near the town of Nettuno, they were joined by the farmer Serenelli and his son Alessandro.

When Marietta was 10 years old, her father died of swamp malaria with meningitis, and due to poverty, the children could not go to school. The Rosary became an important prayer for them and helped them endure various difficulties. The Goretti children were raised with the principle “First God, then everything else.”

In addition to taking care of her own household, Anssuta Goreti’s mother, at the request of Count Anttilio Mazzoleni, also took care of both Serenellis and continued her father’s work. The housework and cooking therefore fell largely on Marietta, who also looked after her siblings and washed and sewed for the Serenellis. Whenever she went to the market in Nettuno, she also went to the church to the tabernacle, opened her heart to the Lord Jesus and listened to him at the same time. There, in front of her image, she entrusted all her and her mother’s worries to the Virgin Mary. She also spoke to her about how the children were obedient or naughty, and about Alessandro and his cruelty. She also confided in her desire to go to her first Holy Communion, even though she did not have a veil, dress or shoes.

Her third favorite place was Conche, because her father’s grave was there. She would kneel in front of the locked door and send her greetings to his grave. She would sacrifice the little inconveniences of her life for her father, so that he could be in the light of his heavenly Father as soon as possible. She knew in part the pain of longing for God because she experienced it, longing for Holy Communion.

Marieta grew up in the company of Alessandro, whom she had to serve so that her mother could continue to go to the fields. Alessandro increasingly bossed her around and ordered her around like his maid. With a passionate gleam in his eyes, he told her more than once. “I like you. I will be your lover!”

She made her first holy communion for her father and promised Jesus, “I would rather die than sin.”

One day, Alessandro ordered her to go to him to get his underwear. She knew from her mother that he could order her. But when he ordered her to love him, she answered him: “Loving is something else entirely, what you want is a sin! Don’t you dare touch me!” “Now you will be mine!” – he hissed. “Never, it’s a sin, God forbid.” – With these words, she managed to escape. Behind her she heard a threat: “If you tell mother, I will kill you!” Marieta shuddered at the thought that he would really kill her if she did not comply. In the evening, his father, for no reason, rudely attacked her mother and an argument broke out. Marieta did not want to worry her mother, she was also ashamed and did not know how to tell her.

The next day, Alessandro bought a 23-cm-long dagger, which he sharpened, deciding to use it on Marieta. He and his father were increasingly domineering and evil. Marieta often cried and served with fear and horror. Mother did not know why Marieta had fear in her eyes when she was to be left alone. Out of obedience, she went to Alessandro’s room the next day to get the shirt she was supposed to sew for him and quickly ran down to little Tereza with it. Then Alessandro returned, and when she did not want to go with him, he tore her hand off the railing and dragged her down the corridor. He shouted at her: “You want it or you don’t want it!” “It’s a sin, God does not want it. You will go to hell!” the girl replied and defended herself with all her might. Since threats of death did not help, he gagged her and stabbed her 14 times. He inflicted eight stab wounds in the lower abdomen and six in the back. After 14 wounds, he thought she was already dead.

The seriously injured Marieta was put on a stretcher and taken to the hospital of the Brothers of Mercy in Nettuno. She was operated on while conscious because her heart would not have been able to withstand the anesthesia. She suffered a lot on the way, then while cleaning and sewing the deep wounds. The dagger hit her lungs, the area around her heart and cut her insides. In terrible pain, she prayed: “Everything for you, Lord Jesus.” She suffered from thirst and was not allowed to drink.

The dean had examined her before the operation and in the morning he brought her Holy Communion – the second and last of her life. When he asked her about the murderer, she answered without hesitation: “Yes, for the love of Jesus I forgive him with all my heart and I want to have him with me in heaven.” After receiving Communion, she entered a Marian community and died on the feast of the Most Precious Blood of the Lord. She was 11 years, 8 months and 20 days old.

She was beatified on April 27, 1947, and canonized on June 25, 1950. Her mother, Anssuta, also witnessed both celebrations. The murderer Alessandro spent 26 years in prison with forced labor. He was released 4 years earlier than the original sentence for good behavior. While still in prison, he is said to have had a vision of Marieta in a white dress in a garden full of white flowers and lilies. She encouraged him to pick them. The flowers turned into small flames in his arms. Serenelli later said: “She wanted to tell me that she was alive.” He completely changed and regretted his terrible act. After his release, he entered the Capuchin order as a lay brother.

St. Elizabeth of Portugal

July 4th, reminder
Position: queen, TOR
Death: 1336
Patron: Portugal, Coimbra, and Zaragoza; various women’s associations; charity workers; invoked in marital difficulties and false accusations; helper in wartime hardships
Attributes: crown, rose, nun, beggar
CURRICULUM VITAE

She came from the Spanish royal family. At the age of 12, she was married to the Portuguese King Dionysius, with whom she had two children and by whose side she experienced much suffering, not only because of his infidelity. She excelled in patience, love, the ability to forgive and reconcile. She lived with love for the poor with many works of mercy and settled disagreements in the country. During a terrible plague, she was a refuge for the general public. After the death of her husband, she became a tertiary, continued her charity work and finally died at the age of 65 as a sister of St. Clare.
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ANGEL OF PEACE
She was born in Spain around 1270-1271 as the daughter of the later King Peter III of Aragon and his wife Princess Constance of Sicily. At baptism, she was given the name of her deceased aunt, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. In Spanish, she is often called Isabella. Her birth is said to have contributed to the reconciliation of Peter with his father, James I. Elizabeth stayed with him before his death, when she was about five or six years old. She then returned to her parents, who provided her with an education by good teachers. She had three brothers: Alfonso, who reigned after her father, James and Ferdinand, and a sister, Yolanda. Already in her childhood, Elizabeth was distinguished by extraordinary piety and interests in charity.

Before she was 12 years old, her marriage to the young Portuguese king Dionysius, who had reigned since 1279, was arranged. She is said to have married him in 1282. She considered her royal rank and wealth to be entrusted hryvnias and tried to use them for works of Christian mercy. She became a mother of the poor, a comforter of the suffering, a nurse of the lonely sick and a protector of the persecuted. She helped impoverished families and orphans. Later, she established a home for women who had gone astray and a foundling for abandoned infants.

In her private life, she had a certain order, especially when it came to spiritual activities. She also prayed the church hours and regularly attended Holy Mass. In her daily schedule, she remembered those who needed her help. On more than one occasion, the sick were healed under her touch. For example, a woman full of unsightly ulcers suddenly disappeared. On Thursday, Mandy washed the feet of beggars and kissed the feet of a sick woman, who immediately recovered. She was also detained by her husband when she had alms ready in her apron, and he asked her what she was carrying. The queen replied with a smile: “roses”, thinking that God liked them as a symbol of love. Her husband immediately checked the contents of the apron, because it was not the time for roses, but they suddenly really were in it, her biographies state.

King Dionysius was said to have been originally good and only later became reckless. He was often unfaithful to his wife, kept two concubines at court and had illegitimate children with them, whom his good wife took care of. In solitude, she grieved greatly and wept over her husband’s sins, but did not complain about him to people. She treated him kindly and forgave him for his infidelity and unkind behavior. She often prayed and fasted for him so that he would convert.

With him she had a son, Alfonso, to whom the succession belonged, and a daughter, Constance, who married Ferdinand IV, King of Castile.

Biographies of Elizabeth tell of an incident involving her squire, whom she had entrusted with distributing alms to the poor. Another of the king’s servants noticed the queen’s private conversations and accused the squire of being unfaithful to him. The king plotted to have Elizabeth’s squire burned to death in a lime kiln. He allegedly ordered the keeper of the lime kiln to throw any man who came in the morning with the question of whether the king’s order had been carried out into the kiln. The king sent the squire to the lime kiln with this question in the morning, but he stopped at the church for a short prayer. Holy Mass was about to begin and they needed an altar boy, so the squire was persuaded. The impatient king wanted to be sure and sent the accuser to find out how his order had been carried out. He arrived before the squire and barely asked whether the king’s order had been carried out before he found himself in the kiln. The squire then received a positive answer and returned unharmed. The king was later convinced of his wife’s innocence and behaved better from then on. He saw God’s judgment in the incident.

In later years, the queen repeatedly made efforts to bring about peace in the disputes that shook the Portuguese kingdom.

In the last years of King Dionysius, the queen clung to her son Alfonso, and the aging king was more inclined to one of his illegitimate sons, Sancho. This gave rise to suspicions that the king wanted to hand over the throne to Sancho, against the laws and rights of the land. Alfonso, who had married Beatrice, began to rule with her in Coimbra. Dionysius’s advisors urged the king to limit his son’s power, and his son was in turn urged by his friends to rebel against his father, who wanted to deprive him of his succession.

Elizabeth tried to beg for a gift of reconciliation from both of them, but the situation escalated to the point that the king decided to raise an army against his son Alfonso and marched with him to the city of Sintra to capture him. Elizabeth sent messengers to her son with a warning that he should flee. The king found out about this and, on the advice of bad advisors, dismissed his wife and deprived her of all her pensions. She bore it patiently, but not her friends. They grumbled with reproaches against the king that he was at war with his son and had banished his wife. This perhaps led to him at least accepting her back.

The enmity between father and son was once again exacerbated by the siege of his father’s army at Coimbra. Elizabeth visited her husband and son in their camp and only managed to achieve a four-day truce. She prayed, cried and begged for a cessation of war, which she finally succeeded in doing. Soon after, the feud over Sanches recurred, and the queen made great efforts to reconcile the two armies at Lisbon and averted a second bloody clash. Father and son separated. Not long after, Dionysius fell seriously ill, and the queen proved her generous and kind heart not only by caring for his physical needs, but also by reconciling with her son, who, at her request, came to apologize to his father.

The king died penitently in 1325. The words of Scripture proved true that “an unbelieving man is sanctified by marriage to a believing woman” (1 Cor 7:14) . Elizabeth even made a barefoot penitential pilgrimage to Compostela, to the tomb of the Apostle James on his behalf, but perhaps in the tertiary habit. There, as a votive offering, she handed over her crown and royal jewels to the bishop.

In Lisbon, she built the first shrine of the Immaculate Conception in the history of the Church.

In Coimbra she decided to enter the convent of the Order of St. Clare, the construction of which she had just finished. However, she was persuaded to continue living in the world, where she was greatly needed. Elizabeth therefore settled in a dwelling attached to the convent, lived the life of a tertiary and did much good. She used her widow’s pensions to build churches, hospitals, almshouses and, where necessary, to build bridges.

She proved herself again as a peacemaker when her son Alfonso IV. was about to wage war with her daughter’s husband, King Ferdinand of Castile. Sick with influenza, she set out on a journey to prevent war. In the town of Estremoz on the Castilian border, she managed to secure peace, but in a fever she knew her end was coming. At that time, she is said to have taken her religious vows, and finally died in the arms of her son and daughter-in-law, calling on the heavenly Mother. She was called the “angel of peace” and venerated as a saint from the moment of her death.

She was buried in Coimbra, and her tomb became a place of pilgrimage and a place of extraordinary graces. In 1516 the canonization process began. Leo X then allowed her to be venerated as blessed in Coimbra. In 1612, her tomb was opened, and her body was found intact, with no signs of decomposition. The solemn canonization took place on 25 February 1625 by Pope Urban VIII, who tightened the canonization procedure.

My soul magnifies the Lord › Lk 1.46.

The visit to Elizabeth was sealed with the singing of the Magnificat, a hymn that spans all Christian centuries, a hymn that unites the minds of Christ’s disciples, and that apart from all the historical frictions that we strive to overcome in the interest of full communion. In the current ecumenical climate, it is nice to remember that Martin Luther devoted, as he himself put it, a very famous commentary to this holy song of the blessed Mother of God. In it, he emphasized that everyone should learn this song of praise, because in “the Magnificat, Mary teaches us how to love and praise God”. 

In the moment when God, full of love, looked at Mary, she became a sign of hope for the multitudes of the poor and the least on earth, who will be the first in the kingdom of heaven. It faithfully follows the decision of Christ, who repeats to all the oppressed throughout history: “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will strengthen you” (Mt 11:28). Taking the winding paths of history, the Church follows Mary so that the huge processions of poor and hungry, oppressed and afflicted women and men (cf. Lk 1, 52-53) rise again and find their dignity. It is the star of the third millennium, just as at the beginning of the Christian era it was the morning dawn with which Jesus shone on the horizon of history. She—thinking chronologically—was born before Christ, gave him to the world, and incorporated him into human destinies. We ask Mary to lead us to Christ and the Father in the future—even in the dark night of evil and in times of confusion and crises, silence, and suffering. 

Let us sing to Mary the hymn that the Eastern Church loves above all else. The Baathist lyrically glorifies Mary. In the section devoted to Mary’s visit to Elizabeth, he celebrates Mary as a branch of the never-drying trunk, as the life force of the immortal fruit, as the one who nourished the one who nourishes us.

June 30, non-binding commemoration
Position: martyrs
Death: 64
CURRICULUM VITAE

They were men, women, and youth, clergy and laity, many of whom had accepted the faith very early on. They fell in large numbers during the first of many persecutions of Christians. When a large part of Rome burned down, which, according to the historian Tacitus, was set on fire by Nero, the emperor cast suspicion on the Christians and declared them arsonists. The people considered the killing of Christians a reason for entertainment. In addition to Tacitus, Seutonius, for example, speaks of this among the pagans, and Clement of Rome among the Christian writers.
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REPRESENTATIONS OF NAMELESS WITNESSES
They were believers united by love for Christ, people who had love for all others in their hearts but were regarded by the majority of the people of Rome as their greatest enemies. Hosts of nameless witnesses to the truth had to die.

In the year 64, a diabolical plan ripened in the proud heart of Emperor Nero. He wanted to see a great fire in Rome to represent the burning of Troy. He wanted to be the master of everything and be celebrated as a great builder. At that time, there were more and more people in the city with a “dangerous” faith, which, in its teachings, proclaimed the equality of all people, so, according to them, the emperor should be the brother of an enslaved person, and an enslaved person equal to his sovereign. Their “deviation” is completed by the fact that they see God in someone who was crucified as an enslaved person. The emperor praised himself for the idea he had. How “magnificent!” Since the people would hate the arsonists, whom he had decided to label Christians, he would be able to get rid of them in such a way that all his desires would be satisfied and he would be celebrated.

After the fire of Rome, Emperor Nero began a cruel persecution of the first Christians, and fantastic tortures were invented for them, as the Roman historian Tacitus wrote. The imperial gardens were specially illuminated by live torches that burned Christians in pitch-blackened rags on columns and crosses. Some Christians were sewn into animal skins and thrown to wild dogs to be slowly torn apart. Bloody theaters took place in the circus on the Vatican Hill, during which wild beasts were unleashed on children and women, cruel whippings were performed, and there was no shortage of beheadings. The largest number of Christians were tortured in various ways there.

They suffered and died with unwavering faith and hope for life in heaven and with a love for Jesus from which they drew strength. The apostle Paul wrote, as it were, in their name, recalling the prophetic words of Psalm 44:23: “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are like sheep to be slaughtered. But in all these things—persecution, tribulation, and sword— we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death… nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:36-39).

The Lord Jesus foretold the persecution and suffering of those who would follow him, saying, “Brother will betray brother to death… All will hate you for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10:21-22) The Lord Jesus Himself had already blessed these persecuted ones in advance with an encouraging addition: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:12).

Martyrdom is the highest degree of love. Many pagans, seeing the enthusiasm of Christians and their courage in the most painful tortures, cried out for baptism. And so the Church grew the more it was persecuted. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of new Christians. Since the names of all the first Roman martyrs are not known to many, the Church commemorates their heroic deaths with a common feast immediately after those of the two foremost apostles, who were also executed under the emperor Nero.

Between the current cemetery and St. Peter’s Basilica, a stone in the pavement marks the place where, in the middle of the circus, where most of the first martyrs died, an obelisk once stood, which was later transferred to St. Peter’s Square in 1586.

Dear parishioners, We contemplate the holy images and statues placed in churches. In many parishes, on the altar in the presbytery, we see the Apostles standing: Saints Peter and Paul. St. Peter holds the keys in his hands, and St. Paul a sword. Large monuments of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul stand on the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Today we commemorate their martyrdom. Some apocryphal books state that both died on the same day, June 29, 67, by order of the cruel emperor Nero. St. Peter was crucified upside down in the Vatican Gardens, and St. Paul was beheaded with a sword behind the Ostia Gate. St. Peter was led to his death during the time of Herod Agrippa I. This king wanted to please the Jews and began the persecution of Christians in Jerusalem. He preached the beheading of St. James the Elder, the apostle, and then captured Peter and imprisoned him. He wanted to hand him over to the people after the Passover feast. In the meantime, the chained Peter was guarded by four mercenaries from each squad. 

However, the prayer constantly recited by Christians at that time proved stronger than the chains. It did not help that Peter was sleeping between two soldiers and that the guards at the gate were guarding the prison. An Angel of the Lord came and struck him on the side, waking Peter up. He also said to him, “Get up quickly!” The chains fell from Peter’s hands. The angel ordered him to gird himself, put on sandals, and put on his cloak. He led Peter out of prison and only then left him when they had passed through the iron gate and one street together. Certainly, St. Peter remained faithful and therefore still stands guard over Christ’s sheepfold with the keys in his hands. He stands faithfully still in his successors. However, from the very meeting with Peter, Jesus placed the Apostle in a strong position. He changed his name. He called him a rock. Later, in the vicinity of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus explains to Peter what the change of name meant: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Peter was given the greatest power in the Church.  

The second most significant patron of the Church is St. Paul the Apostle. He was also placed high in the Church by Jesus himself. The risen Christ blocked the way for Saul of Tarsus when he was filled with hatred against the confessors of Christ and went to Damascus to imprison and kill them. At the gates of that city, Christ appeared to him, struck him with light, and by His grace caused him to convert. Saul rose from the ground and was led by his companions to the priest Ananias, where he was baptized. Paul was called to be the apostle to the Gentiles and a remarkable teacher of humanity. He was to work very diligently and suffer a lot for Christ and bring to Him, at the cost of proclaiming the word of God and a great sacrifice, crowds of Gentiles. “But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me so that through me the proclamation of the Gospel might be fully accomplished and all the nations might hear it,” wrote St. Paul in his Second Letter to his dearest Timothy.

Brothers and sisters, we are called to listen! We would all like to believe similarly. The Holy Apostles have much to tell us in times of instability and betrayal, as we consider them. “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God” – confessed St. Peter when the Lord Jesus asked his disciples who people considered Him to be. It was an act of true faith that Peter dared to do, thanks to the grace given to him from above, by God the Father. St. Paul also believed completely in Christ. “I know whom I have believed” – he said about himself. This gave him confidence in the face of the brutality of life, which often appeared to him, even before death. Let us therefore stand resolutely with Christ, as they did. Peter was a rock, but when he once forgot his fear of Jesus and denied Him, and confirmed his denial with an oath, he had to erase his guilt with bitter tears. 

Paul, despite his great constancy and heroism of love, still felt like a weak man and therefore strengthened himself in the conviction that if he could do everything good, then only in the One who strengthens Him, in Jesus Christ. Our constancy in faith is the fruit of constant prayer to Christ for the grace of constancy and perseverance. Today’s world is treacherous. Betrayal of God, betrayal of homeland, betrayal of ideals, betrayal of faith, betrayal of the Church, marital betrayal, betrayal of a friend, betrayal of one’s own identity, and constant betrayal. We need fidelity very much today. We want to learn it from the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and we also want to remain faithful to them ourselves, at all costs. The greater the fidelity in the Church, the fuller is our bond with God, who is faithful to us until the end. 

The patrons of today stand guard over the Church, which is the visible sign of the invisible Lord God. The preface in the Church speaks of the twofold mission of Saints Peter and Paul: “For you fill us with joy from the apostolic work of Saints Peter and Paul. One teaches us to profess the faith, and the other explains its mysteries to us; Peter gathered the early Church from the children of Israel, Paul became a teacher of the faith for all nations, and so both, although in different ways, gathered the family of Christ. We venerate them together, as you glorified both together.” Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us that we may be free from all betrayal and value the virtue of fidelity.