Tag Archives: Sts. Peter and Paul

The same zeal, humility, and love.

On June 29 the Orthodox Church commemorates Saints Peter and Paul together. I offer a portion of a homily for the feast, from St Gregory Palamas (d. 1359). The sermon is in 14 parts, and this is the 11th:

“Given that Paul made the same confession of faith as Peter, and had the same zeal, humility and love, surely they received the same rewards from Him Who measures everything with completely just scales, yardstick and plumbline. Anything else would be unreasonable. That is why the Lord told Peter, ‘Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church’ (Matt. 16:18), whereas He said to Ananias of Paul, ‘He is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings’ (Acts 9:15). Which name? Clearly the name we have been given, the name of Christ’s Church, which rests on the foundation stone of Peter. Notice that Peter and Paul are equal in prominence and glory, and both hold up the Church. Consequently the Church now bestows one and the same honour on both, and celebrates them together with equal esteem.

“As we consider the outcome of their lives, let us imitate how they lived, or at least how they were restored through humility and repentance, even if we cannot attain to their other great and exalted achievements, which are appropriate to great men and fitting for great men to emulate. In fact, some aspects of their lives are probably impossible for anyone to imitate. Amendment through repentance, however, is more appropriate for us than for the great, since we all sin many times every day, and unless we lay hold of salvation through continuous repentance, we have no hope of it from any other source.”

From The Homilies of Saint Gregory Palamas, Volume Two, translated by Christopher Veniamin (St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press, 2004).

You can read the entire homily: on this site

And here, a sermon by St. Augustine of Hippo for the feast: oca

 

A word from one of the Leaders.

Today we celebrated the Feast of the Holy, Glorious and All-Praised Leaders of the Apostles, Peter and Paul. As it was a weekday, the church was not full, but there were half a dozen strong choir singers and beautiful hymns to sing along with them. During the short Apostles’ Fast beforehand I read the epistles of St. Peter, and I wanted to share a passage here, one that I find especially encouraging.

Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,  casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

-From the First Epistle of St. Peter

End of June tune.

When Daughter Kate and her family arrived, we soon established a tradition of drinking smoothies in the afternoon, on the sunny patio. Raj especially liked the thick one I made with mango, ice, rice protein and pineapple juice concentrate. Then there was chocolate banana. And strawberry.

He hadn’t seen the playhouse in six months, and was quite pleased.

Rigo celebrated his first birthday, and he was pleased, too.

Raj sings pretty much all through the day, and he carries a tune awfully well for a two-year-old. I love having Raffi and every children’s folk song wafting through the house and garden.

By the way, out there, a hollyhock whose seeds I planted several years ago is blooming for the first time. [It’s Black Currant Whirl from Baker Creek seeds.] It’s in a very out-of-the way spot behind the mock orange, and grew giant buds before I ever noticed. Then today, this!

I went to church today for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. Blessed Feast! Our parish is not open yet on Sunday mornings; that is, we aren’t able to be in the building except for a short time when we file through to receive the sacrament. But because this was a weekday Liturgy, not a large crowd was expected, and we could stand through the service at an appropriate distance from one another. I was an hour late because I’ve been busy with other things than keeping track of the service schedule that’s been changing a lot lately. It was still quite a blessing.

I visited the icon of Saint Isadora, whose message I know that I always need, but never more than these days and months we’ve had lately. And what a gorgeous flower surround for the icon of the saints of the day.

I’ll see you in July! ❤