(Vatican Radio) June 29th marks the Feast day of Sts. Peter and St. Paul, patron saints of the eternal city. Much of the focus of the festivity is on the Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls where liturgical and secular celebrations take place. The Basilica itself stands near the Abazia delle Tre Fontane, where St. Paul is believed to have been beheaded. It was the largest church in Rome until St. Peter’s was rebuilt, and it rises over the traditional site of St. Paul’s grave.
Benedictine Monk Edmund Power, the Abbot of the Monastery of, explained to Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni that the monks pave the way for this important recurrence by observing the annual Triduum for the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, the two main patrons of the city of Rome.
The Benedictine monks of the Abbey of Saint Paul Outside the Walls begin their preparations on June 26 with Ecumenical Vespers presided by the Abbot himself. He says this is a custom they began in recognition of their ecumenical responsiblity which was given them formally by the Pope. The following day, the Vespers are followed by a Solemn Votive Mass for Saints Peter and Paul. And in the afternoon of June 28, they celebrate Vespers for the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. This triduum, Abbot Power explains, is to allow the monks to prepare spiritually for the Feast itself on 29th June, when, in the evening, the Abbot celebrates Mass at the Papal altar.
Abbot Power also speaks of the procession of the Chains of St. Paul which is a precious relic that has always been kept in the Basilica. The Chains of st. Paul’s are carried around the locality with a throng of the faithful following. He says “the chains are referred to at least 14 or 15 times in the New Testament, both in the Letters of St. Paul and in the Acts of the Apostles. Obviously, for him, they were the physical chains of his imprisonment, but more than that, he refers to them in a symbolic way as the chains of love between him and Christ, that enable him to bear with joy and serenity his imprisonment, and also to go to martyrdom”.
And the Abbot concludes – “the monks see these chains as the chains of love between Christians”. That is why they try to include non-Catholics in the procession around the streets.
Of the relics, Abbot Power explains – “nine links of the chain remain; there were eleven, but Pope John Paul II decided to give two of thel inks to the Orthodox Archbishop of Athens, as an ecumentical gift”, because the Church of Athens considers St. Paul their founder. Those links were given to the Archbishop of Athens during a beautiful ceremony at the Basilica, and now they are enshrined in Athens. It’s not just a religious ceremony that comes to life at St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, because outside the Basiclica there is St. Paul’s Fair which attracts thousands of Romans and tourists with stalls of all kinds and final fireworks.
[listen to the interview courtesy Vatican Radio]
