Why do we celebrate the Solemnity of Saint Peter and Saint Paul on the same day?

This June 29, the Universal Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Saint Paul. Both apostles are considered pillars of the Church, for their evangelizing work throughout the first years of Christianity.

However, many Catholics do not know why the liturgical memory of both apostles is celebrated on the same day. Here are some reasons that can help you delve deeper into this important date for believers:

1. An ancient tradition

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), there is sufficient evidence to maintain that the Solemnity of Saint Peter and Saint Paul has been celebrated every June 29 since ancient times, and that the date could commemorate the death of both apostles or the day of the transfer of the relics of Saint Paul to Rome, according to the Jeronimian Martyrology (the oldest catalog of Christian martyrs of the Latin Church, 5th century).

“According to the most widespread opinion, Paul suffered in the same year and on the same day as Peter; Several Fathers of the Church maintain that it was the same day, but not the same year; The oldest witness, Saint Dionysius the Corinthian, says (in Greek): cover ton car Cairowhich can be translated as ‘at the same time’ or ‘more or less at the same time’”, specifies the Catholic Encyclopedia.

2. They are founders and patrons of the Church of Rome, as well as representatives of the Gospel

In its homily of June 29, 2012in celebration of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Saint Paul, Benedict XVI called these two apostles “principal patrons of the Church of Rome.”

Furthermore, the Pope stressed that “Christian tradition has always considered Saint Peter and Saint Paul inseparable: together, in effect, they represent the entire Gospel of Christ.”

3. They are “columns of the spiritual building that is the Church”

“He, for example, feeling death close, writes to Timothy: ‘I have fought the noble combat’ (2 Tim 4:7). It is certainly not the battle of a leader, but that of one who announces the Word of God, faithful to Christ and his Church, for whom he has given himself totally. And that is why the Lord has given him the crown of glory and has placed him, like Peter, as a column of the spiritual edifice of the Church,” said Benedict XVI in the same homily.

4. A sacred day to celebrate the unity of the Church

Calling these holy martyrs “pillars” of the Church is not gratuitous. On them rests the “weight” of the flock of Christ that pilgrims in the world as if they were columns of a building.

Without them, the “building” would collapse. With them, there is always balance. This is how Saint Augustine clarifies it in one of his sermons:

“Today is sacred for us, because on it we celebrate the martyrdom of the holy apostles Peter and Paul… The fact is that both were in reality one thing even though they were martyred on different days.”