Sts. Peter and Paul
Feast day: June 29
These two apostles share a feast as founders of the church in Rome. Peter was a fisherman from Galilee who was chosen by Christ as one of the Twelve Apostles. He became the leader of the fledgling church after Pentecost. Paul, a Pharisee and Roman citizen who had persecuted Christians, had a conversion and became the church’s greatest missionary, its “Apostle of the Gentiles.” Both of these apostles were martyred for the faith. Their lives are recounted in the Acts of the Apostles, and letters from them are included in the New Testament.
Collect
O God, who on the Solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul
give us the noble and holy joy of this day,
grant, we pray, that your Church
may in all things follow the teaching
of those through whom she received
the beginnings of right religion.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
