LAVDATE

Sts. Simon Peter and Paul, with Crowns of Martyrdom

Today, June 29, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, commemorating their martyrdom and their selfless witness to the Lordship of Christ.

It is said that when Saint Peter was to be executed, he fled the city of Rome, whereupon he came across the Risen Christ on the path. He asked the Lord, “Where are you going?” To which Christ responded, “I am going to Rome to be crucified again.” Facing his death, Peter requested that he be crucified upside-down, as he felt he was unworthy to die in the same manner as his Lord.

Saint Paul, as Luke’s Acts of the Apostles and the Apostle’s own letter will testify, had run afoul of many authorities throughout his missionary work, especially the Romans. As a Roman citizen, Paul was afforded the luxury of a death by beheading.

I chose to depict the two saints with the normal items of traditional iconography. Peter holds the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, the particular authority to bind and loose on Heaven and on Earth, which Christ himself gave to Peter. In his left hand, he holds a scroll of his First Epistle. He also bears the papal pallium, a mark of his office as the first pope. Paul is depicted holding the Sword of the Spirit of his Letter to the Ephesians as well as a scroll containing his First Letter to the Corinthians.