My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

THE MARTYRDOM OF HOLY APOSTLE PETER AND PAUL
The Martyrdom of the Holy Apostle Peter

Saint Symeon Metaphrastes says that Saint Peter was not taken alone, but with a multitude of the faithful, among whom were Clement, Herodion, and Olympos. The tyrant condemned them to decapitation (beheading) but ordered Saint Peter to be crucified. Laying hold of the condemned, the soldiers brought them to the place of execution. Clement, as a kinsman of the emperor, they took pity on and set free. But Herodion and Olympos, who had come to Rome with the Apostle Peter, they beheaded together with a multitude of the faithful. The Holy Apostle Peter requested that he be crucified head-downwards, saying, "I am not worthy to be crucified as my Christ, upright, for thus He was Crucified, so as to look to the earth, where He would descend into Hades to deliver the souls therein. Crucify me head down, that I may look to the heavens, whither I shall go." Thus the Great and Holy Apostle of the Lord, the Holy Peter, reposed, glorifying God in his earthly death by the cross. He endured great torment from the nails in his hands and feet until he surrendered his blameless soul into the hands of God, on the 29th day of June, in the year of our Lord 67. His disciple, the Holy Clement, having begged the authorities for the precious body (holy relic) of the Apostle, took it down from the cross and washed it. After Clement called together the remaining faithful and clergy, he interred the body with honor. They likewise, gave a reverent burial to the bodies of Herodion, Olympos, and other holy Martyrs who suffered with the Apostle Peter, glorifying Christ God Who, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is glorified forever. Amen.

Again, it is Church Tradition that informs us that the Holy Apostle Peter deemed himself unworthy to be crucified as the master Christ. A church now stands on the place where Saint Peter was put to death. This is the church of Saint Peter on the Janiculum Hill (Chiesa di San Petro in Montorio). The church which now stands on the spot where Saint Peter was crucified is small, round, and has two levels. On the lower level, one can see the place where the overturned cross of the Apostle was erected. Above this place, a lamp burns perpetually. On the floor of the upper level of the church, a round opening has been made marking the height of the cross of Saint Peter. The foothill of the Janiculum Hill on which this church stands is called Golden Hill (Monte d'Oro, or, abbreviated, Montorio), by virtue of the golden color of the sand of which its soil consists.

Since along with the memorial of the Holy Apostle Peter, we are today celebrating the heavenly birthday of his fellow Apostle Paul.

The Martyrdom of the Holy Apostle Paul

The account given for his martyric death on the 29th of June, A.D. 67, is that during the last days of his earthly life, the Holy Apostle Paul was detained together with the Holy Apostle Peter in the Mamertine Prison (Carcere Mamertino) in Rome. From here both Holy Apostles were simultaneously led out to be executed, by the order of Emperor Nero. Outside the city gates, now called the Gate of Saint Paul (Porta San Paolo), the Holy Apostle bid farewell to each other. The Holy Apostle Peter, since he did not enjoy the rights of a Roman citizen, was led out to the Janiculum Hill; but the Holy Apostle Paul, who was a Roman citizen, could not be given over to the ignominious death on the cross and inside the city, was led out further from the city to a place called the "Savory Waters" (Aquae Salviae) to be beheaded.

After being brought to the place of execution, the Holy Apostle Paul, in expectation of his martyric death, was detained here for a short time in a special dungeon. When the time for execution came, he himself bowed his head under the sword of the executioner, and the latter cut off his head. From the wound flowed blood and milk. When the detached head fell and bounced thrice on the earth, in those same three places where it touched the ground, there sprang forth three fountains of living water which have not ceased to flow even until today. A church (The Fontane) was built over the site of the three fountains and the column on which Saint Paul was beheaded. In a corner of this church behind a grate is where the small column is kept.

Nikephoros Kallistos (d. 1350), in the second book of his history, also writes that Saint Paul suffered in the same year and on the same day as the Holy Apostle Peter, after the demise of Simon Magus, whom he had helped Peter to vanquish.

Some Christians buried the holy relics of the Holy Apostle Paul at a spot three miles from the site of his martyrdom, on the farm of the Roman woman Lucine, where the church of Saint Paolo Fuori le mura stands today in a simple crypt. His holy relic remained there until the era of Valerian in the 3rd century, when they were moved, along with those of Saint Peter, to the catacombs of Saint Sebastian along the Appian Way, so as to be protected from being destroyed in the maniacal persecution against the Christians. For a time, the two Great Apostles met again in death when they occupied a niche in the marble tomb, the Platonia, beneath the church of Saint Sabastian on the Via Appia.

Apostle Paul's Ministry in His Own Words

"We are fools for Christ's sake."

Saint Paul, in his First Letter to the Corinthians, writes: "For I think that God showed forth us the apostles last, as condemned to death; for we became a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ. We are weak, but ye are strong. Ye are held in honor, but we are dishonored (1 Corinthians 4:9-10). Saint John Chrysostom explains to us that "this is the meaning of fools for Christ's sake. For whosoever suffers wrongs and avenges not himself, nor is vexed, is reckoned a fool by the heathen, and is dishonored and weak."

The Holy Apostle Paul also reveals his paternal care: "And we toil working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we bear up; being evilly spoken of, we beseech. We became as the filth of the world, the off-scouring of all until now. I do not write these things shaming you, but admonishing you as my beloved children" (1 Corinthians 4: 12-14). (Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church)

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THE DIVINE SERVICES ON JUNE 30th - THE FEAST OF THE HOLY TWELVE APOSTLES OF CHRIST:

Orthros at 9:00 a.m.
Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m.

Please note: Tomorrow will be the last day for those who wish to receive the holy resurrection light for their homes.

If there still some of you who wish to be anointed with the Mysterion (Sacraments) of Holy Oil (Unction) you are asked to stay after the Divine Liturgy is over.

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" - Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God,

+Father George