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This feast has been kept at Rome since the 4th century. It is celebrated as a symbol of the unity of the Church. The principal diocese of the Catholic Church is Rome, and the Pope is its bishop. His cathedral is not, as many may be inclined to think, St Peter’s Basilica, but the Church of St John Lateran.

The Bishop of Rome is not ranked above other bishops, but is rather primus inter pares, ‘first among equals’. The diocese of Rome has a special place because of its links with St Peter, on whom Jesus said he would build his church. Hence the unity of the Church is expressed by the solidarity of each diocese with the diocese of Rome, and with each other. And when the Pope speaks formally, it is the faith of the whole Church that he proclaims, and not just his own understanding of it.

From the earliest times, the Church at Rome celebrated on 18 January the memory of the day when Peter held his first service with the faithful of the Eternal City. The feast of the Chair of Saint Peter at Antioch, commemorating his foundation of the See of Antioch, has also been long celebrated at Rome, on 22 February. At each place a chair (cathedra) was venerated which the Apostle had used while presiding at the Eucharist. The Roman Church, therefore, at an early date celebrated a first and a second assumption of the episcopal office in Rome by St Peter. This double celebration was also held in two places, in the Vatican Basilica and in a cemetery (coemeterium) on the Via Salaria.

The first of these chairs stood in the Vatican Basilica, in the baptismal chapel built by Pope Damasus. While therefore in the Vatican Basilica there stood a cathedra on which the pope sat amid the Roman clergy during the pontifical Mass, there was also in the same building a second cathedra from which the pope administered to the newly baptized the Sacrament of Confirmation. The Chair of St Peter in the apse was made of marble and was built into the wall, while that of the baptistry was movable and could be carried. Ennodius calls the latter a sedes gestatoria, a ‘chair for carrying’.

Throughout the Middle Ages it was always brought out on 22 February from the above mentioned consignatorium, or place of confirmation to the high altar. That day, the pope did not use the marble cathedra (at the back of the apse), but sat on this portable cathedra, which was, consequently, made of wood.*

The importance of this feast was heightened by the fact that 22 February was considered the anniversary of the day when Peter bore witness, by the Sea of Tiberias, to the divinity of Christ and was again appointed by Christ to be the Rock of His Church (see John 21:15).
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*The last pope to use this chair was Saint John XXIII.

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Claude la Colombière, third child of the notary Bertrand La Colombière and Margaret Coindat, was born on 2 February, 1641 at Saint-Symphorien-d’Ozon, in the Dauphine, southeastern France, between Lyons and Vienne. He entered the Jesuit order at Avignon in 1659.  His motives for this choice are not known, but he did confess later that he “had a terrible aversion for the life embraced”. This was not surprising for he was known to be very close to his family and friends and much inclined to the arts and literature and an active social life.

On the other hand, he was not a person to be led primarily by his feelings. In 1666, he went to the College of Clermont in Paris for his theological studies. Already noted for his tact, poise and dedication to the humanities, he was assigned the additional responsibility of tutoring the children of Louis XIV’s Minister of Finance, Jean Baptiste Colbert. The year 1674, the year of his Tertianship (i.e. the final phase of his Jesuit training) was a decisive one for Claude. He took a vow to observe all the constitutions and rules of the Society of Jesus under pain of sin. This was not to focus on the observance of minutiae, but rather to live out the ideal of an apostle as laid down by St Ignatius, the Founder of the Society. It became his programme of holiness.

On 2 February, 1675 he made the solemn profession of his final vows and was immediately made rector of the Jesuit College at Paray-le-Monial. Some wondered at the assignment of such a promising talent to such an out of the way place. It seems it was because of the presence, in the local Visitation convent, of an unpretentious nun, Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque. She had been the recipient of visions of Jesus’ Heart, but was plagued by anguish and uncertainty. She was waiting for the Lord to send her a “faithful servant and perfect friend” to help her carry out her mission—revealing to the world the unfathomable riches of Christ’s love.

Margaret Mary at once opened her inner experiences to Claude, and he assured her that he accepted them as being genuine. He told her to put them in writing and promised her every support in the mission she was being given. In Claude’s own written reflections, it is clear that even before becoming Margaret Mary’s confessor, Claude’s vowed faithfulness to the directives of St Ignatius Loyola in the Spiritual Exercises, especially the “Contemplation for Obtaining Love”, had brought him to understand the Heart of Christ as symbol of his love.

Claude had only been a year and half in Paray, when in 1676 he was transferred to London. He had been appointed preacher to the Duchess of York, the Duke’s second wife, Mary of Modena, who was a Catholic and would later be queen. It was a difficult and delicate assignment in a predominantly Protestant England.

He took up residence in St James Palace. Even in the Court, Claude lived the life of a religious. In addition to preaching sermons, he gave constant spiritual direction and reconciled many lapsed Catholics back into their Church. It was dangerous but consoling work. And, in spite of difficulties, he was able to continue directing Margaret Mary by letter.

However, the heavy workload and the adverse climate brought on serious lung problems, and he planned to return to France. Then, without warning, at the end of 1678, he was accused of being involved in the Titus Oates plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament, and spent three weeks jailed in difficult conditions. Thanks to his title of preacher to the Duchess of York and the protection of Louis XIV, whose subject he was, he escaped death, but was expelled from England in 1679.

This experience further weakened his health. The last two years of his life were spent at Lyons where he was spiritual director to young Jesuits, and at Paray-le-Monial, to which he returned in the summer of 1681. On 15 February, 1682, the first Sunday of Lent, Claude suffered the severe haemorrhage which ended his life. His principal works, including Pious Reflections, Meditations on the Passion, Retreat and Spiritual Letters, were published under the title, Oeuvres du R. P. Claude de la Colombière (Avignon, 1832; Paris, 1864).

His relics are preserved in the convent of the Visitation Sisters at Paray-le-Monial. Claude was beatified by Pope Pius XI on 16 June, 1929, and canonized by Pope John Paul II on 31 May, 1992.

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Commentary on Acts 13:46-49; Psalm 116; Luke 10:1-9

The Gospel reading tells of Jesus sending out 72 disciples to prepare the way for his coming to various towns and villages he was going to visit. The harvest, he tells them, is abundant, but the labourers are few. That was true then, it was true in the time of Cyril and Methodius and it is true today. He further warns them that he is sending them out like lambs among wolves. Again, that was true then, was true in the time of Cyril and Methodius, and is still true in our own time.

It is significant that the greatest opposition the brothers met was not from pagans or heretics, but from fellow Christians who had a restricted understanding of how the faith was to be communicated. The main source of opposition they met was on the basis of language. The opponents of Cyril and Methodius belived that only Latin could be the language of the Bible and of the liturgy. We can meet with similar kinds of prejudice in our own day when serious divisions can arise from identifying the essence of our Christian faith with what are really unessentials. Should our Mass be in the vernacular or in Latin? Should communion be received on the tongue or in the hand? Should we receive it standing or kneeling at altar rails? What kind of vestments should the priest wear? Is it of the essence of our faith that only males can preside at the Eucharist, or that they have to be celibate? There are so many of these sorts of questions.

Jesus further instructs his disciples to bring a message of peace wherever they go—but not peace at any price. It is not a true peace to compromise or stay silent on essentials of our faith. They are to move around with only the bare essentials for their needs, and to adapt themselves to the lifestyle of those with whom they stay. Again, Cyril and Methodius lived like this. Their life had begun with the austerity of monks, and Cyril would end his life back in a monastery.

The First Reading, too, reflects the situation of the two missionaries. It is taken from the Acts of the Apostles, and we find Paul and Barnabas in the town of Antioch, in the province of Pisidia, situated in what is southern Turkey today. It is a Sabbath day and practically the whole town has come out to listen to the two apostles.

But some of the Jews became jealous of their popularity and began verbally abusing Paul. As more and more Gentiles accepted the teaching of Paul, these same Jews incited the local women against him and had Paul and Barnabas expelled from the town.

This reflects the experience of Cyril and Methodius, who were constantly attacked by leaders of the German church who objected very strongly to the two brothers using the Slavonic language in their preaching and liturgy (and, as a result, were far more successful in their evangelising than the German missionaries had been). Like Paul, Methodius faced eviction and even imprisonment at the hands of fellow Christians.

The later history of the Church has had many similar experiences, with Christians becoming seriously divided from each other and using violence. It has resulted in tragic and long-lasting divisions. Jesus told his disciples that one of the ways by which his followers would be recognised would be their being united together in love. Let us pray today for greater unity both between our various denominations and within denominations so that the prayer of Jesus may be fulfilled:

…that they may all be one. (John 17:21)

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Cyril and Methodius were two Byzantine Greek brothers from a noble family in Thessalonika, a district in north-eastern Greece. Methodius was born about 815 AD, and Cyril (known through most of his life as Constantine) the younger, was born about 827 AD. Though belonging to a senatorial family, they set aside all secular honours and became priests. They were living as monks in a monastery on the Bosphorous, when the Khazars sent a request to Constantinople asking for a Christian teacher . (At the height of their empire, the Khazars controlled much of what is today southern Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan and large portions of the Caucasus.)

Constantine was chosen, but his brother went with him. They learned the Khazar language and made many converts. Soon afterwards, there was also a request from the Moravians for a preacher of the Gospel (Moravia is today in the east of the Czech Republic). German missionaries had been working there, but because they did not know the local language, met with little success. The Moravians wanted someone who could teach them, and conduct their liturgy in the Slavonic language.

Because of their knowledge of the language, Constantine and Methodius were chosen. They went to Moravia in 863 AD and worked there for four and a half years. However, to do their work more effectively, Constantine devised an alphabet, based on the Greek alphabet, but with extra letters to accommodate sounds in the Slavonic language. With the help of his brother, he then translated the Gospels and the needed liturgical books into the Slavonic language which now could also be read using the new alphabet (the alphabet is called ‘Cyrillic’ after its creator).  

In spite of their success, they were not trusted by the German church. This happened, first, because they had come from Constantinople where the church was very divided by schism and, second, because they celebrated the liturgy in the Slavonic language rather than Latin. Because of this, they were called to Rome by Pope Nicholas I, who, however, died before their arrival. They were received kindly by his successor, Pope Adrian II. Having been convinced of their doctrinal orthodoxy, the pope approved of their missionary work, sanctioned the use of Slavonic in the liturgy and ordained Methodius and Constantine bishops. They had arrived in Rome in 868 AD where Constantine entered a monastery, taking the name Cyril, by which he is now remembered. However, he died only a few weeks later on 4 February, 869 and is buried in the Church of San Clemente (now taken care of by Irish Dominicans).

At the request of the Moravian princes and a Slav prince, the people established the Archdiocese of Moravia and Pannonia, and made it independent of the German church. Methodius was its first archbishop. But two years later in 870 AD, Methodius was called to a synod in Ratisbon. There, he was deposed and put in prison.

Three years later he was released on the orders of Pope John VIII and reinstated. However, he was again called to Rome on the allegations of a German priest, Wiching, who questioned his orthodoxy and his use of the Slavonic language instead of Latin. After an enquiry, the use of Slavonic was approved with the proviso that the Gospel had first to be read in Latin before being read in Slavonic. Wiching then became a suffragan bishop under Methodius, but continued to oppose him. One of the last things Methodius did was to go to Constantinople where, with the help of some priests, he completed the translation of the Bible, with the exception of the Books of Maccabees. Worn out by his labours and struggles, Methodius died on 6 April, 885.

Formerly the feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius was celebrated in Bohemia and Moravia on 9 March, but Pope Pius IX changed the date to 5 July. Pope Leo XIII, by his Encyclical Grande Munus of 30 September, 1880, extended the feast to the universal Church. On 1 October, 1999, Saints Cyril and Methodius were named Patrons of Europe by Pope John Paul II together with Saints Benedict, Bridget of Sweden, Catherine of Siena and Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein).

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Commentary on Song of Songs 8:6-7; Psalm 148; Luke 10:38-42

The two Scripture readings speak of the close relationship between Scholastica and her Lord. The First Reading from the Song of Songs speaks of the nature of true love. Speaking to the young man whose company she longs for, the lover says:

Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm,
for love is strong as death,
passion fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
a raging flame.

True love is all-embracing. Such was Scholastica’s passion for her Lord. For:

Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.

Such love can never be fully possessed; it always beckons one further. It is the task of a lifetime.

If one offered for love
all the wealth of one’s house,
it would be utterly scorned.

The Gospel is the lovely scene in Bethany where Jesus is a guest of the sisters Martha and Mary. As Martha fusses in the kitchen preparing the meal, Mary sits quietly at the feet of Jesus. Martha complains to Jesus:

Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself?

Jesus replies:

Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things, but few things are needed—indeed only one. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.

Anxiety and worry should never be the characteristic of a follower of Jesus, and Martha has totally misread the situation. Mary has not been doing nothing. On the contrary she has been listening to Jesus—the Word of God.

It is only when we listen to Jesus that we know what we should be doing. Only then can we begin to be active. Martha was very busy, but was she busy about the right things? We will not know what the right things are unless we spend time listening to Jesus.

Scholastica spent many hours in prayer and reading listening to Jesus and, because of that, she knew what she had to do. When she was busy, she was busy about the right things. What about me? Am I more like Martha or Mary?

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Scholastica was born about 480 AD in Nursia, Italy, and was the twin sister of St Benedict. She died near Monte Cassino about 543 AD. Almost everything we know about her comes from the Dialogues of Saint Gregory the Great, himself a monk and abbot. She was consecrated to God at a very early age, but probably continued to live in her parents’ home. Some accounts of her story indicate that she preceded Benedict in piety, and that he came to holiness after she did, and under her influence.

When Benedict established his monastery at Monte Cassino, Scholastica founded a convent in nearby Plombariola, about 8 km south of Monte Cassino. The convent is said to have been under the direction of her brother; thus she is regarded as the first Benedictine nun. In fact, we do not know what rule her community followed, although it seems most likely it was the Rule of St Benedict.

Benedict and Scholastica, like many twins, were close, but the respective rules of their houses proscribed either entering the other’s monastery (the rules of ‘cloister’ normally forbade people of different sexes from access). However, it is told that once a year she would go to visit her brother in the vicinity of Monte Cassino. They would spend the day praying together, discussing sacred texts and issues of common interest.

There is a delightful story, told by St Gregory, of the very last meeting she and Benedict were destined to have. At the end of the day, they had supper and continued their conversation. When Benedict indicated it was time for him to leave, she protested, and begged him to stay with her for the evening so they could continue their discussions. He refused, insisting that he needed to return to his cell. At that point, Scholastica closed her hands in prayer, and after a moment, a wild storm rose up outside the house where they were staying. “What have you done?” asked Benedict. To which his sister replied:

I asked you and you would not listen; so I asked my God and he did listen. So now go off, if you can, leave me and return to your monastery.

But, because of the storm, Benedict was unable to return to his monastery, and they spent the night in discussion.

According to the Dialogues of Saint Gregory the Great, three days later, from his monastic cell, Benedict saw his sister’s soul leaving the earth and ascend to heaven in the form of a shining white dove. He placed her body in the grave he had prepared for himself, and arranged for his own to be placed there too after his own death. As Gregory says:

So death did not separate the bodies of these two, whose minds had ever been united in the Lord.

Her relics were, as alleged by the monk Adrevald, to have been transferred on July 11 to a rich silver shrine in Saint Peter’s Church in Le Mans, France. This may also have been when Benedict’s were moved to Fleury.

St Scholastica is usually depicted in art dressed as a nun, holding a crozier and crucifix, with her brother. Sometimes, she may be shown:

– receiving her veil from St Benedict;
– with her soul departing her body like a dove;
– with a dove at her feet or bosom; or
– kneeling before St Benedict’s cell.

She is the patroness of Monte Cassino and all Cassinese communities, and she is invoked against storms. She is also the patron saint of convulsive children, and of nuns.

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Paul Miki, born into a rich family, was the son of a Japanese military leader. He was born at Tounucumada, Japan and educated at the Jesuit college of Anziquiama. He joined the Jesuits in 1580, and became known for his eloquent preaching.

The authorities, fearing the Jesuits’ influence, made them an object of persecution. Miki was jailed along with other Christians. He and his Christian companions were forced to walk about 1,000 km (600 miles) from Kyoto as a punishment for the whole community. On the way they sang the Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of praise and thanksgiving. Finally they arrived at Nagasaki, the city which had the most conversions to Christianity.

Paul, still a Jesuit scholastic (i.e. a Jesuit in training) and aged 35, was crucified on 5-February 1597, along with 25 other Catholics. He preached his last sermon from the cross and it is maintained that, like his Master, he forgave his executioners, stating that he himself was a Japanese.

Together with him died Santiago Kisai, also a Jesuit scholastic, and Diego Kisai (or Kizayemon), a Jesuit brother, in addition to 22 priests and lay people. This took place during the persecution of Christians under the Taiko, Toyotomi Hideyoshi—who ruled Japan in the name of the emperor.

Among the Japanese who died were: Francis, a carpenter who was arrested while watching the executions and then crucified; Gabriel, the 19-year-old son of the Franciscans’ doorkeeper; Leo Kinuya, a 28-year-old carpenter from Miyako; Joachim Sakakibara, a cook for the Franciscans at Osaka; Peter Sukejiro, sent by a Jesuit priest to help the prisoners, and who was himself arrested; and Cosmas Takeya from Owari, who had preached in Osaka. Also killed was Ventura from Miyako, who had been baptized by the Jesuits, but had given up his faith on the death of his father. He subsequently became a Buddhist monk, but was then brought back to the Church by Franciscans.

All were canonized as the Martyrs of Japan by Pope Pius IX in 1862.

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Commentary on 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; Psalm 30; Luke 9:23-26

The Gospel reading comes from Luke’s Gospel. It is part of the first prediction of Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection which follows immediately after Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus follows the prediction of what is going to happen to him by calling on his disciples to follow in his footsteps.

These words, of course, apply to all who carry the name ‘Christian’. Anyone who wants to be a follower of Jesus must be prepared to deny themselves and follow the Way of Jesus. The paradox, of course, is that such denial is a personal enrichment of one’s life. It is the setting aside of urges and appetites to be replaced by a life of love and fellowship and the care of one’s brothers and sisters.

For what does it profit them if they gain the whole world but lose or forfeit themselves?

These are words which Agatha clearly took to heart. No doubt if she had agreed to the proposals of her suitor, she could have led a life of great pleasure and luxury, but it would also have been a self-centred life of self-destructive indulgence. Our society today is full of such temptations.

In the First Reading which is taken from the First Letter to the Christians of Corinth, Paul gives them words of encouragement. Most of them are people of little account in their society. But Paul reminds them that:

God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong…

Agatha was a simple, defenceless girl. Her suitor, who was a powerful man in his society, thought she could be easily manipulated and tempted by what he had to offer. But she had an inner strength, based on her commitment to Christ and his Gospel, that he could not overcome either by cajoling or torturing.

The spirit of Agatha is very much needed in our pleasure-seeking society and in our Church today. Let me pray to have that spirit in me as the only way to true joy and peace and fulfilment.

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Agatha was martyred at Catania in Sicily, probably during the persecution by the Roman emperor, Decius (250-253). She is among the saints commemorated in the Roman Canon. Although she is one of the most highly venerated of the virgin martyrs in the early Church, there is little reliable information about Agatha beyond the fact that she died a martyr’s death. She is known to have been put to death because of the courageous profession of her Christian faith.

Although the martyrdom of St Agatha is accepted as genuine and her veneration as a saint had spread beyond her birthplace already in early times, there is still no reliable information of how she met her death. According to the Acts of the Martyrs (in both Latin and Greek), Agatha, daughter of a distinguished family and a girl of great beauty, was pursued by a Senator Quintianus who had fallen in love with her. As his proposals were resolutely spurned by the young girl, he put her in the charge of an evil woman, whose efforts at seduction were thwarted by Agatha’s commitment to her Christian faith. Quintianus then had her subjected to various cruel tortures. Of these, the most barbaric was an order to have her breasts cut off. This became the peculiar characteristic in medieval images of the saint. She is often depicted carrying her excised breasts on a platter.

However, it was said that Agatha was consoled by a vision of St Peter, who healed her miraculously. Her scorned admirer eventually sentenced her to death by being burnt at the stake. However, she was saved from this fate by a mysterious earthquake. She later died in prison as a result of the repeated cruelties inflicted on her. However, it must be said that this narrative from her story in the Acts of the Martyrs cannot really claim to have any historical reliability.

Both Catania and Palermo in Sicily claim the honour of being Agatha’s birthplace. Her feast is kept on 5 February, and her office in the Roman Breviary is drawn in part from the Latin Acts of the Martyrs. Catania honours St Agatha as its patron saint, and throughout the region around Mt Etna she is invoked against eruptions of the volcano, and elsewhere against fire and lightning.

In some places bread and water are blessed during Mass on her feast after the Consecration, and called Agatha bread. It is thought that this blessing of the bread may have come from the mistaken notion that, in images of her, what she was carrying on the platter were loaves of bread. In more recent times, St Agatha has been venerated as the patron saint of patients living with breast cancer.

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Saint John de Brito – Commentary on 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:1; Ps 123; John 15:18-21 Read Saint John de Brito – Readings »