Instruction on the Solemnity of the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul
Double of the First Class Feast Red Vestments
This feast, as a Double of the First Class supercedes the semi-double feast of the Third Sunday After Pentecost or the Sunday With the Octave of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus The ApostlesSaint Peter and Saint Paul are the two Princes of the Apostles, the foundations of the Church, on which she is firmly established as on a rock. This Feast is almost entirely devoted to St. Peter, the Bishop of Rome, the great Apostle of the Gentiles being more specially honored on June 30. The lessons and prayers of this Mass describe how his Lord and Master Jesus Christ prepared the frevent Apostle, St. Peter, for the supreme office of the Papacy.
After the Descent of the Holy Ghost, St. Peter preached the Gospel in Judea and was cast into prison by the cruel Herod. He was miraculously delivered by an Angel and setablished his see first at Antioch, and then finally at Rome, where the first Pope exercised during twenty-five years the Supreme Authority vested in him by Christ Himself. Then he was arrested, and like St. Paul suffered martyrdom A.D. 65. This Feast marks the day of the translation of their relics.
One, Peter, could be considered the “Salt” as in the “salt of the earth”; the other, Paul, could be the “shaker” since he is the one who, after converting from the murdering Saul, really shook things up for the better and wasn’t afraid to “pepper” his flocks with the truth and rebuke them when they were wrong. These two saints are lovingly referred to as the “Salt and Pepper” of the Church.
Source: Marian Missal and St. Andrew Daily Missal and 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
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