The origins of the Feast of Saint Peter and Paul in Rome

Rome celebrated its patron saints, Peter and Paul, on June the 29th. The holiday is an important liturgical feast. It honors the two apostles who suffered martyrdom in Rome. This celebration is one of the oldest examples of the transformation of a pagan festival into a Christian one. June the 29th is the date chosen to remember the two apostles and was originally a feast in honor of Romulus and Remus, the two brothers who founded Rome. Christians decided to celebrate the founders of the new Rome, Christian Rome, on that same day. As Pope Francis affirmed at the Angelus on June the 29th, 2015, the city has a special affection and gratitude for these men of God who came from a distant land to proclaim, at the cost of their lives, the Gospel of Christ. The legacy of these two apostles is a call to live the Christian virtues, especially faith and charity. Peter and Paul didn't die at the same time, but they're united by the fact that both died as martyrs. Peter was crucified upside down and Paul was beheaded. Peter in fact arrived in Rome around the year 50 and began preaching the teachings of his master. Having escaped the persecutions of Nero, he was later persuaded by Jesus himself to repent and suffer martyrdom. Around the year 67, the saint was crucified upside down at the request of Peter himself as he didn't believe he deserved the same fate as Christ. The present Vatican Basilica stands right around the tomb of the apostle Peter. Born with the name Saul, St. Paul's story is different. He converted to Christianity while on his way from Jerusalem to Damascus to suppress Christians in the city. Suddenly he was enveloped by a powerful light and a voice, that of God, asked him why he was persecuting him. Such light blinded him and forced him to wander for three days in the Syrian city until he was healed by the leader of the small Christian community. From that moment, St. Paul began the work of Christian evangelization. If Peter was chosen by Christ himself to be the head of the nascent church, Paul embodies the missionary soul of the new church. In fact, the two saints represent the continuity of the apostolic mission initiated by Jesus Christ in a fundamental era for the establishment of the principles of Christianity in the pagan world. The Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, celebrated on June the 29th, was a public holiday in Italy until March of 1977 when it was transformed as the patronal feast day for the city of Rome. On that day at the Vatican, the Pope usually celebrates a holy mass with the blessing of the pallium for the new metropolitan archbishops. The celebration is followed by the Angelus. Another characteristic event of the day is the splendid Infiorata in Via della Conciliazione, a traditional floral decoration dating back to 1625.