Peter and Paul are representatives of different worlds. One was a fisherman, the second a Pharisee. One left everything and followed Christ, the second persecuted Christians. Why are they both “first-supreme”, since Paul had never even met Christ before the events on the road to Damascus?
Christ had many followers. Some of them formed an inner circle and became apostles. Paul and Peter are called the main (first-supreme) of them not because they stood above the rest, but because the book of Acts describes most of the events from their ministry.
From the example of these saints, the church teaches that repentance will save us and change us, because one of them denied Christ, but then repented, and the second resisted His teaching, and then became the most steadfast follower.
Both apostles did a wonderful job spreading the Gospel. A simple fisherman Peter, after the descent of the Holy Spirit, converted with his preaching first 3,000 Jews, and then 5. He was the first to preach to the “barbarians”; because of his speeches, the entire house of the pagan Cornelius converted to the faith. Paul continued to spread the good news, traveled widely so that as many people as possible would know about Christ, and argued that the Gentiles deserved Salvation just as much as the Jews.
Tradition states that Paul and Peter were martyred on the same day (July 12). On this day, Peter’s Fast ends in the Orthodox Church. St. Augustine wrote that these two executions were separated by exactly a year (approximately 64-67). The first churches in honor of Peter and Paul began to be built under Emperor Constantine the Great. At this time, their veneration intensified, the holiday became great, the liturgy became solemn.
DATE
July 12
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