In catenas sancti Petri

A Discourse on the Veneration of the Precious Chain of the Holy and Chief of the Apostles, Peter. 1 All you who, having been possessed by the divine love of the chief of the apostles, have desired beforehand to celebrate his festival; all you who, caught in his spiritual nets, have been illumined by the light of his theology, having gathered together a common festival today, let us direct our tongue to the same praise. For one could find many reasons for the memory of that man to be a worthy occasion of a festival for praise, not least because of the apostolic dignity and the course of his preaching and the teaching of the gospel, and his admonition and exhortation to the nations through letters from the dispersion of the Jews, for which he had the greater care and concern, as being both born and made from among them; all these things, judged and taken as occasions for praise, will surely exalt the one being praised, and will raise him to the very summit of praise. For it is both holy and just, and because of the one who came for our salvation from the legal letter, that the apostle be magnified, mirrored in fitting honors; no less also because of the theophany that appeared to him in the last times, when the Only-begotten Son of God himself spoke directly with him and made him an eyewitness and initiate of his own incarnation. For this reason he also foretold that he would build his own Church as a prize of the God-befitting declaration, and he promised the keys of the heavens as a pledge of the faith concerning him, and that the completion of those things bound and loosed by him on earth would be reckoned in the heavens.

Yes indeed, and how he obeyed readily when his brother called, and how he came to Christ together with that call, and how he received the name Cephas as a kind of sign and seal of the faith he had brought to him, and how from that moment he was wholly mingled with the Teacher and, as it were, molded into his likeness, and for this reason displayed his fervor as no other of the apostles did, often and in many ways. 3 Though these things surpass human minds by their great magnitude and appear greater than the power of words, they will not altogether proceed to what is entirely unattainable and impenetrable. For the one who is greater than all the apostles will condescend even to our low estate, not only because of the compassion with which, before all else, he shares with those of our own nature, but also because of his imitation of the Teacher, who condescended even to the form of a slave and taught his own disciples to be modest and to humble themselves with the humble. For bright indeed is the feast of his consummation, and illumined with the great light of the Spirit: being nailed to the cross, a willing ascent to him, hands stretched out and folded together, imaging the Master's passion, the form of crucifixion not upright but inverted, a riddle of reverence toward the Teacher; the chief always yielding the primacy to him out of reverence and setting his own lowliness against that one's height, and for this reason choosing and preferring the last and most deficient place. Nor is today's festival, which has now arrived, lacking in any of this brightness [f.

...and showing beforehand the causes of the things that were at their end, and of the exaltation upon the cross, proclaiming no less the sufferings through which the cross was also sweeter to him and more desirable than all things; for of his precious chains it reveals the manifestation and veneration, in which being bound, he loosed the many-twisted devices of the author of evil, and snatching away those bound by him, he redeemed them from the noetic death. 5 As though we had them as the occasion of a festival, and knowing them to be causes and forerunners of the crucifixion at the end, and seeing these and that one having come to pass and united concerning one and the same apostle, we shall not reckon the present assembly far from the sacred consummation; but having brought together one today through both, let us make it radiant with the honors from our words, as far as is possible, with fervent faith. 6 Let us adorn this, as all-venerable and all-sacred and the light-bringer of the whole world, God-awarded, in sacred melodies. Let us magnify this, as productive of the grace of the Holy Spirit and illuminating the souls fit for this, with praises according to our ability. For thus it would be ours, having been shown lovers of the apostolic praises, both to draw the one honored to compassion, and to be enriched with a helper for the eulogy concerning him. For I entreat that the grace of the tongue be granted to me, which the fire-bearing power of the Spirit, having forged it and filled it with heavenly and ineffable teaching, made the many-seeded nations of the Gentiles magnificently within its own net.

But having come here in my account, and having brought the eye of my mind to the sea of the apostolic deeds, my account, filled with dizziness and dark vertigo and rolled back upon itself, I say in accord with the most loud-voiced Isaiah: "Woe is me," he says, "for being unclean and having unclean lips," I touch upon pure subjects, with nothing providing me the good hope of confidence toward such things. Therefore, having lowered myself into the abyss of the apostolic compassion, I shall attempt with a small tongue to swim across the praises concerning him. So then, let the matters concerning his birth and homeland and the fathers who brought him around be passed over for now—since they are themselves venerable and worthy to hear, but they occupy the mind and do not allow the account to be extended toward the better things, whose memory is also beneficial and saving. Many are the divine signs of this apostle and the multitude of his wonders and all the other things that the grace of the Spirit dwelling in him worked and accomplished through him, which, if written one by one—for it is good to use the theological words concerning him—I do not think even the very strength of our words suffices, even if it should be most vigorous toward this. This man, after the supernatural and ineffable establishment of the Only-Begotten Son of God upon the ancestral throne, was with and lived together with the rest of the company of the apostles, and made the proclamation of the gospel common with them; and at one time he stood alongside them at the bema and in the courts;

But at times he also suffered along with the others in the dishonors and beatings from the Jews, and there was no place where he was not joined to the apostles and did not share in their sufferings. 9 The book of Acts, therefore, recounting in detail the many dangers into which he fell and by which he was hemmed in, and making mention of many wonders—such as the healing wondrously worked in the lame man, the implacable death of Ananias and Sapphira, the resurrection of Tabitha from the very snares of death, the transformation and conversion of Cornelius through angelic visitation, the recovery brought about in the sick by the shadow of his body—and how many afflictions he endured, imprisonments, appearances before tribunals; how, having been scourged for Christ, he rejoiced that he had been counted worthy to be dishonored for his name; those bold speeches to the Jews; and how from an unlettered and common mouth words full of divine wisdom came forth; the earthquake that occurred through prayer, and the multitude that gathered and was drawn to faith. These things and whatever follows upon them, both what he suffered and what he did, being brought together into a mass of abundance not easy to narrate, he sums up and condenses, and then sets forth one danger, the most grievous and hardest to escape of all, worked out with miracle-working, one that had both great cruelty on the part of the Jews against him and swiftness of help from God.

11 For that Herod, the descendant of him who first reigned in Jerusalem, being of Jewish stock and religion, and being jealous over the dissolution of the ancestral customs and laws which had been overturned by the teachings of the apostles and were being undermined for their destruction, was inflamed by the anger of his own people and was gratifying them if he might use his fury and madness against the apostles even more. First he had killed James the brother of John with the sword, the Scripture indicating his murderous and inhuman character through the sword. For it was in his power to slay the apostle by another death as well, or to bring him down by punishments and torments akin to death; but in order that the man's disposition, more savage even than wild beasts, might be exposed, and that this man's readiness for slaughter might be made known—drawn to the slaughter like a sheep—he received his consummation through the sword. 12 In this way, then, the holy James was perfected, and with a martyr's death he sealed his apostolic course, drinking that cup which the wisdom of God had long ago foretold he would drink, and foreshown that he would be baptized with his own blood. And seeing that this was pleasing to the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also, and having arrested him, he put him in prison, handing him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him. Because the days of unleavened bread were at hand, he wished, after the Passover, to bring him before the people for judgment. Through all these things the writer, hinting at the bloodthirsty and murderous character of Herod, used such words as these:

For nothing was done by him that was just, nothing lawful, nothing decent and honorable. But whatever tended to please those of his own race, whatever tended to serve their profane purpose, these were the things both said and done by him. 13 For the apostle to be seized and handed over to prison, and death to stand before his face, was the consummation of Jewish pleasing. For they thought that if they could remove this man and put him out of the way, they would easily from then on prevail over the other apostles. For he was the one opposing and fighting against them in councils, in courts, in synagogues, and openly proclaiming the name of Jesus and by his invocation accomplishing extraordinary things. And it is fitting to observe how this man also hastened to make himself like the scribes and chief priests who raged against Christ. For they said that his arrest should not take place during the feast, so that there would not be a disturbance among the people, as though intending after the feast certainly to lead him to the cross. But here, after the Passover, they bring him to the vote for death. Therefore it is necessary, since these were of one mind, that they should employ the same words and deeds concerning the apostle as they did concerning the teacher.

He divided the guard of the soldiers into four quaternions, and not in one place, but in several, and standing a little apart from one another, so that the security might be stronger, and that if the apostle should attempt to escape from his bonds and elude the guards nearer at hand, he might be detected and easily seized by the others. But Peter, it says, was in the prison sleeping between two soldiers and bound with two chains. "But prayer was made earnestly for him by the church." For what reason was he guarded for so many days, and why, when their anger was boiling and the Jews were thirsting for his death, did they not bring him forth at once against the chief apostle? According to the mind of the writer, it was because of the days of unleavened bread, during which the Jews, purifying themselves and separating from every improper thing, were completing the festival of the Passover, touching the legal sacrifice with innocent hands. In another manner, Herod, filled with boundless rage against the apostle, appointed his imprisonment for an extension of days, so that he might torment and punish him the more, and surround him with distresses and afflictions—both by the weight of the chains, and by death from hunger, as he hoped, and by the inhuman disposition of the soldiers who slept alongside him. For how many bold and threatening words would they have uttered against him during those days? How many reproaches? How many insults and dishonors? At one time as one who was destroying and overturning the customs of the foreign Jews, at another as one who was opposing the royal decrees.

And sometimes he was slandered as a seditious man and a cause of tumults, and sometimes reviled as an opponent of the Mosaic laws. And there were times when he was struck and tortured with fists and blows and cudgels; and no one would disbelieve that they also bound and crushed him with chains more violently and more painfully, so that from all these things the assault and awareness of his pains, having grown greater, might the most swiftly release him from life. But through all these things they were proved to be writing on water and beating the air. For the apostle, shown to be all the more steadfast by the prolongation of his imprisonment, and pricked and roused as if by certain goads by the terrors that surrounded him, was as far from being weakened and worn down by them as the guards were covered with shame and confounded by the joy that was saving and emboldening for him. 18 Since these things were thus being accomplished upon him, the prayer made by the church was being carried up to the heavens; and straightway an angel was sent forth from there and, standing by the prison, filled it with light, so that the foremost of those who were being wondrously dealt with might have clear sight. And striking him on the side, he said, "Rise up quickly.

And so that no absurd thought should steal into his mind—namely, that even Satan himself sometimes transforms himself into an angel of light, stealing away the senses under the appearance that is shown—at once, with the word, his chains fell from his hands, so that the words might be confirmed by the deed, and he might not consider what appeared to be an apostate power or a nonexistent phantom, but a true angel and a real vision, having its truthfulness self-attested. When these things had thus proceeded for the apostle, since he was still very fearful and trembling, not only tossed about by doubts concerning what had appeared, but also concerning how he might pass through the appointed guards of the soldiers—who exercised great vigilance over him and kept sleepless watch over the matter—the one who appeared said: "Put on your sandals and wrap your cloak around you and follow me." For since, he says, the royal and at the same time Jewish fear, and the encircling confinement and guarding of those who kept watch, have made you shuddering and astonished, and for this reason you are unwilling readily to believe what I say, I will fill you with such great help and alliance, and I will drive away all fear from your mind, so that you may wrap your cloak around you without any fear at all, and put on your sandals. O the swiftest aid from God, and the apostle's entreaty to him! O the greatest prayer of the heart, which as from

…having been sent forth from the mouth of the Church as from some sling toward heaven, it wounded Herod's heart grievously, but saved the chief of his hands! O the apostolic grace and the hope that is substantial and true, through which, having the divine One listening favorably, he was snatched away from the very snares of death! But if someone, objecting, should be perplexed as to why the teacher did not make the apostle snatchable away from the Jewish hands at the very moment of his arrest, but rather allowed him to be encompassed by bonds and prison and the passage of days and maltreatment, let him know that the God-sent alliance of his arrest did not drive the enemies into such perplexity and wonder as did the fact that, having taken him in their hands and bound him with chains and secured him with guards, he was rescued safe and sound from the midst of these inescapable and unbreakable nets. For there, being easy to capture for those who seized him, he would perhaps have seemed to have worked some illusory trick by getting far away from capture, and the apostle's miracles would have been a laughingstock. But here, both bound in chains and guarded by four squads of soldiers, and sleeping between two soldiers, and with nothing lacking of all that is wont to drive the condemned to death, thus he was deemed worthy of help from above and obtains a wondrous release—by as much as this is more marvelous and more wondrous than that, by so much is being rescued from the midst of dangers more excellent and more awe-inspiring than not even coming to the experience of them.

But even after so great a power of miracle-working and an angelic prompting, he did not know that what was being done through the angel was true, but he thought he was seeing a vision. For the weakness of human nature was still being exposed, and what was happening beyond nature and inexpressibly, when measured against natural sequence, was judged to be an unreal vision. What then did the angel who appeared do? Since he saw him still storm-tossed by the surge of unbelief, and not even suspecting that any of the things done by him had happened miraculously, he passed through the first and second guard of soldiers with him so noiselessly that the guards did not even perceive his passage, some divine nod having bound their eyelids with sleep so that they would not understand what had happened. And when they came to the iron gate leading into the city, it opened for them of its own accord, God working a miracle here too and gradually removing the apostle's fear and making him eager for what followed.

And when they had gone out and proceeded a distance of one stadium, the angel departed and became invisible; but he, becoming aware of the miracle, and reasoning upon the wonders previously wrought concerning him in the prison, and comparing and setting side by side with those "the things now supernaturally marveled at," and being assured of the truth and certainty of the vision, and that what he saw was not a fantasy but the clear outcome of a real event, sent up such a cry with thanksgiving: "Now I know truly that the Lord has sent his angel and has delivered me out of the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews." What do you say, you who are greater than the apostles? Now you know? Now you have believed? Now you rejoice in the miracle? Where has the unerring certainty of your hopes flown away? How have the things of that fervent confession slipped away? And the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and the being called the foundation of the church—where are they? Where is that burning and blazing longing, and the union and attachment inseparable even unto death? Have the things of so great a faith come to nothing in vain? Have such great hopes of yours dissolved into breezes? Have you not perceived the marvels wrought by the teacher? And have you forgotten the surge in the sea, and how with his right hand he saved you when you were sinking? Were you not still swimming

You hold his own words, saying: "As the one who believes in me, the works that I do, that one will also do, and greater than these will he do?" Were you not present with him when by his command he caused those already dead to leap up? When he gave the power of sight to those deprived of light? When he rose from the tomb and proved the guards dead, and kept the seals undefiled? When he granted you the power of signs through the coming of the Spirit? When the lame man at the Beautiful Gate? When Aeneas? When Tabitha? The one you made sound of foot and swift to run; the other you released from a long-standing illness; and the one whose soul had flown away you brought back? Having become a partaker of so many and such great wonders, and having seen some and done others yourself, and having received much experience of the power of God, do you now know that the Lord sent his angel and delivered you from the hand of Herod? If you were not convinced by the wonders that came before, how will you be convinced by the one? If the multitude of these did not give you assurance of the truth, how will the single one calm your reasoning when it is tossed about? Yes, he says, for the things of divine power are not such as to be easily comprehended and readily led to faith. For this not only does not increase the wonders, but also diminishes and lessens them and wipes away their marks from the soul.

But that which has often been tested with torment and doubtful reasonings, and which tends to produce in greater measure the illusory than the true, since the unstable and weak soul makes even the fearful things that surpass perception hard to accept in what is being accomplished—it knows how, after that great and varied tossing of reasonings, at the very end to instill and implant the trustworthy and true in souls, and to grant a firm and strong constancy. Hence, when he came to the house of the gathered faithful and knocked at the gate, he was recognized by the servant girl and reported to those within, but he was disbelieved; and when she announced his presence, she was even accused of madness, and they thought that not he but an angel of his was present. But when the gate was opened and he entered into the inner room, ecstasy and amazement seized them, as they saw the unexpectedness of the deliverance; and he immediately recounted the arrest by Herod, the imprisonment in custody, the binding with iron chains, the angelic appearance, and how through that vision the chains fell from his hands, and he himself, following him, passed by the guards of the prison and went through the gate that opened of its own accord. At these things they were terrified and struck with amazement at the paradox of the account, and they could not remain in themselves, joy being mingled with wonder and being besieged by these two passions.

For such are the things of God, neither preparing the hearer to be dissolved by excessive cheerfulness, nor to fall from wonder into what is overly astonishing and bewildering; but through the one He raises up the soul and transfers it to gladness; through the other, drawing it together, He restrains it and checks the impulse toward what lies ahead, and by both He preserves the hearer in a settled state. 27 But observe in me the freedom from arrogance and love of honor, and the modesty that was in him regarding extraordinary things. For he did not trumpet the things of the wonder, as perhaps some other man might have suffered; he did not, as if parading his achievements, proclaim these things upon the housetops, nor out of excessive joy did he triumph in the church over the things concerning himself, nor did he entrust them to proselytes or to acquaintances, but having beckoned with his hand to those in the church, to these alone he quietly reported them, with whom were also James and those with him. 28 So that having heard from what bonds he had been unexpectedly delivered, they might give more heed to themselves for the proclamation of the faith, being strengthened by the hope of wonders, and at the same time those who had recently departed from Jewish unbelief, and had been enlightened by the light of the knowledge of God, might be strengthened and recalled, and from the doubt lurking within them concerning the divine faith might remain more firmly established toward the good. But alas for the soul's hardness, which, having entered through Herod's very organs of perception, made him wholly disobedient and unreasoning toward the power of the apostolic wonders.

For it was necessary that the apostle's paradoxical deliverance—having been made credible both by the guards and by the chains and by the sealed gates, and that he not be put to shame as though some neglect of his had caused the things that were grieving his soul, and be veiled over—and, if not openly, because of the Jews' mad rage against the apostle, yet at any rate in himself and in his soul, having been struck with wonder at the miracle, he should have abstained from the slaughter of the guards. But he, in order that his beastliness and inhumanity might be increased all the more, subjects the innocent to the sentence of death, and that too though they had in no way slackened regarding the guard and security; for because he could not in his fury sate himself upon that man and fill his own belly with apostolic flesh, he madly brings death upon the guards; and this, because it was on his account that they had been condemned, the apostle did not, by working a miracle, rescue them from death. The account of the solution has two aspects: one, that they treated the apostle in an inhuman and beastly manner, sleeping alongside him and inflicting on him lashes from their words sharper than the chains, and raging against him no less than Herod and thinking as he did; the other, that he did not exercise such beastliness against the leader alone—for otherwise they would have been deemed worthy of kindness, having once slipped into such a fall.

31 But since they were treating the rest of the apostles with the same frenzy, and were surrounding them with persecutions and punishments and all kinds of tortures, and were fixing snares of death for them on every side, for this reason they were condemned to death, exacting retribution for an ancient and ingrained and incurable wickedness. 32 This is the most conspicuous trophy of the chief of the disciples against the devil. This is the most extraordinary marvel of the wonders wrought in him. Which of this apostle's wonders shall I admire first? The blazing fervor of his longing for Christ? But oh, the revelation that came to him from above through the Father! His willingness to die with his teacher, and not to be torn away even from him when he died? But oh, the threefold questioning after the resurrection, through which he not only made plain that teacher's heartfelt love for him, but also foretold the manner of his end through youth and old age and the alien girding, signifying the form of his inverted crucifixion! This man, having received the revelation from God and the Father through the abundance of his faith, clearly proclaimed Christ as the Son of the Living God and confirmed the truth of the two natures. This man, set ablaze with the desire of a teacher, foretold from afar the things of Jesus' passion: "Be it far from you, Lord; this shall not happen to you." And because he thought the things of men and not the things of God, he was rebuked and taught silence concerning this.

This man also, when sending the teacher away from the boat, was struck exceedingly by the surpassing nature of the miracle, and alleged as the reason for the casting out that he himself was a sinner. This man also was present with Christ when he was transfigured, and he had eagerly desired to build tabernacles on the mountain, avoiding the murderous impulse of the Jews. Was it not the same man who at the time of the passion promised to die together with Jesus? And who with the sword cut off the murderer's ear? In all things showing the boiling and fiery nature of his faith? Was it not so that he might not be carried away into excessive heartlessness and mercilessness that he was permitted to fall into denial, and to heal his sin by weeping? What else? I pass over the cowardice, the flight, the unbelief, the entry into the tomb itself, the tidings of the myrrh-bearers to him, the Savior's appearance to him in private, the miracle at Tiberias, and all the other things, both before the passion and after the resurrection, that were wrought and done for him both when he disbelieved and when he believed; which things were not permitted in vain, but as far as human comprehension reached. Sometimes they restored the apostle's slackness and weakness; sometimes they checked the harshness and rashness of his disposition, and through both taught him neither to make promises greater than human weakness allows, nor to fall down and be amazed and tremble; when he ought to share in the passion with his teacher, and to display the servile character of discipleship, but to remain within the bounds of moderation, and to keep his distance from an inconsiderate fervor and a fainthearted lowliness.

But I will not hesitate to say this also about him, that he is recognized both as a witness, as he himself says, of the sufferings of Christ, and as a partaker of the glory that is to be revealed; that he also set before the Jews who believed in the dispersion the spiritual exhortations suited to them through his letters, through which he showed forth love for them and the strengthening of faith in Christ, and hinted that they should hope for his coming in every way, in which letters he also foretells his departure from this tabernacle and reminds them of this only for zeal and the keeping of the divine commandments; and he makes them fearful and thoroughly afraid by the example of the flood and by the condemnation and tartarization of the angels who sinned, in addition to which he also reminds them of the second coming, in which he says that the heavens will pass away and the elements, being burned up, will be dissolved. Him the only-begotten Son of God also blessed, and his God and Father crowned, and the kindred and consoling Spirit showed him to be a sanctified, God-breathed instrument. Him the orders of the spiritual angels acclaimed. Him the choir of the apostles exceedingly admired, and embracing him as their own mouth, they hymned him. Him those who have believed in Christ, having as guide and teacher, do not stumble at the stumbling blocks of unbelief. Him we also name a heaven-high and much-radiant pillar of the spiritual Israel and a pilot of souls storm-tossed in the sea of evil faith. Him we also honor above measure as one who has set aside the shadowy things of the law and, having been transferred to the light of the truth, we hymn.

Truly this man is the foundation of the apostles, the initiate of heavenly things, the whisperer of hidden mysteries, the support of those who are shaken, the restorer of those who fall, the preserver of those who stand firm, the most fervent guide of repentance, Peter the great wonder of the whole world, the boast of the church, the dignity of the disciples, the adornment of the orthodox, the glory of the theologians, the mouth of Christ, the heavenly mind, the most pure dwelling of the Trinity, the reconciler of those who have offended, the hand-leader of those who live reverently, the shield-bearer of those who run well, worthy of every heavenly and earthly praise and of all acclamation. His shadows and his handkerchiefs were expellers of diseases. And the chains that touched his precious body, the closer they came to the touch, the more abundantly they partook of the energy of wonders. Those all-revered chains, those all-honored chains, which bound that apostolic and blessed body, which encircled his wonder-working hands, which were filled with divine grace from him, which pour forth wonders in rivers, which set free the sick from their diseases, which sanctify those who kiss them in faith, which mystically cleanse the wrinkles of souls, which check the diseased fluxes of the flesh, which are stretched out into the aerial height and reach even to the heavens themselves, and as from some anchor are extended from the master's and divine throne. These the apostate [f.

...the ruler of powers, and even until now he has feared and bound them; he yields greatly and shrinks back. The multitude of the aerial beings too, fearing and trembling at these, struck by the wonder-working bolts from them, has been driven far away; for it cannot bear the grace of the Spirit overshadowing in them, nor does it endure the sparks of divine fire kindled in them, but being set on fire by them it is reduced to ashes and consumed. These the co-eternal and co-beginningless Word of the Father forged into a contest of that theologian's confession; and the most God-beholding coal that appeared to Isaiah set them ablaze. And the Paraclete Spirit, by its inspiration, accomplished the fanning of the fire from the coal for their working. Therefore, even if they are of iron substance, they are filled with divine grace and power. By these the evil spirits of the demons are bound, put to death, and strangled. By these the ruler of this world is dragged along and mocked as a captive by faithful men. By these those who have been held fast in the snares of their transgressions are loosed and set free, and those encompassed by the nets of death pass over to life. These, girding and fencing about the boundaries of God's inheritance, render them impregnable to enemies. These, crowning the heads of those who bear the name of Christ, keep them without reproach from the plots of unseen powers.

For even if they came upon the apostle from those who afflicted him in the form of a punishment, yet they were shown for the deterrence of those who wished to do evil, not so much punishing as guarding and walling round that apostolic and precious body. With these the apostle was adorned. With these he rejoiced and was delighted, and exulted as though bearing royal ornaments. These he knew to be causes of punishment and deemed them tokens of crowns. These even now the all-blameless and all-pure bride of God, the Church, wearing as it were certain pearl necklaces and ornaments wrought of gold, and graced as with a crown woven from undefiled flowers, stands at the right hand of the noetic Bridegroom. With these we also, the chosen people of Christ, are today adorned. These we reverently worship and venerate and reckon as the remolding of souls. Drawing near to these with every sense and every limb, we are filled with the sanctification that comes from them, and noetically we receive the grace of the Spirit into our souls. For it was fitting, it was fitting not only to honor exceedingly and revere the chains of the apostolic hands, but also to embrace and kiss the judgment seats that had drawn near to each one of his members, and for each of them to hold a festival and a solemn assembly.

It was fitting, then, once again, both by his providence concerning us and by his loving disposition, for the sake of those for whom he had labored, for whom he struggled and contended each day, for whom he also wore the weight of chains, and gladly accepted death through the cross, to distribute and apportion himself to those who believed in Christ through him, and to bestow on old Rome the deposition and burial of his all-venerable body, but on the reigning and new Rome the symbols and seals of his sufferings, and to deposit these in place of his all-holy body as a gift longed for, which no one would believe had come to this great city without divine guidance. For an ancient and archaic account, and one written in the very books themselves, comes down to us that the apostle was guarded and confined not far from the palaces of Herod the tetrarch, and was kept somewhere near and close by the military cohorts. This was for fear that, having been released from his bonds by certain people, he might be thought a miracle-worker because of the deed; so that, both from being near the royal houses and from the guards and from the wrapping and surrounding of the chains, he might have escape impossible from every side. But since many of those who had believed in Christ through him were living and dwelling throughout the royal household, and serving in the king's services, they carried the love for Christ and his apostle in the depths of their hearts. When the release was wondrously brought about through angelic visitation, he went out through the gate that leads to the city.

But the chains left behind around the prison guard—those of Herod's servants, as many as the light of the knowledge of God had shone upon, secretly took them up and treasured them for themselves, and, as the saying goes, a child from a father passed the story about them on to those who came after, keeping it safe and hiding it away with themselves, until the work of the Jewish fatherland, having become war and come to nothing, and further still the darkness of idolatry having been removed, the scepter of the Romans came to be under faithful emperors, who were eager to honor in every way the things concerning Christ and his apostles. Then this apostolic chain also is made manifest, and by them it is brought to the reigning city of cities, and is worthily deposited in the sacred precinct of the apostle, which we both honor and embrace as the wonder-working tabernacle of that very man. For seeing this, we spiritually behold him, and touching this, we think we are touching him. And what of the sword? For this too must not be overlooked, because it also, drawn by an apostolic hand, was enriched from there with the whole grace of the all-holy Spirit, with which also at the time of the passion, having struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear, it showed the fervor of faith toward the teacher; but it did something greater and beyond man—not itself, but looking to the power of the teacher, through whom what had been honored was again restored to the one who had struck. Why did this happen? So that from this...

that mad multitude of the Jews against him, disciplined by the healing of the severed member and released from their rage against Christ, might refrain from the betrayal, and might learn through experience the almighty power of the one being betrayed and the greatness of his divinity. And let the high priest also be taught more clearly by the miracle itself, and know that the sufferer would not have been deemed worthy of such swift healing unless the one examined and judged by him were true God. 43 The sword was present to the apostle, not, as one might say, serving his own needs and taking up the works of his hands. For how could it be? He who, obeying the Teacher's exhortations, carried neither bag nor belt nor sword, was recognized by those who received the proclamation as unencumbered and without equipment and altogether freed from the things of life. 44 But since the time of the passion was expected, and the thoughts of the disciples concerning him were still tossing and being shaken, as they were between unbelief and faith, neither permitted by that to ascend to higher thoughts, nor allowed by this to descend to lower ones. And to signify clearly the things of the passion was not without danger, since they were more imperfect; but he feared

Again, wishing to set this forth more openly, suspecting their cowardice and fear, he puts the reminder of the passion in enigmatic fashion. What is he saying? And, "Those of you who do not have swords, buy them." The words are incongruous. He who a little before was teaching them not to acquire a bag or a sword now commands them to buy swords. Yes, he says, because then, implanting in them the seeds of dispossession and making them light and unencumbered for the race of the Gospel, he forbade the acquisition of swords and other materials. But here, since the time was calling, in which the saving passion was about to be accomplished, he wishes gently and in hidden mystery to signify this, that they ought not to sleep and lie at ease, but to arm themselves against the Jews, to array themselves against murderers, to contend against the God-killers, to do battle and fight against those who thirst for my death. It is no longer the time for teaching, no longer for healing the sick, no longer for the display of wonders; there is need of weapons, of swords and the like defenses, which the blood-stained will use for my removal. It was in this manner, then, that Peter carried the sword, Jesus knowing the disciple's fervor and ardor, and that through it he would make the cutting off of the ear, yet not preventing him, so that both his zeal for the teacher might be laid bare and the work of healing might be shown forth for the conviction of the God-killers; and that he did not ordain the acquisition of swords for the disciples for defense, but for the signification of the passion—be assured by the Gospel words.

Put," he says, "your sword into its sheath." For it was not for this reason that I urged you to acquire swords, so as to ward off attackers with them. This is not more firmly willed by me. For if it were proper and wished by me to fight back, I could have called upon my Father and he would have stood by me more than twelve legions of angels. But since I have willingly handed myself over to the God-killers, for this reason I also hinted at the acquisition of swords as a sign of the passion. For even if I conceded to you for a moment to use the sword for the reasons I stated beforehand, and also to make the disciples lovers of danger, nevertheless turn it back into its sheath, since it is not lawful for me to seek deliverance from the passion by swords and blades. Hinting at this same thing elsewhere too, he asked whether there was a sword among the disciples, and when they said there was one among them, the Teacher added that this was enough. What was he establishing by the question? Indicating in advance that his passion would not be far off, but also that swords would be used for defense against attackers; whether he was referring to the partaking of the legal Passover and the lamb sacrificed in it by means of a sword—the sword having thus been acquired by Peter, he brought it forward, at any rate in the proclamation, so as to use it if need should arise;

But what was evident he was stirred to remember by the very exhortation of the teacher, and through it he reckoned up the time of the passion and all that belongs to the passion: the envy, the hatred, the plot, the betrayal, the unjust judgment, the still more unjust sentence of death, the cross, the burial, and all that the murderers were able to do. 49 These things he set before his eyes by means of the sword. These things he traced out and turned over in his mind. These things he reckoned up in his thought, the sword rousing him to remembrance and making him warmer concerning the proclamation. This sword also anointed and strengthened him for every danger on behalf of Christ, and not least for putting on the sacred chains and dwelling in the condemned prison, and at last for receiving the perfection through the cross. Whence also, as precious and all-venerable, and as having served and touched the apostolic hands, and as honored and revered equally with the all-honored chains, it obtained its deposition in the palace, where a sacred precinct had been founded for the apostle, and he received it into his bosom within as a sacred and heavenly treasure and encompassed it about. And now for faithful kings and the service of kings, and for the multitudes of all the faithful, it is a fountain of sanctification, a supply of heavenly graces, an influx of all kinds of healings, a saving guard for those who worship and a restoration of soul for those who greet it. And if it appears somewhat small and unshapely, it must not for this reason be overlooked; for it contains in itself the apostolic strength and power of wonders. This he possessed also as the sword of a mighty man and recognized as a double-edged blade.

Since even the other garments and cloaks of the apostles are full of great cheapness and lowliness, but if one looks to the intelligible comeliness and majesty, he will find them filled with divine and heavenly grace and in no way falling short of the apostolic wonders, but that he himself both said and made mention of these things. And I deem the very prison worthy of all praise and full of all reverence, as having been counted worthy to receive within itself a sanctuary of such great holiness. I consider that even the very floor on which the bound man, having been called back, slept is worthy of reverence and a partaker of the apostolic grace. But someone hesitates whether these things are so, and whether they are established in a participation of the grace that was in the apostle. Let the shadows persuade him of this, and the handkerchiefs. The former, being formed by the reflection of the body against the sunlight and being far from the touch of the chief apostle; the latter, having come near to his skin, partook of the divine grace from there, being filled with equal wonder-working power and—what is more paradoxical than this—by a second succession and transition of participation, the graces being imparted to those who draw near and gushing forth the same clearness of wonders undiminished.

One must therefore consider: if the things being worked are of such a kind, of what sort was the one working them; and if the things partaking of such great wonders are capable of receiving them, how great must one suppose the one partaken of by them to be. For greater is that through which than that in which it is, holding the relation of cause to caused and of foundation to the receptive height and dignity. But if someone would grant me to behold even his sandals and garments, which he was commanded by the angel to put on, I would have welcomed and embraced them and hidden them as a heavenly gift in the treasuries of my heart. Therefore, joining such a sacred sword to the sacred and apostolic chains, we imagine that we see him intelligibly; and touching both, we think we are touching him. And we do not at all, in our thoughts, stand apart from the things that are locally separated and divided from one another. But imprinting them on the mind and uniting and joining both these and him into one through faith, we make the reference of our account to the one who suffered for his sake. Embracing these things, we believe that we see him himself. And recounting him, we think we see these things placed around him, and we have not become entirely without a share in his graces. But even if he dwells in old Rome by the allotment of his body, he does not wish to be absent from us either, through his sword and his chains. For he is present also with us. And possessing him as a whole, we have not been torn away from our connection and union with him.

But even though the grace is one—the grace working through the body and the chains and the garments and the sword—no one could doubt that in each of these it is present complete and whole, and that it measures out its recompense in return to those who draw near in faith and embrace it with the fervor of divine longing. This one is both one and, though divided among many, is not diminished, but even being by itself it displays the same identity as the whole. And even when it passes over and is divided among the symbols of his passion, the same one is at work and works wonders and performs extraordinary marvels for the apostolic church; thus nothing of the things belonging to the chief apostle is empty and without effect, nothing is without glory, nothing is without a share in the wonders that come from God.

But you, Peter, rock and support of the Church of Christ, the foremost summit of the apostles, the genuine and fervent disciple of Christ, the one who used boldness toward him more than the others, the one who proclaimed him the Son of the Living God, the one entrusted with the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and to bind and loose in heaven the things bound and loosed by you on earth, the most loud-voiced herald of Christ's incarnation, the one who transferred those of the legal circumcision to the uncircumcision of the knowledge of God, the one who left all things for Christ and acquired him alone in place of all wealth, the one who received from him the power to put to death and to give life, for the reasons for which he revealed it to you, the pillar stretched up from earth to heaven and guiding those who hasten to the dwellings there, the one who through Levitical simplicity made foolish the Greek artifice, the one who speaks in the divine Spirit and by his word alone transforms the underlying realities to what seems good, the one who endured that painful crucifixion, so that you might fall short in nothing of the teacher's sufferings, the one who wore these chains after the manner of a criminal and made them a fountain of healings, be present today with compassion, arrive here invisibly, stand by this wonder-working sanctuary of yours, honored especially by your holy calling, in which you were well pleased that your precious chains be treasured, in which you have judged that they be stored as most sacred treasures, in which, both set forth and seen by all the faithful, they pour forth in a gushing stream the spiritual outpourings of wonders from you to those who wish.

With these, bind up the wounds of our souls. With these, cutting open the swellings and inflammations that come from our transgressions, heal them over with spiritual medicines. With these, as with a weapon of good pleasure, crown the flock of Christ. With these, expose the barbarian bonds; make them captives taken by the spear, and make them a spoil of war for the city that honors you. And before all, arm our pious and most faithful emperor with these instead of military weapons; fence him round, guard him on every side, crown him with victories and trophies, show him forth terrible to his enemies, make him desired by his subjects, so that, being peacefully ruled and governed by him, we may pass a calm and quiet life, glorifying our true God, whom you have always glorified and magnified, for to him belongs all honor and worship, with the Father who is without beginning and the coessential and consubstantial Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.