MIRACULOUS MIRACLES™

Saint — Peter the Apostle

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St. Peter the Apostle
early 1st century, Bethsaida — c. AD 64–67, Rome
Prince of the Apostles — first Bishop of Rome
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican, Vatican City
♕ The 1st Bishop of RomeReign: c. AD 30 — c. 64/67
Feast
June 29 (with St. Paul); Chair of St. Peter, February 22
✠ MartyrCrucified head downward in Rome under Nero, c. 64-67 → The Martyrs
Life

Simon bar Jonah was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee with his brother Andrew. His brother brought him to Jesus, who renamed him Cephas (Aramaic) — in Greek, Petros, 'the Rock' — and said: 'You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it' (Matthew 16:18).

Throughout the Gospels he is foremost among the Twelve: he confesses Christ as the Son of the living God at Caesarea Philippi; he walks on water at Christ's command and begins to sink; he denies Christ three times in the night of the Passion, weeps bitterly, and is reconciled by the Sea of Galilee with the threefold question 'Do you love me?' At Pentecost he preaches the first Christian sermon (Acts 2) and baptises three thousand.

He led the early Jerusalem Church, took the Gospel to the Gentiles in the household of Cornelius (Acts 10), and presided at the first Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15). Eusebius, Origen, Tertullian, and Irenaeus all attest that he was bishop of Rome and was martyred there under Nero. Tradition holds that, judging himself unworthy to die in the same manner as Christ, he asked to be crucified head downward.

Miracles & Phenomena

  • Walking on Water

    Seeing Christ walking on the Sea of Galilee, Peter asked to come to him. He walked on the water until, terrified by the wind, he began to sink and cried out: 'Lord, save me!' Christ caught him: 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?' (Matt 14:28–31).

  • Healing the Lame Man at the Beautiful Gate

    Peter and John, going up to the Temple at the hour of prayer, met a man lame from birth begging at the Beautiful Gate. 'I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk' (Acts 3:6). The man leapt up and walked into the Temple praising God — the first recorded apostolic miracle.

  • Raising Tabitha at Joppa

    Summoned to Joppa where a disciple named Tabitha (Dorcas) had died, Peter knelt beside her body, prayed, and said: 'Tabitha, get up.' She opened her eyes and sat up (Acts 9:36–42).

  • Released from Prison by an Angel

    Imprisoned by Herod Agrippa I and chained between two soldiers the night before his execution, Peter was awakened by an angel; his chains fell off, the iron gate of the prison opened of itself, and he walked free into the city (Acts 12).

Relics
  • Body
    Tomb of St. Peter
    Crypt beneath the main altar of St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican

    Bones discovered in 1939–1968 excavations beneath the high altar were declared authentic by Pope Paul VI in 1968. The tomb is directly under the bronze baldachin of Bernini.

  • Bodily relic
    Skull of St. Peter
    Reliquary above the high altar, St. John Lateran, Rome

    The skull of St. Peter is displayed together with the skull of St. Paul in two gilded reliquaries high above the papal altar. Moved there by Pope Urban V (1368–70) to emphasise the 'double apostolicity' of Rome.

  • Object
    Chains of St. Peter
    Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome

    The chains by which he was bound, both in Jerusalem (Acts 12) and in Rome, traditionally fused miraculously when laid together. Venerated in the basilica that houses Michelangelo's Moses.

Iconography
  • St. Peter with the Keys

    His invariable attribute: two crossed keys — gold and silver, for the powers of binding and loosing entrusted to him (Matthew 16:19). Often depicted holding a scroll or book; with a rooster (his denial); or with an inverted cross (his martyrdom).

  • Quo Vadis

    An episode preserved in the Acts of Peter — fleeing martyrdom on the Appian Way, Peter meets the risen Christ walking towards Rome. 'Domine, quo vadis?' ('Lord, where are you going?') 'I am going to Rome to be crucified again.' Peter turned back. The episode is the subject of many great paintings, notably by Annibale Carracci.

Prayers to This Saint
  • Novena to St. Peter the ApostleNovena

    Nine days before 29 June to the fisherman who denied Christ three times and was given the keys: the 1897 prayer, and the responsory Si vis patronum quaerere — 'Seek ye a patron to defend your cause? Then one and all, without delay, upon the prince of the apostles call.'

    Read the full prayer →
  • Prayer to Sts. Peter and Paul

    'I elect you this day for my special protectors and advocates with God' — the rock and the vessel of election taken together, as Rome has always taken them, and as the Church keeps them on one feast.

    Read the full prayer →
Patronages
The universal Church and the papacyFishermenNet makersLocksmithsRome
Sources & Further Reading
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