As far as I'm aware, this is only a major feast (red-letter) day in the American BCP 1979 and the Canadian BAS 1985. It's a bit of an odd duck. The date used to be the Chair of Saint Peter in Rome in the Catholic Church, but that was abolished in 1960 and consolidated with the Chair of Saint Peter in Antioch on February 22nd and renamed simply the Chair of Saint Peter. It's also an odd fit in Anglicanism because it seems to be used to promote the idea of Papal Supremacy, but I think we can rehabilitate it to simply be about St. Peter's Roman episcopate and perhaps primacy. What are your thoughts?
The collect from the BCP 1979:
> Almighty Father, who didst inspire Simon Peter, first among the apostles, to confess Jesus as Messiah and Son of the living God: Keep thy Church steadfast upon the rock of this faith, so that in unity and peace we may proclaim the one truth and follow the one Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
What a title right?
I just thought that considering the heavy religious themes of the season, a character that has the name of a Saint couldn't be a coincidence, so I reread the Bible to understand why they chose it (The Bible referring of course to Saint Pierre / Saint Peter's wikipedia page).
Those are some key events that I think are interesting to our story :
Denial of Peter
After Jesus' arrest, Peter denies knowing Jesus three times to avoid implicating himself, as Jesus had divined. Because of that among other events, he's known as the exemplar of Β« little faith Β» and of the Β« forgiven sinner Β».
This could mean troubled times ahead for Cordelia and Coco, or Coco and the next Supreme.
Transfiguration of Jesus
Peter is one of the three (Charmed thought me that that's a witchy number) apostles present when Jesus basically starts glowing, two prophets appear to speak to him and he is called Β« Son Β» by a voice in the sky.
Could this mean that Coco will be present when a new Supreme does the Seven Wonders (Peter was also one of the first apostles and is counted as the first pope), or could this mean, in a perversion of the religious myth, that Coco will witness Satan calling the Antichrist Β« Son Β»?
Confession of Peter
This event is basically Peter proclaiming Jesus to be the Christ, son of God.
Again, does this mean Coco will be the one to identify the next Supreme, or will she be the one to proclaim the antichrist as the son of Satan, in a perversion of the declaration.
LASTLY AND MOST IMPORTANTLY - Death of Peter
This is the fact I find the most interesting.
Peter was crucified under Emperor Nero who blamed the christians for fires that ravaged Rome.
Interesting fact is that AT HIS REQUEST, he was crucified UPSIDE DOWN because he felt unworthy of being crucified in the same way as Jesus.
What I draw from that is that (1) it doesn't look good for Coco and (2) considering the inverted cross has become associated with satanism, it could indicate that Coco might be the traitor among the Coven's ranks...
What do you guys think?
"The rich men of the city, however, those who did not see fit even to acknowledge me, but who reveled in their wealth and pride - with such as these, therefore, do not dine in their houses nor be friends with them, lest their partiality influence you. For many in the churches have shown partiality to the rich, because they also are sinful, and they give occasion for others to sin."
Apparently gnostic Jesus was as much anti-capitalism as the biblical Jesus.
The False Roman Catholic Position:
Reflecting on Matthew 16:19, the Roman Church today rejects that all of the apostles received the keys directly from Jesus Christ. Instead, the keys are given directly, primarily, and in an exclusive manner to Peter Alone (Solus Petrus). For example, Vatican Council II teaches,
>It was Simon alone whom the Lord appointed as the rock and the key-bearer of the Church (cf. Mt 16:8-19).
Lumen Gentium, par. 22
So, all ecclesial authority that exists must find its source in St. Peter, which can only be found today in the Bishop of Rome. To explain the role of the other bishops, Vatican Council II teaches that
>It is clear that this office biding and loosing, given to Peter (Mt 16:19), was given also to the college of apostles in conjunction with its head (Mt 18:18; 28:16-20).
Lumen Gentium, par. 22
So, while bishops, as successors of the apostles, have authority from Jesus Christ, and they form the college of bishops, it is always in reference to, in connexion with, and under the authority of the Bishop of Rome. This is grounded in the belief that a unique authority was given to St. Peter by Jesus Christ, especially as the sole βkey-bearer of the Church,β with which all other bishops need communion to bind and loose. However, is this what Matthew 16 actually says? Is this really derived from the text of Scripture? As we will see, it is a misunderstanding of Scripture.
Matthew 16
The primary Scriptural event and justification for this supreme papal power comes from Matthew 16:19. We should pay special attention to it here, because it is often misremembered.
>And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.
Matthew 16:19
Take note that this giving of the keys and, therefore, the authority to bind and loose is a promise in the future tense. That is, Jesus does not actually give the keys to St. Peter here. While it is common to think of the giving of the keys in the present tense (especially due to some misleading art), that is not what the text itself says (here we see the supreme importance of deriving oneβs theology from the text itself). So, if Jesus will give the keys to Peter, when does that happen? There are two options: Matthew 18 or John 20.
Matthew 18
>Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth,
... keep reading on reddit β‘
https://preview.redd.it/drpaq6wr0v981.jpg?width=706&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=32a809c237fdad05a2107b695238d9e58c85cf6a
One day, before Christmas, when our venerable father Naum had finished the Holy Liturgy in the monastery and communed the monks and the people, he felt that the hour of parting with this world was approaching. The monks looked into his pale face, from which a faint light shone, and felt with their hearts that they would soon have to separate from their spiritual father and teacher. Because of that, they began to grieve and, turning to the side, wiped the tears from their eyes. But the holy father saw their sorrow and their tears, so he invited them to sit next to him in the porch in front of the church. The older ones sat down, and the younger ones stayed on their feet, all gathered around their spiritual father like bees around their queen. Then the Holy Father asked them in a low voice:
>Why are you crying, my brothers? Why do you grieve at this hour when we should all rejoice? Have we not all now partaken of the Holy blood of the Son of God, which unites us with Him and makes us sons of God? Doesn't Communion make you rejoice and sing? When you were united with the living God through Holy Communion, your sins were forgiven and you are now bright and pure and holy, like the Angels of Heaven. I wonder, then, why do you have sadness and crying instead of joy?
All the monks were silent with their heads down, while elder Elijah would say through sobs:
>O holy and good our father, forgive us! We can't get enough look at your holy face; we can't get enough of hearing your sweet words. We wanted to hide our sorrow and swallow the tears, but we know that nothing can be hidden from your clairvoyant gift. Therefore, let us openly tell you what you are already reading in our hearts with your spirit. We grieve, Father, because we feel that you will soon leave us. Your holy soul will go to Heaven, but where will we, weak and small, go without you? We cry like orphans when we say goodbye to our parent.
Having said that, old Elijah squeezed his white long beard with both hands and burst into tears. Then the monk Danilo, while stretching his fingers, exclaimed through sobs:
>Don't leave us, our sweet father! Better to send us all one by one to Heaven than us sending you first. Because you are as strong as a big oak, to which no winds can do anything. You can survive without us. But we are like weak reeds, which bend and break
... keep reading on reddit β‘The above quote is taken from the June 2019 Watchtower, Study Article 26, Paragraph 7.
Apparently God overlooks "mistakes" such as having sex with your own daughters and impregnating them. Hey - it was just a mistake right? Lot was a righteous man!
On the other hand, my cousin was disfellowshipped and shunned because he was caught smoking tobacco. (I guess God didn't overlook that mistake).
The following of the Church of truth is ever growing, we have received knowledge that our missionaries have established chapter houses in all PCM provinces and a sizable amount of people have already converted to the True faith, in New Conradstadt the Church of Truth is dominant with the citizenry.
"The apostles ... did not seek excessive gain by exploiting each other. ... One was not rich while another was destitute, nor did one overeat while another starved. The generosity of those who were well off made good what others lacked, this willingness to share eliminating every anomaly and establishing equality and fairness."
~Saint Neilos the Ascetic about the Twelve Apostles.
