Simon was born in Bethsaida, near the Sea of Galilee. He and his brother Andrew were fishermen, accepting Jesus’ invitation to become His first disciples and “fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). John’s Gospel has Andrew following Jesus first and bringing Simon to Him. Jesus tells Simon, “‘You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas (which is translated Peter)” (John 1:42). In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter when He said to him, “I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:18–19).
Peter emerged as the Church’s central leader after Pentecost. For a decade in Jerusalem, he preached, performed miracles, and converted many. He then traveled to Rome, established the Church there, and became its first bishop. Around AD 64, he was martyred during Emperor Nero’s persecutions. Tradition says that Peter asked to be crucified upside down because he did not deem himself worthy to die the same way that Jesus died. His tomb lies under the main altar of Saint Peter’s Basilica.
Saul was a Roman citizen born in Tarsus, modern-day Turkey. As a young man, he studied at the rabbi Gamaliel’s school in Jerusalem. After Jesus’ ascension, Saul fiercely persecuted the early Church, in part responsible for the proto-martyr Stephen’s death (Acts 7:58). While traveling to Damascus to persecute Christians, Paul was knocked to the ground and struck blind. He heard Jesus say, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4). Jesus directed Saul to a disciple named Ananias who baptized him. Saul spent three years in intense prayer and study, eventually returning to Jerusalem where Barnabas testified to the truth of Paul’s conversion to the other disciples.
Using his Roman name, Paul spent ten years as a missionary throughout the Mediterranean. Imprisoned in Jerusalem for a couple of years, he was sent to Rome for trial and met up with Saint Peter. According to tradition, Paul was beheaded just outside the city. When his head fell, it bounced three times, giving rise to three springs of water, marked today by the Abbey of the Three Fountains.
Saints Peter and Paul are the Church’s foundational pillars. Peter represents the Church’s stability and the office of the Vicar of Christ. Paul represents the Church’s mission of evangelization and is the Church’s first theologian for his epistles that expound on the Gospels. One tradition holds that both died on June 29, making them twin martyrs and reminding us that as the Church remains grounded in the ancient Truth, it must grow and flower in its understanding of the mysteries of faith.
