Sts. Peter & Paul

St. Peter was a pope. He was actually the first pope in the world. He was also a fisherman from Galilee. St. Peter was a simple, hardworking  and honest man. He was a close follower
of Jesus. Before he was named Peter, his name was Simon. Jesus changed Simon's name to Peter which means `rock'. Jesus gave this name to Peter because Peter was to be the rock on which the Church would be built. When Jesus was arrested before his death on the cross, Peter became afraid. It was then that Peter denied Jesus three times. After Jesus died, Peter went to Rome and converted many nonbelievers. St. Peter was martyred on Vatican Hill around the year 67 AD,

St. Paul was a `one of a kind' apostle. He actually persecuted Christians because he was raised as a Pharisee, a Jewish religious leader. He studied many things such as Jewish law, the Torah, Greek and Latin. Later of course, he was converted to Christianity when confronted with the persecution of the Nazarenes. He met Paul in Jerusalem around 45 AD. and began his missionary work. All his life he went through dangers and troubles. He was whipped, stoned and shipwrecked. Many times he was hungry thirsty and cold. In spite of all of this, Paul never gave up trust in God and he grew to love Jesus very much. He never stopped preaching about Jesus. After he returned to Rome, he was sentenced to death. St. Paul wrote many letters found in the Book of Corinthians. Both St. Peter and St.Paul are commemorated on June 29.