Saint Peter in Chains

All the faithful received an incredible joy from this deliverance; they rendered many thanks to God for it, and having procured the chains with which the Apostle had been bound, they kept them religiously in the treasury of the church of Jerusalem, as a most precious relic. It is for this great benefit that today's feast was instituted. One must honor therein the pains and sufferings of Saint Peter, the calm and tranquility he had in his prison and under his bonds, the constancy and joy with which he awaited the blow of death, and the evenness of mind that appeared in him, as much in the humiliation of his imprisonment as in the glory of his deliverance. One must also thank Our Lord for the favor He granted to His flock in returning to it such a good shepherd, for the miracles He performed to deliver him, and for the great fruits He caused him to produce since, both among the Jews and among the Gentiles, for the perfect establishment of Christianity.

Saint Peter had other bonds besides thos e with which saint Pierre Apostle mentioned for the setting of the procession date. he was chained in Jerusalem; for, having come to Rome to preach the Gospel there, and ha ving Rome Birthplace of Maximian. won to Jesus Christ a great number of persons from the three orders that composed that city, we mean, senators, knights, and simple inhabitants, the Emperor Nero had him seized and commanded that he be put in prison and chained. It is of these latter chains that Saint Alexander, Pope and martyr, spoke when, seeing Saint Balbina show a singular respect for the chains with which he had been bound, he exhorted her to seek rather the chains of the Apostle Saint Peter: which she also did with much success and consolation. But it is of both those that the Apostle wore in the prisons of Jerusalem, and those that he wore in the prisons of Rome, that Saint Augustine speaks when he says that "all the Churches of Jesus Christ value them much more than the purest and most precious gold." It is also on these chains that Saint John Chrysostom, or rather Saint Proclus, one of his successors in the chair of Constantinople, gave a beautiful discourse, which is reported by Simeon Metaphrastes and by Surius on the first day of August, where he says, among other things, that "Peter looked upon them as a royal ornament; that he found himself much better adorned with them than with necklaces of pearls and garments of purple and silk, and that he had an extraordinary joy to see himself bound by them, because he knew that these chains would procure for him an immortal crown in heaven."

What gave rise to this feast was the dedication of a church under the name of Saint Peter in Chains, and the great miracles that were performed through them. Here is what Ecclesiastical History teaches us about it:

Empress Eudoxia, wife of Emp L'impératrice Eudoxie Wife of Theodosius II and rival of Pulcheria. eror Theodosius the Younger, had gone to Palestine to visit the holy places consecrated by the mysteries of our redemption; Juvenal, Patriarch of Jerusalem, presented her with the two chains with which the Prince of the Apostles had been bound in Herod's prison. This princess received them with extraordinary respect and joy, then, considering them as precious relics, she reserved one for the city of Constantinople, and sent the other to her daughter Eudoxia, who had married Emperor Valentinian III two years earlier. Eudoxia received her mother's gift with great esteem. As she was in Rome, she brought it to the Sovereign Pontiff, in order to share her joy with him. The Pope, grateful, wished to show her, in turn, the chains with which Saint Peter had been bound in Rome. A great miracle then occurred: these two chains, having been brought close to one another, united of their own accord so perfectly that they appeared as no more than a single chain forged by a single workman. Eudoxia, admiring this prodigy, took care not to ask for her relic back; but, leaving this entire long chain to the Church, she had a beautiful temple built to house it and expose it to the veneration of the faithful. This temple was first called Eudoxia, after the name of its founder; but since then it has been called Saint Peter in Chains, and it is a cardinal Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens Roman church built to house the fused chains. 's title.

The chain that Eudoxia brought to Constantinople was also received with every kind of veneration, and a church was likewise built to serve as its sanctuary. Thus, the dedication of these two houses of God took place almost at the same time; but that of the church of Constantinople was marked on January 4th, while that of the church of Rome was set for August 4th. By this means, a pagan festival was abolished in Rome, which was held on that same day for the dedication of the temple of Mars and for the birth of the Emperor Claudius. God showed through notable miracles that He approved of the cult of these sacred bonds, and that they were worthy of great veneration; for, by touching them or having them placed upon one's head, one received healing from many diseases and relief from very great afflictions. The Popes, when they wished to make a significant gift, would send a little of the filings from this precious iron, as we learn from several Epistles of Saint Grego ry the Great. Sometimes saint Grégoire le Grand Pope contemporary to Saint Psalmodius. , they sent these filings encased in a key of gold or silver: those who received them were accustomed to hang them around their necks, to preserve themselves, through the protection of Saint Peter, from the fatal accidents of this life. It is thus that the same holy Pontiff acted toward Childebert, King of France, for whom he had much respect and a singular affection, as seen in Epistle VI of Book V which he wrote to him on this subject. In Epistle XXIII of the following book, which he addresses to Theoctista, a most noble patrician and sister of Maurice, Emperor of the East, along with a similar gift, he reports that a Lombard lord, having mocked one of these keys and having wished to break it to obtain the gold, was at that very moment seized by the demon, who treated him with such fury that he cut his own throat with the knife with which he intended to cut the key, and died on the spot. Saint Gregory also sent some to Anastasius, Patriarch of Antioch, to Reccared, King of the Visigoths of Spain, and to other ecclesiastical and lay personages. We also read in the Ecclesiastical History that several persons of distinction requested these filings from the Pope, and that Justin I, Emperor of the East, sent ambassadors to Pope Hormisdas to obtain from him a fragment of the chains of Saint Peter as the most precious thing he could ask for, so widespread was the veneration of these relics in all places. Pope Vitalian, around the year 637, sent a fragment of the holy chains to the Queen of Northumbria, wife of Oswiu. Ewald, Archbishop of Vienne, received a fragment of the *Vinculis Apostolorum* from Pope Constantine; Saint Gregory III sent a key with the same relic to Charles Martel; Saint Leo III made the same gift to Charlemagne; Saint Gregory VII to Acon, King of Denmark, and subsequently to Alfonso, King of Castile.

However, so that the holy chains would not be too damaged, the Popes gradually ceased to detach pieces from them, and then they were content to let them be kissed, to have objects of devotion touched to them, and at most to give a few pieces of the linen bands in which they are constantly wrapped when they are not exposed to the veneration of the faithful. This is what is still done today.

Nevertheless, Benedict XIV, towards the middle of the last century, wished to renew the old custom with regard to the cathedral of Bologna, his homeland, to which he gave a golden key that contained some of the holy filings.

From everything we have just said, it can be seen that the holy chains are no longer whole. One of them consists of twenty-eight rings, the last of which, in the shape of an S, supports the shackle that tightened around the Apostle's neck. The other chain, joined to the first by the miracle we have recounted, is formed of five rings; four smaller than the others and the fifth, in the shape of an S, to which are attached a larger round ring and an iron bar that unite the two chains. It is probable that, in the prison, this iron bar was welded into the wall on one side, and supported on the other the chain to which the apostolic captive was attached.

Some of the rings, detached at various times from the holy bonds, have been lost in the vicissitudes of time. We still have, however, a certain record of most of them, since even today they are held in veneration in different countries of the world, and in Rome itself. Indeed, the distinguished church of Saint Cecilia, in Trastevere, possesses seven rings, which, according to tradition, were sent by Adrian I, in 772, to Desiderius, King of the Lombards, when the holy Pope was seeking to appease and soften this disloyal and cruel monarch in favor of Italy. Cardinal Sfondrati obtained from Pope Clement VIII, around the year 1592, the removal of these rings from the church dedicated to the Prince of the Apostles on Lake Como, where they were kept, and he transported them to Rome to this church of Saint Cecilia. The city of Avignon, which had the good fortune to possess the Apostolic See for seventy years, had five rings of the holy chains.

In the year 949, a count whom the Emperor Otto the Great cherished was possessed by a demon in such a violent manner that he tore himself with his teeth. The Emperor, having compassion for his misery, had him taken to Pope John XIII, to have him exorcised; but no sooner had they placed the chain of Saint Peter around his neck than the evil spirit, unable to endure its virtue, was forced to leave his body while letting out terrible cries. Theodoric, Bishop of Metz, a first cousin of the Emperor, who was present at this wonder, was so touched by it that he immediately laid his hand on the chain and protested that he would never let it go until they had given him a ring for his church. The Emperor begged the Pope to satisfy the devotion of Theodoric, who brought the ring he had obtained to his city of Metz, where he placed it in the Abbey of Saint-Vincent, which he had had built. He also placed there hair of Saint Peter, and many other relics that were given to him. One can see the enumeration of them in Sigebert, a monk and master of novices of this monastery. These precious relics disappeared in 1793.

There was also in Rome a chair of Saint Paul. According to the testimony of the same Saint Gregory, in Book III of his Register, Epistle XXX, addressed to the Empress Constantina, it performed many supernatural healings. But the Church deemed it appropriate to celebrate only the feast of the chains of Saint Peter, to mark his preeminence over the other Apostles, and to recall that it is to him primarily that the key of the kingdom of heaven, with the power to bind and to loose, was given. Several holy doctors have spoken honorably of these sacred chains. Among the sermons of Saint John Chrysostom, one is found on this subject, which Cardinal Baronius considers to be rather by Saint Proclus or Saint Germanus, his successors. The author treats at great length the imprisonment of Saint Peter, the sufferings he endured in prison through the inhumanity of the soldiers who guarded him, the glory of his deliverance, and the incomparable utility that the whole Church received from it. He also gives him excellent epithets, which show the eminence of his dignity and the prerogatives of his see. He calls him the Mouth of Jesus Christ and of his brethren; the Interpreter of the secrets of God; the Master of the heavens and of the faithful, whose doctrine is so sure that one cannot err in following it; the Column of spiritual Israel, the Solidity of the Apostles, the Strengthening of those who doubt, the Glory of the Church, the Honor of the Disciples, the Ornament and support of those who have true sentiments, the Reconciliation of sinners, the great Miracle of the world, the Splendor of theologians, the heavenly Spirit and the most pure Dwelling of the most holy Trinity. This same Doctor then compares the chains of our holy Apostle with his shadow, and says that, if it had such strength that all those upon whom it passed were healed, of whatever disease they were afflicted, his chains, which are something solid, and which have received a particular virtue from the holiness of his members and from the power of his hands, workers of so many miracles, must be much more salutary. Saint Augustine, in Sermon XXVIII on the Saints, also uses the same comparison. 'If the shadow of Peter,' he says, 'was so salutary, how much more so will be the chain with which his body was surrounded? If the vain appearance of his image could have the strength to restore health to the sick, what strength will not then have the bonds that were imprinted upon his sacred members? If Saint Peter was so powerful before his martyrdom, how much more must he be now that he has triumphed over the attack of the demons?' Then he exclaims: 'O fortunate chains, which from manacles and stocks were changed into crowns and diadems, by making the Apostle a martyr! O blessed bonds, by which the captive was dragged to the torment of the cross, not so much to be executed there as to be consecrated there!'

During the great calamities of Rome and the Church, the Popes have the holy Chains exposed and carried in procession to other basilicas, as occurred at the end of the last century. Pope Pius VI, of venerable memory, facing the perfidies of the French Republic, ordered that the holy Chains, along with the acheiropoieta image of the Savior and that of the Blessed Virgin which is at Santa Maria in Portico, be transported on January 17, 1798, to the Vatican Basilica and from there to Saint Mary Major and Saint John Lateran, from where they were returned on February 5 to the Eudoxian Basilica, in which they remained exposed for five days for the veneration of the faithful. Another solemn exposition of the holy Chains took place in the month of August of the year 1814. In 1837, when Rome was invaded by cholera for the first time, Gregory XVI ordered that the holy Chains be exposed, along with other distinguished relics, with the aim of preserving his people from the scourge, and, if the cholera did enter Rome, it was of shorter duration and less deadly there than in the other capitals of Europe. Our holy Pope Pius IX, who is also chained in the bonds of persecution, h olds a Pie IX Pope who canonized Josaphat in 1867. great devotion to the Chains of Saint Peter. He had them placed in a magnificent gilded metal reliquary, a gift of his apostolic munificence. These venerable relics are kept during the year in the Eudoxian sacristy, at the back of a cupboard built into the wall. This cupboard is closed first by a red silk curtain, then by a gilded metal grille, and finally by a bronze door richly sculpted by the famous Pallajoli. Three keys lock the door of the cupboard, as well as the grille, and these keys are kept by three different authorities: one by the Sovereign Pontiff, the second by the titular Cardinal of the Basilica, and the third by the Reverend Father Abbot of the Canons Regular of Saint John Lateran, who serve the Basilica.

After having spoken of the Chains of Saint Peter, it remains for us to say a word about the confraternity recently established in their honor.

In 1864, a quantity of watch chains of a new kind, of pretty shape and sold at a low price, were seen arriving in Rome from France. They bore at one of the ends a small globe that resembled a cannonball.

Many people, especially young people, purchased them and wore them without scruple, as one wears so many other objects of this kind that come to us from fashion; they were far from suspecting what they meant.

It was a treacherous trap set by the revolutionaries for honest people and good folk.

When the emissaries of evil saw their chains sufficiently spread, they divulged that they were symbols of the so-called "slavery in which Rome groaned under the yoke of the papacy," and that the mysterious little globe represented the bombs of the assassin Orsini, the same who conspired against Napoleon III to force him to bring about Italian unity.

A similar revelation, although made in a half-whisper, was enough for every honest person to throw away with horror this seditious sign, and it has not been seen worn since, except by a small number of individuals openly attached to the revolution.

Nevertheless, the goal of the sect was achieved; one could believe that the Romans shared its treacherous aspirations by accepting these famous chains, to which, for the first time, the name of Orsini chains was given.

This was an impudent lie that obtained no credit; and as evil often produces good, it was the cause of a beautiful thought, which perhaps, with the help of God, will produce some good results. Indignation suggested to young Romans to take advantage of this fact to increase the devotion of the faithful towards one of the most venerable monuments of Papal Rome, that is to say, to propagate and revive more than ever the cult of the Chains of Saint Peter by making facsimiles of them to serve as watch chains. Thus the ancient Christians and the holy women of the first centuries loved to testify to their love for Our Lord, for the Blessed Virgin, and the Saints by wearing their images and emblems carved on rings, precious stones, and other ornaments.

The Sovereign Pontiff blessed this thought and deigned to grant immediately the amplest facilities to examine the holy Chains and to take their design.

They set to work, and after having overcome some obstacles, they managed to obtain an exact facsimile suitable for forming a watch chain.

While the enterprise seemed to have succeeded, it had to undergo, like all good things in their beginning, struggles as unexpected as they were obstinate; for a moment it was on the point of being abandoned. However, the Chains of Saint Peter have modestly, but firmly, resisted the storm: they are beginning to spread, they are sought after by the most distinguished persons, and the most noble and elegant ladies do not hesitate to testify to their devotion to Saint Peter and the Holy See by wearing on their rich clothing the iron Chain of the first Vicar of Jesus Christ.

The confraternity is placed under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, and of Saint Peter, Prince of the Apostles.

The goal of the Confraternity is to propagate as much as possible, and in all places, the cult of the sacred Chains of the Prince of the Apostles and devotion to the Holy See; to pray, according to the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff, for the needs of the holy Roman Church, the conversion of the faithful and sinners, and the extirpation of heresies and blasphemies.

Each of the members must procure an iron facsimile of the Chains of Saint Peter: this facsimile will be adorned with a small cross similar to that which served for the crucifixion of the Prince of the Apostles.

This facsimile must have touched the sacred Chains of Saint Peter; a printed attestation will be attached, signed by the Very Reverend Father Abbot of the Eudoxian Basilica, and provided with the dry seal of the said abbey; this printed document will serve as a certificate of registration.

Each member must wear this facsimile on their clothing, in the manner they deem most appropriate. To avoid counterfeits and abuses, the facsimiles will only be distributed by persons duly authorized for this purpose.

Here are the prayers and pious practices to be performed by the members:

1st Recite each day, in any language whatsoever and for the intention indicated in article 1, § 2, a Pater, an Ave, and a Gloria, with the invocation: Saint Peter, pray for us;

2nd Approach, wherever one can, the holy sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist, on the following days: January 18, feast of the Chair of Saint Peter in Rome; June 29, feast of the martyrdom of Saint Peter; August 1, feast of Saint Peter in Chains, the day chosen as the main feast of the Confraternity;

3rd Visit, on those days or one of the days of the Octave of Saint Peter, the church called the Eudoxian Basilica, raised in honor of the Chains of the Prince of the Apostles;

4th For members outside of Rome, visit, as above, a church or public chapel dedicated to Saint Peter, if there is one in the locality where they live; otherwise, each visit their parish church;

5th Upon the announcement of the death of a member, recite for the repose of his soul the psalm De Profundis; those who do not know this prayer may replace it with another.

Numerous indulgences have been granted by His Holiness Pius IX to the members of the Confraternity.

The confraternity of the Chains of Saint Peter was inaugurated in Toulouse on August 1, 1870, in the church of Saint-Pierre. The parish priest of this parish is appointed director of this affiliati on, by l Toulouse Episcopal see of Erembert. etter from His Lordship the Archbishop, dated from Rome (during the council) on June 20 of the same year. This appointment was confirmed on July 14 by the Reverend Father Abbot of the Basilica of Saint Peter in Chains in Rome, general president of this archconfraternity. A repository of small Chains of Saint Peter that have come from Rome, each accompanied by its certificate of authenticity, is established in the sacristy of the Saint-Pierre parish in Toulouse.

To belong to the confraternity and enjoy its privileges, one must wear one of these small chains and be registered in the register that is opened in the same church.

The faithful can learn, through all that we have just said, how honorable it is to suffer something for Jesus Christ: for, although there are only the chains of Saint Peter that are honored on earth with a particular feast, this feast, nevertheless, makes us know that all the pains that we endure patiently in this life will be rewarded in heaven with an incomparable glory that will never end.

We have used, to complete this biography, the History of Saint Peter, by Abbé Maistre; the History of the Holy Chains, and a work published in Rome on the Confraternity established in their honor.