Who was St Peter?
Peter came from Bethsaida, and by profession he was a fisherman, until Jesus called him to join him in the great mission to the world. His name at that time was Simon, but Jesus renamed him Peter, which means (in Aramaic) ‘the rock’. Simon Peter’s brother (Andrew) worked with him in the fishing industry, and also became one of the twelve apostles.
Peter was one of the few men (even amongst the apostles) whom Jesus took with him almost everywhere he went. Jesus had great plans for Peter, and publicly declared that Peter was “the rock” on which he would build his Church.
Peter ended up in Rome where he was thrown into prison for preaching the Gospel, and eventually he was executed there in the year 64AD.
His Coat of Arms is red (because he became a martyr) and also shows silver keys (because Jesus said he would give Peter the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven) and a gold inverted cross (because Peter was executed by crucifixion, upside down).
A letter written by Peter survives, and is part of the New Testament. It is also likely that he was largely responsible for St Mark’s Gospel. Mark almost certainly wrote the Gospel after spending time with Peter and hearing his stories of Jesus.
St Peter’s feast day is June 29th.
The feast of St Peter’s Chains is August 1st
(commemorating his release from prison on an earlier occasion).
