Today concludes, by a special Mass, the concert of praise offered during eight days by the Church to the Apostles Peter and Paul, the two foundational pillars of Christianity: authority and mission.
Though very different in background, both were martyred in Rome under Emperor Nero and their complementary legacies form the bedrock of the early Church.
The veneration of St. Peter and of St. Paul is rooted in the very foundation of Catholicism; it can not become weakened either in the people or in souls without great harm to Catholicism itself.
The Octave is observed in the pre-1955 liturgy.
