Message from the Rector

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February 16, 2020

Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,

Next Saturday, February 22, is the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter. As a minor basilica, Saint Patrick’s is called to be attentive to expressing our communion with the Pope, the successor of St. Peter as Bishop of Rome.  There is a physical object known as the “Chair of St. Peter” which is located in St. Peter's Basilica beyond the main altar below Bernini’s Holy Spirit alabaster window. This display contains an ancient chair that has been repaired and ornamented over time. In order to preserve this relic for posterity, Pope Alexander VII (1655-67) enclosed, after the designs of Bernini, the Cathedra Petri in a gigantic casing of bronze, supported by four Doctors of the Church (Ambrose, Augustine, Athanasius, Chrysostom).  It is a symbol of the special mission of Peter and his Successors to tend Christ’s flock, keeping it united in faith and in charity. "Cathedra" literally means the established seat of the Bishop, placed in the mother church of a diocese which for this reason is known as a "cathedral"; it is the symbol of the Bishop's authority and in particular, of his "magisterium", that is, the evangelical teaching which, as a successor of the Apostles, he is called to safeguard and to transmit to the Christian Community. The See of Rome, after St. Peter's travels, came to be recognized as the See of the Successor of Peter, and its Bishop's "cathedra" represents the mission entrusted to him by Christ for the pastoral care of his entire Church. (cf. National Catholic Register)

Father Kevin