The Church today venerates the memory of Peter and Paul, the Holy Apostles.
The divinely-blessed Peter was from Bethsaida of Galilee.
He was the son of Jonas and the brother of Andrew the First-called. He was a fisherman by trade, unlearned and poor, and was called Simon; later he was renamed Peter by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
After the Resurrection of Christ and the descent of the Holy Spirit, he preached in Judea, Antioch, and certain parts of Asia, before finally coming to Rome, where he was crucified upside down on orders by the emperor Nero — thus he ascended to the eternal kingdom, leaving two catholic, or general, epistles to the Church of Christ.
Paul, the chosen vessel of Christ, the glory of the Church, the Apostle of the Nations and teacher of the world, was a Jew by race, of the tribe of Benjamin, with Tarsus as his homeland. He was a Roman citizen, fluent in Greek, an expert in Law, a Pharisee, born of a Pharisee.
Having completed the work of his momentous ministry, he likewise ended his life in martyrdom, when he was beheaded in Rome during the reign of Nero, at the same time, some say, as when Peter was crucified.
In Athens, an Orthros and Divine Liturgy were celebrated at the St. Paul Cathedral, on the feast day of the Apostle, the founder of the Church in Greece.
The services were officiated by the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, His Beatitude Ieronymos.
Social distancing protocols and public health guidelines were strictly followed within the cathedral.
Photos: George Ferdis
