”You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Jesus to Peter in Matthew 14:22-33.
”From silly devotions and sour-faced saints, good Lord, deliver us.” St Teresa of Avila.
Today is the feast day of Saints Peter and Paul, two very different men who greatly influenced the development of the early Christian church – albeit in very different ways. Tradition has it that both were martyred on this day in AD 67 during the persecutions of Christians ordered by the Roman Emperor Nero, Peter through being crucified upside down and Paul by beheading. It’s suggested that Peter, originally a married working fisherman, did not consider himself worthy to die in the same way as Jesus, whereas Paul was beheaded because he was a Roman citizen and so could not be crucified. However, it’s improbable that both men were martyred on the same day – much more likely is that the early Christians adapted some of the pagan traditions of the time to make themselves more acceptable. Rome is founded on the story of Romulus and Remus, the legendary twin brothers who were commemorated on that date, and so the two towering figures in the early church may have been celebrated together instead.
That Christianisation happened here in this valley, too, which was held to be a sacred place long before Christianity. The ancient yew trees in the churchyard are believed to have been planted by pagans and druids at least two thousand years ago – yews were associated with creation, immortality and regeneration because they are evergreen and the branches form new trees when they reach the ground. That then became linked with death, resurrection and the eternal love of Almighty God as Christianity evolved and it’s fascinating to think that the trees may have been at least six hundred years old even in the time of Melangell.
Just as Christianity itself evolved, so both Peter and Paul assumed new identities as their own faith developed, Peter being also called Simon, Simon Peter and Cephas whereas Paul had originally been named Saul before his conversion. Both had their failings too, impetuous Peter being accused of having little faith by Jesus when he became fearful in attempting to walk on water like him. He also denied Jesus thrice, later being commissioned three times by Jesus, whilst Paul had persecuted Christians before his conversion and was present at the stoning of the first martyr, Stephen. He then had to contend with the understandable suspicions of the first Christians that he could not be trusted, just as Peter had to deal with concerns such as whether or not the practices and dietary laws of the Jews needed still to be observed as the early church emerged from Judaism.
From those failings and the learning from them, both Peter and Paul developed the strong faith which made them such noted apostles, Peter through his leadership and witness and the theologian Paul with his missionary journeys and writings which became a fundamental part of the New Testament. These are not the sour-faced saints to which St Teresa referred but men who knew what it was to get things wrong, to learn from what had happened and to speak of the love and grace of God. As their faith grew, so a new identity developed from the foundations of what had gone before and, in the changing times in which we live, may their courageous examples inspire us as we deal with the identities and contentious issues evolving around us today.
With my prayers; pob bendith,
Christine, Priest Guardian.