wonder that on the morning of the eventful day of which we are speaking He was found alone in prayer!
When He rose from His prayer He said to the Twelve:
"Who do men say that I am?"
And they said: "Some, John the Baptist, and other some, Elias, and others Jeremias or one of the Prophets."
Jesus said to them: "But who do you say that I am?"
Peter, foremost as usual, answered: "Thou art Christ, the Son of the Living God."
Here was a glorious profession of faith, proclaiming Christ to be true God, equal to the Father in all things.
Jesus said to him: "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father who is in Heaven. And I say to thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth it shall be bound also in Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth it shall be loosed also in Heaven."
Thus, in reward for his grand confession, was Peter made the Vicar of Christ on earth. The other Apostles understood now why, on seeing him for the first time, their Master had called him a rock. As a rock keeps the house firm that is built upon it, so was Peter to keep steady and united the Church founded by Christ on him.
And the gates of hell—the power of the devil—shall not prevail against it. Because by the gift of infalli-
