by the emperor. On his way to the great city. he was shipwrecked at Malta, but was saved in a miraculous manner. Arrived in Rome, he was kept two years more in prison, but was allowed the freedom of preaching the Gospel to those who came to see and hear him during this his first Roman captivity.
At the same time the other apostles were journeying in various countries [1], preaching [2] as they went, and working all manner of signs and wonders. Peter, in his capacity of head of the Church, visited the various churches, confirming them in the faith. It was in this capacity that he had gone before Paul to the capital[3] of the ancient world, and had there established his episcopal see; thither he returned after each of his apostolic journeys, or visitations; and in his last years he remained there permanently.
Peter and the other apostles everywhere established bishops as their successors. These bishops were to govern the faithful, and to teach[4] them the same doctrine that they had learnt from the apostles. As to the Scriptures of the New Testament, we must bear in mind that they were written later, and collected later still. Hence the apostles and the first followers of the apostles had no written books wherewith to convert the world. It was all done by preaching. The apostles preached what they had seen and heard, and their successors preached what they had learnt from the apostles. Much of what the apostles preached was afterwards written down in the books of the New Testament [5],
- ↑ Countries. Even in the most distant lands known in those times.
- ↑ Preaching. In accordance with the command of their Divine Master (chapter LXXXIII) they preached first to the Jews, then to the Samaritans, and, finally, to the Gentiles.
- ↑ The capital. The whole vast empire was governed from its centre, Rome, where the emperor resided. It was an enormous city, containing about 4,000,000 inhabitants.
- ↑ To teach. Being guided by the Holy Ghost, and having by their consecration received those gifts of His which were necessary to them for the exercise of their pastoral office.
- ↑ The New Testament. Some of the apostles wrote epistles or letters, and others caused books to be written under their supervision. Thus St. Mark, at St. Peter’s bidding, wrote his Gospel, or the public life of our Lord; and St. Luke, under similar direction from St. Paul, wrote his Gospel, and also the book of the Acts of the Apostles. St. Matthew and St. John also wrote Gospels. Besides these five books, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. James, St. John and St. Jude or Tbaddaeus wrote letters or epistles to the various churches. Finally, St. John wrote the Apocalypse, or Book of Revelations, in which he recorded that which God revealed to him in a vision concerning the destiny of the Church on earth, and of the heavenly abode of the blessed. This book is full of prophecies and secret revelations, hard to understand or expound. These sacred writings or books, twenty-seven in number, all written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, are known by the name of the New Testament.
