a new period, and to contain a future which may reach over centuries: and it is to this I would call your thoughts.
And first, this solemn celebration of the anniversary of S. Peter's Martyrdom has in it a confession of faith, which must exercise a powerful action both upon the Church and the world.
The words of our Divine Master, 'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church,' never yet received a more majestic interpretation. They are blazoned round the dome which hangs above his sanctuary. But the other day, the reality which they prophesy was there. The bishops of the Universal Church assembled round his tomb. There they were, resting upon him as the rock and foundation of their power throughout the world. Fathers, doctors, and Councils have, in all ages, saluted Rome as the Chair of Peter; but here, in honour of his martyrdom and of his successor, five hundred bishops came from the farthest regions of the earth to declare their faith in the Divine centre of the Catholic unity, and their vital adherence to it. The words of antiquity seemed to be impersonated. S. Cyprian's axiom of unity was there visible; 'There is one God, and one Christ, and one Church, and one Chair founded upon the Rock (super Petram) by the voice of the Lord.'[1] 'To manifest unity, He has ordained by His authority that unity should take its rise from one [Apostle].'[2]
