Apostle
Holy Apostle Peter
January 16 Old CalendarJanuary 29 New Calendar
Life
He is commemorated on this day because of the chains in which he was bound by the lawless Herod, and which fell from him at the appearance of an angel in the prison (Acts 12:7). Christians preserved these chains both in memory of the great Apostle and because of their healing power, for many sick people were healed by contact with them (as also with the handkerchief of the Apostle Paul, Acts 19:12). The Patriarch of Jerusalem, Saint Juvenal, gave these chains as a gift to Empress Eudoxia, the exiled wife of Emperor Theodosius the Younger, and she divided them in half, sending one half to the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople, and the other to her daughter, Empress Eudoxia, wife of Valentinian in Rome. This Eudoxia built a church of Saint Peter, and placed in it these chains together with those in which Peter was bound before his death by Emperor Nero (see June 29).
Christians preserved these chains both in memory of the great Apostle and because of their healing power, for many sick people were healed by contact with them (as also with the handkerchief of the Apostle Paul, Acts 19:12).
From the Hymn of Praise
Hold fast to glorious ChristAnd to His Gospel,He has prepared for youAn eternity of radiance and joy.
From the Prologue from Ochrid by St. Nikolai Velimirovich, January 16. Translated by Marcian Sakarya, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Also commemorated on January 16
The full reading for January 16 includes the hymn of praise, a reflection, a contemplation and a homily.
Open January 16 in the reader