The idea of Polemius Silvius in making the 22nd February into a commemoration of St Peter and St Paul found no imitators, but the custom of celebrating instead the Cathedra Petri on this day became general in the Gallican liturgies. The significance of this feast is expressed in the words of the collect for the day: “God who on this day hast given Blessed Peter to be head after Thee to the Church” (Deus qui hodierna die B. Petrum post te dedisti caput ecclesiæ); i.e. the occasion of the feast was not the foundation or organisation of one particular church, either Rome or Antioch, but the appointment of St Peter to be head of the whole Church in general, or, in other words, the bestowal of the Primacy upon him, or his ordination as bishop (natale episcopatus), as others prefer to have it.[656] In this connection it must be borne in mind that, in antiquity, it was already the custom to celebrate the anniversary of the bishop’s consecration, and that special masses exist in the old sacramentaries, and among the sermons of St Leo the Great there are some for such occasions.
From the fourth to the ninth century, we find this feast of the 22nd February (Cathedra Petri), without further specification, in the greater number of calendars and martyrologies, especially in those of Gaul. As the latest which give only one feast of this name, we may mention the martyrology of Wandlebert, the Calendar of Corbie of 826 in d’Achery,[657] and also the Gothic Calendar. Nevertheless, there are some Frankish calendars which contain no feast of this name, as, for example, that of St Geneviève, published by Fronteau, and the Calendar of Charlemagne. It is not in the Neapolitanum, nor in certain lectionaries of the same period, such as the Comes Albini, the lectionary of Spires, and, finally, the Roman sacramentaries.[658] It is remarkable that neither the Gelasianum nor the Gregorianum have a feast of St Peter’s Chair, yet it is certain that the feast was known in Rome in the fourth century, for the chronographer, referred to on page 295n., in his Depositio Martyrum sets down: “VIII. Kal. Martias, Natale Petri de Cathedra.”
A remarkable alteration now took place, doubtless caused by another view being taken of the meaning of the feast. When the words Cathedra Petri were no longer taken as referring to the bestowal of the Primacy or the episcopal and teaching office in general, but as referring to some definite episcopal See, then the question was asked, Is Antioch meant or Rome? For although the official lists reckon Evodius, and not St Peter, as first bishop of Antioch, still there were writers of antiquity, such as Origen, who represent St Peter’s residence in Antioch (Gal. ii. 11) as his Antiochene episcopate. This view led to the division of the feast into a Roman and an Antiochene Feast of St Peter’s Chair; for reasons which are unknown, the 18th January was chosen for the former, while the latter continued to be celebrated on the 22nd February.
The martyrology of the Venerable Bede marks the date at which this division of the feast came into existence. In the original recension, given by the Bollandists, the feast of the 18th January does not appear, but the feast of the 22nd February has the note attached, “At Antioch.” It is possible that Bede considered the feast commemorated the commencement of a particular episcopate, and since, according to his idea, the Antiochene episcopate of St Peter preceded his Roman, and Antioch must have been the first See occupied by the apostle, he added the words, “At Antioch, where the disciples were first named Christians.”
The separation is complete in Ado and Usuardus, and appears in the oldest editions of the Hieronymianum, and, in defect of further information, the compiler of this document may be regarded as the originator of the separation.[659] There thus arose a threefold practice—either both feasts were kept, or neither, or that of the 22nd February; the last was the case in only a few dioceses. The Cologne Calendar of the fourteenth century had only one feast, but the more ancient calendar belonging to the ninth century had both.[660]
This diversity of usage, resulting from the independence of each diocese in the adoption of festivals, was put an end to by Pope Paul IV. at the advice of Cardinal Sirleto, when, on the 6th January 1558, he ordered that both feasts should be observed throughout the entire Catholic world.[661] At the consultations concerning the reform of the Breviary in 1742, it was considered that the two feasts should once more be joined into one, but this, however, was not done, which,[662] from a historical point of view, is to be regretted, for neither Eusebius nor the official lists of bishops know anything of an Antiochene episcopate of St Peter. The pseudo-Clementines make use of St Peter’s activity in the See of Antioch for their own ends,[663] and to them must be traced back the statements of Origen, Jerome, and others, for in antiquity, as well as in the Middle Ages, they enjoyed more consideration, and were more widely read, than at the present day. In the ninth century it was regarded as an inviolable principle of canon law—as we know from the case of Pope Formosus—that a bishop must not be translated from one See to another. How could this principle have been maintained in the face of so striking an instance of translation?
The Feast of St Peter’s Chair was unknown to the Greeks and Easterns in antiquity, but the modern Uniats have naturally adopted it.
10. The Festivals of St Mary Magdalen, St Cecilia, and St Catherine
(22nd July, 22nd and 25th November)
The saints which have occupied us until now were all prominent figures throughout Christendom, and stood in close relation to the Redeemer and His work; in consequence, their festivals were kept as feasts of obligation in the Middle Ages, at a period when it seemed almost impossible to do too much towards the development of the cycle of feasts; a large number kept this rank until recent times. Other saints of less importance enjoyed the same distinction through their being the patrons of particular countries, dioceses, or localities; it would take too long to deal with such here; besides, their festivals are not of historical importance. Still, among festivals of this sort there are some which formerly were kept as feasts of obligation; of these several are deserving of notice, since they attained a rank above that of a mere local festival, either because of some special circumstance, or because the life of the particular saint in some way or other caught the popular fancy.