Stpp-CSSC Site-2018-07.Pdf
1 THE HOLY APOSTLES PETER AND PAUL In the quiet light of the katholikon (main church) of the Karakallou Monastery on Mount Athos, a miraculous icon shines with its glow. It’s called “The Embrace” (Ὁ Ἀσπασμός), and what the prayerful contemplation sees in it is the symbolic act of togetherness. The two figures, depicted from the waist up, seizing the entire space of the icon, are embraced: the apostle Peter’s hands are almost concluded on the apostle Paul’s back, and their cheeks meet, a symbol that together they uphold the idea of the Church, that they accept to share a common destiny. A symbol, which revives pages from the story of the two apostles of Christ. The true story of Peter and Paul, in a sense, is history of the name and is associated with the metamorphosis that each of them experiences. According to the biblical tradition, after a remarkable encounter with God, the name of the person changes – a sure indication of the changed identity of that person, bearing his own name. Both Simon and Saul cannot remain with his old identity, after their lifetime intersects with that of the Savior. The way of the name for each of them, though different, is long and difficult. The one – chosen to receive the keys of the kingdom of heaven and the ability to bind and loose human destinies and to be pillar of the future church of Christ, must also experience the pain of triple denial of the Lord. The etymology of his name (“You shall be called Cephas”, John 1:42)1 is not by chance bound directly to the meaning of the rock: in order to uphold the Church, a strong support is needed, on which faith may rest.
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