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JANUARY 22, 2012 -
"THE CHAINS OF THE HOLY APOSTLE PETER"
From the earliest days of the Christian Church, relics have played an important role in the spirituality of her faithful. In addition to the bodies of the saints, items widely identified with them were also revered and treated with upmost respect. Legends and sacred traditions have given us some fascinating tales to poinder concerning relics. One such story centers on the "Chains of the Holy Apostle Peter."
In the Book of Acts, we read how Herod Agrippa had the Apostle Peter arrested and cst into prison. The ruler intended to keep Peter there until after the Passover feast, at which time he would kill him, gaining the people's favor. One night, an angel appeared to Peter in his jail cell and commanded him: "Arise quickly." When Peter stood up, the chains with which he was bound fell from his hands. The angel then miraculously led him out into the streets of Jerusalem to freedom.
It is said that the early Christians kept the chains, not only as a means of remembering Peter, but because they had healing powers - many of the sick were cured simply by touching them. They were handed down in the Christian community from generation to generation.
Centuries later, St. Juvenal reportedly made a gift of the chains to the Empress Eudocia, who divided them in half. She sent part to the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople and the other portion to her daughter in Rome, who built the Church of St. Peter and placed these chains in it, along with those with which St. Peter was shackled in a Roman prison before his death.
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