Solemn Feast of Ss. Peter and Paul, Apostles

Now I know in very deed, that the Lord hath sent His Angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.

The Apostles Peter and Paul are the two Princes of the Apostles, the foundations of the Church, on which she is firmly established as on a rock. This feast is almost entirely devoted to St. Peter, the Bishop of Rome, the great Apostle of the Gentiles being more specially honored on June 30. The lessons and prayers of this Mass describe how his Lord and Master Jesus Christ prepared the fervent Apostle, St. Peter, for the supreme office of the Papacy. This feast marks the day of the translation of their relics.

Today is the solemn closure of the Pauline Year marking the 20th centenary of the holy Apostle's birth in anno Domini 8 or 9. As such, a Plenary Indulgence is available under the following conditions:

"The Christian faithful of the various local Churches, having fulfilled the required conditions (sacramental Confession, Eucharistic Communion, prayers for the Supreme Pontiff's intentions) and in a spirit of total detachment from any inclination to sin, may benefit from the Plenary Indulgence if they take part devoutly in a sacred function or in a pious public exercise in honour of the Apostle to the Gentiles; on the days of the solemn opening and closure of the Pauline Year, in all the sacred places; on other days specified by the local Ordinary, in holy places dedicated to St Paul and, for the convenience of the faithful, in other places designated by the same Ordinary."

URBIS ET ORBIS DECREE

Special Indulgences are conceded to faithful on the occasion of the 2000th anniversary of the birth of St Paul the Apostle.

~Apostolic Penitentiary, 10 May 2008.