address Peter concerning the sheep, passing by the others? HE WAS THE CHIEF OF THE APOSTLES, AND MOUTH OF THE DISCIPLES, AND HEAD OF THAT BODY: ON WHICH ACCOUNT PAUL ALSO WENT UP TO SEE HIM, IN PREFERENCE TO THE OTHERS. Showing him at the same time, that he must have confidence hereafter, He cancels the guilt of his denial, and And He says:

GIVES HIM THE PRESIDENCY OVER THE BRETHREN.

'because thou lovest Me, preside over the brethren.'"*

The

The pastoral and governing authority of Peter is clearly set forth by ST. AMBROSE in many places, in which he treats of the commission given to him by Christ, to feed His sheep. In his forty-sixth sermon he observes, "When he was thrice questioned by the Lord: Simon, dost thou love Me?' he answered thrice, 'Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee.' Lord says: Feed My sheep.' This was said thrice; the triple repetition serving to compensate for his former fault: for he who had denied the Lord thrice, confesses Him thrice, and as often as he had contracted guilt by his delinquency, he gains favor by his love. See, therefore, how profitable to Peter was his weeping. Before he wept, he fell; after he wept, he was chosen, and he who had been a prevaricator before, was made a pastor after his tears, and he received the government of others, who before had not governed himself." In his exposition of the 118th Psalm, he says: "On this account Christ enjoined on Peter to feed His flock, and do the will of his Lord, because He knew his love." In his commentary on Luke, Ambrose says of Peter: "He is afflicted because he is questioned the third time, Dost thou love Me? But the Lord does not doubt: He interrogates him, not to ascertain the fact, but to teach him, whom, when He was about to be elevated to heaven, HE LEFT TO US as THE VICAR OF HIS LOVE. For thus you have: 'Simon, son of John, dost thou love Me?' 'Thou knowest, Lord, that I love Thee.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed My lambs.' And because he alone of all professes his love, HE IS PREFERRED TO ALL." Peter, then, was made pastor and governor, and vicar of JESUS CHRIST, to perform toward men the kind offices which divine love inspired, and was preferred to all.

The disciple of Ambrose does not differ from his master in the interpretation of the sacred text. AUGUSTIN writes: "For Peter himself, to whom He intrusted His sheep, as to another self, He willed to make one with Himself, that so He might intrust His sheep to him; that He might be the head, the other bear the figure of the body, that is, the Church; and that, as man and wife, they might be two in one flesh."§ This gives us the highest idea of the relation of Peter to Christ and to the flock. In intrusting him with the charge of the sheep, Christ made him as another

In c. xxi. Joan. hom. lxxxvii. t. iii. *Οτι εἰ φιλεῖς με προΐστασο τῶν ἀδελφων. Mr. Palmer translates: If thou lovest Me, protect the brethren.' Treatise on the Church, part vii. ch. 1. vol. ii. p. 461. It signifies to preside over poëswres, qui imperium habent. † Enar. xiii. In Luc. 1. x. n. 175.

Serm. xlvi. de past. in Ezek. 34. tom. v. 240 F.

self, putting him in His own place. Peter is said to represent the Church; but evidently in his official character, as pastor of the whole flock, and in this respect he becomes, as it were, one with Christ, as the Church is one with her Divine spouse, by the mysterious union of faith and love. Elsewhere, Augustin teaches that the other apostles were also commissioned to feed the flock, because all were sent to teach and administer the sacraments, but he is careful to mark the prerogative of Peter: "For deservedly, after His resurrection, the Lord delivered His sheep to Peter himself to feed; for he was not the only one among the disciples who was thought worthy to feed the Lord's sheep. But when Christ speaks to one, unity is commended; and to Peter above all, because Peter is the first among the apostles."* St. Augustin justly infers the authority which all bishops have received, to feed the sheep of Christ, since the power granted to him was communicable to others: "Therefore hath the Lord commended His sheep to us, because He commended them to Peter."†

That Peter received charge of the sheep of Christ, in a special manner, is declared by Augustin, when enumerating the motives which retained him in the Church: "I am retained," said he, "by the succession of priests from the very See of the apostle Peter, to whom our Lord, after His resurrection, intrusted the feeding of His sheep, down to the actual bishop."

ST. LEO beautifully expounds the pastoral commission in connection with the charge to confirm the brethren, and the prayer of Christ for its fulfilment: "Since, therefore, beloved, we see such a protection divinely granted to us, reasonably and justly do we rejoice in the merits and dignity of our chief, rendering thanks to the Eternal King, our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, for having given so great a power to him whom He made chief of the whole Church, that if any thing, even in our time, be rightly done and rightly ordered by us, it is to be ascribed to his working, to his guidance, unto whom it was said: 'And thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren and to whom the Lord, after His resurrection, in answer to the triple profession of perpetual love, thrice said with mystical intent, Feed My sheep.' And this, beyond a doubt, the pious shepherd doth even now, and fulfils the charge of his Lord; strengthening us with his exhortations, and not ceasing to pray for us, that we may be overcome by no temptation."§ The great power granted to Peter especially, and to his successors, is strongly declared by the holy pontiff, who justly ascribes the constancy in faith which distinguishes the occupants of the See to the prayer of Christ, that the faith of Peter might not fail.

St. Eucherius, who occupied the See of Lyons toward the middle of the

*Serm. ccxcvi. in nat. Apost. tom. v. 1195 F.

Ibidem. Tom. v. 1199 D, 1202 F.

L. contra epist. Manichæi, quam vocant fundamenti.
In Anniv. Consecr.

fifth century, in his discourse on the feast of the apostles, Peter and Paul, observes that "our Lord intrusted to Peter, first the lambs, and then the sheep, because He constituted him not only a shepherd, but the shepherd of shepherds. Peter therefore feeds the lambs: he feeds the sheep likewise; he feeds the young, and feeds the mothers: he rules, both subjects and prelates. He is then shepherd over all, because besides lambs and sheep there is nothing in the Church."

ST. GREGORY THE GREAT writes: "To all who know the Gospel, it is manifest that THE CHARGE OF THE WHOLE CHURCH was intrusted by the voice of the Lord to the holy apostle Peter, chief of all the apostles. For to him is said: Peter, lovest thou Me? Feed My sheep."* This commission, therefore, implied the charge of the whole Church.

Although I have generally confined my quotations to the fathers of the six first ages, I cannot refrain from giving the reader the benefit of the reasoning of ST. BERNARD, "the last of the fathers in age, but equal to the first in glory," as Mr. Allies describes him. Addressing Pope Eugenius, he says: "You are he to whom the keys were given; to whom the sheep were intrusted. There are, indeed, likewise, other gate-keepers of heaven, and shepherds of the flocks; but you have inherited both titles in a sense far different and more sublime. They have, each of them, their respective flocks severally assigned to them: all have been intrusted to you, as one flock to one man. Nor are you shepherd of the sheep alone, but of the shepherds also; the one shepherd of all. Do you ask me how I prove this? From the word of the Lord. For to which I do not say of the bishops, but of the apostles themselves, were the sheep committed so absolutely and unreservedly? If thou lovest Me, Peter, feed My sheep.' What sheep? The people of this or that district, city, or kingdom? My sheep,' He says. Who does not manifestly see that He did not particularize any, but assigned them all to him? None are excepted, where no distinction is made. The other disciples were perchance present, when intrusting all to one, He recommended unity to all, in one flock and one shepherd according to that passage: 'My dove is one, My beautiful one, My perfect one." This exposition, which is strictly literal, is fully sustained by the testimonies of the early fathers, which I have already quoted, as well as by the acts of pastoral authority exercised by Peter, and recorded in the divine writings.

Lib. v. ep. XX.

† L. ii. de Consider. c. viii.

CHAPTER VI.

Exercise of the Primacy by St. Peter.

:

Ir is impossible not to be struck with the prominent part which Peter acted in the establishment of the Church. While the disciples were awaiting the fulfilment of the promise of Christ, and preparing by prayer for the coming of the Paraclete, Peter arose, and proposed to fill the vacancy which the fall of Judas had occasioned. Under divine illumination he unfolds the meaning of the sacred oracles, which predicted the treachery of this apostle, and directed that another should take his bishopric : he determines the qualifications of the successor and if he does not himself choose the individual, it is from no want of power, but to give a laudable example of its moderate exercise. This condescension is justly admired by the eloquent Bishop of Constantinople: "Being fervent and intrusted by Christ with the care of the flock, and being the leader of the band, he is always the first to speak. Why did he not himself alone beseech Christ to give him some one in the place of Judas? Why do not the brethren of themselves undertake the election? See how he does all things with the general consent, nothing arbitrarily, nothing imperiously. Brethren, he says. Since the Lord called his disciples brethren, still more should he style them such. Wherefore he addressed them, all being present. Behold the dignity of the Church, and its angelic state. Why does he confer with them on this matter? Lest it become a subject of dispute, and they fall into dissensions. He leaves the choice to the judgment of the multitude, thus securing their regard for the objects of their choice, and freeing himself from jealousy. COULD NOT PETER HIMSELF HAVE CHOSEN THE INDIVIDUAL? BY ALL MEANS: but he abstains from doing it, lest he should appear to indulge partiality. He is the first to proceed in this affair, because ALL HAVE BEEN DELIVERED OVER INTO HIS HANDS: for to him Christ said: Thou being once converted, confirm thy brethren."* It is gratifying to be able to show in what light this act was viewed by so bright an ornament of the Greek Church-one of the most illustrious men of antiquity-the occupant of the chair of the imperial city, the new Rome. In the conduct of Peter on this occasion, Chrysostom recognises a splendid instance of the moderate use of supreme power. A still more manifest exercise of the high office of Peter, as guardian

Chrysost. hom. iii. in 1 cap. Act.

of the faith, occurs in the history of the first Council of Jerusalem. Great excitement was caused at Antioch by certain Judaizing Christians, who insisted that the converts from the Gentiles should be subjected to circumcision and the legal observances. "Paul and Barnabas had no small contest with them,"* without being able to induce all to acquiesce in their judgment; wherefore it was determined that they "and certain others of the other side, should go up to the apostles and priests to Jerusalem about this question." "Accordingly the apostles and ancients came together to consider of this matter, and when there was much disputing, Peter rising up said to them: Brethren, you know that in former days God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the Gospel, and believe. And God, who knoweth the hearts, gave them testimony, giving to them the Holy Ghost, as well as to us: and made no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why tempt you God to put a yoke upon the necks of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we believe to be saved, even as they." The result of this address is worthy of attention: "All the multitude held their peace." There was great contention previously at Antioch, notwithstanding the reverence due to the apostolic character in Paul and Barnabas; it is renewed in the Council; when Peter, rising up, reminds them that he had been chosen to announce the Gospel to the Gentiles, and that God had given evidence of His favor toward them; he reproaches them for seeking to burden them unnecessarily with the multifarious observances of the ceremonial law, and declares the great principle of faith in Jesus Christ, as the only foundation of hope, for Jew or Gentile. No sooner has he spoken than all acquiesce: no murmur, no dissenting voice is heard all opposition ceases: and whoever rises to speak, only confirms, like Paul and Barnabas, by the narrative of miraculous facts, what Peter had declared, of the favor shown by God to the Gentiles; or, like James, refers to the prophecies, adding the suggestion of measures to be decreed, that the principle might be carried into successful execution. I do not see how any man can read the simple history of this controversy, by the inspired writer, without perceiving the great weight of Peter's authority in its termination. The letter of the Council drawn up in the name of the apostles and ancients, which expresses the principle laid down by Peter, and the practical measure suggested by James, is declared to emanate from the Holy Ghost: "it hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us."§ The writers of antiquity speak of it as the sentence or decree of Peter. TERTULLIAN describes it as the exercise of his power of binding and loosing:

Karo, "I judge," is the simple expression of sentiment, whether authoritative, or void of authority. See Thucydid. iv. 60. It corresponds to the Latin censeo.

Acts xv. 28.