you are not of the world, the world hateth you” (John 15, 18. 19). The Church of God is hated by the world because she is not of the world.
The omniscience of our Lord. He foretold to Peter what death he should die (chapter LXXXII), and what He foretold came to pass.
The Feast of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul is kept on the 29th of June, because on that day both of them glorified God by their martyrdom, and won the crown of justice. Peter is the chief, and Paul is the greatest of the apostles. The former is the rock of the unity of the Church, the latter is the representative of her Catholicity. Their blood has consecrated Rome, the ancient capital of the pagan world, to be the capital of the Christian world, the mother and teacher of all churches.
Steadfast faith. The holy apostles were steadfast in faith, preferring to suffer death, rather than deny their holy faith.
The witness borne by the Apostles and martyrs to the truth of the Christian faith. The holy apostles did not testify to the truth of Christianity by word only, that is, by preaching and writing, but also by their blood, for they joyfully gave their lives for the truth of what they taught, sealing their testimony with their blood. In like manner, many of their successors, Popes, bishops and priests, especially in the first
