"To honor the dignity of the "Prince" to whom Jesus committed the power of the keys, the Church instituted the feast of the "Chair of St. Peter," which is found in the Roman calendar at this date [February 22] in 354.
The cathedra (chair) is the throne established where the bishop resides, hence the name cathedral, given to the church where his seat is placed.
Metaphorically, it represents the episcopal authority itself. "The Chair of St. Peter" means, therefore, a memory of St. Peter's episcopate, and his primacy as head of the Church.
As it [this feast] often falls in Lent, certain churches celebrated it at an earlier date, in January. Hence the two feasts of the Chair of St. Peter, which the Church distinguished by connecting the more ancient one on February 22, with the Chair at Antioch and that on January 18 with the Chair of Rome."
CALL TO ACTION: Adhere to ALL that the lawful pontiffs have conveyed for our spiritual good!
Source of quote: St. Andrew's Daily Missal, page 657; the E. M. Lohmann Co., St. Paul, Minnesota (copyright 1949); Nihil Obstat: J. Gerard Kealy, D.D., Cens. Theol. Deput.; Imprimatur: Samuel Cardinal Stritch, Archrepiscopus Chicagiensis
Photo by: Jason Steele