Vietnamese Catholics Marrying into Ethnic Minorities

Mary Luu Thi Na and her husband Joseph Tran Van Nang wept with happiness at the Dec. 1 wedding of their son Tran Van Bao.

He married Ban Mai Phuong, a Dao ethnic woman, at Vinh Quang Church in mountainous Yen Bai province in the northern part of central Vietnam. About half of the 500 or so guests were members of the local Tay, Thai and Muong ethnic minorities. "We are very happy that my son has brought Phuong to the church," Na said with a smile. "God blesses our family.

The 50-year-old mother of four said she appreciated her son's decision to marry a non-Catholic ethnic woman and saw it as helping to evangelize among minority groups.

She said Phuong, 21, is good at catechism and was one of 10 non-Catholics to recently finish a three-month course on marriage preparations. Now she has two daughters-in-law who have embraced Catholicism.

The first was from the Thai ethnic group and she converted in 2015. "We live together in perfect harmony in our home," Na said of her farming family. "We recite the Rosary in the evening to maintain our faith." Phuong, who has four sisters and one brother, said she is the first person from her village to adopt Catholicism.

 "I agreed to follow the religion because my husband's family and other Catholics love and help me, and Catholicism teaches people to worship one God and love and respect other people," she said. In doing so, she had been supported by her own parents. 

 Na, whose mother is also Tay, accepted Catholicism before her marriage. She now believes that such wedlock plays an important part in spreading the faith. 

Thomas Tran Van Tra, 38, who married a local ethnic Thai woman 15 years ago, said at first his parents strongly opposed his decision.  Local ethnic people can be looked down on and some Catholics believe marriages should be between members of established Catholic families.

But Tra said his wife accepted Catholicism and he was glad that their marriage rituals were conducted at the Vinh Quang Church. "We now have a happy marriage and two good daughters," said Tra, who serves as a council member in a subparish and earns a living by trading as well as repairing televisions and other electronic appliances. 

Tra said he sets a good example by treating his family kindly and not committing adultery or getting drunk. His wife, a dressmaker, avoided going to church for about five years after getting married, but that changed when she learned more about its teachings, including fasting and the marking of holy days. He attends wedding celebrations and funerals of his wife's relatives and his wife regularly attends Mass. His parents have dropped their earlier concerns. 

Now they love both his wife and their children. Tra's two brothers are happily married to members of the Thai and Tay minorities. He said it is important for Catholics to act as missionaries and carry their faith forward. . 

94 Year Old Nhu, a Lay Catholic Missionary said mixed marriages were effective ways of evangelizing in the area where local Catholics suffered religious restrictions and had no resident priests for half a century. The government could not prevent Catholics from wedding members of ethnic minorities or followers of other faiths.

 However, Nhu said, there is a need for awareness of potential personal problems. "It is important that the church holds pastoral plans to lead mixed couples to live good marriages and strengthen their faith in the early stages of their married life."  

Vinh Quang parish, established in 1909, has 3,600 Catholics, including about 1,300 members of ethnic minorities.

Credits : UCA News , December 2018

The Life Of A Veteran Capuchin Missionary in North - West India

The death of 88-year-old Capuchin Father Ignatius Fevrier at a Catholic hospital in Ajmer in 1991 marked the end of a chapter in the Church history of northwestern India.

The Church´s mission in this arid and backward region began with the arrival from Paris in 1890 of three Capuchin priests and two brothers, who settled at Mhow in the then Central Province, now called Madhya Pradesh.

The Capuchins later broadened their activities to Rajputana, now Rajasthan. Their work in the Rajaputana mission under Agra archdiocese bore fruit and the mission was made an apostolic prefecture in 1891 and a diocese -- Ajmer -- in 1913. In 1935, the diocese was divided.

Most of its area in Madhya Pradesh was handed over to Divine Word missioners to form the new Indore diocese. Rajasthan now has two dioceses, Ajmer-Jaipur and Udaipur.

In 1949, the French Capuchins, who continued to work in Rajasthan, handed over the diocese´s administration to diocesan clergy. Many Capuchins then left for Ethiopia to start a new mission, but some opted to stay in India.

Among them was Father Fevrier, who came to India in 1931 and never left it even for a holiday in France. Father Fevrier worked in Saint Anselm´s School, Ajmer, and at the catechist training center at Suket, before being appointed parish priest in Jaipur, Rajasthan state capital. 

There, he started a school, which was later given to the Patna Province Jesuits. It is one of the leading schools in the state. Father Fevrier then moved to Ambapada, a mission among the Bhil tribals. 

He sought new areas to evangelize the poor tribals with disregard for his own comfort and failing health. Having established Ambapada mission, the French Capuchin moved to a new area further north and founded the Dungarpur mission. Father Fevrier´s mission work made him travel 6,644 kilometers. 

When the Dungarpur mission was viable, the indefatigable missioner established another mission at Rakhabdev Kesaroaki, a town midway between Dungarpur and Udaipur. 

When that got going he went off to break new ground in Jhadol and Pai. Two vibrant missions now exist in these places. After an enforced retirement, the missioner said that his greatest penance was not being able to work any longer. 

Father Fevrier spent his last days praying for seminarians so that his successors can continue his work with fewer difficulties in a region, where Christians form only 0.11 percent of 43.8 million people.

Credits : UCA News 

Saint Augustine Zhao Rong -- An Eminent Chinese Catholic Martyr

Thursday, July 9, marks the anniversary of the death of a not very well known Christian martyr, Augustine Zhao Rong, who was executed on or about this date in the year 1815.

But, while his death was certainly heroic, he represents a much larger trail of blood in the empire and now People’s Republic of China.

Zhao Rong was born in 1746 and as a young man rose to be a captain in the imperial Chinese army.

One of his last assignments was to escort the arrested French missionary Bishop John Gabriel Taurin Dufresse from the place of his arrest to Beijing.

The older bishop suffered much and bore his trials with patience as he was brought to his trial.

Impressed with the old Christian’s courage, Zhao Rong asked to learn more about the foreigner’s religion and he was soon baptized.

While still in the army, he saw the old French bishop die for his faith. Bishop John’s head was severed and placed on a pole as a discouragement to the further spread of Christianity.

In fact, as is often the case with martyrs, the exact opposite occurred. The old bishop’s body was stolen by Christians three days later and given a reverent burial, and the faith began to spread.

This brave witness may have been part of his inspiration for Zhao Rong to leave the army, to enter theological study and be ordained as a priest. Not long after his ordination Zhao Rong was arrested, put to torture and executed in 1815.

At Rong’s murder, a number of other Christians were also put to death by the imperial authorities, including an 18-year-old man who was flayed to death. The younger martyr, Chi Zhuzi, cried out to his torturers in his agony, “Every piece of my flesh, every drop of my blood will tell you that I am Christian.”

The reason why the Christians were persecuted by the emperors of China was that the rulers feared that “foreign rites” were harmful to the state, perhaps because they would upset the balance and harmony so devoutly sought by the ancient cults of China.

More obviously, they did not want foreigners meddling in their territory, and the fact that most of the missions were sent from Europeans in potentially hostile Japan did not help matters.

In point of fact, Christianity in China was far older than the missionary movements of modern times. One legend say that the apostle St. Bartholomew first took the Gospel to China.

It is known that there were Christians missionaries in China as early as the fifth century A.D. and the first known church building was erected in the seventh century A.D.

In the time of the Tang Dynasty in the seventh through 10th centuries there was a flourishing Christian community in China, and by the 13th century there was a an Italian bishop in Beijing.

The early Christians did not challenge many of the traditions of ancient China, and for many faithful the veneration of ancestors and Catholic honor to the saints seemed somehow compatible. This relatively peaceful situation was not to last.

A pivotal figure in Chinese history is the Emperor Kang His, who ruled from 1654 to 1722. This emperor on one hand encouraged the Jesuit missionaries and was particularly interested in their scientific research. However he was uncomfortable with any ceremonial rite which was not of pure Chinese heritage.

His successors, following this view, would openly persecute the Christian community. Christians had been killed from time to time in the civil disorders which often plagued China. But in 1715 and again in 1729 and 1746 imperial authorities increasingly turned on the missionaries and native Chinese believers.

It was the Emperor Kia-Kin, who ruled from 1796 to 1821, who issued a series of decrees forbidding Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular from his empire, and specific decrees were issued against anyone studying theology. Kia-Kin promised toleration to those who freely renounced their faith, but decreed a nasty end to anyone who did not.

It was in this period that Zhao Rong was killed, nor was he alone. About the same time Peter Wu, a lay teacher, was strangled, as were Joseph Zhang Dapeng a layman and a merchant, Father Thaddeus Liu and a lay teacher named Joachim Ho. These few names represent a larger number whose names are known but to God.

Note : It is important to Pray For Chinese Catholics in the Underground Catholic Church as they are Living Martyrs and True Witnesses of Christ's Unadulterated Gospel. 

A Leap Of Faith Transforms The Lives Of Untouchables In Bangladesh

“I always take pride in calling myself a Dalit,” declares Atul Francis Sarker, a Catholic and executive director of Caritas Bangladesh, the Church’s social service agency and one of the country’s largest charities.

His journey from the marginalized and discriminated Dalit group to climbing to the top position of Caritas is a story of defying odds with resilience and dedication. “I owe this much to missionaries and the Church’s comprehensive development approach for all people,” Sarker, a 62-year-old father of two, told UCA News.

Originally one of the faithful at St. Xavier’s Catholic Church in Baradal in Satkhira district, covered by Khulna Diocese, Sarker is based in Dhaka and visits his village home occasionally. Most of the parish’s more than 3,200 Catholics are former Dalits. Dalits are excluded from the four-tier Hindu caste system and are discriminated against as “untouchables” by caste Hindus. They are denied social mixing including gatherings and marriage, entry to schools, restaurants, markets and temples, and so on.

Sarker also faced humiliation during his childhood. “I remember people refused to buy milk from me in the market. Once I touched the earthen pot of a woman mistakenly while collecting water from the pond, so it was smashed. I was surprised and only realized how humiliating it was when I grew up,” said the former seminarian. 

Catholic missionaries have played a vital role in transforming the lives of thousands of Dalits, Christians and non-Christians alike, he noted. “They emphasized social values such as accepting people as they are and how to diminish social stigma. Their priority on education, development and empowerment has turned the tables for Dalits,” he said.   

Transformation:

Shyamuyel Mondol, 26, is a Catholic and social worker from Mary, Queen of the Poor Catholic Church in Chuknagar of Khulna district. It has 300 Dalit Catholics. Since the late 1970s, the church has been a base for missionaries from the Society of St. Francis Xavier for Foreign Missions (Xaverians) serving Dalit-majority areas in Satkhira, Khulna and Jessore districts.  

Local Catholics embraced Christianity by choice to avoid age-old social humiliation and discrimination, Mondol says. “They believed that without changing faith freedom was not possible. 

With the support of the Church, many of them got an education, found respectable jobs and live with dignity,” Mondol told UCA News.

Mondol’s Catholic mother married a Hindu man who later became a Christian. Despite endemic poverty, the couple offered education to seven children with support from the Church. Mondol entered a seminary to become a missionary priest but left after graduating in 2018.

During his schooling and religious formation, he gained English language and computer skills that proved to be vital resources for his future life. He now works with a charity that supports people with disabilities. He plans to start an NGO to focus more on livelihood and self-reliance for people with disabilities. 

His interest in the disabled came from exposure to similar services of the missionaries. “Who I am today or I can become in the future could not be possible if my parents didn’t convert. 

Christian values and church support changed our lives forever,” he added.

The story of Swapon Das, executive director of Dalit, a social organization in Satkhira district, is slightly different. 

Das, 57, became a Catholic in 1985 after working with Xaverian Father Pierluigi Lupi on various socioeconomic projects for Dalits for two years. “Father Lupi was angry when I first appealed to become a Christian and told me to stick to my religion.

He agreed after several requests,” Das told UCA News. He is the only family member who changed faith and, even after he entered a seminary to become a priest, his Hindu mother vehemently resisted. “She wrote to me: 'I have accepted your conversion to Christianity but I will commit suicide if you become a priest.' So I left,” he recalled. 

After becoming Christian, most Dalits abandoned old professions and became farmhands, fishermen, fish farm workers and daily wagers. Those who got a better education even became doctors and engineers. With the increase in literacy and social awareness, malpractices such as the dowry system and child marriages have dropped. 

Yet about 30 percent of Dalit girls still become victims of early marriage, prompting social groups to continue campaigns, Das noted. “We have been promoting education and vocational training such as handicrafts and computer training because many Dalits, especially Hindus, are still poor and discriminated against,” he added.  

A complex relationship:

For ages, Dalit Hindus resorted to a range of professions deemed demeaning by caste Hindus, such as chamar (animal hide collector), muchi (cobbler), methor (sweeper) and dom (corpse handler). There are about 3.5 million Dalits in rural and urban Bangladesh, according to Banglapedia, the national encyclopedia. The southern coastal region is home to about 500,000 Dalits, activists say. 

Starting from the 17th century, Catholic missionary groups — Jesuits, PIME and Salesians — had activities among Dalits in areas now covered by southern Khulna Diocese, with both success and failure, according to Xaverian Father Sergio Targa, a researcher and social activist. 

Dalits, driven by a need for “security and protection” from social oppression, offered the only front for evangelization as caste Hindus and Muslims were skeptical of Christianity. 

The relation between Dalits and early missionaries was topsy-turvy for various reasons including lack of support from church authorities, inadequate human resources and rigidity on both sides, the priest noted. Dalits moved back and forth between Catholicism and Hinduism over issues like unlawful marriage, power struggles between priests and village leaders, and constant quarrels among villagers.

Xaverian missionaries termed the Dalits "Rishi" (wise or sage) to dignify their professions and started their Rishi Mission in 1952. 

They shifted priority from conversion to social development. Xaverians also faced challenges as non-Rishi Christians didn’t want to mix with Rishi converts. For example, two buildings for liturgy for two groups existed in a parish until a Xaverian priest pulled one down in 1959.  “Rishi people became Christian mainly to have dignity and to get services from the Church. They believed their traditional faith would not allow them freedom from untouchability,” Xaverian Father Luigi Paggi, who worked among Rishis for 25 years, told UCA News. 

Today, about half of Khulna Diocese’s Catholics are Dalits and three parishes — Satkhira, Shimulia and Baradal — are entirely comprised of Dalit Catholics. There are also some priests from Rishi families. Father Paggi lamented that Rishi people should have prospered even more. “Those who prospered in life could support the community better. There is a lack of unity and motivation as if they are in a slumber,” the priest said. 

Daud Jibon Das, 44, secretary of the Justice and Peace Commission in Khulna Diocese, credited Christianity with changing the lives of Dalits. “Christianity played a revolutionary role in my village [in Satkhira] as education and better livelihoods improved the lives of people.

All children go to school, which was unthinkable one day,” Das, regional director of Caritas Khulna, told UCA News. 

Das, a Dalit himself, noted that many Dalits still need support as they don’t have land apart from their ancestral home and lack better livelihoods to have a decent life. “We are trying to help those still in need. We are grateful to the missionaries for helping improve our lives and we keep in mind their lesson that we must not forget our community no matter what,” he added.

Credits : UCA News, July 2, 2020 

Ethnic Catechists Bravely spread the Faith In Vietnamese Villages

Paul A Long has visitors at his home every day, quietly teaching them prayers and catechism.

"My visitors are those who want to embrace Catholicism, which is banned by the government," said Long, a yao phu or catechist, adding that he also opened his doors to atheists.

"Many villagers really want to embrace Catholicism, so they secretly ask me to teach them catechism," said the Sedang ethnic and father of seven. Now many of those families are Catholics too.

Long and his entire family, who are from Kon Plong district of Kon Tum province in the Central Highlands, were also secretly baptized by priests from other areas in 2015.

The 63-year-old catechist said village officials have banned local Catholics like him from evangelizing other villagers but that he had told them: "They themselves come to us and ask us to teach them the religion. I help them at their request."

Long said that although Catholics have to travel far to attend weekend Masses at churches away from their villages, the religion has brought happiness into their lives, as well as teaching them useful things.

"We try to set examples of how to lead good lives so new followers are loyal to their faith," said Long, who farms crops for a living.

Secretly embracing religion:

Paul A Dang, an ethnic Gie from Dak Glei district in the same province, said local authorities had tried to prevent yao phu from talking about Catholicism to villagers interested in taking up the religion.

"We quietly visit patients and give help to poor people as a way to approach them," he said.
Dang, 50, said his group helped build a new house for an elderly couple and now they wanted to follow Catholicism.

Another Sedang ethnic catechist, Joseph A Lim, said he and other catechists from his village were also banned from publicly preaching Catholic values to other villagers.

Lim, 31, said he converted to Catholicism in 2012 after being sent to learn vocational skills in Ho Chi Minh City by a local priest. He attended training courses in Kon Tum city and became a yao phu in 2013, albeit discreetly since priests and sisters were banned from evangelizing at his village.

"Villagers secretly embrace the religion and learn catechism from other Catholics, including me," said the father of two.

"We want to follow the shining examples of Saint Etienne-Théodore Cuenot to spread the Good News to our people in the Central Highlands."

Lim, Dang and Long were among 2,500 yao phu and ko khul (heads of Catholic ethnic communities) who attended the feast of St. Etienne-Théodore, their patron, at Kon Tum Cathedral on Nov. 14 when a special Mass was concelebrated by Bishop Aloisius Nguyen Hung Vi and many other priests.

St. Etienne-Théodore was a French bishop who sent the first missionaries to work with ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands. He died in jail in Binh Dinh province on Nov. 15, 1861, and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988.

Foreign missionaries established the Yao Phu School of Cuenot in 1908 in Kon Tum province to train ethnic youths. Hundreds of yao phu were trained at the school before it was confiscated by the government in 1975. Many of the students went on to become priests.

Bol Yao Phu — or the Yao Phu Association — was founded in 1915 to teach catechisim to ethnic groups in the diocese.

Yao phu took important roles in maintaining religious life in the villages during the three decades when local Catholics had no priests or churches.

Bishop Vi said yao phu and their families are sent to teach catechism to villagers and bring them back to the local church, which needs priests.

He said the diocese's 180 priests cannot fully serve 50,000 Catholics, including 250,000 people from the various ethnic groups. Each priest has to offer pastoral care to several parishes, each one covering many villages. Many villages have only a few Masses each year.

The bishop encourages yao phu to find good youths who have finished high school and send them to attend training courses. He said now 60 students are now attending three-year courses at the Bishop's House.

Teaching more than just catechism:

However, he said, even yao phu from remote villages need to devote more time to study catechism and the Bibles. To this end, they are given annual courses on evangelization skills and human values.

The bishop also counsels them on how to avoid alcoholic abuse and help others to give up alcohol.

Laurence Chum, a Banar ethnic yao phu from Mang Yang district, said all his villagers embraced Catholicism before 1975 but then moved to forests to avoid wars, suffered homelessness and lack of food and had no priests for decades.

Chum, 67, said Redemptorists had offered pastoral care to villagers in recent years, so "many of them have recently returned to the church." He and other yao phu have also visited villages and taught catechism.

John Baptist A Ker, the head of Plei Jodrap parish council, said one priest, two brothers and eight sisters had come out of his parish, which is home to the ethnic Ro Ngao group.

Ker, a father of nine, said he retired from working for the local commune to become a yao phu several years ago. Now one of his own daughters has joined a women's religious congregation.

He said villagers held yao phu in great respect because they gave people good advice and taught them about moral values and even how to cultivate crops.

The Holy Rosary A Weapon Of Prayer In The 21st Century

“The month of October each year is dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary. This is primarily due to the fact that the liturgical feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is celebrated annually on October 7th. It was instituted to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary in gratitude for the protection that she gives the Church in answer to the praying of the Rosary by the faithful.” (Rev. Matthew R. Mauriello, Source: Catholic.net)

According to Catholic tradition and history St. Dominic received the Holy Rosary directly from the Blessed Virgin in 1206. He had been praying and doing penances because of his failure to defeat the Albigensian heresy. Mary appeared and consoled and encouraged him. She also gave him a mighty weapon, the Rosary. Because this was a new way of praying, our Blessed Lady taught him how to say the rosary and asked him to preach this devotion and to teach others to pray it as well. Since that time many victories, both personal and public, have been credited to the recitation of and mediation on the Holy Rosary.

The power of the Rosary is not contested by most Catholics. We love this gift given to us by our Mother, Mary. Despite this, it is a prayer that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle or pushed to one side. We may tell ourselves that it takes too much time…but it really doesn’t, if we break it down. If five decades all at once is too difficult to fit into the day, maybe try praying one at a time. One decade of the rosary takes about 5-8 minutes to say reverently. Almost everyone can find 5-8 minutes and as one priest told us from the pulpit, “It’s not ideal, but if necessary, mute the sound during the commercials while you watch TV and say your rosary.”

Because the rosary is such a powerful prayer, obstacles will crop up to prevent us from saying it. It’s a beautiful, meditative prayer but because it is by design repetitious, we may find ourselves becoming distracted as we pray. We start out focusing on one of the mysteries only to be sidetracked by what we will make for dinner, how we’re going to pay this or that bill, or who will drive Susie or Billy to the dentist or choir practice. Sometimes our minds just wander in spite of our love for the devotion and for Our Lord and Our Lady.

We were discussing this while I was on retreat and a friend of mine suggested an interesting way to refocus wandering minds and attention while praying the Rosary. At first I was a little skeptical because I thought it would become rote, but then I tried it and it worked! This is what she does. Since our minds tend to wander when we reach the Hail Mary’s she would insert a reminder after “…of thy womb, Jesus.” For example, if she were saying the fourth sorrowful mystery and her mind wandered she would say something like:

“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus (carrying His cross). Holy Mary Mother of God …amen”

For the first Luminous mystery she might say something like: “…blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus (baptized in the River Jordan). Holy Mary…amen.”

I hope this will be of help to anyone who may find it difficult to concentrate or meditate on the mysteries of the Holy Rosary (and would love to hear other suggestions to help us say this wonderful prayer more attentively). It has proven to be a powerful weapon and aid in the past. I’m certain it can be again if we only make use of it.

The Solemnity Of Saints Peter and Paul --- June 29, 2020

On June 29 the Church celebrates the feast day of Sts. Peter & Paul. As early as the year 258, there is evidence of an already lengthy tradition of celebrating the solemnities of both Saint Peter and Saint Paul on the same day. Together, the two saints are the founders of the See of Rome, through their preaching, ministry and martyrdom there.

Peter, who was named Simon, was a fisherman of Galilee and was introduced to the Lord Jesus by his brother Andrew, also a fisherman. Jesus gave him the name Cephas (Petrus in Latin), which means ‘Rock,’ because he was to become the rock upon which Christ would build His Church.

Peter was a bold follower of the Lord. He was the first to recognize that Jesus was “the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” and eagerly pledged his fidelity until death. In his boldness, he also made many mistakes, however, such as losing faith when walking on water with Christ and betraying the Lord on the night of His passion.

Yet despite his human weaknesses, Peter was chosen to shepherd God's flock. The Acts of the Apostles illustrates his role as head of the Church after the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ. Peter led the Apostles as the first Pope and ensured that the disciples kept the true faith.

St. Peter spent his last years in Rome, leading the Church through persecution and eventually being martyred in the year 64. He was crucified upside-down at his own request, because he claimed he was not worthy to die as his Lord.

He was buried on Vatican hill, and St. Peter's Basilica is built over his tomb.

St. Paul was the Apostle of the Gentiles. His letters are included in the writings of the New Testament, and through them we learn much about his life and the faith of the early Church.
Before receiving the name Paul, he was Saul, a Jewish pharisee who zealously persecuted Christians in Jerusalem. Scripture records that Saul was present at the martyrdom of St. Stephen.

Saul's conversion took place as he was on his way to Damascus to persecute the Christian community there. As he was traveling along the road, he was suddenly surrounded by a great light from heaven. He was blinded and fell off his horse. He then heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He answered: “Who are you, Lord?” Christ said: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

Saul continued to Damascus, where he was baptized and his sight was restored. He took the name

Paul and spent the remainder of his life preaching the Gospel tirelessly to the Gentiles of the Mediterranean world.

Paul was imprisoned and taken to Rome, where he was beheaded in the year 67.

He is buried in Rome in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

In a sermon in the year 395, St. Augustine of Hippo said of Sts. Peter and Paul: “Both apostles share the same feast day, for these two were one; and even though they suffered on different days, they were as one. Peter went first, and Paul followed. And so we celebrate this day made holy for us by the apostles' blood. Let us embrace what they believed, their life, their labors, their sufferings, their preaching, and their confession of faith.”

Credits : Catholic News Agency