But we shall see; it is in the 30s, barely, 39: I'm grateful that it isn't in the 50s still. Until 1960, it was the feast of the Chair of Saint Peter at Rome and it remains the feast of Saint Prisca, Virgin and Martyr, which Mass will be celebrated at Saint-Eugène later on. Off the top of my head, I cannot recall precisely what nonsense John XXIII did to the feasts of the Cathedrae Sancti Petri-- there was today's feast and then another on 22nd February. I must go rummage about; ah, it does look to be rather confusing (CE, Wiki): somehow both feasts became established at Rome and after some rationalizing it was decided that the one was the feast of Saint Peter's cathedra at Antioch (22nd February) and the other of his cathedra at Rome (18 January). Cardinal Schuster, in his Liber sacramentorum:
The early history of this feast is lost in the shadows of the catacombs, and in spite of recent studies it is still impossible to say that all which is doubtful and obscure therein has been solved. From the third century at least, there was venerated at Rome, in that cemetery district lying between the Via Salaria and the Via Nomentana, the memory, symbolized probably by a chair carved in wood or in tufa, of the apostolic ministry which St Peter exercised at that spot. Beside this place lamps were kept burning, and the pilgrims of the 6th century, when visiting it, were in the habit of carrying home with them as objects of devotion flocks of tow or cotton which had been dipped in the perfumed oil of the lamps. Later we find the sella gestatoria apostolicae confessionis, as Ennodius calls it, in the Baptistery of Damasus in the Vatican, so that it was said of Pope Siricius, the successor of Damasus: Fonte sacro magnus meruit sedere sacerdos. Whilst, however, at Rome the Natalis Petri de Cathedra is entered in the Philocalian Calendar on February 22 as early as the 4th century, the Gallican churches, in order perhaps to avoid keeping this feast in Lent, were in the habit of anticipating it on January 18. The two uses continued to flourish independently side by side for several centuries, until at last their origins became confused outside of Rome, and instead of one chair of Peter, two were commemorated, of which one was attributed to Rome, that of January 18, which was already firmly established in Gallic territory, while the other, after being connected with various places, was finally adjudged to Antioch.
History is often messy and it is ridiculous to pretend otherwise.
... The four regions of the world intimate the same truth about the evangelists, when we consider them in a figurative manner. The north, where the sun lies under the earth, expresses Matthew, who describes how Christ’s divinity was concealed beneath His flesh. The west, where the sun goes down, stands for Luke, who says that Christ the Sun went down in death. The east, where the sun rises every day, is understood to be Mark, who teaches us that Christ the Sun of Justice has risen from the dead. The south, where the sun blazes in the middle of the sky, signifies John, who expounds how the Eternal Sun shines in the majesty of his divinity.They are the four gold rings used to carry the Ark of the Covenant. The ark is holy Church, the rings the four Gospels used to carry it into everlasting dwellings. They are Aminadab’s chariots, which carry the Ark of God back from foreign lands to the home of the fatherland. The Ark of God was captured by foreigners, but brought back to Jerusalem in the chariots of the priest Aminadab. The Ark of God is the Church, which was captured by foreigners when it was a slave to idols. Jesus our true Priest drove it back from enemy territory to Jerusalem in chariots, when He bore it to the heavenly homeland through the doctrine of the four evangelists. John was the chief among them, he who soaked the whole world with his preaching.About this John, we read that he was the son of Our Lord’s maternal aunt. He invited Christ and His Mother to his wedding, but when the wine ran out Christ changed water into wine and made the feasters merry. At the sight, John left his bride and, still a virgin, he cleaved to the son of the Virgin. Because John renounced a fleshly union for love of Him, Christ loved him more than all the disciples. Hence during the Last Supper when He gave His body and blood to His disciples, John leaned on Jesus’ breast, and at that moment he drank from the Fount of wisdom what he later uttered to the world, the unspeakable things of the Word who was hidden in the Father, for in Jesus’ breast are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Later as He was offering Himself on the altar of the Cross as a victim to God the Father for the sake of the world and making His triumph over the prince of death, seeing His Mother standing beside the cross next to John, He thought it was best to commend the Virgin to a virgin....
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