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The Feast of the Chair of St. Peter has been celebrated on February 22nd  in the Roman Catholic Church since the 4th century. The chair is enthroned today in Bernini’s massive setting behind the main altar in St. Peter’s Basilica.  A window bearing the symbol of the Holy Spirit casts its light on the chair and those it represents – Peter the Apostle and those who succeed him.

Today’s feast derives from an ancient Roman custom. Families gathered at their burial places during an 8 day celebration culminating on February 22 to remember their dead. At a banquet a chair was provided for the living head of the family who welcomed new members.

You can see why such a setting would inspire of feast for Peter. He presided over the family of the church and spoke for it from its beginning in Jerusalem. He baptized and welcomed Cornelius and his family in the church; ; he was its leader in Antioch in Syria. Jesus said to him:

You are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my Church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.””

Appropriately, the chair of Peter symbolizes those welcomed into the Catholic Church. Early on, Peter’s chair was set up near the baptistery in the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome. The chair of Peter is not a royal throne. It’s a father’s chair, a teacher’s chair. Appropriately, the pope today and his successors are called “Il Papa”.

Back in the 4th century, St. Jerome was baptized in the baptistery of St. Peter’s and he spoke of returning there to remember that great moment in his life when he was welcomed in the family of the church:

“I decided to consult the Chair of Peter, where faith was proclaimed by lips of an Apostle; I now come to ask for nourishment for my soul there, where once I received the garment of Christ. I follow no leader save Christ, so I enter into communion with you, that is, with the Chair of Peter, for this I know is the rock upon which the Church is built”.

Today’s a good day to look at our present “chairman”, “Il Papa”. Pope Francis , who became pope on March 13, 2013 and to ask God to keep him strong and faithful as a father and teacher of the church.

Here’s a study of Bernini’s setting for Peter’s chair.

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