The Feast of Saints Peter and Paul

I have maintained a daily relationship with the celebrated feast's saints since more than three decades. The parish I serve has the two holy apostles as intercessors. When I was assigned to the parish, there was war in Lebanon. It was widely believed, on the block, that it is the neighborhood of "Saints Peter and Paul" that had held off the risk of death from them. Those who are acquainted with the Church from within, can see that the icon of the two Saints, hanging on the iconostasis, had, like the Church itself, received shrapnel from the shells that fell on the area during the war. One of the neighbors told me once: "Peter and Paul bear inevitable death off you"! The words are explicit. Love is eloquent. The witnesses speak not only of a past protection, but also of one that is still ongoing in a lasting present. True life consists of communion with the Saints.