Testamentum Pacis

“The Lord made to him a covenant of peace, and made him a prince;
that the dignity of priesthood should be to him forever…”
Introit of the Mass of the Chair of St. Peter
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“I think thoughts of peace, and not of affliction… My peace I give to you…”

​Sacred Scripture is woven throughout with the peace of the Lord; peace that is given through the hands of Our Lady from the heart of the Tranquil Trinity. The Prince of Peace was heralded by the Angels with songs of glorious peace, and in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, after the consecration of the Sacred Host, it is peace that follows in His trail: “Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum…”

It is this God of peace Who says that not as the World gives peace does He give; for He is “like a refiner’s fire”, and has come to bring the sword of truth that will distinguish between bone and marrow. The ‘peace of the world’ as it is meant here is the placid, frictionless existence that comes from compromise—failing to stand firm in our Faith for the sake of “getting along”. The ‘peace of the Lord’ is, contrarily, the peace of soul that comes from reposing in Him, trusting firmly in the Father’s Holy Will despite obstacles; a peace that can only be attained through struggle. The peace of the world asks of us little, yet costing us our values and even our souls. The peace of Christ costs us every lesser love, but grants us the highest good: God Himself.
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It is according to this peace that the Good God gave us His Holy Church. It is following St. Peter’s testament of Faith in Christ’s Divinity that Our Lord bestows upon him the dignity of His Vicar: a sign of unity and trust. Directly afterward, Our Lord speaks of His coming Passion: a test that shakes the foundation so recently set. St. Peter, in a fit of love, protests Our Lord’s suffering and death, but Our Lord rebukes him for seeking the peace of the world—a Faith that endures no dark nights—rather than the peace of Christ, which accepts all that the Father sends, so that Faith may be deepened and peace in His Will to correspond. ​

It is this St. Peter, Pope and Martyr, who will deny Our Lord in the High Priest’s courtyard. It is this same St. Peter who will then convert 3,000 in a single day, and ultimately die for Faith in Christ Jesus. It is after his faith in his own will—where the world seeks to find its peace—is destroyed that St. Peter’s faith in Christ gives him the peace to be obedient and faithful unto death, even death on a cross. ​

From the day when Christ built His Church upon that Rock to this, there are times when circumstances go beyond the limits of our understanding. It is precisely then, that we must rely upon the Lord’s understanding. In every difficulty which our Lord allows His Church and His faithful to endure for His sake, we have the opportunity to place our trust in Him, who alone is Lord in every time and circumstance. 

As Spouses of Christ—icons of the Church—with a deep ecclesial dimension to our charism, it behooves us to press Our Lord’s promises to His Church to our hearts: that the gates of hell shall never prevail against Her. As well as to make the visible head of the Church on Earth, the special object of our prayers and sacrifices, for the liberty, exaltation, and unity of Christ’s Holy Church. And, in all crosses that Our Lord sees fit to send us, may they be occasions to deepen our Faith, that we may attain lasting peace: “May the God of Peace make you perfect in holiness…” 
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Saint Peter,
ora pro nobis!