22 February: Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter

Celebrating the unity of the Church

The Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle commemorates the moment when the Lord said, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church”. On the day in which Romans traditionally honoured their deceased, we honour the See of Saint Peter’s birth in Heaven, which draws glory from victory on the Vatican Hill and presides over the universal communion of charity, states the Roman Martyrology.

The Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter was originally  celebrated on two days: 18 January, which commemorated the Chair of Rome, and 22 February, which commemorated the Chair of Antioch, occupied by Peter before his time in Rome. The reform of the liturgical calendar, kept 22 February as the date for the commemoration of the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, to emphasize the apostolic foundation of the Church of Rome and the service of presiding over charity, that ancient tradition attributed to Peter and his successors.

There is evidence of the Feast in the oldest Roman calendar, the Depositio martyrum. Pagan Rome had the tradition of eating near the tombs of the departed to commemorate the deceased, leaving a central place, called “cathedra”, empty to recall the presence of the dead among the family. The Feast of the Chair replaced this pagan celebration, and by the fifth century, it was celebrated with a nighttime vigil in Saint Peter’s Basilica, presided by the Pope.

One of the main reasons for celebrating the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter is to honour the unity of the Church, as it symbolizes Peter’s authority and his zeal in establishing a solid foundation for the Church. 

For centuries, the Chair was regarded as the seat from which Peter preached in his role as Bishop. The feast became increasingly widespread, from the 13th century onwards. On 22 February, the faithful would flock to Saint Peter’s Basilica to touch the Chair with ribbons, believing in its miraculous power. Pope Alexander VII had it moved to the apse and commissioned Gian Lorenzo Bernini to make a worthy enclosure for it. The artist took 10 years to make the grandiose gilded bronze monument that stands in the apse of the Basilica today.

The 18th of January now marks the beginning of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.