MONDAY, JULY 01, 2024
Frazer Andrade
On June 29, Saints Peter and Paul are celebrated. Two apostles, two very different men, both fundamental to the history of the Church. It is difficult to think of two men more different from each other in history and vocation than St Peter and St Paul were. Yet, not only are they both remembered as two bulwarks of faith, and symbols of the Catholic Church itself, but they even share the same feast, June 29.
On that date, in 67 AD, St Peter and St Paul were martyred in Rome during the persecutions ordered by the emperorNero against the Christians. In Goa, during the monsoon season, there were floods that were predicted well in advance. The second flood of the three predicted floods was to be on June 29 i.e. the feast of São Pedro e São Paulo. This day marks the beginning of the ‘ramponn’ fishing season for Goan fishermen. It is on this day that they pay tribute to all their deceased fellow mates, singing litanies to God.
“Traditionally, it was celebrated as the ‘Sangodd’ festival in places like Orda in Candolim, Ribandar and Assolna. The fishermen set up a ‘Sangodd’ by joining together their fishing canoes to create a stage, and a replica of a Chapel, symbolic to the contributions of St Peter and St Paul towards the building of the Catholic Church,” says Pedro Aguiar, from Margão.
“During the Sangodd in Orda, a ward in Candolim, people assemble at the Santa Cruz chapel, sing a newly composed opening song in Konkani which is followed by a short prayer”, says Tomazinho Cardozo, a renowned Goan teacher and writer. Further, he mentions that several Konkani songs accompanied by a complete brass band and comedy skits are performed in front of the chapel replica on the canoes.
Both these saints, Peter and Paul are draped in layers of symbolism when represented in sacred art. St Peter is almost always easily recognized. Since at least the 4th Century, he has been portrayed with curly hair and a short, square beard and since at least the early 6th Century in the West, he has carried a set of keys as his attribute. The keys refer to Jesus’ statement to Peter, “I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” Some representations of St Peter emphasize the papal connection by adorning him with a triple tiara.Joannes Molanus (1533–1585), a Catholic theologian argued that one of the two keys held by the saint should be gold and the other silver, so as to symbolize the pope’s powers of absolution and excommunication respectively. However, in most cases the keys have been depicted in a single colour, either intentionally or due to ignorance. The use of keys is rare in the art of the Orthodox churches, which do not recognize papal supremacy. In 12th-century Sicily (Italy), where many people were Orthodox, even some Catholic churches did without the use of keys, instead using a cross or a book.
The curly hair and short, square beard, in accordance to some scholars, is modeled on classical images of ‘the teacher’ or ‘the philosopher’. The early images usually give the saint a full head of hair, although in the 4th century, St Jerome alluded to an earlier assertion that he was bald. In the second millennium, portraits often show him balding from the back of his head, sometimes with only a tuft of hair remaining at the forehead. Jacobus De Voragine, an Italian chronicler, explains that the pagans of Antioch cut off the top part of Peter’s hair “to do him despite and shame,” and that this insult is memorialized by the tonsure worn by members of the clergy.
Very rarely, St Peter’s attributes may include the double chains that had bound him when the angel released him from prison. A fish or fishing gear may also be used in some representations of Peter, though rarely seen.
Many images’ pair St Peter with St Paul. Different authorities have expressed different opinions regarding, which of them should be on the right and which on the left, but in general, Peter will be to the left of Paul when they are pictured side-by-side and to the right when the two are flanking a central personage.
In some medieval works, St Peter sits enthroned as Prince of the Apostles or as an authoritative teacher.
A Shepherd’s Staff represents St Peter’s role as chief shepherd of Jesus’ flock while an upside-down cross represents the type of cross upon which Peter was martyred during the persecution of the emperor Nero (64-68 AD). According to tradition, Peter said that he was unworthy to be crucified in the same manner as his Master, and insisted that he may be crucified in a different way, and his executioners granted his request. His red vesting represents his martyrdom. A rooster crowing may also be shown in some ensembles and represents St Peter’s threefold denial of Jesus in the high priest’s courtyard.
St Peter is also represented by a rock jutting out from the sea, because St Peter is the rock upon which the church is built; a fishing net, because Jesus called St Peter to be a fisher of men; a boat, because it is a symbol for the Church and St Peter is at the helm; a rolled up scroll or book, because two letters are attributed to St Peter; a chair, because he was the first pope and since the Vatican basilica is named San Pietro.
St Paul is generally portrayed wearing a log red robe covered in a mantle. The red colour here, also represents martyrdom. He is often depicted holding a closed book in his left hand and a sword in his right. The book carried by St Paul represents the fourteen epistles, traditionally attributed to have been written by him in the New Testament of the Bible. The sword is a reminder of the means of his martyrdom – he was beheaded in Rome in 67 AD. The sword as a symbol made its first appearance in Christian sacred art in the 10th Century and has been used ever since.
His hair is generally shown as resting in waves along the front. He is shown bearing a long beard, often executed as narrow wavey furrows. The saint may be sometimes shown holding a pilgrim’s staff also referred to as the staff of faith which is surmounted by a flag. The use of pilgrim flags gained immense popularity in the 15th and 16th Centuries. They served as protection against danger on the way to shrines and as a medium of identification. Made of paper or cloth, these flags were adorned with sacred images of saints or those of the Virgin Mary or Christ.
