Second Week after Epiphany. St Peter's Chair at Rome.

The Roman Breviary, Part 3: Winter. Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd, 1936

At Matins; Hymn:Quodcumque inorbe nexibus revinxeris

Peter, whatever thou shalt bind on earth,
The same is bound above the starry sky;
What here thy delegated power doth loose
Is loosed in heaven's supremest court on high:

To judgment shalt thou come,
when the world's end is nigh
Praise to the Father through all ages be;
Praise to the consubstantial Son,

And Holy Ghost, one glorious Trinity;
To whom all majesty
and might belong;
So sing we now, and such be our eternal son. Amen

Matins Nocturn I & II Resposories & Versicles:

R.Simon Peter, before I called thee out of the ship. I knew thee, and appointed thee for a captain over my people, And I have given unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heavensV. Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, it shall be bound also in heaven:
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.

R. If thou lovest me, Simon Peter, feed my lamb. Lord, thou knowest that I love thee, And I will lay down my life for thee. V. If I will die with thee, I shall not deny thee.

R. Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it: And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. V Whatsoever...

R. Thou art the shepherd of the sheep, O Prince of the Apostles: to thee hath God given all the kingdoms of the world: And therefore unto thee are given the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. V. Whatsoever...

R. I have prayed for thee, Peter, that thy faith fail not: And thou being once converted, confirm thy brethren. V. Flesh and blood has not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven.

R. Peter, lovest thou me? Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. Feed my sheep. V. Simon, son of John, lovest thou me more than that? Lord thou knowest that I love thee.

Nocturn III
Lesson 7
Homily of St. Hilary, Bishop
Commentary on Matthew, can. 16, 13-19:

"At that time: Jesus came into the quarters of Cesarea Philippi:
and asked his disciples, saying: Whom do men say that the son of men is?"

The Lord asked his disciples, whom did men say that he was; and he used the words, the son of man. For we must so confess him, as to remember that he is both Son of God and son of man: the one without the other could give us no hope of salvation. When he had thus elicited the various opinions held of him by men, he asked what they themselves thought. Peter answered: Thou art Christ the Son of the living God. But Peter had duly weighed the terms of the question. For the Lord has said: Whom do men say that I, the son of man, am? Bodily sight certainly showed him to be the son of man. But when he added: Whom do they say that I am, he meant that there was more in him than was perceived by the senses; he was indeed the son of man. What opinion of himself, then did he seek? Not, we must think, that which he himself said of himself; but it was hidden thing which he sought, which the faith of those that believe in him should embrace

R.Jesus said to his disciples: Whom do men say that Son of man is? Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the Living God. And I say to thee: that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church. V. Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven

Lesson 8

Peter's confession received a worthy reward, for he saw the Son of God in man. Blessed is he, who was praised for having gazed at and seen what human eye could not see: he did not contemplate what was of flesh and blood, but saw the Son of God by the revelation of the heavenly Father; and he was judged worthy to be the first to recognize the divine in Christ. O how happily was the Church founded in the giving of his new name, how worthy to be built on is her rock, which was to destroy the infernal laws and the gates of hell, and all the barriers of earth! O blessed is the door-keeper of heaven, to whose judgment the keys of the eternal entrance are entrusted, whose sentence on earth is already ratified in heaven! So that what he binds or looses on earth, the same decision shall be ratified in heaven.

First Blessing:
May the reading of the Gospel be our safety and protection