Kathedra Petri (festival)

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The Kathedra Petri in St. Peter's Basilica , seen from the high altar

Kathedra Petri (popularly also Petri Stuhlfeier ) is a festival in the church year of the Roman Catholic Church , which is celebrated on February 22nd. The day has the status of a festival in the general Roman calendar .

history

The festival has been known in Rome since the 4th century. It recalls the apostle Peter's vocation to the teaching office of the Church , his assumption of the Roman bishopric ( cathedra ).

“Jesus said to him: 'Blessed are you, Simon Barjona; for it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you, but my Heavenly Father. But I say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the powers of the underworld will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; what you will bind on earth will also be bound in heaven, and what you will loosen on earth will also be loosened in heaven. '"

- Mt 16.17–19  EU

Historically, the date probably goes back to a pre-Christian Roman funeral ceremony at which an empty chair was set up for the deceased. Early Christian martyrologies mention two “chair celebrations” of Peter, which were celebrated in the baptistery of St. Peter's Basilica and in the Priscilla catacombs.

A second feast of the Kathedra Petri, which was later included in the general Roman calendar, has been celebrated in Gaul since the 6th or 7th century on January 18th. Pope John XXIII reunited both festivals in 1960. This is celebrated on February 22nd .

regional customs

Biikebrennen on the beach near Wassersleben , near Flensburg (2014)

The day is an important date for agricultural weather observations, which are reflected in peasant rules, for example: "The night at Petri Stuhl shows what kind of weather we have 40 days left."

But it used to be a thing day for servants and shepherds and a lot day for horticulture . The day was considered the beginning of spring in some areas. In Westphalia in particular , sunbird hunting was a widespread spring custom.

In the cities of Soest , Lübeck and Hamburg , the election of mayors and changes in council offices took place on this day in the High and Late Middle Ages . The fact that the “chairing” of the council and the “chairing” of Peter happened on the same day had a deep symbolic meaning. In Soest, the oldest parish church in the city was consecrated to St. Peter, before St. Patroclus was chosen to be the city's patron saint in 964 .

In addition, the day was an important date for medieval shipping (end of winter break, beginning of spring): In North Friesland and the Frisian Islands , the traditional Biikebrennen takes place the evening before , which has spread to the opposite Baltic coast. In addition to the festive character, the Biikefeuer on Sylt served as a farewell for the whalers in earlier times . For the Hanseatic cities of the Middle Ages, the shipping between Martini and Petri chair celebration.

Farmer rules

  • If it freezes at Petri chair party, it will freeze another fourteen times this year.
  • The night at Petri Stuhl shows what kind of weather we have to do for forty days.
  • If Peter's chair celebration is cold, winter still has forty days of violence.
  • If it was very cold on St. Peter's Night, the winter will continue to be violent for a long time.
  • If it freezes on St.Peter's Night, the ice will crack for a long time.
  • If Petri Stuhlfeier still has a lot of ice and a lot of east (= wind), February still brings strong frost.
  • After the cold of St.Peter's Night, winter soon loses its strength.
  • Even if it's so cold around Petri Stuhl, it won't stay so cool for long.
  • If it is mild and the brook is open after Petri, there will be no more ice cream.
  • If the streams are open at St. Petri, no more ice will hit them later.
  • If the weather is fine on Peter, you can soon sow cabbage and peas.
  • If Peter unlocks the heat and Matthias closes it again (February 24th) , the calf is still freezing in the cow.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ [1] Accessed November 27, 2015
  2. ↑ February 22nd - Kathedra Petri . In: Schott-Messbuch .
  3. ^ Oswald Adolf Erich: Dictionary of German Folklore . 3rd edition Stuttgart 1974. Keyword: "Petri Stuhlfeier"
  4. ^ Heinrich Reincke: Kölner, Soester, Lübecker and Hamburger law . In: Carl Haase: Die Stadt des Mittelalters , Volume 2. Darmstadt 1972, pp. 135–181.