ame time, is affirmed by
Dionysius,[2] bishop of Corinth, in the second age. St. Irenaeus,[3] who
lived in the same age, calls the church at Rome "The greatest and most
ancient church, founded by the two glorious apostles, Peter and Paul."
Eusebius, in several places,[4] mentions St. Peter's being at Rome, and
the several important transactions of this apostle in that city. Not to
mention Origen,[5] Hegesippus,[6] Arnobius,[7] St. Ambrose,[8], St.
Austin,[9] St. Jerom,[10] St. Optatus,[11] Orosius,[12] and others on
the same subject.[13] St. Cyprian[14] calls Rome the _chair_ of St.
Peter, (as Theodoret[15] calls it his _throne_,) which the general
councils and ecclesiastical writers, through every age, and on every
occasion, repeat. That St. Peter at least preached in Rome, founded that
church, and died there by martyrdom under Nero, are facts the most
incontestable by the testimony of all writers of different countries,
who lived near that time; persons of unquestionable veracity, and who
could not but be informed of the truth, in a point so interesting, and
of its own nature so public and notorious, as to leave them no
possibility of a mistake. This is also attested by monuments of every
kind; also by the prerogatives, rights, and privileges, which that
church enjoyed from those early ages; in consequence of this title.

It was an ancient custom, as cardinal Baronius[16] and Thomassin[17]
show by many examples, observed by churches, to keep an annual festival
of the {176} consecration of their bishops. The feast of the chair of
St. Peter is found in ancient Martyrologies, as in one under the name of
St. Jerom, at Esternach, copied in the time of St. Willibrord, in 720.
Christians justly celebrate the founding of this mother-church, the
centre of Catholic communion, in thanksgiving to God for his mercies on
his church, and to implore his future blessings.

* * * * *

Christ has taught us {by} the divine model of prayer which he has
delivered to us, that we are bound to recommend to him, before all other
things, the exaltation of his own honor and glory, and to beg that the
kingdom of his holy grace and love be planted in all hearts. If we love
God above all things, and with our whole hearts, or have any true
charity for our neighbor, this will be the centre of all our desires,
that God be loved and served by all his creatures, and that he be
glorified in the most perfect manner, in our