Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Elementary School

History

It all started with 4 rooms...

The memories of Sts. Peter and Paul CES are precious. Construction started in 1947. The school's first stage consisted of four classrooms and an auditorium. The first principal was Sister Flavia. She was succeeded in 1949 by Sister Hildegarde. She steered the school to the next construction phase when four more classrooms were added in 1951. This addition provided the school with Home Economics and Industrial Arts rooms. Additions continued to be a normal part of school life through the 1960s as the post-war baby boom sent enrollments soaring. When you chart the growth of our parish church and school, you see how it grew in tandem with the mountain itself. Through many changes, Sts. Peter and Paul CES has continued to grow and at 75 years old, is thriving as a dual track, English and French Immersion school. Our parishioners, parents and students have remained at the heart of the community.

 

St. Peter

Simon Peter was a native of Bethsaida, near Lake Tiberias, the son of John, and worked, like his brother St. Andrew, as a fisherman on Lake Genesareth. Andrew introduced Peter to Jesus and Jesus called Peter to follow him as a disciple. Jesus also gave Simon a new name: Cephas, or 'Rock'. Jesus said, "You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Peter was always listed as the first of the Apostles in all of the New Testament accounts and was a special friend of Jesus, with James and John. He is recorded more than any other disciple, and was at Jesus’ side at the Transfiguration, the raising of Jairus’ daughter, and the Agony of the Garden of Gethsemane. After the Resurrection, Peter went to the tomb with the “other disciple” after being told what had happened by the women. The first appearance of the Risen Christ was before Peter, and when Jesus appeared before the disciples at Tiberias, he gave to Peter the famous command to “Feed my lambs.... Tend my sheep.... Feed my sheep”.

In the time immediately after the Ascension, Peter stood as the unquestionable leader of the Apostles. He appointed a replacement for Judas Iscariot and he spoke first to the crowds that had assembled after the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. He baptized the Roman pagan Cornelius, and at the Council of Jerusalem he gave his support to preaching to Gentiles, thereby permitting the new Church to become universal.

Imprisoned by King Herod Agrippa, he was aided in an escape by an angel. He then resumed his apostolate in Jerusalem and his missionary efforts included travels to such cities of the pagan world as Antioch, Corinth, and eventually Rome.

It is certain that Peter died in Rome and that his martyrdom came during the reign of Emperor Nero, probably in AD 64. Peter was crucified on the Vatican Hill upside down because he declared himself unworthy to die in the same manner as the Lord. He was then buried on Vatican Hill, and excavations under St. Peter’s Basilica have unearthed his probable tomb. His relics are now enshrined under the high altar of St. Peter’s.

From the earliest days of the Church, Peter was recognized as the Prince of the Apostles and the first Supreme Pontiff; he has thus enjoyed the position of primacy over the entire Catholic Church. While Peter’s main feast day is June 29, he is also honored on February 22 and November 18. In liturgical art, Saint Peter is depicted as an elderly man holding a key and a book. His symbols include an inverted cross, a boat, and a cockerel.

With grateful thanks to: http://www.stpeterchurch-az.com.

 

St. Paul

St. Paul, the indefatigable Apostle of the Gentiles, was converted from Judaism on the road to Damascus. He remained some days in Damascus after his Baptism, and then went to Arabia, possibly for a year or two to prepare himself for his future missionary activity. Having returned to Damascus, he stayed there for a time, preaching in the synagogues that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. For this he incurred the hatred of the Jews and had to flee from the city. He then went to Jerusalem to see Peter and pay his homage to the head of the Church. Later he went back to his native Tarsus, where he began to evangelize his own province until called by Barnabus to Antioch.

After one year, on the occasion of a famine, both Barnabus and Paul were sent with alms to the poor Christian community at Jerusalem. Having fulfilled their mission they returned to Antioch. Soon after this, Paul and Barnabus made the first missionary journey, visiting the island of Cypress, then Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Lycaonia, all in Asia Minor, and establishing churches at Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. After the Apostolic Council of Jerusalem Paul, accompanied by Silas and later also by Timothy and Luke, made his second missionary journey, first revisiting the churches previously established by him in Asia Minor, and then passing through Galatia. At Troas a vision of a Macedonian was had by Paul, which impressed him as a call from God to evangelize in Macedonia. He accordingly sailed for Europe, and preached the Gospel in Philippi, Thessalonica, Beroea, Athens, and Corinth. Then he returned to Antioch by way of Ephesus and Jerusalem. On his third missionary journey, Paul visited nearly the same regions as on the second trip, but made Ephesus where he remained nearly three years, the center of his missionary activity. He laid plans also for another missionary journey, intending to leave Jerusalem for Rome and Spain. Persecutions by the Jews hindered him from accomplishing his purpose.

After two years of imprisonment at Caesarea he finally reached Rome, where he was kept another two years in chains. The Acts of the Apostles gives us no further information on the life of the Apostle. We gather, however, from the Pastoral Epistles and from tradition that at the end of the two years, St. Paul was released from his Roman imprisonment, and then traveled to Spain, later to the East again, and then back to Rome, where he was imprisoned a second time and in the year 67, was beheaded. St. Paul's untiring interest in and paternal affection for the churches, established by him, have given us fourteen canonical Epistles. It is, however, quite certain that he wrote other letters which are no longer extant. In his Epistles, St. Paul shows himself to be a profound religious thinker and he has had an enduring formative influence in the development of Christianity. The centuries only make more apparent his greatness of mind and spirit.

With grateful thanks to Catholic Online.