The Veneration of the Precious Chains of the Holy and All-praised Apostle Peter

The chains of the holy Apostle Peter (Rome, Italy). Photo by Sergo Parulava

The Veneration of the Precious Chains of the Holy and All-praised Apostle Peter. Around the year 42, by order of Herod Agrippa, the Apostle Peter was seized for preaching the Saviour’s word, and shut up in a cell bound with chains. “Prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.” And behold, a miracle took place: “the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.” The angel led the apostle through the locked doors and brought him out to safety (Acts 12:1–11). The Christians managed to obtain these chains and kept them as a holy relic. The sick who approached them with faith were healed of various ailments. The chains were kept in the church of Jerusalem until the time of Patriarch Juvenal. He gave them to Eudocia, the wife of Theodosius the Younger. Eudocia took the holy relic to Constantinople, and then sent one of the chains to her daughter Eudoxia. Eudoxia built a church in Rome dedicated to the Apostle Peter and placed the holy relic in it. In Rome other chains were also kept, those with which the chief of the apostles was bound before his blessed end. Every year on 16 January these holy relics used to be brought out for veneration.