Stained glass tells of St. Peter’s career

People suffering from loneliness pray for St. Peter’s intercession

St. Peter – Feburary 22

- Photo by Ted Fitzgerald St. Peter, holding the keys to the kingdom, sits on his throne in Poitiers Cathedral.

By TED FITZGERALD
Special to the WCR
Poitiers, France

First-time visitors to the Cathedral of Saint-Pierre will instantly recognize a connection between the seat of the Diocese of Poitiers and the Feb. 22 feast of the Chair of St. Peter.

Impossible to miss in its central position on the right hand side of the nave halfway to the crossing is a life-size statue of the first pope, seated and holding the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

The feast celebrates the papacy of the apostle who figures so prominently in the Scriptures and was the acknowledged leader of Christ’s disciples until his martyrdom in Rome in about 64.

Peter, the rock

It is generally accepted that the quotation from Jesus in Matthew 16:18 where Peter was first used as a proper name, “Simon — you are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church,” confirmed the primacy of this man as the first earthly leader of the Christian Church.

The name of the feast day first referred literally to Peter’s chair in Antioch, then to Rome where his chair or cathedray identified him as the bishop, guiding the people from the city’s primary church, the cathedral. Later, other bishops oversaw their dioceses or sees from a throne or chair in a cathedral.

At Poitiers, situated near the centre of the hilltop Poitou district city, the Gothic cathedral dominates the Episcopal quarter.

Two hundred years

It is thought to have been founded by Henry Plantagenet and Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1162, but took more than 200 years to complete. Two square towers dominate the west front of the heavily buttressed edifice.

Inside, the cathedral of the Poitevins is impressive, with towering columns breaking the huge church into three broad aisles capped by ornate, Plantagenet style rib vaults.

Stained glass windows portray events in the lives of Christ, the saints and in Peter’s career, while the ornate, hand-carved choir stalls are said to be some of the oldest in existence. The church also claims the last of the pre-Revolutionary Cliquot organs to survive.

What invites a pause enroute up the centre aisle is the patron’s seated image. The apostle is shown on an elaborate gold-trimmed white throne. The 19th century image is said to be a copy of a statue in Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

The bearded, barefoot leader has his right hand raised in blessing, his left holding the keys, “I will entrust to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew-16:19).

What makes this statue of the first pope in his Poitiers Cathedral unusual is the inscription beneath the seated Peter. Authorized some 150 years ago by Pope Pius IX, it refers to indulgences that may be obtained for departed loved ones by praying and touching the statue.

This ancient church tradition is kept alive here by the deep faith of the people in the efficacy of the saint’s intercession on their behalf with God.

Find a husband

Statues of the saint similar to that at Poitiers are found in other Poitou churches where Peter’s intercession has traditionally been sought to assist people suffering from loneliness or young women desiring to find a husband.

Other saints associated with Poitier’s Cathedral include sixth-century bishop Venatius Fortunatus, composer of a large number of still extant poems and hymns.

Another bishop, Peter of Poitiers (1087) was a co-founder of famed Fontevreault Abbey, while the Daughters of Wisdom order was co-founded in Poitiers by Saint-Louis-Marie-Grignion-de-Montfort and blessed Marie Trichet in 1703.

Other city churches, dedicated to local saints, are usually open for visits and form part of the religious heritage of 2000 year-old “Poitiers, a town with over a hundred church towers.”

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