Pull up a Chair
Today, February 22 nd the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of St. Peter’s Chair. Some of you are probably thinking “ that has got to be one expensive piece of furniture, to have its own feast day! ” While there is a physical chair, traditionally attributed to the first pope in St. Peter’s Basilica; the wooden chair , now housed in an ornamented bronze enclosure, actually dates back to the year 875 A.D and is a gift from Holy Roman Emperor Charles the Bald to Pope John VIII. So it is a real longshot that the Apostle himself ever used the chair, but still I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for the Vatican to list it on eBay if you are in the market for second-hand apartment décor. Long before a bald emperor was assembling his latest Ikea purchase, the Church was venerating the Chair of St. Peter, as a symbol of the unbroken succession of the Papal authority and Christian unity. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI spoke of this significance during a papal audience on February 22, 2006 .