To-day, my brethren, holy church celebrates the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul, one the prince of the Apostles, the other the great teacher of the Gentiles. Their glorious martyrdom took place the same day in the imperial city of Rome. A glorious victory indeed was their death, one being crucified, head downwards, the other beheaded, sealing thus with their blood that invincible faith in our Lord and in his religion which has made them fit to be cornerstones of his spiritual temple. Besides their faith, they were most distinguished for confidence in God. The two virtues, faith and hope, of course, blended together in their souls, borrowed from each other, and in the fire of heavenly love were melted into one. Yet confidence in God, or the virtue of hope, was the very impulse that set them forth to preach, gave them their gift of miracles, and led them out at last with the deepest joy to offer up the sacrifice of their lives. And it was by such heroic trust in God that our holy church was founded. The beginnings of the true religion may be summed up by saying that God sent out men who were willing to stake their lives upon his fidelity to his promises. The soil on which our Saviour planted the true vine was watered by the blood of martyrs. The Breviary speaks of the blood of our two great Apostles as the purple robe of immortal Rome. And their virtue of implicit, instinctive confidence in God's love for us and for his church is the spiritual garment every Christian puts on when he is made a member of Christ.