The Apostles performed miracles! The grace of God flowed down through them to help build up the Church we know and love today. Who was the greater saint, Peter or Paul? I think they are the twin oaks of the Church, a double spire steeple of grace and truth in Christ.
The primacy is with Peter, our first Pope. Paul was a great missionary. Both gave all.
In this post, we are going to review the miracles they performed in St. Luke’s Acts of the Apostles. Hopefully, we can take time to reflect on living more in tune with the resounding efforts of these two heroic apostles who gave the Church their very blood to help save souls over the centuries from eternal damnation.
Overview of St. Peter and St. Paul
| Description | St. Peter | St. Paul |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Simon Peter | Saul of Tarsus |
| Apostle | Apostle of Jesus Christ | Apostle of the Gentiles |
| From | Bethsaida | Tarsus |
| Hebrew | Tribe of Judah | Tribe of Benjamin |
| Residence | Capernaum | Tarsus |
| Education | not educated | highly educated |
| Occupation | fisherman | Pharisee / tentmaker |
| Marital status | married or widower | not married |
| Achievements | Established a Church in Antioch | Converted to Christianity |
| Achievements | Fixed his See in Rome | Labored the hardest |
| Achievements | Presided at the Council of Apostles in Jerusalem 50AD | Wrote numerous Epistles in the New Testament Bible |
| Achievements | Chief Shepherd of the early Christian Church | Great missionary who carried the Gospel to pagan countries |
| Martyrdom | Crucified upside down in Rome (around 64 AD) | Beheaded in Rome (around 67 AD) |
I proclaim with St. Peter, St. Paul, and the Church, Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Amen!
CCC 442 …Simon Peter when he confesses Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God”, for Jesus responds solemnly: “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” Similarly Paul will write, regarding his conversion on the road to Damascus, “When he who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles. . .” “And in the synagogues immediately [Paul] proclaimed Jesus, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’” From the beginning this acknowledgment of Christ’s divine sonship will be the center of the apostolic faith, first professed by Peter as the Church’s foundation. Source: Catechism of the Catholic Church
18 Miracles of the Apostles Peter and Paul from the Acts of the Apostles
| Miracle | Saint | Place | Passage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Crippled man healed | Peter | Jerusalem | Acts 3:1-11 |
| 2. Death of Ananias and Sapphira | Peter | Jerusalem | Acts 5:1-10 |
| 3. Miraculous deeds | Peter | Jerusalem | Acts 5:12-16 |
| 4. Conferred the Holy Spirit | Peter | Samaria | Acts 8:14-17 |
| 5. Paul’s Conversion | Paul | Between Jerusalem and Damascus | Acts 9:1-9 |
| 6. Aeneas healed of palsy | Peter | Lydda | Acts 9:33-34 |
| 7. Tabitha (Dorcas) raised from the dead | Peter | Joppa | Acts 9:36-41 |
| 8. Peter rescued from prison by an angel | Peter | Jerusalem | Acts 12:7-17 |
| 9. Herod punished with death | Peter | Jerusalem | Acts 12:21-23 |
| 10. Elymas the sorcerer is stricken with blindness | Paul | Paphos | Acts 13:6-11 |
| 11. A crippled healed | Paul | Lystra | Acts 14:8-10 |
| 12. Exorcism of a demon of divination | Paul | Philippi | Acts 16:16-18 |
| 13. Doors of prison open by earthquake | Paul | Philippi | Acts 16:25-26 |
| 14. Conferred the Holy Spirit | Paul | Corinth | Acts 19:1-6 |
| 15. Many persons healed | Paul | Corinth | Acts 19:11-12 |
| 16. Eutychus raised from the dead | Paul | Troas | Acts 20:9-12 |
| 17. Viper snake rendered harmless | Paul | Malta | Acts 28:3-6 |
| 18. Publius’ father and others healed | Paul | Malta | Acts 28:7-9 |
My favorite miracle of St. Peter:
Peter heals Aeneas at Lydda.
As Peter was passing through every region, he went down to the holy ones living in Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been confined to bed for eight years, for he was paralyzed. Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed.” He got up at once. And all the inhabitants of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. Acts 9:32-35
This miracle performed by St. Peter reminds me of Jesus healing the paralyzed man in Jerusalem at the pool with five porticoes, Bethesda (John 5:1-9).
The man Peter healed has been confined for eight years. The man Jesus healed had been ill for thirty-eight years! I think in some ways, not only does it show the power of God working through Peter, but it also shows the Church authority Jesus had given Peter as His chosen successor to perform miracles of healing in His Holy Name.
Reflecting on St. Peter:
Christ left Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, as its chief pastor and supreme head upon earth; Source: Catechism of the Council of Trent – The Ascension Benefits the Church and the Individual
Just as Peter’s faith in Christ endures, so does Christ’s foundation upon Peter. – St. Leo the Great
My favorite miracle of St. Paul:
Viper rendered harmless in Malta
Once we had reached safety, we learned that the island was called Malta. The natives showed us extraordinary hospitality; they lit a fire and welcomed all of us because it had begun to rain and was cold. Paul had gathered a bundle of brushwood and was putting it on the fire when a viper, escaping from the heat, fastened on his hand. When the natives saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man must certainly be a murderer; though he escaped the sea, Justice has not let him remain alive.” But he shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no harm. They were expecting him to swell up or suddenly to fall down dead but, after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god. Acts 28:1-6
It is a miracle that Paul did not become sick or die from the poisonous snake bite. To me, the miracle is symbolic of spiritual warfare we endure as members of the Church.
Just as Jesus was confronted by the demonic, Legion, when He arrived at the territory of the Gerasenes (Mk 5:1-20), Paul is similarly attacked by a viper in an unevangelized territory. This possible attack of oppression by the demons that inhabited the unevangelized territory is rendered harmless because of Paul’s profound holiness (living devoutly in a state of sanctifying grace with God).
This miracle of blessed protection that happened to St Paul on the island of Malta is similar to a miracle that involved the holy monk St. Benedict from a failed attempt to poison him by those who opposed his Rule and his holy way of life in Christ.
Reflecting on St. Paul:
Q. 440. Was St. Paul an Apostle? A. St. Paul was an Apostle, but as he was not called till after the Ascension of Our Lord. He is not numbered among the twelve. He is called the Apostle of the Gentiles; that is, of all those who were not of the Jewish religion or members of the Church of the Old Law. Source: Baltimore Catechism of 1891
The apostle Paul did not seek what was his but what was Christ’s. – St. Augustine
RECAP:
It is interesting to note the following verse after Paul’s stay on the island of Malta:
After three months we set sail on an Alexandrian ship which had wintered at the island, and which had the Twin Brothers for its figurehead. Acts 28:11
The verse reads like a scene from the Lord of the Rings movies. The twin brothers were Castor and Pollux, the sons of the Greek god Zeus and the patrons of the sailors.
But I like to think in God’s eyes, the twin brothers figurehead on the ship were Peter and Paul, both of whom would give their lives in Rome to help establish the Kingdom of God there through the grace of the Holy Spirit and the ministry of the angels.
St. Peter and St. Paul, pray for us. Pray for the Church +
