During the three years of Christ's public life He gathered around Him a band of faithful disciples whom He instructed. From among these, Our Divine Master chose twelve men, whom He called Apostles :
Powers of the Apostles.
To bring the fruits of redemption to mankind, Christ gave to the Apostles and their
successors a threefold power:
Visible Head of the Church.
Our Lord appointed St. Peter the chief of the Apostles. He was the first pope, shepherd,
and teacher of the flock of Christ. To him Christ gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven,
and to him He promised infallibility. "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My
Church." (Matt., 16: 18.)
Divine Assistance.
That the teaching of the Apostles might remain always the same, Christ promised that the
Holy Ghost would teach them all truth, and that He Himself would abide forever with His
Church. (St. John, 14: 16; Matt., 28: 13.)
The Apostles, therefore, and their legitimate successors, are the persons to whom Christ entrusted the duty of forming in His name, among all nations and in all ages, a spiritual society—the Church.
The Ascension of Our Lord
On the fortieth day after the resurrection our Blessed Lord, in the sight of the Apostles,
ascended into heaven from Mount Olivet. The Apostles immediately went back to Jerusalem,
filled with great joy. They assembled around our Blessed Lady in the supper room which had
witnessed the institution of the Blessed Eucharist, and where, in prayer and meditation,
they awaited the coming of the Holy Ghost.
Election of Matthias.
While awaiting the coming of the Holy Ghost, Peter proposed that they should choose some
one to supply the place of Judas. Asking God to guide them, they drew lots between
Barnabas and Matthias. The choice fell upon Matthias.
Pentecost: Descent of the Holy Ghost
On the tenth day after Christ's ascension, the day of Pentecost, while they were "all
together in one place, there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming; parted
tongues, as it were of fire sat upon every one of them; and they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost." They immediately "began to speak with divers tongues," and to declare the
wonderful works of God, "according as the Holy Ghost gave
them to speak." Their souls were replenished with knowledge and with grace. They were no
longer a mere assembly of individuals, but became the one mystical body of Christ, the
Church of the living God.
The preaching of the Apostles was confirmed by miracles, by the sublime holiness of their lives, their sacrifices, and especially by the shedding of their blood in testimony of the truth.
Although many of the Jews were converted, the leaders of the nation not only remained obstinate, but even persecuted the Christians. Therefore the Jewish nation was rejected by God and delivered into the hands of the Romans. In the year 70 AD Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus.
Among the heathens the Apostles made numerous converts. In the principal cities of the Roman Empire they formed congregations over which the Apostles placed their disciples as bishops and priests. Such wonderful success could come from God alone, for to the proud and immoral heathen the doctrine of Christ crucified seemed folly, and the practice of Christian virtues a moral impossibility.
The life of the first Christians was so perfect that it influenced both Jew and Gentile even more than the miracles of the Apostles. The Sacrifice of the Mass was daily offered and all received Holy Communion. There were no poor among them. The rich sold their possessions and shared the price with those who had nothing. (Ananias and Sapphira.)
The Deacons.
As the number of the Christians increased, the Apostles chose seven holy men to help in
the ministry. At first these deacons had charge of the poor, but later they assisted the
priest at the altar during the celebration of Holy Mass.
St. Stephen.
St. Stephen was the first of the deacons. The splendor of his miracles, the zeal of his
preaching, and the numerous conversions he wrought, drew upon him the special hatred of
the unbelieving Jews. He was brought before the high priest on the charge of blasphemy. He
confounded his accusers by words of divine wisdom and power, and boldly proclaimed the
divinity of the Lord Jesus. The Jews drew him without the city, and stoned him to death.
St. Stephen's last words were a prayer for his murderers, "Lord, lay not this sin to
their charge." The fruit of this prayer was the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, who became
the great Apostle St. Paul.
Conversion of St. Paul, AD 37.
The martyrdom of St. Stephen was the signal for a general persecution of the infant
Church. Owing to the efforts of Saul, the persecutions continued with
such force that the Faithful were dispersed throughout Palestine. They diffused the light
of faith wherever they went.
Saul went to the high priest and begged to be sent to Damascus to search for the Christians living there, that he might bring them before the Jewish courts. While on his way he was suddenly dazzled by a great light, and he heard a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" He fell to the ground in terror, and asked humbly, "Who art Thou, Lord?" The voice answered, "I am Jesus Whom thou persecutest." And Saul, trembling, asked, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" And the Lord said to him, " Arise and go into the city, and there it will be told thee what thou must do." Saul was led to Damascus, where he was instructed and baptized by Ananias, one of the seventy-two disciples. He soon went to Jerusalem, and St. Peter received him into the number of the Apostles.
Conversion of the Ethiopian.
St. Philip, the Deacon, baptized many of the inhabitants of Samaria, and St. Peter and St.
John went down from Jerusalem to confirm them. An angel told St. Philip to go from Samaria
into the desert south of Jerusalem. Here he met and converted an Ethiopian officer
returning from the Pasch. St. Philip explained a prophecy of Isaias, and then, at his
request, baptized the officer in a stream of water running by the road-side.
Simon Magus.
A magician, Simon Magus, seeing the Holy Ghost descending upon the Faithful at the
imposition of hands, offered money to the Apostles to purchase for himself the power of
giving the Holy Ghost. St. Peter rebuked him. The sin of buying or selling spiritual
things has ever since been known as Simony.
First Gentile Convert.
There was in Caesarea a Roman Centurion named Cornelius. One day, while he was praying, an
angel appeared to him, declaring that "his prayers and his alms had ascended for a
memorial in the sight of God." "And now," continued the heavenly messenger, "send to
Joppa for a man called Peter, and he will tell you all that you must do to be saved."
Cornelius sent three soldiers in search of the wonderful man. At the same time St. Peter
had a vision which prepared him for this visit. He saw clean and unclean animals let down
from heaven in a sheet, while a voice was heard saying, "Kill and eat." By this the
Apostle understood from God that he was to receive the Gentiles into the Church. St. Peter
went with the messengers, and Cornelius and his family were all baptized and received the
Holy Ghost visibly.
This event shows that the uncircumcised Gentile was admitted to the Church without submitting to the Mosaic ceremonial law. The act of St. Peter was disapproved of by the Jewish Christians, but the matter was finally settled at the council of Jerusalem.
Missionary Journeys of Paul.
