How can a chair...an inanimate wooden object...have it's own feast day? Is the Catholic Church just low on saints to fill up the calendar? Was the chair part of some miraculous event? The Feast of the Chair of St. Peter is actually a very important feast day in the Catholic calendar and is a vital symbol for the apostolic succession of the Catholic papacy.

While the feast day is not really just for a physical chair, there is in fact a real chair of St. Peter. In addition, and perhaps more importantly, there is also a very significant spiritual authority and tradition that this chair represents.

The Physical Chair of St. Peter

Yes, there was a real chair that St. Peter, the first Pope, sat in. Do we still have that chair today? While we cannot be 100% certain, many believe that we do. However, as you might imagine of a chair that is two-thousand years old, it has seen better days. The currently accepted "Chair of St. Peter" is in a state of disrepair. According to an examination by Italians Garucci and Battista, the chair is a perfectly plain oaken arm chair. The wood is worm-eaten and cut apart (likely for relics throughout the years). This physical chair of St. Peter is called the Cathedra Petri, which simply means "Chair of Peter" in Latin.

To preserve the structure and safety of this amazing relic, Pope Alexander VII commissioned a massive bronze casting to surround the Cathedra Petri. Designed by renowned Italian architect/artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the cast features four doctors of the Church holding up an ornate throne. The remains of the original chair are supposedly encased directly inside of this bronze throne. The new "Chair of Peter" monument rests in the apse of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City as the altarpiece.

The Spiritual Significance

Besides giving us a physical representation of the Chair of St. Peter, this feast day offers a beautiful spiritual significance. The Chair offers a reminder of the ancient tradition and heritage that is the papal lineage. The chair reminds of us how Jesus entrusted to St. Peter and his successors the whole of the earthly kingdom.

Matthew 16:13-20 | 13 When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”17 Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. 18 And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Why the Feast Day?

The Church originally celebrated the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter on both January 18 and February 22. January 18 was the date that St. Peter gave his first sermon in Rome. February 22 was when he gave his first sermon in Antioch. In 1960, Pope John XXIII finally switched the official date of the feast to February 22.

This feast day reminds us of the authority that each and every bishop has, given directly from Jesus. It also can remind us of the beauty and faithfulness that is Jesus as the true "good shepherd." He has given us a line of appointed shepherds to gather the earthly body of the Church and lead Her on the path to eternal salvation.