Monday of the First Week of Lent at St Peter in Chains

St. Peter in Chains is probably one of the first parish churches of Rome. According to the more likely hypothesis on the archeological history of this church, the first place of Christian worship on this site dates from the late fourth or early fifth century, being completed by Pope Sixtus III.  Around the year 450 the chains from St. Peter’s imprisonment in Jerusalem were given to the church; when these were placed with the chains from St. Peter’s imprisonment in Rome, the two fused together.  In the year 519, the Byzantine Emperor Justinian wanted to bring the chains to Constantinople, but was rebuffed.  Towards the end of that century, the church was rededicated at the same time that the relics of the Maccabee brothers were brought here. 

One of the artistic treasures here is the incomplete tomb of pope  Julius II, including the famous Moses, by Michelangelo in 1545. 

Collect: 

Convert us, O God our Savior, 

and instruct our minds by heavenly teaching, 

that we may benefit from the works of Lent. 

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, 

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Entrance to the church

General view

Relics of the chains

Main altar under a beautiful baldochino 

Fresco in the sanctuary depicting the freedom of Peter by the angel. 

Michelangelo's Moses