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Ambrose of Milan († 397) speaks indeed in very high terms of the Roman church, and concedes to its bishops a religious magistracy like the political power of the emperors of pagan Rome;557 yet he calls the primacy of Peter only a "primacy of confession, not of honor; of faith, not of rank,"558 and places the apostle Paul on an equality with Peter.559 Of any dependence of Ambrose, or of the bishops of Milan in general during the first six centuries, on the jurisdiction of Rome, no trace is to be found.

Jerome († 419), the most learned commentator among the Latin fathers, vacillates in his explanation of the petra; now, like Augustine, referring it to Christ,560 now to Peter and his confession.561 In his commentary on Matt. xvi., he combines the two interpretations thus: "As Christ gave light to the apostles, so that they were called, after him, the light of the world, and as they received other designations from the Lord; so Simon, because he believed on the rock, Christ, received the name Peter, and in accordance with the figure of the rock, it is justly said to him: 'I will build my church upon thee (super te),' " He recognizes in the Roman bishop the successor of Peter, but advocates elsewhere the equal rights of the bishops,562 and in fact derives even the episcopal office, not from direct divine institution, but from the usage of the church and from the presidency in the presbyterium.563 He can therefore be cited as a witness, at most, for a primacy of honor, not for a supremacy of jurisdiction. Beyond this even the strongest passage of his writings, in a letter to his friend, Pope Damasus (a.d. 376), does not go: "Away with the ambition of the Roman head; I speak with the successor of the fisherman and disciple of the cross. Following no other head than Christ, I am joined in the communion of faith with thy holiness, that is, with the chair of Peter. On that rock I know the church to be built."564 Subsequently this father, who himself had an eye on the papal chair, fell out with the Roman clergy, and retired to the ascetic and literary solitude of Bethlehem, where he served the church by his pen far better than he would have done as the successor of Damasus.

Augustine († 430), the greatest theological authority of the Latin church, at first referred the words, "On this rock I will build my church," to the person of Peter, but afterward expressly retracted this interpretation, and considered the petra to be Christ, on the ground of a distinction between petra (ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῃ̑ πέτρᾳ) and Petrus (σὺ εἱ̑ Πέτρος); a distinction which Jerome also makes, though with the intimation that it is not properly applicable to the Hebrew and Syriac Cephas.565 "I have somewhere said of St. Peter" thus Augustine corrects himself in his Retractations at the close of his life566—"that the church is built upon him as the rock; a thought which is sung by many in the verses of St. Ambrose:


'Hoc ipsa petra ecclesiae

Canente, culpam diluit.'567


(The Rock of the church himself

In the cock-crowing atones his guilt.)


But I know that I have since frequently said, that the word of the Lord, 'Thou art Petrus, and on this petra I will build my church,' must be understood of him, whom Peter confessed as Son of the living God; and Peter, so named after this rock, represents the person of the church, which is founded on this rock and has received the keys of the kingdom of heaven. For it was not said to him: 'Thou art a rock' (petra), but, 'Thou art Peter' (Petrus); and the rock was Christ, through confession of whom Simon received the name of Peter.

History of the Christian Church Vol III

Originally posted by Orthodox Catholic:

The term "Blessed" in Orthodoxy could have three different meanings.

It could mean the same as "Venerable" does in the West...

The term "Blessed" could also mean a category of Saint whose sanctity was unknown to the public...

Finally, this term is sometimes used as a form of "diminished canonization" ...

Originally posted by theophan:
Justin:

If my memory serves me, Venerable Bede was not canonized until this past century. He was not considered a saint but merely "on the way," awaiting documented miracles to complete the canonization process.

If I'm not mistaken, the streamlining of the process may have been what moved St. Bede from Venerable to Saint. I believe that St. Bede's previous status was equivalent to that of Mother Theresa of Calcutta who was recently proclaimed "Blessed."

In Christ,

BOB

Originally posted by ByzantineAscetic:
Dear: SaintClare,

Glory To Jesus Christ!

I used to be a Catholic Apologist, like really into Catholic Apologetics. I am very familiar with the Aramaic and Greek, translation of Peters Confession. I used to believe exactly what you do in regards to this issue. But the fact of the matter is that even the Western Fathers such as Augustine, Jerome, and Ambrose, who I do believe that Peters Confession is the Rock of the Church and that all bishops are equal not one has more authority over the other. So I do know were you are coming from.

In Christ+
Daniel