Piotr

“ When his father spoke again, his tone was serious:
"Well, I shall try you, after all. Here, on Thursday—your birthday, mind! you shall meet life. I'll give you a supper, an early one, at ten o'clock. Tell your mother about that from me. But Piotr will come to dress you. I'll have no baby about. He'll bring the suit I command you to wear; and—we'll see.
"Tell your mother, Ivan, that at last—on the seventh of this month, her rule ends. The last Gregoriev becomes a man—or else—he leaves the Gregoriev house! Do you hear? Prepare yourself, then, and—go!" ”

“ The sight of this Piotr, who was better dressed than I or Pobiedimsky, caused me intense surprise, which survives indeed to this day, for I cannot understand how such solid, representative men with clever, severe faces, can serve as valets. Piotr told me that my uncle was in the garden with my mother. I rushed into the garden.
Nature, being unconscious both of the Gundasoff pedigree and of uncle's official rank, was much freer and more at ease than I. The tumult in the garden reminded me of a fair. ”

“ But it was difficult to stop Savelitch when he had once begun to lecture.
"There, Piotr Andrevitch, thou seest what comes of tippling; one has a headache—one cannot eat anything. A man who drinks is perfectly useless. Take a little cucumber juice, with honey, or what is better still, half a glass of spirits as a refresher. What sayest thou to it?"
At that moment a boy entered and handed me a note from Zourine. I opened it and read the following lines:—
"My dear Piotr Andrevitch,
⁠"Please send me, by my boy, the hundred roubles which thou lostest yesterday. I stand in great need of money. ”

“ For weeks he lived in the blackness that was horrible to those who watched him. And finally Piotr, who dared anything for his master, sent, secretly, for Kashkine—whom he believed endowed with miraculous powers wherever his Prince was concerned. But for once Kashkine's presence seemed powerless to rouse the composer from his lassitude: a feat which was eventually accomplished by one who knew him more intimately than any man.
It was now many years since his cousin and true companion first began to make her deeply affectionate study of Ivan's moods. ”

“ He had the day to ponder over this news: reserving the greater pain of it for the night: when, happily, he should be unmolested. But he never came to this; for, at the end of the evening study-period, he was called from the assembly-hall by no less a person than Colonel Becker himself, at the door of whose dreaded room stood Piotr, white-faced and red-eyed. At his appearance Ivan halted for one, heart-stilling instant. ”

“ And though Piotr and Alexei and old Másha, besides, as a matter of duty, his father, were the names on Ivan's written list, they were all of them meaningless compared with that one gift for her for whom no gift in the world could be sufficiently fine or costly. ”

“ Savelitch uttered an exclamation. His face beamed with joy.
"He has come to!—he has come to!" he repeated. "Glory to Thee, O Lord! Well, my little father, Piotr Andrevitch! thou hast frightened me! It is no joke; this is the fifth day!. . . ."
Maria Ivanovna interrupted him.
"Do not talk to him much, Savelitch," said she; "he is still weak!"
She left, and closed the door gently after her. My thoughts were disturbed. I was at the commandant's house. Maria Ivanovna had really come to me. I wished to ask Savelitch some questions; but the old man shook his head and stopped his ears. ”

“ Well, we have to thank the wretch."
"Leave off, old woman," interrupted Father Gherassim. "Do not blab out all thou knowest. There is no salvation in tale-telling. My little father, Piotr Andrevitch! ”

“ It was a lovely, fresh morning; tiny flecked clouds hovered overhead in little curls of foam on the pale clear blue; a fine dew lay in drops on the leaves and grass, and sparkled like silver on the spiders' webs; the damp, dark earth seemed still to keep traces of the rosy dawn; from the whole sky the songs of larks came pouring in showers. Bazarov walked as far as the copse, sat down in the shade at its edge, and only then disclosed to Piotr the nature of the service he expected of him. The refined valet was mortally alarmed ”

“ Savelitch was evidently guiltless, and I had incautiously hurt him by my reproaches and suspicions. I begged his pardon, but the old man was inconsolable.
"This is what I have lived to see," he kept repeating; "these are the thanks I get for serving my masters! An old cur, a swineherd, and it is again I who have caused thy wound! No, my little father, Piotr Andreitch, it is not I, but the d——d monssié who is to blame for it all. It is he who taught thee to flourish iron spits about, and stamp with thy foot, as if by flourishing and stamping one could defend oneself against a bad man! ”

“ I went to Maria Ivanovna to tell her all. She met me at the porch.
"What is the matter with you?" said she, on seeing me. "How pale you are!"
"Everything is at an end!" answered I, handing to her my father's letter.
It was now her turn to look pale. Having read it, she returned it with a trembling hand, and said in an agitated voice, "It is not my fate . . . . your parents do not wish to admit me into their family. God's will be done! He knows better what is good for us. There is no help for it; Piotr Andrevitch, may you at least be happy . ”

“ For immediately, during the reign of Claudius, the all-good and gracious Providence, which watches over all things, led Peter, that strongest and greatest of the apostles, and the one who on account of his virtue was the speaker for all the others, to Rome [8] against this great corrupter of life. He like a noble commander of God, clad in divine armor, carried the costly merchandise of the light of the understanding from the East to those who dwelt in the West, proclaiming the light itself, and the word which brings salvation to souls, and preaching the kingdom of heaven. ”

“ And Peter answereth and saith unto him. Thou art the Christ. And he charged them that they should tell no man of him. And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying. Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. ”

“ Then Peter denied again, and immediately the cock crew, Then said the damsel that kept the door, unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? he saith, I am not, but denied, saying, I know not the man, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch, and the cock crew; but he began to curse and swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak. When Peter had gotten some feeling in his conscience, he went out and wept bitterly. 'Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame,' I Cor. ”

“ Hear, O Apostolic Head, O shepherd of the sheep of Christ, set over them by God, O door-keeper of the kingdom of heaven, O rock of the faith, upon which the Catholic Church is built. For Peter art thou, who adornest and governest the See of Peter. To thee, said Christ our God, 'and thou, in thy turn, one day confirm thy brethren.' Behold the time, behold the place, help us, thou who art ordained by God for this. Stretch forth thy hand as far as may be: power thou hast from God, because thou art the chief of all. ”

“ Peter was so fascinated by this brilliant and versatile aristocrat, so deeply interested in the psychology of a great Roman prelate, a prince of the Church, that he forgot everything except that he was a creative artist—and a great sitter, a man worthy of his best, was to be portrayed.
He gave his whole heart to his task, and he brought to it a new sense of values, born of suffering. When he had finished, you could see the cardinal's soul looking at you from the canvas. The smile Peter prayed to catch curves his lips, a smile that baffles and enchants. ”

“ How different the spirit and behaviour of Peter were from that of his pretended successors! He does not command and domineer, but exhort. He does not claim sovereignty over all pastors and churches, nor style himself prince of the apostles, vicar of Christ, or head of the church, but values himself upon being an elder. All the apostles were elders, though every elder was not an apostle. 3. It was the peculiar honour of Peter, and a few more, to be the witnesses of Christ's sufferings; but it is the privilege of all true Christians to be partakers of the glory that shall be revealed. ”

“ Peter, there was a time when you were merely Simon, Jonas's son. At that time you had thoughts and formed opinions about holy matters such as your flesh and blood, your natural reason, suggested to you. All that is changed now that you are a Peter, a firm believer in the revelation which the Father makes to men about Me. What you have confessed is the exact truth; cling to that against all odds; for upon this person whom you have confessed, as upon a rock, I will build My Church.—And now we may imagine that the Lord, while uttering the words, "upon this rock," pointed to Himself. ”

“ So we must put off our shoes of carnality, and go out from ourselves, as the adder casteth her slough, if we will tread upon holy ground, and press to come where God is. Peter, so long as he staid in the high Priest's hall among the enemies of Christ, became as one of them, and had quite forgotten that Christ was his Master, and so denied him, whom a little before he had promised to die for. ”

“ And Peter knew that [he was possessed of] a spirit of devils, and then and there he rebuked him, and Satan went out of him, and the man was healed and he followed the apostles into the city. Now there was above the gate of the city an exceedingly high pillar, and when they came to that gate Peter entreated God, saying, “I beseech Thee, O my Lord Jesus Christ, that this gate, and this high pillar and the things which are on it may fall down upon the earth in such a manner that the hand of a man may touch them.” ”

“ Peter, on which Roman Catholics ground the scriptural proof of his Primacy. "For it is evident that Peter, in many places of the Scriptures, represents the Church, (personam gestet Ecclesiæ) chiefly in that place where it is said, 'I give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven. Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in Heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.' What! did Peter receive those keys, and Paul not receive them? Did Peter receive them, and John and James not receive them, and the rest of the Apostles? ”

“ The Lord looked on Peter, and though exposed to the revilings of the Priests, the falsehoods of the witnesses, and the insults of those who smote and spat upon Him, He met His troubled disciple with those eyes wherewith He foresaw he would be troubled. And the glance of truth was turned on him in whom amendment of heart was to be wrought, as though the voice of the Lord sounded within him, and said, What doest thou, Peter? Why dost thou withdraw into thine own conscience? ”

“ Peter, unless, perhaps, that unfortunate man who is unwilling to bear the yoke of the Lord and subjects himself to the burden of the devil, refusing to be among the number of Christ's sheep? It will help him little to his wretched liberty, indeed, that he shake from his proud neck the divinely granted power of Peter. For the more any one, through pride, refuses to bear it, the more heavily shall it press upon him unto damnation at the judgment. ”

“ Peter is his name,—a firm rock, [125] and being born to strengthen the gates he will be brave and terrible to the enemy that opposes him. By a wondrous name a rock of faith, an adornment and joy to the Tsar is born, and an eternal glory to his parents. ”

“ When Peter made this intimation to my father, he answered: "I know what you wish; do not trouble yourself further: for I understand and know what I am to undertake when I come to the place." And Peter gave him further instruction, saying: "When therefore you come to the place, and see the people turned by your discourse, and laying aside their hatred, and returning to their longing for me, send and tell me, and I shall come immediately; and when I come, I shall without delay set you free from this strange countenance, and restore to you your own, which is known to all your friends." ”

“ Either deny to the people that thou art shepherd or show thyself such. Thou wilt not deny it lest he whose place thou holdest deny thee to be the heir. He is Peter who is not known to go about in processions, ornamented with gems or silks, not clad in gold or carried by a white horse, or compassed about with soldiers, and surrounded by bustling servants. Without such things, Peter believed he was able to fulfil sufficiently the salutary commandment: 'If thou lovest me, feed my sheep.' In things like these thou hast followed not Peter, but Constantine. ”

“ For more than half a century after the accession of the Romanoffs, there is little either in the genius or the deeds of any of the line calculated to draw our special attention. But towards the close of the seventeenth century there ascended the Russian throne a man whose capacity and energy and achievements instantly drew the gaze of his contemporaries, and who has elicited the admiration and wonder of all succeeding generations. This was Peter I., universally known as Peter the Great, one of the remarkable characters of history. ”

“ Speak peace, I beseech Thee, to the tempest that shakes Thy Church, and with the effusion of my blood, who am Thy servant, make an end to the persecution of Thy people.” Then a certain virgin dedicated to God, who had her cell adjoining to the tomb of the evangelist, as she was spending the night in prayer, heard a voice from heaven, saying: “Peter was the first of the apostles, Peter is the last of the martyred bishops of Alexandria.” ”