IV. Commentaries. — Exegetical helps on the whole of this epistle exclusively are the following: Simson, Commentary (Lond. 1632, 4to); Adams, Commentary (ibid. 1633, fol.) ; Smith, Commentaries (ibid. 1690, 4to) ; Deurhof, Erklaringe (Amst. 1713, 4to); Nitzsche, Vin- dicatio (Lips. 1785, 8vo) ; Flatt, Defensio (Tub. 1806, 8vo); Dahl, Be ai^ti'Tia, etc. [includ. Jude] (Eost. 1807, ltd); Richter, Be Origine, etc. [includ. Jude] (Tit. 1810, 8vo) ; Ullmann, ,4 uslegung (Lips. 1322, 8vo) ; Olshausen, Be Integ. et A uthent. etc. (Regiom. 1822-3, 4to ; in English in the Bibl. Repos. July and Oct. 1863) ; Picot, Recherches, etc. (Genev. 1829, 8vo) ; Moutier, .4 u- thentie, etc. [includ. Jude] (Strasb. 1829, 8vo) ; Delille, .1 uthentie, etc. (ibid. 1835, 8vo) ; Magnus, id. (ibid. 1835, 8vo); Heydenreich, Aechtlteit, etc. (Herb. 1837, 8vo); Audemars, La 2d Ep. de P. (Genev. 1838, 8vo) ; Dau- mas, Introduction critique (Strasb. 1845, 8vo) ; Brown, Biscourses [on ch. i] (Edinb. 1856, 8vo) ; Smith, Lectures (Loud. 1878, 8vo). See Peter, First Epistle of.
Peter of Alcantara, St., was born in the place after which he is surnamed in 1499, studied at the uni- versity in Salamanca, and when sixteen years old be- came a Franciscan monk. In 1519 he became prior at Badajoz, and in 1524 priest. For several years he lived in retirement, but in 1538 he was made general-superior of his order in Estremadura. In 1555 he founded, with the consent of pope Julius III, a separate reformed con- gregation, called the Observeintists (q. v.), and assisted St. Theresa in her reforms of the Carmelites. He died in 1562, and was canonized in 1569. His work Be ora- tione et meditatione was long and widely circulated. The De animi pace seu tranquillitate is not genuine. Ac- cording to the legend, Peter walked on the sea by faith. In a picture in the Munich gallery, he not only walks himself, but a lay brother goes with him, whom Peter seems to encourage by pointing to heaven. See Acta Sanctorum, vol. viii.
Peter of Alexandria (1), the first of that name in the list of bishops, and noted for the part he took against the Meletian schism, was born in the 3d cen- tury. He was placed over the see of Alexandria after the death of Theonas, which occurred April 9, 300. Pe- ter had not occupied the position quite three years when the persecution commenced by the emperor Diocletian, and continued by his successors, broke out in 304. Peter was obliged to hide himself, and tied from one place to another, as we learn from a discourse said to have been delivered by him in prison, in which he states that be found shelter at different times in Mesopotamia, in Phoenicia, in Palestine, and in various islands. Cave
27 PETER
conjectures that he was imprisoned during the reign of Diocletian or Maximian Galerius, but, if so, Peter must have obtained his rdease before the schism in the Egyptian churches. In 306 he assembled a council, which passed upon the misdemeanors of Meletius, bish- op of Lycopolis. This prelate, in publishing calum- nies against Peter and his council, finally created a schism in the Church of Alexandria, which lasted 150 years. Peter was obliged to seek his safety in flight.. In the ninth year of the persecution he was, suddenly and contrary to all expectation, again arrested by order of Maximin Daza, and. without any distinct charge be- ing brought against him, was beheaded Nov. 25, 311. Eusebius speaks with the highest admiration of his pi- ety and his attainments in sacred literature, and he is revered as a saint and martyr both in the Eastern and Western churches. His memory is now celebrated by the Latin and Greek churches on the 26th, except in Russia, where the more ancient computation, which placed it on the 25th, is still followed. Peter wrote several works, of which there are very scanty remains : (1.) Sermo de Pcenitentia : — (2.) Se?-?no in Sanctum Pas- cha. These discourses are not extant in their original form, but fifteen canons relating to the lapsi, or those who in time of persecution had fallen away — fourteen of them from the Sermo de Pcenitentia (Aoyoc inpi p.i- Tavoiac), the fifteenth from the Sermo in Sanctum Pascha — are contained in all the Canonum Collect tones. They were published in a Latin version in the Micro- presbyticon (Basle, 1550); in the Orthodnxograplia of Heroldus (ibid. 1555), and of Grynanis (ibid. 1569); in the first and second editions of De la Bigne's Bibliotheca Patrum (Paris, 1575 and 1589), and in the Cologne edi- tion (1618). They are given also in the Concilia. It is only in some MSS. and editions that the separate source of the fifteenth canon is pointed out: — (3.) Liber de Divinitate s. Beitate. There is a citation from this treatise in the Acta Concilii Ephesini; it occurs in the Actio prima, and a part of it is again cited in the Be- fensio Cyrilli, which is given in the sequel of the A eta : — (4.) Homilia de Adventu Salvatoris s. Christ/. A short citation from this occurs in the Latin version of the work of Leontius of Byzantium, Contra Nestorianos et Eutychianos, lib. i: — (5, 6.) Two fragments, one de- scribed, Ex prima Sermone, de eo quod nee praexistit A nima, nee cum peccasset j>ropterea in Corpus missa est, the other as Ex Mystagogia. quam fecit ad Ecclesiam cum Martyrii Coronam suscepturus esset, are cited by the emperor Justinian in his Epistola ad Mennam CPolitanum adversus Origenem, given in the Acta Con- cilia CPolitani II s. CEcwnenici V (Concilia, vol. v, col. 652, ed. Labbe ; vol. iii, col. 256, 257, ed. Hardouin). Another fragment of the same discourse is contained in the compilation Leontii et Joannis Rei-um Sacrarum lib. ii, published by Mai in the above-cited Collectio, vii, 85: — (7.) Epistola S. Petri Ejnscopi ad Ecclesiam Alexandrinam. noticing some irregular proceedings of the schismatic Meletius. This letter, which is very short, was published in a Latin version by Scipio Mafifei in the third volume of his Obsei-vazione Letterarii (Ve- rona?, 1737-40, 6 vols. 12mo): — (8.) Doctrina. A frag- ment of this work is cited by Leontius and Joannes, and was published by Mai (ibid. p. 96). The published fragments of Peter's works, with few exceptions, aro given in the fourth volume of Galland's Bibliotheca I'n- trum, p. 91, etc. See Eusebius. Hist. Eccles. vii. 32; viii, 13; ix, 6. cum notis Valesii; Athanasius. Apolog, contra Arianos, c. 59: Epiphanius, /. c. ; Co?icili<i. 1. c. : Cave, Hist. Lift, ad aim. 301, i, 160 (Oxford ed. 1740-43) ; Tillemont, Memoires, v. 436. etc.; Fabricius, Bibliotk. Grac. ix, 316, etc.; Ceillier, Hist, des Auteurs sun-is et ecclesiastiques, iv, 17 sq.; Dupin, Bibliotheque des Au- teurs eccles.; Galland, Bibliotk. Pat rum. proleg. ad vol. iv, c. 6.— Smith, Diet, of Gr. and Rom. Ring, and Mythol. iii, 219. Comp. Hoefer. Nouv. />'/<//. Ci'nera/e. xl, 138; Dorner, Christologh. i. 810; Hefele, Conciliengesch. i, 327 sq. ; Schaff, Church Hist. vol. i.