The Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, or properly the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, is a feast commemorating the martyrdom at Rome of the apostles St. Peter, and Paul of Tarsus, assigned by tradition to the same day of June (29th) in the year 67.  Both apostles had been imprisoned in the famous Mamertine Prison of Rome.  As a Roman citizen, Paul would probably have been beheaded with a sword. It is said of Peter that he was crucified head downward.

The Scriptures do not record the deaths of Peter or Paul, or indeed any of the Apostles except for James the son of Zebedee (Acts 12:2), but from an early date it has been said that they were martyred at Rome at the command of the Emperor Nero, and buried there. The initial date of the anniversary is around 258, when, under the Valerian persecution, what were believed to be the remains of the two apostles were both moved temporarily to prevent them from falling into the hands of the persecutors.  The present Church of St Peter in Rome replaces earlier churches built on the same site going back to the time of the Emperor Constantine, in whose reign a church was built there on what was believed to be the burial site of Peter. Excavations under the church suggest that the belief is older than Constantine.

Saints Peter and Paul are the principle pillars of the Church founded by Christ. Peter was a native of Galilee. As he was fishing on its large lake he was called to be one of His apostles. He was poor and unlearned, but candid, eager, and loving. His name appears no fewer than 160 times in the New Testament. But it is after Pentecost that he stands out in the full grandeur of his office. He sees to the replacement of the fallen disciple; he admits the Jews by thousands into the fold and, in Cornelius, opens it to the Gentiles; he founds, and for a time rules, the Church at Antioch.  Peter suffered martyrdom under Nero, in about the year 64 AD. He was buried at the hill of the Vatican; recent excavations have revealed his tomb on the very site of St. Peter's Basilica.

It is said that ten years after the Ascension, "Peter transferred his apostolic capital to Rome, going in person to the center of the majestic Roman Empire, where were gathered the glories and riches of the earth, along with all the powers of evil. From there he sent Saint Mark, his valued secretary, to establish the Church of Alexandria in Egypt. In Rome, Saint Peter’s Chair was placed; there for twenty-five years he labored at building up the great Roman Church."

The Book of the Acts of the Apostles reports that Paul was chosen to form part of the apostolic college by Christ himself on the road to Damascus. Selected to bring Christ's name to all peoples, he is the greatest missionary of all time, the advocate of pagans, the Apostle of the Gentiles. Paul was beheadeded in the Tre Fontane along the Via Ostiense and buried nearby, on the site where the basilica bearing his name now stands.

In both apostles we see eager promotion of one's faith and its growth among the Jewish AND non-Jewish communities.