(A.D. 37.)
[Roman Martyrology; the ancient Roman Martyrology, called that of S.
Jerome; Bede; Ado; Usuardus, &c.]
Under this name is celebrated the foundation of the see of Antioch by
S. Peter the Apostle, before he went to Rome, so that this day may be
called the birthday of the Church and Patriarchate of Antioch. Through
the coincidence of this Christian festival with some ancient pagan
solemnities, its observance has become surrounded by spurious usages,
at least among the Northern races. These usages were so rooted into
the habits of the people, that the Church, unable to eradicate them,
sought to give them a Christian significance, and to substitute the
feast of the Chair of S. Peter for the _cara cognitio_ celebrated by
the pagans of the Teutonic races on this day. This heathen festival
was a commemoration of deceased relations by a great banquet, called
in Flanders the _dadsisas_, or death-wake, on the 27th Feb., the day
on which, in the North of Europe, the year was supposed to begin.