The breviary refers very obliquely to a tradition stated more explicitly in the Golden Legend and elsewhere, namely, that the Romans dedicated the month of August to honoring the Emperor Augustus’ memory, and that this second feast of St Peter was created to supplant this holiday. Its great antiquity is demonstrated by the fact that it was restored by Pope Sixtus III in the 430s an inscription which records the restoration mentions that the building was already considered old, and that the Pope re-dedicated it to both Apostolic founders of the See of Rome. When a city has more than one church dedicated to the same Saint, they are often distinguished from each other by nicknames the appellation “at the chains” would therefore serve to distinguish it from the Vatican basilica. Like many specifically Roman feasts, it began as the dedication feast of a basilica, which in this case is located on the Esquiline hill, within sight of the Colosseum. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des manuscrits, Latin 9433) “On the Kalends of August, (the feast of) St Peter at the chains, and the birth of the seven Maccabee brothers with their mother.” The beginning of the calendar for August in the Echternach Sacramentary. Is This An Image of Inclusion or Exclusion?.Liturgical Notes on the Feast of St Peter’s Chains.
