Which feast day came first?

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CyrilSebastian

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July 29th is the feast day of Saints Peter and Paul.
The Feast of The Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle is February 22nd.
The Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle is January 25th.
In the history of the Catholic Church, which of these feast days was proclaimed first as a feast day?
 
July 29 is the feast of St Martha; June 29 is the feast of Sts Peter and Paul.
 
  1. Chair of St. Peter (apostolic times)
  2. Sts Peter & Paul (AD 258 or earlier)
  3. Conversion of St. Paul (replaced the earlier feast of the transfer of his relics)
 
FrDavid96 said:
  1. Chair of St. Peter (apostolic times)
  2. Sts Peter & Paul (AD 258 or earlier)
  3. Conversion of St. Paul (replaced the earlier feast of the transfer of his relics)
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Just to add to Father’s answer:

Our modern feast of St. Peter’s Chair is actually (originally) one of two, with the February 22nd probably being the older (and more important) of these two feasts. The other feast was at January 18th. Both feasts were originally associated with Saint Peter’s stay in Rome, but from the 9th century, the February feast was tagged as commemorating his episcopal chair at Antioch and the January feast commemorating his chair at Rome. I believe AFAIK (please correct me on this) the January 18th feast was removed from the calendar at 1960.

As for Sts. Peter and Paul, the Chronography of 354 does say that June 29th is “Of Peter in catacumbas, and of Paul on the Ostian (Way), when Tuscus and Bassus were consuls (AD 258),” but it doesn’t say whether the feast was inaugurated at that time or whether it was already occurring then. All we know is, it’s probably already being celebrated in Rome by the late 3rd century.

Speaking of which, I believe the only Christian feast we can verify as already being celebrated since apostolic times is that of the Passion and Resurrection (i.e. Holy Week and Easter). Much of the other feastdays are either obscure - by the time we get to sources mentioning them it seems that they’ve been commemorated for quite some time - or late.
 
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