Conversion of Paul the Apostle

Conversion of Paul the Apostle

Feast
25 January

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Today is a real Feast, not just a memorial. You have to do Lauds using the psalms from week 1 with the interminable canticle of Daniel, if you do the Office of Readings you have to pray the appropriately named Te-Deum (Tedium).

Anyhoo…Paul was a Pharisee and a Tent-maker by trade. He was born Saul. He hated and persecuted Christians as heretical, even assisting at the stoning of Saint Stephen the First Deacon and first Martyr.

What we celebrate today is the event chronicled by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles. Saul/Paul had an order from the High Priest to go to Damascus to arrest another group of Christians. Enroute he was knocked to the ground, struck blind by a heavenly light, and given the message that in persecuting Christians, he was persecuting Christ. The experience had a profound spiritual effect on him, causing his immediate conversion to Christianity. Rarely does conversion happen like this.

Like a reformed smoker or a successful dieter, Paul became the most ardent supporter of the church. He engaged in three missionary journeys throughout Asia Minor, Macedonia, Greece and Rome. His writings are probably the earliest preserved Christian writings we have….1 Thessalonians was probably written only 20 years or so after the Resurrection. He probably didn’t write the letter to the Hebrews, personally I believe Barnabas wrote Hebrews. The rest is history……Let’s review; Paul was a trained Pharisee, but grew up in the secular Greek business world of his parents, and he was a Roman Citizen. He was uniquely qualified for his apostolic mission. The Lord knows how to pick ‘em.

Born
c.3 as Saul at Tarsus, Cilicia (modern Turkey)

Died
Beheaded c.65 at Rome, Italy

Patronage

against snakes; authors; Catholic Action; evangelists; hailstorms; hospital public relations; journalists; diocese of Las Vegas, Nevada; lay people; Malta; missionary bishops; musicians; Newspaper editorial staff; poisonous snakes; public relations personnel; public relations work; publishers; reporters; Rome; rope braiders; rope makers; saddlemakers; saddlers; snake bites; tent makers; writers

Representation

thin-faced elderly man with a high forehead, receding hairline and long pointed beard; man holding a sword and a book; man with 3 springs of water nearby; sword; book