LAKE JAMES

NORTH CAROLINA

 

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The Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle


Born in Tarsus, a town in what is now Turkey, St. Paul was brought up as a faithful Jew and studied under Gamaliel, the most famous rabbi of his time. A few years after the execution of Jesus, Saul (as he was then named) came into contact with the Christian movement and saw it as a danger to the Jewish Faith. Determined to do everything in his power to protect his religion against what he believed to be a heresy, he took active steps to attack the Christian beliefs and, whenever possible, punish those who held to them by denouncing them to the authorities. While on his way to Damascus where he was to take a leading role in the persecution of Christians, he had a dramatic conversion and became an ardent follower of Christ, devoting himself most especially to the conversion of Gentiles.

The Book of the Acts of the Apostles describes the courage and determination with which he planted Christian congregations in the eastern Mediterranean area.

St. Paul’s letters to a number of the new Christian churches are the earliest of the Christian writings which later became part of the New Testament. Those letters show him to be a thoughtful theologian, expounding Christian doctrines as well as commenting strongly on local issues with which the new faith communities were struggling. By his own description, he was small and insignificant in appearance. Some of his critics dismissed him as being one whose “bodily presence is weak and his speech of no account, even though his letters are weighty and strong” (II Corinthians 10:10). As part of the honesty with which he wrote, St. Paul admitted to having a painful disability from which he prayed to God to be freed, only to receive the response “My grace is sufficient for you.”

St. Paul was martyred at Rome in the year 64 during the reign of the infamous Emperor Nero. Many churches, schools, hospitals and other institutions, including some religious orders, are named for him including, of course, our own parish. His conversion is kept as a special holy day on January 25th, but he is also commemorated in the calendar on June 29th when the Church keeps the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul.

Collect for the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul

O God, by the preaching of your apostle Paul you have caused the light of the Gospel to shine throughout the world: Grant, we pray, that we, having his wonderful conversion in remembrance, may show ourselves thankful to you by following his holy teaching; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

 

[Collected from various sources by A. T. K. Z.+]

 

This page last modified on Friday, April 11, 2008 09:40 PM