Blinded by the Light
You will recall that the Church celebrates St. Stephen’s Martyrdom on December 26th. However, you might not know that this day is closely linked with St. Paul’s day on January 25th. At the end of St. Luke’s account in Acts, it is written that when the persecutors carried Stephen’s garments that they laid them at the feet of Saul, the official witness of Stephen’s killing (Acts 7:58).
Indeed, Scripture tells us in many places that Saul was a vehement persecutor of the Church, going “from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into jail” (8:3). Saul even provides a bit of an autobiography for us in his letter to the Philippians,
“If anyone else thinks he has a reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”
Yet all of this Saul would eventually consider as lost to Christ, for whom he would suffer much but by whom he would gain everything. Along the road to Damascus on his way to persecute the Church, a bright light shone around Saul, and Jesus appeared to him, calling out, “Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” Saul fell to the ground, blinded. He obeyed Jesus’ instruction and met up with Ananias, who had received his own revelation from Jesus that he was to meet Saul and lay his hands on him.
From then on, Saul (later called Paul in Acts 13 and onward) was a most zealous witness to Jesus, proclaiming that “He is indeed the Son of God! (Acts 9:20). Paul would go on to play a crucial role in spreading the gospel to the Gentiles during the first century, with him starting more than a dozen churches and writing many, many books of the Bible.
A Brief History
The date of the commemoration of the Conversion of St Paul is celebrated on January 25th because Church tradition holds that this is the date when St. Paul’s relics were transported from the catacombs on the Via Appia to the basilica built in his name. This church is St. Paul Outside-the-Walls, which is Rome’s second-largest basilica.
It is thought that in the years following this transfer, the Church celebrated a more general observance of Paul on the anniversary of this date with the Church’s readings on that day coming to focus more particularly on St. Paul’s conversion. Thus, the feast is often known today as the Conversion of St. Paul.
Collect
O God, who through the preaching of the blessed Apostle Saint Paul hast caused the light of Thy Gospel to shine to the Gentile world: give us grace ever to joy in the saving light of Thy Gospel, and to spread it to the uttermost parts of the earth; through the same, Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost: ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Lessons
Epistle
Gospel
Resources
Issues, Etc. interview with the Rev. Will Weedon on the Conversion of St. Paul
Propers found in Daily Divine Service Book: A Lutheran Daily Missal, edited by the Rev. Heath Curtis
References:
1. Weedon, William. Celebrating the Saints. Concordia Publishing House. 2016.
Images:
1. The Conversion of Saint Paul, Hans Baldung Grien, German, 1508
2. Conversion of St Paul on the Road to Damascus, Hans Speckaert, Germany, ca. 1570-1577
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