The Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle
Feast day: January 25
On the road to Damascus, Saul meets the Risen Jesus and becomes the Apostle to the nations (25/01)
What is this feast?
The feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul remembers the day the Risen Jesus appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus and changed his whole life. “Conversion” means turning back to God. This feast also closes the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, because Saint Paul spent his whole life bringing the Gospel to every people and building up one single Church.
The story
Saul was a Jew from Tarsus who kept the Law very zealously. He thought the followers of Jesus were wrong, so he hunted them down. He asked the high priest for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that he could arrest the followers of the Way and bring them back to Jerusalem in chains (cf. Acts 9:1-2).
As he was nearing Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice calling his name. He asked: “Who are you, sir?” And the voice answered: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” (Acts 9:5). Jesus sees those who believe in him as his own body: whoever hurts them hurts him.
Saul got up; his eyes were open, but he could see nothing, so they had to lead him by the hand into the city. For three days he neither ate nor drank. Then the Lord sent Ananias to lay his hands on him. At once something like scales fell from his eyes; he could see again, and he was baptized (cf. Acts 9:8-18). The Lord had said of him: “this man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles” (Acts 9:15).
From then on, Saul, also known as Paul (cf. Acts 13:9), went everywhere preaching the Gospel. He founded many communities and wrote many letters that you still hear read at Mass today.
Why does the Church celebrate this feast?
The Church celebrates because God’s grace is stronger than sin: the man who once persecuted the Church became its most zealous Apostle. Saint Paul himself said: “by the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Cor 15:10). His story gives everyone hope: God can call anyone back, and God abandons no one.
A lesson for you
- When you do something wrong, do not think God has given up on you; God is always waiting for you to come back, above all in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
- Pray for someone you know who does not yet believe in God, or who has drifted away from him.
- Like Saint Paul, be ready to ask the Lord what he wants you to do (cf. Acts 22:10).
Identifying marks
- Saul fallen to the ground, one hand raised toward the beam of light: “a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground” (Acts 9:3-4).
- A dazzling beam of light in the sky, with no figure of the Lord: the Risen Jesus appeared to Saul on the road (cf. Acts 9:17, 27); the painter chose to show that meeting through light, without drawing the Lord’s face.
- No halo yet around Saul’s head: the painter chose this to tell apart Saul, while he was still persecuting the Church, from the way Saint Paul is shown later on; God’s grace is about to change his whole life.
- A horse rearing up in fright: this is how painters have usually shown the scene for many centuries; the Acts of the Apostles does not say that Saul was riding a horse.
- Two travel companions standing amazed, looking up: “The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, for they heard the voice but could see no one.” (Acts 9:7).
- Stone city walls on a distant hill: they recall the city of Damascus, where he was going.
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