January
25
The
history of this conversion is fully given in the epistle taken from
the Acts.
The
Introit of the Mass is as follows:
“I
know Whom I have believed, and I am certain that He is able to keep
that which I have committed unto Him against that day, being a just
judge. Lord, Thou hast proved me and known me, Thou hast known my
sitting down, and my rising up.”
Glory
be to the Father, etc.
Prayer
O
God, "Who didst teach the whole world by the preachingof blessed
Paul the apostle, grant us, we beseech Thee, that we, who this day
celebrate his conversion, may advance towards Thee by his example.”
Through Christ our Lord, etc.
EPISTLE
Acts 9:1-22
In
those days : Saul as yet breathing out -threatenings and slaughter
against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked
of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues : that if he found any
men and women of this way, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
And as he went on his journey, it came to pass that he drew nigh to
Damascus : and suddenly a light from heaven shined round about him.
And falling on the ground, he heard a voice saying to him : Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou Me? Who said: Who art Thou, Lord? And He
said : I am Jesus Whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick
against the goad. And he trembling and astonished, said : Lord, what
wilt Thou have me to do? And the Lord said to him : Arise, and go
into the city, and there it shall be told thee what thou must do. Now
the men who went in company with him stood amazed, hearing indeed a
voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the ground, and when
his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. But they leading him by the
hands, brought him to Damascus. And he was there three days without
sight, and he did neither eat nor drink. Now there was a certain
disciple at Damascus, named Ananias : and the Lord said to him in a
vision: Ananias. And he said: Behold I am here, Lord. And the Lord
said to him : Arise, and go into the street that is called Strait,
and seek in the house of Judas, one named Saul of Tarsus. For behold
he prayeth. (And he saw a man named Ananias, coming in and putting
his hands upon him, that he might receive his sight.) But Ananias
answered : Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he
hath done to Thy saints in Jerusalem. And here he hath authority from
the chief priests, to bind all that invoke Thy name. And the Lord
said to him : Go thy way, for this man is to Me a vessel of election,
to carry My name before the gentiles, and kings, and the children of
Israel. For I will show him how great things he must suffer for My
name s sake. And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house :
and laying his hands upon him, he said : Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus
hath sent me, He that appeared to thee in the way as thou earnest:
that thou mayst receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
And immediately there fell from his eyes as it were scales, and he
received his sight; and rising up he was baptized. And when he had
taken meat he was strengthened. And he was with the disciples that
were at Damascus for some days. And immediately he preached Jesus in
the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. And all that heard him
were astonished, and said : Is not this he who persecuted in
Jerusalem those that called upon this name ; and came hither for that
intent, that he might carry them bound to the chief priests? But Saul
increased much more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt at
Damascus, affirming that this is the Christ.
What
do we learn from this history?
Not
to despise any sinner, nor to despair of his salvation : for, like
Paul on the road to Damascus, the greatest sinner may, by the grace
of God, be suddenly converted, and become a saint. At the command of
God he accepted Ananias as his leader in the way of salvation, and
became as zealous for the honor of Christ as he had previously been
intent on persecuting Him. In like manner, a convert must shut his
eyes to all by which he has heretofore been led astray, and must give
heed to that only which God commands.
GOSPEL
Matthew 19:27-29
At
that time Peter said to Jesus : Behold, we have left all things, and
have followed Thee : what, therefore, shall we have? And Jesus said
to them : Amen I say to you, that you, who have followed Me, in the
regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the seat of His
majesty, you also shall sit on twelve seats judging the twelve tribes
of Israel. And every one that hath left house, or brethren, or
sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My
name s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall possess life
everlasting.
This
gospel teaches that he who renounces the world, its pleasures and its
riches, shall receive the grace of God, virtues, interior
consolation, and eternal happiness, which are a hundred fold,
that is, infinitely, more precious than worldly goods.
Prayer
O
St. Paul, great apostle, who, from being an enemy, be came the most
zealous friend and preacher of Christ, procure for me from Him, I
beseech thee, grace at last truly to know Him, Whom I have heretofore
so often denied, offended, and, by my sins, crucified anew ; to
follow Him, and, after thy example, to be henceforth as diligent in
doing justice as I have formerly been in practicing evil ; that I may
one day attain to that happiness which thou hast gained. Through
Jesus Christ our Lord, etc. Amen.
–
Goffine’s
Devout Instructions
