Feast of the Conversion of St Paul

"We have this day heard read out of the Acts of the Apostles how that the Apostle Paul, from being a persecutor of the Christians, was changed into a preacher of Christ.  Christ laid low the persecutor, that he might raise him up a teacher of his Church.  He smote and healed him; he slew and made him alive again.  For the Lord Christ is that Lamb that was himself slain by the wolves, and that now turneth the wolves into lambs.  Now was fulfilled in Paul that which was clearly spoken in prophecy by the patriarch Jacob, when he blessed his children, laying his hands indeed on them which then were, but looking forward to the things which were yet for to come.  Paul beareth witness of himself that he was of the tribe of Benjamin; and when Jacob blessed his sons, and came to bless Benjamin, he said: Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf.


What then?  Is Benjamin a wolf that shall ravin for ever? God forbid.  For as saith the Scripture: In the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.  This is exactly what was fulfilled in the Apostle Paul.  If it please you, we will now consider how in the morning he devoured the prey, and at night divided the spoil.  Here morning and evening are put for the beginning and the end.  So we may read, In the beginning he shall devour the prey, and at the end he shall divide the spoil.  First, then, in the beginning, he devoured the prey.  So it is written that he received letters from the chief priests and went forth, that wheresoever he should find any Christians, he might bring them bound unto the priests, that they might be punished.


He went breathing out threatenings and slaughter, yea truly, devouring the prey.  When also they stoned Stephen, the first Martyr that laid down his life for Christ's Name's sake, Saul was consenting unto his death, and, as though it contented him not to stone him, he kept the clothes of all them that did it, urging them on more than if he had joined them.  So in the morning he devoured the prey.  How in the evening did he divide the spoil?  Struck down by the voice of Christ from heaven, ravining no more, he falleth upon his face, cast down to be raised up, smitten to be healed."


--From a sermon by St Augustine

The Holy Apostles Peter and Paul

"Dearly beloved, in the joy of each and every holy feast the whole world may have a share.  For there is but one love of God, and whatsoever is solemnly called to memory, if it hath been done for the salvation of all, must needs be worth the honour of a joyful memorial at the hands of all.  Nevertheless, this feast which we are keeping today, besides that world-wide worship which it doth of right get throughout all the earth, deserveth from this our City of Rome an outburst of gladness altogether special and our own.  For in this place it was that the two chiefest of the Apostles did so right gloriously finish their race.  And upon this day whereon they lifted up that their last testimony, let it be that the memory thereof receiveth in this place the chiefest of all its jubilant  celebrations.  O Rome! these twain are the men who brought the light of the Gospel of Christ to shine upon thee!  These are they by whom thou, from being the teacher of lies, wast turned into a learner of the truth.

These twain are thy fathers; they truly are thy shepherds!  These twain are they who laid foundations for thee (that thou mightest upbuild the kingdom of heaven) better and happier than did the Romulus (from whom thou art named), when he first planned thine earthly ramparts; which same he polluted with his brother's blood.  These twain are they who have set on thine head this day thy glorious crown, so that thou art become an holy nation, a chosen people, a city both priestly and kingly, whom the sacred throne of blessed Peter hath exalted till thou art become the Lady of the world, unto whom the world-wide love for God hath conceded a broader lordship than is the possession of any mere earthly empire.  Thou wast once waxen great by victories until thy power was spread haughtily over land and sea, but thy power was narrower then, which the toils of war had won for thee, than that thou now hast which hath been laid at thy feet by the peace of Christ.

It was convenient for the doing of the work which God had decreed, that the whole multitude of kingdoms should be bound together under one rule, and that so the universal preaching of the Gospel should find easier entry unto all people, since all were governed by the empire of one city.  But this City, knowing not him who had been pleased to make her great, used her lordship over almost all nations to make herself the minister of all their falsehoods; and seemed to herself exceedingly godly because there was no false god whom she rejected.  But the tighter that Satan had bound her, the more wondrous was the work of Christ in setting her free."


--  From a Sermon by St Leo the Great

Feast of the Conversion of St Paul

"Paul, more than anyone else, has shown us what man really is, and in what our nobility consists, and of what virtue this particular animal is capable. Each day he aimed ever higher; each day he rose up with greater ardor and faced with new eagerness the dangers that threatened him. He summed up his attitude in the words: I forget what is behind me and push on to what lies ahead. When he saw death imminent, he bade others share his joy: Rejoice and be glad with me! And when danger, injustice and abuse threatened, he said: I am content with weakness, mistreatment and persecution. These he called the weapons of righteousness, thus telling us that he derived immense profit from them.
     Thus, amid the traps set for him by his enemies, with exultant heart he turned their every attack into a victory for himself; constantly beaten, abused and cursed, he boasted of it as though he were celebrating a triumphal procession and taking trophies home, and offered thanks to God for it all: Thanks be to God who is always victorious in us! This is why he was far more eager for the shameful abuse that his zeal in preaching brought upon him than we are for the most pleasing honors, more eager for death than we are for the most pleasing honors, more eager for death than we are for life, for poverty than we are for wealth; he yearned for toil far more than others yearn for rest after toil. The one thing he feared, indeed dreaded, was to offend God; nothing else could sway him. Therefore, the only thing he really wanted was always to please God.
     The most important thing of all to him, however, was that he knew himself to be loved by Christ. Enjoying this love, he considered himself happier than anyone else; were he without it, it would be no satisfaction to be the friend of principalities and powers. He preferred to be thus loved and be the least of all, or even to be among the damned, than to be without that love and be among the great and honored.
     To be separated from that love was, in his eyes, the greatest and most extraordinary of torments; the pain of that loss would alone have been hell, and endless, unbearable torture.
     So too, in being loved by Christ he thought of himself as possessing life, the world, the angels, present and future, the kingdom, the promise and countless blessings. Apart from that love nothing saddened or delighted him; for nothing earthly did he regard as bitter or sweet.
     Paul set no store by the things that fill our visible world, any more than a man sets value on the withered grass of the field. As for tyrannical rulers or the people enraged against him, he paid them no more heed than gnats.
     Death itself and pain and whatever torments might come were but child's play to him, provided that thereby he might bear some burden for the sake of Christ."


-- From a homily by St John Chrysostom


* Painting by Juan Antonio Frias y Escalante

Closure of the Pauline Year

"Dear brothers and sisters!

Today, we celebrate solemnly the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, special Patrons of the Church of Rome: Peter, the fisherman of Galilee, who "first confessed to faith in Christ... and constituted the first community with the righteous of Israel"; Paul, the persecutor of old Christians, "that illuminated the depths of the mystery... teacher and doctor who proclaimed salvation to all peoples "(cf. Preface of today's Mass). In a sermon to the community of Rome, Pope St Leo the Great said: "These are your Fathers and true Shepherds (Bishops), because they have founded you that you would be entered into the kingdom of heaven " (Sermo I in Nat App Petri et Pauli, c I, PL 54.422).

Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord bless you and protect through the intercession of Saints Peter and Paul! As your pastor, I urge you to remain faithful to their Christian vocation and not conformed to this world - as the Apostle to the Gentiles wrote to his own Christians in Rome - but to go and always turn renewed by the Gospel, to follow what is really good and pleasing to God (cf Rom 12:2). For this I pray, that Rome constantly keeps alive its Christian vocation, not only retaining intact its immense spiritual and cultural heritage, but also because its people can transmit the beauty of faith in concrete ways of thinking and acting, and thus affording to those who, for various reasons are in this city, an atmosphere filled with humanity and the evangelical values. Therefore - with the words of Saint Peter - I invite you, dear brothers and sisters, disciples of Christ, to be "living stones", compact around him, who is the "living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious before God" (cf 1 Pt 2:4). "

--Extract from Pope Benedict XVI's Angelus address - 29 June 2009. Translated by ocdsister.