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of them that slew him." Saul, even when "breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord," even when he "imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed" in Christ: which God, who alone knoweth the heart, had regard to. And so God called him, by special miracle, not alone to believe, but to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ; that so that same sincerity, and zeal, and earnestness of purpose, which had made him at the first a persecutor, might, by God's grace, and the renewal of His Spirit, make him a faithful witness of Jesus Christ; and, at the same time, that his conversion might be, to the Church in all ages, a memorial of the divine mercy and forbearance. Thus St. Paul himself writes to Timothy, i. 12, "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that He counted me worthy, putting me into the ministry; who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit, for this

cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Christ Jesus might shew forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them that should hereafter believe on Him, to life everlasting."

Saul was on his way to Damascus, when God wrought his conversion. Not content with what he had done against the faithful at Jerusalem, he "persecuted them even unto strange cities." Thus we read, "And Saul . . . went unto the high-priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, that, if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem (for to be punished). And, as he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven, (above the brightness of the sun,) and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him (in the Hebrew tongue) Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" Our Lord said not, Why persecutest thou My Church? My disciples ?. but "why persecutest thou Me?" For, whatever of good or- of evil is done unto the disciples of Jesus Christ, unto the least of these His brethren, is done unto Him: whatever is done unto any one member of His mystical Body, is done unto Him, the Divine Head of the Body. "And he said, Who art thou,

Lord? and the Lord said, I am Jesus, (of Nazareth,) whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." It is hard for thee to strive against One mightier than thou; it can but bring harm and loss to thyself; the thorns, which thou spurnest, will but enter into thy own flesh. And here the gracious and merciful words of our Blessed Saviour, together with divine grace, seem at once to have changed the purpose and heart of Saul, to have humbled and bowed him to the divine will. "And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? And the Lord said, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do."

Thus our Lord, even after his miraculous call, was pleased to remit St. Paul unto the Church, and unto man, and unto the sacraments, to make known unto him His will, and to perfect in him his conversion; as St. Augustine says, "Let us consider rather, that the apostle Paul himself, although cast down to the earth and instructed by the divine voice from heaven, was yet sent unto man, to receive the sacraments, and to be joined unto the Church." A lesson, Christian brethren, for us all, to look to the means of grace in the Church, and to listen to them who are set over us in the Lord.

"And Saul arose from the earth, and, when his eyes were opened, he saw no man; and they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink." No doubt these were days of severe trial and bitterness of soul, when as yet he knew not what was God's will and purpose concerning him, and when, no doubt, the sense of his past sin in persecuting the Church of God was fresh and keen. At the end of the three days Ananias was sent to him by God, that "he might receive his sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost." The words of Ananias, as given in chap. xxii., are much to be noted, as setting forth the necessity of the ordinary means of grace, even when the conversion had been miraculous. "And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know His will, and see That Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of His mouth. thou shalt be His witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. And now, why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the Name of the Lord." How great must be the necessity of the means of grace, where they may be had! And, chiefly, how great must be the necessity of the sacra

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ment of holy Baptism, if St. Paul, even after his conversion by miracle, yet needed that holy sacrament, and was yet in his sins, until his sins were washed away by the "one baptism for the remission of sins!" Our Lord had Himself called St. Paul by a voice from heaven, our Lord had Himself wrought St. Paul's conversion by miracle, and yet, after all, it was necessary for St. Paul also to be baptized. It was not enough that he believed, he needed also to be baptized; even as our Lord had said, "he that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved." St. Paul needed (even as we need) to be born again of water and of the Holy Spirit, in order to enter into the kingdom of God: and Ananias preached unto St. Paul, even after his conversion, the necessity of holy Baptism for the remission of sins, even as St. Peter had before preached it unto the multitude on the day of Pentecost, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you, in the Name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

These then are among the lessons which we may learn from the conversion of St. Paul. That God has compassion upon such as are serious and earnest, even when in error: and mercifully seeks to lead them unto the truth: not that it

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