January 25, 2025, Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul Apostle, Holy Rosary (Joyful Mysteries)

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, January 25, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, when he turned away from the persecution of Christians to promote Christianity.

Born at Tarsus, the capital of Cilicia, of Jewish parents who were descended from the tribe of Benjamin, Saul was a Roman citizen from birth.

To complete his schooling, he was sent to Jerusalem, learned from Gamaliel, and educated in the strict observance of the ancestral Law, becoming a zealous Pharisee and a fanatic against the infant Church.

He took part in the stoning of the first martyr, St. Stephen, and in the fierce persecution of the Christians that followed.

On his way to Damascus to make new arrests, he was suddenly converted by a miraculous apparition of Our Lord.

The conversion took place about five years after our Lord's death.

He was baptized, changed his name from Saul to Paul, and began traveling and preaching the Faith.

From a fierce persecutor, he became the great Apostle of the Gentiles.

He made three missionary journeys to Asia Minor and southern Europe and made many converts. Fourteen of his Epistles are found in the New Testament. He was beheaded in Rome around 66 A.D., and his relics are in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls near the Ostian Way.

The conversion of St. Paul reveals that the mercy of God is more powerful than human sinfulness.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

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