The Conversion of St. Paul.

COLLECT FOR THE DAY, JAN. 25.

O God, who, through the preaching of the blessed Apostle St. Paul, hast caused the light of the Gospel to shine throughout the world; Grant, we beseech Thee, that we, having his wonderful conversion in remembrance, may shew forth our thankfulness unto Thee for the same, by following the holy doctrine which he taught; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

DAILY SERVICE.

When the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.-Ezek. xviii.

God desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may turn from his wickedness and live. Absolution.

I believe in the forgiveness of sins.-Creed.

LITANY.

That it may please Thee to give us true repentance; to forgive us all our sins, negligences, and ignorances; and to endue us with the grace of Thy Holy Spirit, to amend our lives according to Thy Holy Word;

We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.

EPISTLE FOR THE DAY.

And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and

slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, 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. And as he journeyed,(read in the Bible or Prayer Book, how the Lord appeared to him in the way, and sent him blind and trembling into the city, where he was to hear the words of Ananias,) Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales; and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.—Acts ix.

GOSPEL FOR THE DAY.-MATT. xix. 27.

PROPER LESSONS.

Wisdom v. Acts xxii. to v. 22.-Wisdom vi. Acts xxvi.

Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you.- -(Those who read these "Scripture Tracts," should keep the Bible open before them,) and I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee: and when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him. And he said unto me, Depart, for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. And they gave him audience

unto this word, and then lifted up their voices and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live. Acts xxii.

Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth his hand, and answered for himself:-(Read, how, after courteously bespeaking the attention of Agrippa, he relates his own conversion, and preaches the death and resurrection of Christ.) And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul thou art beside thyself, much learning doth make thee mad. But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness. For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely. Acts xxvi.

Then shall the righteous man stand in great boldness before the face of such as have afflicted him, and made no account of his labours. When they see it, they shall be troubled with terrible fear, and shall be amazed at the strangeness of his salvation, so far beyond all that they looked for. And they, repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit, shall say within themselves, This was he whom we had sometimes in derision and a proverb of reproach: We fools accounted his life madness, and his end to be without honor: How is he numbered among the children of God, and his lot is among the Saints! Wisdom v.

Hear therefore, O ye, kings, and understand;

learn ye that be judges of the ends of the earth. Because being ministers of his kingdom ye have not judged aright, nor kept the law nor walked after the counsel of God; horribly and speedily shall he come upon you for a sharp judgment shall be to them that be in high places. For mercy will soon pardon the meanest, but mighty men shall be mightily tormented. Wisd. vi.

And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled.— Acts xxiv.

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, 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 Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.—1 Tim. i.

After passing the winter at Malta, where he had been wrecked, St. Paul arrived in Rome, A.D. 56, and was kept there for two years a prisoner,

chained by the arm to a soldier. He was however suffered to live in his own private lodging, where he was able to preach the gospel so freely, that the number of the Christians whom he had found there, increased rapidly, and converts were made even in the palace. During this period, his companion, St. Luke, wrote the history of his previous labours, and he himself, the three epistles to the Philippians, Ephesians, and Colossians, as well as that to his convert Philemon. He was visited at this time by Timothy, but whether he ever conversed with St. Peter here, is uncertain. After his release, A.D. 58, his life was prolonged for eight or ten years, during which he travelled about preaching the Gospel. His "fellowlabourer," St. Clement, writes that he went to the extreme west; but it is very doubtful whether he ever visited our own island, though that is asserted by Theodoret, who lived in the fifth century. Eusebius, who wrote as early as A. D. 320, states that Britain was visited by Apostles, but he does not name St. Paul. Dr. Burton (whose authority is followed in this, as well as in some other notices) observes, that "there might appear no more reason against their going to Germany or Britain, than to Persia or India; and when we consider what was actually done by Paul, in the space of little more than three years, we could easily conceive the whole of the world to have been traversed in the same period, if all the