Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Conversion - of St Paul - and others!

“...for our gospel came to you not only in word,
but also in power and in the Holy Spirit
and with full conviction (I Thes 1:5a).

 

"The single greatest need in the world today is the practice of prayer
before the Blessed Sacrament.  How can we say this? Logically! We
have seen that the conversion of our country calls for an outpouring
of marvelous power from God. Christ promised to move mountains at
the words of a person who believes.  We conclude: there is no greater
profession of faith than during prayer before the Holy Eucharist.

 Why should prayer before Christ in the Eucharist be so potent in obtaining miracles of conversion?  Because it is a prayer that is animated by extraordinary faith. ...There is no miracle too great, and no miracle is greater than the conversion of sinners—provided we believe.

That is why we can say and say with complete security; the single most powerful means on earth for the conversion of America is for Catholic Americans to mobilize a crusade of prayer before the Eucharist for the conversion of our nation."  ~ From The Conversion of America Through the Eucharist Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. (1998)


 
 
FEAST* of the CONVERSION of ST PAUL

January 25

*This feast is at the conclusion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, an international
Christian ecumenical observance that began in 1908, which is an octave (eight-day observance) spanning from January 18 (observed as the Confession of Peter) to January 25.

The Conversion of Saul -- Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni
Traditional Collect 

O God, who through the preaching of the blessed Apostle Saint 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.

Ste Paul, ora pro nobis!

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