and in the bonds of iniquity. Simon," frightened but not converted, "answering, said: Pray you for me (1) to the Lord, that none of these things which you have spoken may come upon me."

The two apostles, "having testified, and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem." Their return was but another mission; for as they went along, "they preached the Gospel to many countries of the Samaritans."

The decrees of God were gradually made manifest; and through the agency of one man, another nation was soon to be called to the faith. Philip was again the instrument employed by God. “ An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying: Arise, go towards the south, to the way that goeth down from Jerusalem into Gaza (2); this is desert. And rising up, he went. And behold a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch (3), of great authority under Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians (4), who had charge over all her treasures, had come to Jerusalem to adore. And he was returning, sitting in his chariot, and reading Isaias the prophet. And the Spirit said to Philip: Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip, running thither, heard him reading the prophet Isaias (5), and he said:

which Simon saw himself refused; and others, the hatred of God for Simon, owing to his horrible sacrilege. Of these three explanations, the first is the most probable.

(1) It is always good to recommend ourselves to the prayers of virtuous persons, but we must also pray ourselves. The prayers of others will be of little service to us if we employ them solely to avoid the trouble of praying for ourselves.

(2) Gaza had been formerly a city of the Philistines, and was that of which Samson carried off the gates, and where he destroyed, together with himself, several thousands of the Philistines, by pulling down the pillars of a certain edifice. Gaza was taken by Alexander the Great after a siege of two months, and was by him totally destroyed. In course of time a new city was built in its vicinity, and received the name of Gaza. It is the first that is here mentioned, and it is described as desert, or waste, in order to distinguish it from the new and inhabited city.

(3) The word eunuch, in its original meaning, signifies simply an officer of the royal household, and we are at liberty to believe that this man was only a eunuch in this sense.

(4) A people of Africa, now better known by the name of Abyssinians. They still regard this eunuch as their first apostle, and pride themselves on being the first nation. which embraced Christianity, according to that saying of David: Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands to God (Ps. Ixvii. 32).

(5) If this man was not of Jewish origin he was at least a proselyte, and a good one, too, since he had come to Jerusalem to adore, and whilst on his way, was occupied in reading the Holy Scripture. Because he practised the good which he knew, God was

Thinkest thou that thou understandest what thou readest? Who said (1): And how can I, unless some man show me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. And the place of the Scripture which he was reading was this: He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb without voice before his shearers, so openeth he not his mouth (2).. In humility, his judgment was taken away. His generation who shall declare, for his life shall be taken from the earth?"

"And the eunuch, answering Philip, said: I beseech thee, of whom doth the prophet speak this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip, opening his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came to a certain water; and the eunuch said: See, here is water, what doth hinder me from being baptized? And Philip said: If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest. And he answering, said: I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still; and they went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch (3), and he baptized

pleased to give him the knowledge in which he was deficient. This is the ordinary course of grace, and perhaps also the literal meaning of those mysterious words of St. Paul: The justice of God is revealed therein (that is to say, in the Gospel) from faith unto faith (Rom., i. 17); from the Jewish to the Christian faith; from faith in a Messiah to come to faith in a Messiah come and declared.

(1) A good Protestant, even were he otherwise the most ignorant of all men, yet speaking according to the fundamental principle of his sect, would have answered: Oh! yes, I understand at least I require no interpreter: there is no need of explanation.

(2) This text has been translated word for word, and though interpreters have explained it in various ways, there is yet no certainty with regard to its real meaning. It seems to us more fitting to leave it in its obscurity than to give it a forced meaning. We must simply confess ourselves at a loss to understand it, and this we are not ashamed to do, since St. Augustine, the most enlightened of all the doctors of the Church, has not scrupled to own that there is in the sacred Scriptures much that he does not understand, in fact, far more than his understanding did or could fathom: In sacris scripturis multo plura nescio, quam scio (Aug. Epist. 119). It was undoubtedly the Holy Ghost who conducted the eunuch to the passage in question, contained in the fifty-third chapter of Isaias. In this chapter there are found so many passages which manifestly refer to Jesus Christ, and to him only, that it would suffice to give to that prophet the title of the Evangelist of the Old Testament. Philip could not have had a more favorable opportunity. He had merely to relate the passion of Jesus Christ, to bring light and conviction to the mind of a man who saw that it had all been predicted so many ages before.

(3) St. Jerome speaks of this water, which is called the Ethiopian's Fountain; it is

him (1). And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took away Philip, and the eunuch saw him no more. And he," strengthened by this new prodigy, "went on his way rejoicing," and delighted with his good fortune, he gave himself but little concern that he had lost sight of its visible author. As for " As for "Philip," he "was found in Azotus (2), and, passing through, he preached the Gospel to all the cities till he came to Cesarea (3)." That city was his usual residence, and the Spirit of the Lord might at once have transported him thither; but the time had come when the Lord had decreed that the Gospel should be announced to the people of all that region.

CHAPTER IX.

THE CONVERSION OF SAUL.

THE eunuch had been gradually conducted from the darkness of Judaism to the full light of faith. His fidelity to the first grace given him, whereby he had become a pious proselyte, obtained for him that additional grace which made him a perfect Christian. We have already remarked that such is the ordinary course of God's ways, for his operations in the supernatural as well as in the natural

on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, adjacent to a place named Bethsura, where it springs from the earth, and immediately enters again.

(1) It must be inferred that Philip had previously explained to him at least the principal mysteries of the faith, together with the chief duties of Christianity. His profession of faith includes all that in an abridged form; for in confessing that Jesus Christ is truly the Son of God, it follows that one believes all, whatsoever he has said, and is willing to do what he has commanded.

(2) An ancient city of the Philistines, between Gaza and Cesarea, but much nearer to the former.

(3) Called in earlier times the Tower of Straton. It is situated on the Mediterranean Sea, and is distinct from another Cesarea, surnamed Philippi, from Philip, the son of Herod, who had built it in honor of Tiberius Cæsar. The latter city, which is mentioned in Scripture, was at the foot of Mount Lebanon.

order, have almost invariably their beginning, their progress, and their perfection. But God, the author of this order, is by no means bound to follow it on all occasions. He departs from it when he pleases; and at times signalizes his omnipotent mercy, by striking down the most rebellious will, and subduing hearts which so far from being disposed for the reception of grace, were entirely occu pied with self, and opposed to all beside. Of this class was the conversion which we are about to relate; a conversion which snatched from Judaism its most strenuous supporter-changed in one moment a persecutor into an apostle, and, by the conquest of a single man, paved the way for the subjection of the entire world.

"(a) And Saul (1) as yet breathing out threatenings and slaugh ter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high-priest, and asked of him letters to Damascus (2), to the synagogues, that if he found any men or women of this way, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. And as he went on his journey, it came to pass that he drew nigh to Damascus; and suddenly a light from heaven shined round about him. And falling on the ground, he heard a voice saying to him: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me (3)? He said: Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord answered: I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the goad (4).

(a) Chap. ix., ver. 1.

(1) The same name as King Säul's, although differently pronounced; but the Hebrews pronounced it in the same way, that is to say, as though it were two syllables. We learn this from the words of the Saviour, who speaking in Hebrew, said twice, Saoul, Saoul, according to the Greek text, which is that here followed. We, therefore, pronounce it wrongly, and though the error is of small importance, we are of opinion that any thing connected with so great a man cannot but be worthy of notice.

(2) Formerly the capital of Syria. We learn from this passage that the Jews were very numerous there, since it appears that they had several synagogues. Those of Jerusalem could have had no authority in that city which was under subjection to a foreign prince. It seems, notwithstanding, that the decrces of the high-priest were executed there; whether it was that the sovereigns of the country had allowed them that privilege, or that they had purchased it for themselves, as we see in certain places, that people, by paying well, obtain indulgences which the laws do not sanction.

(3) Those who, in any way whatsoever, persecute the righteous, may here learn who it is that they attack.

(4) This is a metaphor borrowed from the oxen, which, being goaded, do but irritate the driver if they kick, and draw greater punishment on themselves. This saying of the

And he trembling and astonished, said: Lord, what wilt thou have me to do (1)? And the Lord said to him: Arise, and go into the city, and there it shall be told thee what thou must do (2). Now the men who went in company with him stood amazed, hearing indeed a voice (3), but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw nothing. But they, leading him by the hands, brought him to Damascus. And he was there three days without sight, and he did neither eat nor drink."

"Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias: and the Lord said to him in a vision: Ananias. And he said: Behold I am here, Lord. And the Lord said to him: Arise, and go into the street that is called Straight, and seek in the house of Ju

Lord expresses some resistance, either past or present, on the part of Saul. It is very probable that even when he persecuted the faithful with so much fury, he was visited by some rays of divine light, which occasioned certain misgivings in his mind. But having once gone so far, he would not recede. A first engagement often carries men far beyond what they had intended; hurried on by impulse, they cannot stop midway in their course. (1) This brief sentence comprises the entire conversion of St. Paul. Happy the penitent who, like him, cries out with all his heart: Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? (2) Yet St. Paul declares in his epistles that he had no other teacher than Jesus Christ. A distinction must here be made: he learned by revelation from Jesus himself the knowledge requisite for him as an apostle, and for the instruction of others; but that which it behooved him to learn as a catechumen, and for his own sanctification, he acquired through the agency of Ananias. Hence it was that Jesus had said to him: It shall be told thee what thou must do. In all that regards the particular salvation of each, men must be guided by men. The law is general, and without exception. Even those who are charged with public instruction are not exempt from the obligation. Woe to any one of them who imagines himself competent for his own instruction!

Jesus Christ further told him for what ministry he designed him, as will be seen, chap. xxvi., 16th and following verses, when St. Paul related this vision before King Agrippa.

(3) Here it is said that they heard a voice; in chap. xxii., St. Paul, relating the history of his conversion, says that they who were with him heard not the voice of him who spoke to him; the voice, therefore, which they are here said to have heard, is that of Saul, so that there is no contradiction between the two accounts. If it be asked, wherefore, then, the astonishment of the men, it is easy to answer that there was still quite enough to excite both surprise and terror. The wondrous light wherewith they were surrounded; Saul struck to the ground; and the sight of him who had ever been so courageous, lying grovelling in the dust, and quivering with fear; the sound of his voice, too, whereby they knew that he was conversing with some unseen being; all this was sufficient to make them fear and wonder, although they heard not the voice of the Lord, whose will it was that none but Saul should either see or hear him.