The Conversion of Saint Paul AD 2026

We don’t know exactly how long it took from the execution of Saint Stephen to Saul becoming Paul. We know that Saul was present at Stephen’s execution and approved of it, and we also know that after that “he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison … breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord.” He later called himself “a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious.”

However, while we do not know exactly how long it took for Saul to become Paul, we can assume that it did not happen overnight but rather took a few years. So, the number of Christians who lost their freedom or even their lives because of him must have been dozens, if not hundreds. And those who had heard of the terror he perpetrated against the Church were even more numerous.

Paul’s conversion was a divine act, but this doesn’t mean that God did not use His servants in it. There were two people whose role in the life and fate of Paul was decisive: the already mentioned Saint Stephen the Protomartyr, and a disciple living in Damascus named Ananias. Interestingly, Saint Ananias, who later also died a martyr, is commemorated on the same day that we celebrate the Conversion of Saint Paul.

We don’t need to debate whether God would have turned Saul into Paul without Stephen and Ananias. We know that God used them, and we know that it was not easy for them: Saint Stephen had to die, and Saint Ananias had to overcome the fear and revulsion he felt towards Saul because of his atrocities.

We can only guess how many Sauls have not been converted to Pauls because there has been no one to pray for them and baptize them... We can certainly be sure that we owe the good that has come to us in our lives, in addition to the generosity of God, to the prayers of some or even many people. Paul’s conversion was one of the most important turning points in the history of the world. Let us thank God for it and pray that we may be faithful where our prayer or action is needed.