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Today's Gospel in Art - Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul

  • Patrick van der Vorst

The Conversion of Saint Paul by Pieter Breughel the Elder  © Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

The Conversion of Saint Paul by Pieter Breughel the Elder © Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Gospel of 25th January 2021 - Mark 16:15-18

Jesus showed himself to the Eleven and said to them:

'Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; he who does not believe will be condemned. These are the signs that will be associated with believers: in my name they will cast out devils; they will have the gift of tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover.'

Reflection on the Painting

Today the church celebrates the Conversion of St Paul. This dramatic event, recorded in the Acts of the Apostles chapters 9, 22 and 26, is always worth a read. Why not read it today?

Saul, the former instrument of terror, cruelty and persecution, becomes Paul, the chosen instrument of God. Over the centuries the Conversion of Saint Paul has always been one of the favourite topics to paint. So there is a myriad of paintings to chose from. Today I am sharing with you this painting by Pieter Breughel the Elder, as you may not be familiar with it. Breughel shows Saul's army on its way to Damascus in contemporary dress and with sixteenth-century armour and weapons. The saint himself is depicted in the centre right (to the right of the tree) in blue dress. He has just fallen off his horse. Bruegel places the principal figure, Saul, in the middle distance, almost lost amongst a mass of small figures. This is a familiar device he uses, intending to tease us, the viewers, and draw our eyes deep into the pictorial space in search of the principal subject. By doing so, we become part of the crowds, we become part of the picture, we become prime witnesses to the story.

As the tomb of Saint Paul is literally across the road from our seminary here in Rome, I have somehow lived with Paul for the past year and a half. Nearly every day I go to visit his tomb. Little by little I get to know him. He is a man who inspires me, a man whom I sometimes fear, someone I trust, someone I look up to, someone who challenges me, someone to offer my daily worries to… He has become very real and present to me, that's all I can say… someone I have grown to love a great deal…

Paul's encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus provided the catalyst for his mission to spread the Christian faith. Please pray for us seminarians especially on this Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, that he may guide us and inspire us on our own mission to 'Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation', as in our Gospel reading today.

I will pray for all you Christian Art readers too, later today at the tomb of Saint Paul…

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/681
Christian Art - www.christian.art/index.php

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