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Saint Paul > 
He was halted by Christ when his fury was at its height; it was "through zeal" that he persecuted the Church, and he obtained mercy because he had acted "ignorantly in unbelief". All explanations, psychological or otherwise, are worthless in face of these definite assertions, for all suppose that it was Paul's faith in Christ which engendered the vision, whereas according to the concordant testimony of the Acts and the Epistles it was the actual vision of Christ which engendered faith.
After his conversion, his baptism, and his miraculous cure Paul set about preaching to the Jews. He afterwards withdrew to Arabia -- probably to the region south of Damascus, doubtless less to preach than to meditate on the Scriptures. On his return to Damascus the intrigues of the Jews forced him to flee by night. He went to Jerusalem to see Peter, but remained only fifteen days, for the snares of the Greeks threatened his life. He then left for Tarsus and is lost to sight for five or six years. Barnabas went in search of him and brought him to Antioch where for a year they worked together and their apostolate was most fruitful. Together also they were sent to Jerusalem to carry alms to the brethren on the occasion of the famine predicted by Agabus. They do not seem to have found the Apostles there; these had been scattered by the persecution of Herod.
This period of twelve years (45-57) was the most active and fruitful of his life. It comprises three great Apostolic expeditions of which Antioch was in each instance the starting-point and which invariably ended in a visit to Jerusalem.
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