There was a certain disciple in Damascus,
named Ananias,
and the Lord spoke to him in a vision:
‘Ananias.’
So he said: ‘Here I am, Lord.’
The Lord said to him:
‘Get up and go to the street called “Straight”
and seek at the house of Judas
a man from Tarsus,
named Saul.
For look, he is praying
and he has seen
a man named Ananias
come in and lay hands on him
that he might regain his sight. ‘

Ananias answered:
‘Lord, I have heard from many
about this man,
how much evil he has done
to your saints in Jerusalem.
And here, in this place, he has authority
from the High Priests
to bind all who call upon your name.’

But the Lord said to him:
‘Go, because he is my chosen vessel
to carry my name before both Gentiles and Kings
and the children of Israel.
For I will show him
how much he must suffer
for my name. ‘

Then Ananias left and entered the house
and laid hands on him and said:
‘Brother Saul
the Lord sent me,
Jesus who appeared to you on the road
on which you came,
so that you might se e again
and you might be filled with the Holy Spirit.
and immediately
something like scales
fell from his eyes:
he saw again,
and when he got up he was baptised
and after taking food, he regained (his) strength.

God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

But Saul still breathing out threats
to murder the disciples of the Lord,
having gone to the High Priest
asked for letters from him
to the synagogues in Damascus,
so that if he found any who
might belong to the Way,
he might bind them
and bring them to Jerusalem.

Now as he travelled
he drew near to Damascus (and)
suddenly
a light from heaven flashed around
and having fallen on the ground
he heard a voice, saying to him
‘Saul, Saul,
why are you persecuting me?’
So he said:
‘Who are you, Lord?’
‘I am Jesus, whom you persecute.
But get up and go into the city,
and
it will be told to you
what must be done.’

The men who were travelling with him
had been standing speechless,
hearing the voice
but seeing no-one.
Saul got up from the ground,
When his eyes were opened,
he saw nothing.
So leading him by the hand
they brought him into Damascus
and for three days
he was unable to see
and he ate and drank nothing.

Eternal Light, shine into our hearts,
Eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil,
Eternal Power, be our support,
Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance,
Eternal Pity, have mercy upon us;
that with all our heart and mind
and soul and strength we may seek thy face
and be brought by thine infinite mercy
to thy holy presence;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Alcuin (735-804)

The portion of the Scriptures which he was reading was this:
As a sheep is led to slaughter,
and as lamb before the one shearing is silent,
likewise he does not open his mouth.
In humiliation his justice was taken away,
Who will tell of his generation?
Because his life is taken away from the earth. ¹

The eunuch answered Philip and said,
‘I ask you, about whom is the prophet saying this?’
About himself, or about some else?’

Philip opened his mouth and
beginning from this scripture
he told him the good news of Jesus.

As they were going along the road,
they came upon some water,
and the eunuch spoke:
‘Look, water,
what prevents me from being baptised?’

And he ordered the chariot to be stopped, and
both went down into the water,
Philip and the eunuch,
and he baptised him.
When he came up out of the water,
the Holy Spirit carried Philip off
and the eunuch did not see him any longer,
for he went on his way, rejoicing.

And Philip was found in Azotus.
And going through,
he preached the gospel in all the towns
until he came to Caesarea.

1. Isa 53 7-8a ↩︎

Lord, you have given me so much,
I ask for one more thing –
a grateful heart.

George Herbert

Then an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip:
‘Get up and go toward the south
on the road,
going down from Jerusalem to Gaza’
(This is desert).

So he got up and went,
and look – a man:
an Ethiopian,
a eunuch,
an official of the Candace,
the Queen of Ethiopia,
who was over all the treasury,
who had come to Jerusalem to worship.

He, returning,
sitting in his chariot
was also reading the prophet Isaiah.

Then the Spirit said to Philip
‘Go, and join the chariot.’
Philip ran up and
heard him reading Isaiah the prophet
and he said:
‘Excuse me, You don’t understand what you are reading. do you?’
Then he said ‘No, for how can I, unless someone guides me?’
He invited Philip to come and sit with him.

Be thou a bright flame before me,
Be thou a guiding star above me
Be thou a smooth path below me
Be thou a kindly shepherd behind me
Today – tonight -forever
Amen.

St Columba

So the apostles
in Jerusalem
hearing that Samaria had accepted the word of the Lord
sent to them,
Peter and John.

These two having gone down
prayed for them
so that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

For not yet
had he had fallen
upon any of them,
but they had only been baptised
in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then as they began putting their hands on them
they received the Holy Spirit.

Then Simon seeing
that through the laying on the hands of the apostles
the Spirit was given,
brought to them money, saying:
‘Give to me as well,
this authority so that
on whom I lay my hands
might receive the Holy Spirit.’

But Peter said to him:
‘Let your silver perish with you,
because you thought
you could buy
the gift of God with money!
There is no share for you,
or part in this matter.
For your heart is not right before God.
Therefore repent from your evil
and pray to the Lord,
if now perhaps he will forgive you
the intention of your heart.
For I see you are in the gall of bitterness
and the chain of unrighteousness.’

So Simon answered:
‘Pray for me
to the Lord,
that it might not come upon me
as you have spoken’

Therefore those who had testified and spoken the word of the Lord,
returned to Jerusalem,
proclaiming to many Samaritan villages.

O Love, O God who created me, in your love recreate me.
O Love, who redeemed me,
fill up in me whatever part of your love
has fallen into neglect within me.
O Love, O God, who first loved me,
grant that with my whole heart,
and with my whole soul,
and with my whole strength,
I may love you.

Gertrude the Great

A certain man, named Simon
had practised magic
previously in the city,
and amazed the people of Samaria,
while saying he was someone great.
Whom all watched closely,
from the least to the greatest,
saying:
‘This (man?) is the power of God,
which is called Great.’
So they paid close attention to him,
because he amazed them
with magic
for a considerable time.

But when they believed Philip
as he preached about the Kingdom of God
and the name of Jesus,
they were baptised
men and also women.

Even
Simon
himself believed
and was baptised;
staying close to Philip
watching the signs and great miracles that happened,
he was amazed.

Teach us, good Lord,
to serve thee as thou deservest;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labour and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

St Ignatius

So then those who had been scattered,
went about
preaching the Word.
And Philip
having gone down to the city of (the region of) Samaria
was preaching Christ to them.
And the crowds were paying close attention
to the words of Philip
as one,
as they heard and saw
the signs, which he did.
For many who had unclean spirits-
as they cried out with a loud voice
they came out-
and many who had been paralysed
or lame were healed.

And it happened that there was great joy in the city.

Grant, Lord,
that we may hold to you without parting,
worship you without wearying,
serve you without failing;
faithfully seek you,
happily find you,
and forever possess you,
the only God,blessed now and for ever.
Amen

St Anselm

And Saul approved of his killing.

And a severe persecution
happened
on that day
upon the congregation
which was in Jerusalem,
then all were scattered
over the countries of Judea and Samaria-
except the apostles.

And devout men buried Stephen
and made great lamentation over him.

But Saul started to ravage the church:
entering house after house,
dragging off men and women,
he was handing them over to prison.

Thank you, dear Jesus,
for all you have given me,
for all you have taken away from me,
for all you have left me.

Thomas More (c.1478-1535)

Then, hearing these things
their hearts became furious
and they ground their teeth
at him.

But being full of the Holy Spirit
he looked straight to heaven
and he saw the glory of God
and Jesus, standing at the right hand of God
and he said:
‘Look, I see the heavens opened
and the Son of Man,
standing at the right hand of God.’

But having called out with a great cry
they stopped their ears and
they rushed,
with a single purpose,
at him.
And when they had dragged him out of the city
they threw stones at him
and the witnesses put down their cloaks
at the feet of young man, called Saul.
And they threw stones at Stephen
who was praying:
‘Lord Jesus
receive my spirit.’
Kneeling,
he cried out with a loud voice,
‘Lord, do not blame them
for this sin. ‘

And saying this he fell asleep.

And Saul approved of his killing.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy,
For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen