Encyclopaedia of the Holy Spirit

Acts of the Apostles

Acts of the Apostles · c. AD 30-33, fifty days after the Resurrection

Pentecost

Fifty days after the Resurrection, the Holy Spirit descends upon the apostles and Mary in the upper room as tongues of fire, filling them with power and the gift of languages, and Peter's proclamation that day draws three thousand into baptism. Pentecost marks the public birth of the Church and the beginning of the Spirit's age among men.

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Acts of the Apostles · c. AD 30–33, shortly after Pentecost

Peter at the Beautiful Gate

At the Temple's Beautiful Gate, Peter healed a man lame from birth in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and the man walked, leapt, and praised God before the astonished crowd. The miracle became Peter's occasion to preach Christ crucified and risen to all Israel.

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Acts of the Apostles · c. AD 34–36

The Conversion of Saul

On the road to Damascus, a light from heaven struck down Saul of Tarsus, persecutor of the Church, and the voice of the risen Christ confronted him; blinded for three days, he was healed and baptized through Ananias and became the apostle Paul. His conversion turned the Church's fiercest enemy into its most tireless missionary.

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Acts of the Apostles · c. AD 60, winter, during Paul's voyage to Rome

Paul and the Viper

Shipwrecked on Malta after fourteen days adrift in a storm, Paul was bitten by a viper while gathering firewood, yet suffered no harm, confounding the islanders who had first taken him for a murderer and then for a god. The sign opened the way for healings that won the whole island's hospitality.

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