St Paul's Day
St Paul's Day (Feast of the Conversion of St Paul)
Damascus, Syria ©
Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus is believed to have happened in 36 AD. Anglicans and Roman Catholics celebrate the event on the 25th January each year.
St Paul's Day is not a major feast day. The Catholic Encyclopaedia describes it as of comparatively recent origin and notes that it may have been observed originally to mark the transfer of his remains to their resting place in Rome.
Trivia
The annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity ends on the Feast of St Paul.
In mediaeval times, people believed the weather on St Paul's Day (like that on St Swithin's Day) to be an indicator of their fortune in the months to come.
If Saint Paul's day be fair and clear,
It doth betide a happy year;
If blustering winds do blow aloft,
Then wars will trouble our realm full oft,
If clouds or mist do dark the sky,
Great store of birds and beasts shall die;
And if by chance to snow or rain,
Then will be dear all sorts of grain.