{
  "bookName": "HISTORY OF THE MISSIONS",
  "authorName": "BERNARD DE VAULX",
  "publisherName": "HAWTHORN BOOKS PUBLISHERS",
  "publicationYear": 2026,
  "chapterNumber": 1,
  "chapterName": "The Mission of the Apostles",
  "pageFrom": 9,
  "pageTo": 18,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 9,
      "ocrText": "CHAPTER I\nTHE MISSION OF THE\nAPOSTLES\nThe history of the Missions began when that of Christ in his\nhuman nature was about to end. The Gospels and the Acts of\nthe Apostles make it possible for us to retrace the wonderful\ncircumstances in which this memorable moment was set.\nChrist was in the Upper Room with his disciples for the last\ntime. How dull their minds still were! He had foretold his\ndeath, resurrection and return to the Father time after time,\nyet some of them took him for a spirit! How patiently he led\nthem towards the truth! \"Look at my hands and my feet, to\nbe assured that it is myself; touch me, and look; a spirit has\nnot flesh and bones, as you see that I have.\" But this was not\nenough. Their real joy at seeing him again was still mingled\nwith amazement and a certain amount of incredulity. Then he\nasked them: \"Have you anything here to eat?\"\nThey gave him a piece of grilled fish and he ate it in their\npresence. Now they no longer thought they were dealing with\na spirit. Yet they had not abandoned the earthly hopes of\nJudaism and they asked him:\nLord, dost thou mean to restore the dominion to Israel here\nand now? But he told them, It is not for you to know the times\nand seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority.\nEnough for you, that the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and\nyou will receive strength from him; you are to be my witnesses\nin Jerusalem and throughout Judaea, in Samaria, yes, and to the\nends of the earth.\n(Acts 1. 6-8.)"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 10,
      "ocrText": "10\nTHE MISSION OF THE APOSTLES\nHe did not expect them to rest but to undertake an immense\ntask. To prevent discouragement in these simple men, alone in\nthe world, who had received the command to spread a new\nreligion whose commandments were radically opposed to those\nof the ancient religions, Christ foretold that he would be there\nto help them: \"And behold I am with you all through the days\nthat are coming, until the consummation of the world.... I am\nsending down upon you the gift which was promised by my\nFather; you must wait in the city, until you are clothed with\npower from on high.\"\nHe then took them to the outskirts of Bethany and there, as\nhe blessed them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.\nSt Luke adds that they returned full of a great joy to Jerusalem.\nThere are two points to note in this scene: the divine promise\nof continual help and the universal character of the religion\nthey have been commanded to preach. The promise was ful-\nfilled ten days later at Pentecost with all the startling force that\nwas needed for the apostles to be certain of its origin: they\nwere all gathered together in unity of purpose. All at once a\nsound came from heaven like that of a strong wind blowing,\nand filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then\nappeared to them what seemed to be tongues of fire, which\nparted and came to rest on each of them. (Acts 2. 2-4.)\nWind and fire are the signs of the divine presence in biblical\ntradition.\nAmong those who were dwelling in Jerusalem at this time\nwere devout Jews from every country under heaven.... And\nthey were all beside themselves with astonishment; Are they not\nall Galileans speaking? they asked... There are Parthians\namong us, and Medes and Elamites; our homes are in Meso-\npotamia, or Judaea, or Cappadocia; in Pontus or Asia, Phrygia\nor Pamphylia, Egypt or the parts of Libya round Cyrene... and\neach has been hearing them tell of God's wonders in his own\nlanguage.\n(Acts 2. 5-12.)"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 11,
      "ocrText": "THE MISSION OF THE APOSTLES\n11\nThey were beside themselves with amazement and did not\nknow what to think. Some treated the whole affair as a joke.\nPeter then reminded them that the prophets had foretold the\nresurrection of Christ whom the Jews had recently crucified:\nGod, then, has raised up this man, Jesus, from the dead...\nAnd now, exalted at God's right hand, he has claimed from his\nFather his promise to bestow the Holy Spirit; and he has poured\nout that Spirit, as you can see and hear for yourselves.\n[Profoundly moved, they asked the Apostles:] What must we\ndo? Be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ,\nto have your sins forgiven; then you will receive the gift of the\nHoly Spirit. This promise is for you and for your children, and\nfor all those, however far away, whom the Lord our God calls\nto himself.\n(Acts 2. 37-40.)\nWe learn from the Acts that some three thousand persons\nheeded these words. This first nucleus of converts appears to\nhave increased rapidly. It was composed of Israelites and\nGreeks, that is, Hebrews from abroad as distinct from those\nliving in Palestine.\nThese first Christians sold their property and used the money\nthey received for it to provide for the upkeep of the com-\nmunities formed among themselves. The Acts also tell us that\ntheir numbers increased every day and all the more so because\n\"so many were the wonders and signs performed by the\napostles in Jerusalem\".\nSince the cure of the lame man at the Gate Beautiful, who\nat the command of St Peter and in the name of Jesus Christ of\nNazareth, had stood up and walked, since Peter again, after\ndenouncing the hypocrisy and the sacrilegious theft of Ananias\nand Sapphira, had caused them both to fall dead at his feet, no\none had dared to question the extraordinary power of the\napostles. At Jerusalem people went so far as\nto bring sick folk into the streets, and lay them down there on\nbeds and pallets, in the hope that even the shadow of Peter might\nfall upon one of them here and there, as he passed by, and so they"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 12,
      "ocrText": "12\nTHE MISSION OF THE APOSTLES\nwould be healed of their infirmities. From neighbouring cities,\ntoo, the common people flocked to Jerusalem, bringing with\nthem the sick and those who were troubled by unclean spirits;\nand all of them were cured.\n(Acts 5. 15-16.)\nThese manifestations of the Spirit exasperated the members\nof the Synagogue. A violent persecution of the infant Church\nbroke out. But it proved to be to its advantage when the punish-\nment and the conversion of Saul, its chief persecutor, had given\nstartling proof that the Spirit, as Christ had foretold, did not\ncease to protect it.\nAfter Paul's first preaching at Damascus and Iconium, the\nChurch was still composed only of Hebrews and of Greeks.\nWe must realize, and we can never do so sufficiently, how\nessential it is that the Spirit should cure the egoism and the\nnarrow-mindedness of men. At first the apostles, Jewish in\norigin, thought they would confine Christ's teaching to men of\ntheir own race. Before they consented to share it with the\nGentiles, it was necessary for the Spirit to manifest himself to\nthe centurion Cornelius. The angel said to the centurion:\n(God) would have thee send men to Joppa, to bring here one\nSimon, who is called Peter... thou wilt learn from him what\nthou hast to do. [Cornelius obeyed at once and whilst his messen-\ngers were on their way to Joppa, Peter saw the heavens open\nand] a bundle, like a great sheet... in it were all kinds of four-\nfooted beasts, and things that creep on the earth, and all the\nbirds of heaven. And a voice came to him, Rise up, Peter, lay\nabout thee and eat. It cannot be, Lord, answered Peter; never in\nmy life have I eaten anything unclean. Then the voice came to\nhim a second time, It is not for thee to call anything profane,\nwhich God has made clean. Peter was still puzzling in his mind\nover the meaning of his vision, when Cornelius' messengers...\nwere seen standing at the gate... he set out with them.... And\nas soon as Peter had entered... You know well enough, he told\nthem, that a Jew is contaminated if he consorts with one of\nanother race, or visits him; but God has been shewing me that\nwe ought not to speak of any man as profane or unclean."
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 13,
      "ocrText": "THE MISSION OF THE APOSTLES\n13\nThe light was beginning to dawn on Peter. Suddenly, just as\nhe was bringing his explanation of Christ's doctrine to a close,\nthe Holy Spirit conferred the gift of tongues on the Gentiles,\nthat is, on Cornelius and those who were with him. When he\nsaw this renewal of Pentecost, Peter cried out: \"Who will\ngrudge us the water for baptizing these men, that have received\nthe Holy Spirit just as we did?\"\nThe Jerusalem Jews were stili hesitant, but when Peter had\ntold them what had taken place in the house of Cornelius at\nCaesarea, they too were full of wonder that redemption was\nnot a treasure intended for them alone.\nThe call that came to Peter at Joppa had given the signal for\nthat evangelization of the world whose early stages are revealed\nto us in the Acts of the Apostles. As soon as Paul arrived in a\ncity for the first time, he went to the synagogue. At Antioch in\nPisidia, at Iconium, Thessalonica, Philippi and Corinth, his\nfirst audiences were Jews engaged in commerce or victims of\ndeportation orders. But many of them remained ardent adher-\nents of the old Judaism and refused to believe in Christ, the\nuniversal Redeemer. When they uttered blasphemies in reply\nto Paul's teaching as he preached the universal character of\nthe new religion, the Apostle replied: \"We were bound to\npreach God's words to you first; but now, since you reject it,\nsince you declare yourselves unfit for eternal life, be it so; we\nwill turn our thoughts to the Gentiles.\"\nThese words which were accompanied by striking charis-\nmatic manifestations unleashed their wrath. During his first\njourney to Iconium where a great number of Jews and Greeks\nwere converted, Paul and Barnabas, manhandled and threat-\nened with stoning, had to take refuge at Lystra. Jews from\nIconium and Antioch followed them there and, in the course of\na riot, Paul was stoned and left for dead outside the city. At\nPhilippi he and Silas were handed over to the praetors, beaten\nwith rods and thrown into prison. The same fate befell them\nat Thessalonica and Berea.\nAt Jerusalem on his return from his third journey, some"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 14,
      "ocrText": "14\nTHE MISSION OF THE APOSTLES\nfanatical Jews took an oath not to eat or drink until they had\nkilled Paul. When the tribune heard of this plot, he gave orders\nthat the Apostle was to be taken to Caesarea, where he was put\nin prison. He was still in captivity two years later when a new\nprocurator arrived in the person of Festus before whom he\nclaimed his rights as a Roman citizen. This appeal to Caesar\nwas to bring him to Rome. Shortly after he had set sail, a\nviolent storm wrecked the ship at Malta, where the survivors\nreceived a friendly welcome.\nAfter spending three of the winter months on the island,\nPaul took to sea again, stayed three days at Syracuse, a week\nat Puteoli among brethren, that is, among those who had\naccepted the new doctrine, and then set out for Rome. There\nwere already Christian converts in the city. They had doubtless\ncome from oriental communities and, urged on by that ardent\ndesire to make converts which possessed the early Christians,\nhad spontaneously become apostles. As the Acts tell us, these\nbrethren of Rome came as far as the forum of Appius and the\nThree Taverns to meet Paul. When he saw them, he gave\nthanks to God and went forward with renewed courage.\nThe Jewish community in Rome proved to be as divided as\nthose of Greece and the Orient. On the one hand were those\nwho enthusiastically embraced the new religion, on the other,\nthe obdurate adherents of the old law. Yet the art of convincing\npeople could hardly have been carried further than it was by\nSt Paul. Whether he was speaking to Romans, Corinthians or\nGalatians, he always began by insisting that he himself was of\nno importance. He stood to one side: \"Paul, an apostle not\nholding his commision from men, not appointed by man's\nmeans, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father....\"\nAs the majority of his hearers were Jews, he quoted the\nprophets whose writings he knew as well as did the best of\nthe rabbis. Thus, having quoted Joel (\"Every one who calls\nupon the name of the Lord will be saved\"), he made clear by\nmeans of a series of deductions the need for his own preaching.\nOnly, how are they to call upon him until they have learned to"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 15,
      "ocrText": "THE MISSION OF THE APOSTLES\n15\nbelieve in him? And how are they to believe in him, until they\nlisten to him. And how can they listen, without a preacher to\nlisten to? And how can there be preachers, unless preachers\nare sent on their errand? (Rom. 10. 14-15.) All this clear series\nof arguments leads to the magnificent image taken from Isaias:\n\"How welcome is the coming of those who tell of peace, who\ntell of good news.\"\nThis good news is for all men; \"I have the same duty to all,\nGreek and barbarian, learned and simple;... There is no dis-\ntinction made here between Jew and Gentile; all alike have\none Lord, and he has enough and to spare for all those who\ncall upon him.\"\nIn any case, the Old Testament had already foretold this\nuniversalism. Isaias had said: \"Those who never looked for me\nhave found me; I have made myself known to those who never\nasked for word of me.\" This means that the incredulity of a\nsection of the Jewish people gained salvation for the Gentiles.\nBut the divine mercy remains full and entire. If St Paul recalls\nthe blindness of the \"people that refuses obedience and cries\nout against me\", to whom God had stretched out his hands \"all\nday\", it is not so much to humiliate them as to emphasize the\nextraordinary importance and the outstanding value their con-\nversion would have. \"Why then, if their false step has enriched\nthe world, if the Gentiles have been enriched by their default,\nwhat must we expect, when it is made good?\" (Rom. 11. 12.)\nIt is to St Paul that we owe the finest of all panegyrics of\ncharity.\nCharity is patient, is kind; charity feels no envy; charity is\nnever perverse or proud, never insolent; has no selfish aims, can-\nnot be provoked, does not brood over an injury; takes no pleasure\nin wrongdoing, but rejoices at the victory of truth; sustains,\nbelieves, hopes, endures, to the last.... Meanwhile, faith, hope\nand charity persist, all three; but the greatest of them all is\ncharity.\n(1 Cor. 13. 4-13.)"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 16,
      "ocrText": "16\nTHE MISSION OF THE APOSTLES\nCharity, that \"bond of perfection\" as he calls it elsewhere,\nwas at the heart of his apostolic life. If we find it astonishing\nthat nothing, prison, maltreatment, tortures, continual travel,\nprivations, could destroy his body, so ill-endowed physically,\nwe must remember that he has told us in one short but striking\nphrase all that he owed to prayer: \"Though the outward part\nof our nature is being worn down, our inner life is refreshed\nfrom day to day.\" The apostolate of St Paul, erudite, based\non a wide knowledge of the texts, yet free from pedantry, subtle\nyet without affectation, fatherly, even familiar on occasion,\noverflowing with love yet always firm, is one of the finest\nexamples of what can be achieved by the intellect when en-\nlightened by faith and by the love of men for God's sake.\nIt is doubtful whether he went from Rome to Spain as he\nintended to do, but he certainly returned to the East. During\nthe years 65-7, he stayed in Crete, at Ephesus and finally in\nMacedonia where it is believed he was again arrested and taken\nto Rome in the year 68. The Christians, on whom Nero had\nlaid the blame for the burning of the city (64) to divert from\nhimself the probably well-founded suspicion that it was he who\nwas responsible for it, were harassed at Rome with sadistic\nferocity. According to Tacitus \"a vast multitude was thrown\ninto prison\". Some of the prisoners came from distant pro-\nvinces as was the case with St Peter and St Paul, but the\nmajority had been rounded up on the spot, whence we may\ninfer that the Christian community in Rome was already of\nconsiderable size.\nThe cruel nature of the punishment inflicted on the\nChristians had its effect on this community. St Paul's last days\nwere darkened by apostasies and defections, news of which\nreached him in gaol. He was aware that the time was near\nwhen he would have to bear witness to Christ whom he had\npreached so learnedly and so lovingly. He wrote to Timothy:\nAs for me, my blood already flows in sacrifice; the time has\nnearly come when I can go free. I have fought the good fight;\nI have finished the race; I have redeemed my pledge; I look for-"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 17,
      "ocrText": "THE MISSION OF THE APOSTLES\n17\nward to the prize that is waiting for me, the prize I have earned.\nThe Lord... will grant it to me when that day comes; to me,\nyes, and all those who have learned to welcome his appearing.\nAs he enjoyed the jus civitatis, he had no torture to undergo.\nHe was slain by the sword on the spot where, according to\ntradition, St Paul's-outside-the-Walls now stands.\nSt Peter, a poor lower-class Jew, had no such privilege. He\nwas condemned to crucifixion but, according to an ancient\ntradition, considered himself unworthy of the same death as his\nmaster and asked to be crucified upside down.\nPersecutions did not stop the progress of Christianity even\namong the upper classes which it had hitherto scarcely reached.\nWe learn from Dion Cassius, author of a Roman History\nwritten in Greek, that the \"consularis\" Acilius Glabrio, Flavius\nClemens, who was a consul in office at the time and a near\nrelation of the Emperor, together with his wife Domitilla and\nother senators, were all accused of being \"supporters of novel-\nties\", and suffered under Domitian's edicts.\nSt John had been exiled to Patmos by Domitian. After the\nEmperor's death, he returned to Ephesus. He was nearly ninety\nyears old but showed no signs of decline. His Gospel and his\nthree Epistles, overflowing with charity, date from this time.\nHe continued to direct all the Christian communities of Asia,\nvisited the provinces bordering on Ephesus either to consecrate\nbishops there or to establish new Churches as St Paul had pre-\nviously done. The communities were to be linked to Christ\nthrough their bishops. \"Christ comes from God\", wrote St\nClement of Rome, \"the apostles come from Christ and it is\nthey who, experiencing the first fruits of the Spirit, instituted\ncertain men as bishops.\"\nThis programme seems to have been quickly implemented in\nthe East. From the end of the second century, a number of\ncities in Asia Minor: Jerusalem, Joppa (now Jaffa), Caesarea,\nTyre, Antioch, Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, Ephesus, Smyrna,\nPergamum; in Greece, Corinth and Thessalonica; in Africa,\nAlexandria and Cyrene; among the islands, Cyprus and Crete,"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 18,
      "ocrText": "18\nTHE MISSION OF THE APOSTLES\nall had organized Churches, governed by episcopoi and pres-\nbyters. In the West, we find scarcely any besides Rome and\nPuteoli. And both of these were the work of apostles from the\nEast, so true is it that it was from the Christian East that the\nWest was to receive in its turn the word of Christ. Yet we have\nno equivalent of the admirable source book which is the Acts\nof the Apostles to provide us with information on its diffusion\nthroughout what was to become Europe."
    }
  ]
}