Heavenly Light

"While Paul was on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians, he was knocked off his horse, struck blind by a heavenly light"

Here goes the whole story: Paul, whose original name was Saul, was sent by the Jews of Palestine to hunt for Christians in Damascus and bring them back to prison in Jerusalem. On his way to Damascus, he was struck by that heavenly light which left him blind. He then heard the voice of Jesus asking him why he was going to prosecute his followers. Saul managed to get to Damascus with the help of his companions. After three days, a Damascene believer called Ananias, had a vision in which the Lord told him to go to a house in the Street Called Straight (today's Souk Medhat Pasha) to meet a man called Saul. Ananias went there, laid his hands on Saul and his sight was restored. Saul converted to Christianity and began to preach in the synagogues of Damascus. Jews plotted to kill him, but he was smuggled safely out of Damascus in a basket that was lowered from above the city walls (at the site of today's Bab Kisan). Saul later carried the name Paul and traveled to Europe to spread Christianity there.

The illustration above is displayed in the House of Ananias, which today hosts a small chapel.