A noble and dignified fugue, ‘The nations are now the Lord’s,’ opens the second part of the oratorio. There soon follows the chorus, ‘How lovely are the messengers that preach us the gospel of peace,’ one of the most beautifully melodious numbers in the whole work. It is succeeded by the soprano aria, ‘I will sing of Thy great mercies.’ But the scorn and rage of the Jews are aroused by the cures which Paul works in the name of the very prophet whose disciples he once so cruelly persecuted. The angry chorus, ‘Is this he who in Jerusalem,’ is followed by another chorale, ‘O Thou the true and only light,’ a fervent prayer of the Church for divine guidance. Paul and Barnabas depart for Lystra. Paul heals the cripple at Lystra and the multitude is deeply stirred. At this point Mendelssohn brings the three types of religion--Greek, Christian and Jewish--in fine contrast in the three choruses--‘O be gracious, ye immortals,’ full of Pagan sensuousness, ‘But our God abideth in heaven,’ with its calm assurance of Christian faith, and ‘This is Jehovah’s temple,’ in which the uncompromising intolerance of the Jews is angrily voiced. Paul bids a sorrowful farewell to his brethren (‘Be thou faithful unto death’) and the congregation tenderly responds, ‘Far be it from thy path.’ Two of the finest choruses of the work are the final numbers, ‘See what love hath the Father’ and ‘Now only unto Him.’ Two of the ‘St. Paul’ choruses--the beautiful chorale ‘To Thee, O Lord, I yield my spirit’ and the melodious ‘Happy and blest are they’--were chosen to be sung at Mendelssohn’s obsequies. III