The conflict in Saul’s conscientious soul must have been terrible, and all of the three days were needed before peace was attained. The Spirit of God, moreover, used these three sightless days for illuminating the mind of the stricken man. In the quiet darkness Saul was able to recall the Messianic prophecies, to apply them to Jesus of Nazareth, and to judge his own past in the light of his new convictions. How great must have been his anguish, how fervent his prayers for pardon, how sweet the gift of Christ’s own forgiveness! See AA 118-120.
Eat nor drink.
The abstinence was not entirely a penitential act. His mental anguish temporarily overpowered the normal craving for food. The three days of blindness were a period of soul searching and repentance.