SAINT PAUL

SAINT PAUL – St. Paul was a strict Pharisee, having studied under the respected Rabbi Gamaliel at Jerusalem ^{(Acts 22:3)}. At a young age he had learned the trade of a tent-maker ^{(Acts 18:1-3)} and had inherited Roman citizenship from his father ^{(Acts 22:28)}. The young Saul (as he was known before his conversion to Christianity) was zealous for Judaism and consented to the stoning of St. Stephen, later actively joining in the persecution of the Christians ^{(Acts 8:3)}. While on the way to Damascus, to persecute the Christians there, he had a sudden vision of the Lord, Who rebuked him for his persecution, and later he converted to the Christian Faith ^{(Acts 9:1-22)}. After this conversion experience, St. Paul went on to become one of the greatest of the Apostles, zealously bringing the Light of Christ to the Gentiles, eventually going to Rome where he received martyrdom by beheading. During his missionary journeys, amply attested to in the Acts, he wrote letters of encouragement to various congregations and individuals along the way, and thirteen of them (fourteen, if the Epistle to the Hebrews is accepted as of Pauline origin) have been accepted as part of the New Testament. Together with St. Peter, he is commemorated on June 29.