Who was Saint Paul the Apostle?
Before he was Paul he was Saul of Tarsus, a devout Pharisee who hunted down the first Christians. The Book of Acts tells how, on the road to Damascus, a light from heaven threw him to the ground and he heard the voice of the risen Jesus (Acts 9). He was blind for three days. When his sight came back, his whole life had turned around.
Paul became the great missionary of the early Church. He crossed the Mediterranean again and again, planting churches in cities across what is now Turkey and Greece, and his letters to those communities make up much of the New Testament: thirteen of its books, from Romans to Philemon, carry his name.
He was not one of the original Twelve, but the Church has always called him an apostle, sent by Christ himself. Tradition holds that he died a martyr in Rome.
Orthodox and Catholic Christians honour him together with Saint Peter on the same feast day, June 29: the two pillars of the Church.
Paul's story is a reminder that no one is too far gone. The same man who stood by and approved while Stephen was stoned (Acts 7:58, 8:1) became one of the greatest witnesses the Church has ever had. His letters still speak plainly to anyone who struggles: of grace that is enough, of power made perfect in weakness, of love that is patient and kind (1 Corinthians 13). Christians pray to him as a patron of missionaries, of writers, and of anyone whose life has been turned completely around by Christ.
About the icon
Paul is one of the easiest saints to recognise in an icon: a high, bald forehead, a long dark beard, and a book held close, the Gospel and his own letters. Sometimes he holds a sword, for his martyrdom.
