St. Paul the Apostle (d.ca.67)
Feast Day - June 29th
Paul is first identified in the Scriptures by his Hebrew name of Saul. A zealous Pharisee, he persecuted the early Christians until converted by an encounter with the risen Christ on the way to Damascus (Acts 9). There he was baptized and began to preach the Gospel, but threats from the Jews drove him from that city and, later, from Jerusalem. In Antioch he received the laying on of hands and departed on the first of several great missionary journeys. Though he maintained great love for his Jewish brethren (Rom 9), he discerned a particular call to preach to the Gentiles, whose place in the New Covenant he staunchly defended (Gal 2). Paul supported himself by making tents while preaching, working miracles, and founding churches. He suffered incessant danger and abuse (2 Cor 11) but did not consider any of this cause for pride - "may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Gal 6: 14). Paul authored many of the New Testament Epistles, including one to the Romans, among whom he ended his life in martyrdom. Patron of missionaries, writers, tentmakers
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