Day of Conversion of the Apostle Paul (25/01)

On January 25, the Protestant Church celebrates the Day of Conversion of the Apostle Paul. According to Blessed Augustine, the Apostle Paul was one of the pillars of Christianity; he was granted to Christianity as a great result of the death of the Christian first martyr Stephen.

Like Stephen, Saul (Paul) was not a native of Judah. He grew up in the diaspora, in the Cilician capital city of Tarsus, at the intersection of East and West cultures. Philosophy, sports and trade flourished here. Saul's family had hereditary Roman citizenship, which was reminiscent of his second, Latin name — Paulus (Paul).

However, he himself was proud that he did not become a Hellenist, but was a « Jew from the Jews»: he preserved the fatherly language and traditions of his ancestors. Saul's father, a wealthy artisan, was considered a kind of Jewish aristocrat — he traced his ancestry to the tribe of Benjamin, from which King Saul came. Being a Pharisee (bookmaker) himself, Saul's father protected his son in every possible way from the temptations of his pagan environment and dreamed of his son's theological career. When Saul matured, he was sent to Jerusalem to study Scripture, where he was trained and, despite his youth, was respected.

When the murderers dealt with the Christian first martyr Saint Stephen, they folded their clothes at Saul's feet. The young man did not take part in the execution itself, but wanted to show them his approval and for this he volunteered to guard their clothes. Soon Saul went to Damascus to massacre Christians, but suddenly became blind on the way to this city, and then a miraculous epiphany followed, and he became a co-religionist of those whom he had recently planned to persecute.

The disciples of Christ did not believe Saul at first, suspecting him as a spy. However, Joseph Barnabas, trustee of the Jerusalem Church, came to his aid and almost forcibly brought him to the Apostle Peter. Like the Apostle Peter, Paul later played a primary role in the spread of Christianity.

According to church tradition, the Apostle Paul was executed during the persecution of Christians under Emperor Nero after the fire of Rome in 64.

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