Paul
Saint Paul is the patron of missionaries and evangelists for the plainest of reasons: as the Apostle to the Gentiles he carried the Gospel across the whole Roman world on three great journeys (Acts 13–28), and no one has shaped the missionary vocation more. He is patron of theologians and writers because his thirteen epistles are the deepest doctrinal teaching of the New Testament — the Church has reasoned from his letters ever since. Catholic publishers and the press claim him as the great communicator of the Word, and tent-makers honor him because he supported himself by that trade while preaching (Acts 18:3). His patronage in conversion flows from his own — struck down on the road to Damascus, the persecutor became the apostle (Acts 9:1-19).
Saint Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, was originally a Pharisee named Saul who persecuted Christians. After his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus, he became the greatest missionary of the early Church. His epistles form a major part of the New Testament. He was martyred in Rome by beheading.
