This grace [of Paul's call]

was wondrous both in itself and because of the fact that he was called when his thoughts were all on persecution.

Cornelius A' Lapide, SJ

St. Paul possesses every quality

necessary to merit the love and devotion of a priest.

Blessed James Alberione

Study of participation in Christ

leads more directly into the rest of Paul's theology than justification.

James Dunn
The Theology of Paul the Apostle

In Paul, certain effects

of God's saving intervention and of its anthropological impact are so delineated that it appears that the 'mystical' is a state that affects all Christians.

Romano Penna

When Paul was alive to the Law

his self (ego) was the controlling factor of his life. But now that he is alive to God, Christ has replaced that self.

Frank Matera
Galatians (Sacra Pagina series)

Paul's powerful intelligence

ranks among the great geniuses of mankind; his firm will makes him capable of remarkable, generous sacrifice; his apostolic activity was demonstrated by works of far-reaching advantage for the Church and for souls; his purity of doctrine and his enlightened piety distinguishes him among the Apostles themselves.

Blessed James Alberione

How can one not

admire a man like this? How can one not thank the Lord for having given an Apostle of this stature?

Pope Benedict XVI

Not even now

has [Paul] ceased to convert people; that is to say, by his example, by his prayers, and by his teachings.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Marked with so many signs

of authenticity, Paul's exceptional vocation showed him to be a man of Providence.

Blessed James Alberione

It is clear that he

would not have been able to face such difficult and at times desperate situations if he did not have a reason of absolute value, before which no limit could be considered insurmountable. For Paul, this reason, as we know, is Jesus Christ.

Pope Benedict XVI

Paul received more abundant grace

than the other Apostles because God wanted to show that what He gives is His, not man's.

Cornelius A' Lapide, SJ

You who were a most faithful

minister of the Church, pray for us.
You who gave the nations the Gospel of Christ and your very life, pray for us.
You who bore the faithful in your heart and in your chains, pray for us.

Litany of St. Paul

When the voice of Stephen

was silenced, the trumpeting voice of Paul sounded forth.

St. John Chrysostom

It is up to us

to open our eyes to the splendor of light handed down to us by St. Paul. It is a vital light, beneficial, warm, and, like that of the sun, it generates life.

Blessed James Alberione

[Paul's] encounter with Christ

on the road to Damascus literally revolutionized his life. Christ became his raison d'être and the profound motivation of all his apostolic work.

Pope Benedict XVI

Paul's most basic conception

of the salvation process [is] one of transformation (metamorphosis), that is, in particular, as transformation to become like Christ.

James Dunn
The Theology of Paul the Apostle

In every instance,

Paul marveled at God's grace within him, and with praiseworthy humility, he extolled it and preached it with gratitude and joy.

Cornelius A' Lapide, SJ

Paul is at the same time

a teacher and a witness both in his life and in his apostolate.

Blessed James Alberione

The surprising fact

is that he refers to it [his "conversion"] so seldom.... Perhaps it was more important for Paul to integrate Damascus into his life and theology, to live and to apply the experience rather than to talk about it.

Cardinal Carlo Martini
The Testimony of St. Paul

You who glorified your ministry,

pray for us.
You who awaited the crown after completing your mission, pray for us.

V. You are a vessel of election, O St. Paul the Apostle.
R. Preacher of truth to the whole world.

Litany of St. Paul

In the first place,

Paul helps us to understand the absolutely basic and irreplaceable value of faith.

Pope Benedict XVI

The letters manifest Paul's

great heart and reveal the strength of his wonderful successes and incomparable strength.

Blessed James Alberione

Paul believed firmly

and hoped against hope whenever he undertook anything that was beyond natural human powers, and with prayer and God's help, he successfully carried it through to realization.

Cornelius A' Lapide, SJ

With good reason,

dearly beloved, is the conversion of the Teacher of the Nations being celebrated today by all the nations with joyful festivities. We see the many branches that have come forth from this root.

Bernard of Clairvaux

Sermons for the Advent and Christmas Season
Cistercian Publications
Kalamazoo, MI

Through the nations,

may your words re-echo
Once again giving light, faith and love.
May each young heart be inflamed with great ardor,
An heir of your word and your wisdom.

Hymn to St. Paul

Paul's was a life given

in total love to the divine Master and to souls. It was a life of toil and exhaustion, of suffering, of prayer and of immolation.

Blessed James Alberione

And yet this man,

born to command and impose his personality on others, is above all a man of love. He needs to love others and to feel himself loved, otherwise life has no meaning for him.

Giuseppe Ricciotti
Paul the Apostle

[At his conversion]

Paul... realized that a new approach in his life was absolutely essential. And we find this new approach expressed in his words: "The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal 2: 20).

Pope Benedict XVI

Paul is a concrete embodiment

of Christ's death and resurrection incarnates his apostolic word, but focused as it is in Christ's death and resurrection. Paul preached Christ crucified and risen, and he embodied Christ crucified and risen. By this he validates both his apostleship and his gospel.

Paul Barnett
Paul, Missionary of Jesus
ISBN 978-0-8028-4891-8

We ought to meditate

on the written and spoken, public and private words of Christ and Paul.

Blessed James Alberione