As we prepare for the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul on June 29, let us take time to learn more about each of these saints, and help our children to do the same. This post will focus on St. Paul. (There are so many details of his life that we could not include, so we have tagged scriptural references, so you can read more if you wish to!)
The Holy Apostle Paul was born in Tarsus. He was from the tribe of Benjamin, and was originally named Saul. He was a very intelligent man, who studied under the renowned teacher Gamaliel. He learned to be a tentmaker, and worked as one (at least part time) for much of his life.
He was a very zealous young man, who honored his Judaic faith and did all that he could to protect it. This is why he was present at the stoning of St. Stephen: he considered Christians to be heretics of the Jewish faith, and wanted to do what he could to purify and preserve it. (Acts 7:58)
Saul was adamant that the Christian movement be stopped, and he did all that he could to stop it. (Acts 8:3) He was on his way to Damascus to continue his mission to rid the area of Christians (Acts 9: 1-2) when he had a life-changing vision. In a blinding light, Christ Himself stopped Saul on the road and spoke to him. Saul was blind after that encounter, and the voice of Christ left him with directions to go to Damascus and wait for instructions there (Acts 9:3-9).
Saul obeyed Christ’s commands, went to Damascus, and sent for Ananias. Thankfully Ananias also obeyed Christ’s command to go see Saul, even though he knew that Saul was an enemy of the Christians, and therefore feared for his own life. Upon arrival, Ananias prayed for the repentant Saul and God healed his eyes (Acts 9: 10-19). He began to preach that Christ is the Son of God, and was so convincing that many Jews were amazed! (Acts 9: 20-22) When local authorities found out that Saul was preaching about Christ, they came in pursuit of him. But the other Christians let Saul out of the city by lowering him in a basket over the city wall (Acts 9: 23-25). He returned to Jerusalem, where Barnabas (who had also studied under Gamaliel) took him under wing, defending him against the Christians who still doubted his conversion (Acts 9:26-28). Saul and Barnabas worked in Antioch for a season (Acts 11: 26). Then the Holy Spirit led Barnabas and Saul to set off on many missionary journeys (Acts 13: 1-3). Saul’s lifestyle of enthusiastic diligence continued, only now he was zealous to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone who would listen!
They traveled first to Cyprus. During this time is when the scriptures begin to refer to him as Paul (Acts 13: 9). From there they traveled to modern-day Turkey (Asia Minor) (Acts 13: 13). While there, Paul preached and helped many people to learn about Christ. God used him to heal a crippled man (Acts 14: 8-10). The Jews were upset that so many people were learning about Christ, so they came and found Paul, stoned him, and left him for dead. But he was not! (Acts 14: 19-20). Paul and Barnabas traveled from there to Jerusalem, teaching and preaching along the way (Acts 15). Then they traveled back to Antioch for a while. They decided to revisit the cities where they had preached, but could not agree on who to take along. So it was that Barnabas and Paul parted ways, each taking another man to help them (Acts 15: 36-40).
Paul and Silas’ travels led them to meet a half-Jew/half-Greek named Timothy (Acts 16: 1-3); a seller of purple named Lydia (Acts 16: 14-15); and a spirit-possessed slave girl whom they healed (Acts 16: 16-19), among others. Healing the spirit-possessed girl landed them with beatings and imprisonment. That night there was an earthquake that unlocked all the prisoners’ chains, but none escaped. Instead, Paul and Silas were welcomed into the jailor’s house, where they preached and converted the entire household. (Acts 16: 20-34) When it was discovered that both Paul and Silas were Roman citizens with rights as such, they were quickly asked to leave the city!
When they left, they traveled, ministering in Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens (Acts 17); Corinth and Antioch (Acts 18); Ephesus (Acts 19); Macedonia and Greece (Acts 20); and Jerusalem (Acts 21-22). Along the way, they encountered difficulties, resistance, and people who wanted to learn about Christ. In Jerusalem, there was such an uprising against Paul that he was bound and was to be questioned during a scourging (Acts 22:22-24), until Paul asked if it was legal to treat a Roman citizen like that (Acts 22: 25-28). It was not, so he was unbound. However, the Jews really wanted to kill Paul, so the centurion sent him to Governor Felix by night, with an armed guard of 200 men (Acts 23). Governor Felix kept postponing making a decision of what to do with Paul, so his case was passed on to Governor Festus when he took over (Acts 24). Governor Festus’ inquiries led Paul to appeal to Ceasar (Acts 25).
Governor Festus asked the visiting King Agrippa to hear Paul’s case, and Paul thus had the chance to tell the story of his life and his conversion to both of them (Acts 26). After hearing this, King Agrippa told Governor Festus that Paul could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.
Paul’s voyage by boat to Rome for that appeal was struck with a terrible storm which ended with a shipwreck in Malta. All aboard survived (Acts 27).
Paul’s miraculous survival of a viper bite opened the doors for him to minister to the people of Malta before catching another ship to go on to Rome (Acts 28). When they arrived in Rome, Paul was allowed to live in a rented house with his guard. He lived there for two years.
During all of his journeys as well as while under house arrest in Rome, Paul wrote letters to individuals and churches. 14 of these letters have been included in the New Testament and are encouraging even to their modern day readers! Paul was given the title “The Apostle to the Gentiles” because of his missionary work everywhere from Arabia to Spain, to Jews and Gentiles alike.
Around the year 68 AD, during the time of Nero’s persecution, Paul was beheaded for his faith. He was buried where the basilica of St. Paul now stands.
First-enthroned of the apostles,
teachers of the universe:
Entreat the Master of all
to grant peace to the world,
and to our souls great mercy!
Today Christ the Rock glorifies with highest honor
The rock of Faith and leader of the Apostles,
Together with Paul and the company of the twelve,
Whose memory we celebrate with eagerness of faith,
Giving glory to the one who gave glory to them!
St. Paul, Apostle of Christ, intercede for our salvation!
Sources: The Bible, “The Prologue from Ochrid” by St. Nikolai Velimirovic, and http://stpaul-orthodox.org/stpaullife.php
Here are some other ways that you can help your students to learn about St. Paul:
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Teachers of young children can use some of these coloring pages to help them tell St. Paul’s story:
His conversion: http://www.bible-printables.com/Coloring-Pages/New-Testament/40-NT-apostles-013.htm
His eyesight restored by Ananias: http://www.bible-printables.com/Coloring-Pages/New-Testament/40-NT-apostles-014.htm
Shipwreck: http://www.bible-printables.com/Coloring-Pages/New-Testament/40-NT-apostles-015.htm
Map of his journeys: http://www.bible-printables.com/Coloring-Pages/New-Testament/40-NT-apostles-016.htm
Writing an epistle: http://www.bible-printables.com/Coloring-Pages/New-Testament/40-NT-apostles-017.htm
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Encourage your students to help their family decorate their table at home to celebrate the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. After studying the lives of these two saints, ask your students for ideas of what they could include in the decorations that would remind the family of these saints’ faithfulness to God. You could do a craft with the icon of Sts. Peter and Paul which the students could take home to add to their display. Find a printable icon of Sts. Peter and Paul on pg. 29 of this book: https://www.scribd.com/doc/14024263/Orthodox-Christian-Icon-Coloring-Book
(You could also show them this five-minute Orthodox video about the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=117&v=NREVFRDUdJg)
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Teachers of younger grades may wish to use this lesson idea with a printable booklet to teach/review the life of St. Paul: http://www.biblefunforkids.com/2013/03/review-of-pauls-life.html
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The life of St. Paul is full of many amazing stories. Select a number of the scriptural references in the blog we wrote about his life, and find a prop for each (ie: dark glasses for when he was blinded, a boat -or part of one- for when he was shipwrecked in Malta, etc.) Strew the props in a place where your students can see them when they arrive at class, and have a basket containing all of the references available. Allow the students to select a reference, read it, and guess its prop. After every prop has had its story told, have them work together to put the “prop life of St. Paul” in order according to the scriptural references.
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Check this resource for lesson ideas for teaching about St. Paul. (It is not Orthodox, but contains many helpful and useful ideas!) http://ministry-to-children.com/?s=st+paul
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Find lesson, game, craft, and snack ideas related to the life of St. Paul here: http://www.daniellesplace.com/html/Bible-themes-Paul.html
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Find a kid-friendly (non-Orthodox, cartoon-illustrated) story of St. Paul’s shipwreck on Malta, including lesson plans and printable pages here: https://www.biblepathwayadventures.com/stories/shipwrecked/
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There are many (non-Orthodox, but very helpful) stories from and printables about the life of St. Paul at the Biblewise.com website:
Here is one sample: http://biblewise.com/kids/fun/amazing-paul.php
(Search “Paul” for hundreds of entries.)
Orthodox Christian Sunday Church School Teachers 
