Life of St Paul

Therefore, after Jesus Christ, Paul is the outstanding personality in the New Testament. He is truly the thirteenth apostle! He judged himself only according to his relationship with Christ, and, it is from this point that he begins to proclaim, teach and preach. He is convinced that the Spirit moves in him.

Saint Paul was the driving force in the Church of the Apostolic Age, "By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God which is with me." (1 Cor 15:10)
 
We know Paul from his writings – from what he mentions of himself and what we can deduce from the texts themselves. His own life reflects the authentic history of the times. He composed his letters in the first half of the first century before the three synoptic Gospels – Matthew, Mark and Luke. With the Pauline letters, the Acts of the Apostles enjoys a remarkable ecclesial status in that it presents the earliest history of the Church Community.
 
It is in the later part of Acts that Paul becomes especially prominent as the travelling companion of St Luke and associate in the apostolic ministry. And it is Luke who is described by Paul as " …the beloved physician." (Col 4: 14; 2 Tim 4 : 11)