In this episode of Everyday Saints, a Catholic podcast about the real lives of the saints, host John O'Connor tells the story of St. Paul — one of the most recognizable names in all of Christianity, and one of the most misunderstood.

Before he wrote half the New Testament, he was dragging Christians out of their homes and throwing them in prison. He stood and watched the first Christian martyr get stoned to death — and approved.

Then a blinding light knocked him off his feet on a road outside Damascus. And everything changed.

What you'll hear in this episode:
— Who Saul of Tarsus actually was before Damascus — and why he was so dangerous
— The three days of blindness — and what was really happening in that darkness
— Why nobody in the early Church trusted him at first — and what changed that
— Thirty years of beatings, shipwrecks, imprisonments, and still going
— The letters that shaped Western civilization — written from prison
— How the man who watched Christians die ended up dying as one
— What Paul's story says about the energy you have been using in the wrong direction

Everyday Saints is a weekly Catholic podcast telling the real, human stories of the saints in plain language — for regular people with real jobs, real doubts, and real lives. No theology degree required.

New episodes every Thursday.

Host: John O'Connor