Byzantine Walls of Thessaloniki
Byzantine Walls of Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Byzantine Walls of Thessaloniki
Byzantine Walls of Thessaloniki
«As I made my journey and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.’ Now those who were with me saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ And when I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus. And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And in that very hour I received my sight and saw him. And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Just One and to hear a voice from his mouth; for you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name». (Acts 22:6-16)
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«Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?» - Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio    Απόστολος
Βαρνάβας, ιδρυτής και θεμελιωτής της Εκκλησίας της Κύπρου
  Paul was at a standstill in
Troas, on the eastern coast of the Aegean Sea. There Paul received the
Macedonian Call: “During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia
standing and begging him, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us’” (Acts 16:9).
This vision was the clear direction they needed. “After Paul had seen the
vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had
called us to preach the gospel to them” (Acts 16:10)
 Samothrace
 Kavala (Neapoli)    Απόστολος Λουκάς ο Ευαγγελιστής  Άγιος Τιμόθεος ο Απόστολος    Philippi - Baptistery of Saint Lydia in
ancient Philippi near with Kavala city
 Αγία Λυδία η Φιλιππησία  Apollonia  Apollonia Roman Forum (Ancient Agora) - Thessaloniki When they reached Thessaloniki it was fall of 49. Apostles Paul and Silas found the city completely different from what they had seen so far. It was a free from Roman occupation city since 168 B.C.  Roman Forum (Ancient Agora) - Thessaloniki   Thessaloniki  Άγιος Ιάσονας ο Απόστολος και Άγιος Σωσίπατρος Ο Απόστολος Παύλος, μετά τους Φιλίππους, ήλθε στην Θεσσαλονίκη, όπου δίδαξε επί τρεις εβδομάδες. Η διδασκαλία του επέσυρε το μίσος των Ιουδαίων, οι οποίοι στράφηκαν εναντίον του, παρακινώντας και τους αγοραίους της πόλεως. Επειδή φιλοξενούνταν στο σπίτι του Ιάσονος, οι Ιουδαίοι τον αναζήτησαν εκεί. Δεν τον βρήκαν όμως, γι' αυτό έσυραν τον Ιάσονα και τους άλλους αδελφούς στους πολιτάρχες, δηλαδή στους δημοτικούς άρχοντες. Στην αφήγηση αυτή των Πράξεων των Αποστόλων αναφέρεται για πρώτη φορά το όνομα του Ιάσονα. Στην προς Ρωμαίους Επιστολή ο Παύλος αναφέρει τον Ιάσονα με εκείνους που απηύθυναν χαιρετισμούς στους παραλήπτες της Επιστολής. Ο Ιάσων φαίνεται ότι διατηρούσε μικρό εργαστήριο υφαντουργίας, στο οποίο ο Παύλος βρήκε εργασία. Αυτό σημαίνει ότι ο συνεργάτης του Αποστόλου ήταν εγκατεστημένος στη Θεσσαλονίκη και ίσως μονίμως. Η δράση του
Ιάσονος, αρχίζει αμέσως μετά την μεταστροφή του στον Χριστό. Φιλοξενεί τον
Παύλο στο σπίτι του, προσφέρει στον δάσκαλο και στους πρώτους Χριστιανούς τη
βοήθειά του, διαθέτει το ίδιο του το σπίτι για τις συνάξεις και υφίσταται
διώξεις χάρη του Ευαγγελίου. Η αναζήτηση του Παύλου από τους Ιουδαίους και η
σύλληψη του Ιάσονος στη Θεσσαλονίκη ήταν πράξη ανεύθυνη. Αν πράγματι οι
κατηγορίες ότι ενεργούσε κατά του Καίσαρος ήταν επιβεβαιωμένες, τότε έπρεπε να
γίνει έρευνα όχι από τον όχλο, αλλά από τις αρχές. Οι πολιτάρχες, ύστερα από
εξέταση στην οποία υπέβαλαν τον Ιάσονα και τους αδελφούς, τους άφησαν
ελεύθερους και τους διαβεβαίωσαν ότι δεν επρόκειτο να ενοχληθούν. Παρόλα αυτά,
η θέση του Ιάσονος δεν έπαυσε να είναι επισφαλής. Ο ιερός Χρυσόστομος, επαινώντας τον Απόστολο Ιάσονα, τον χαρακτηρίζει θαυμαστό: «Θαυμαστὸς ὁ ἀνὴρ εἰς κινδύνους ἑαυτὸν ἐκδοὺς καὶ ἐκπέμψας αὐτούς».  Άγιοι Απόστολοι Ιάσων και
Σωσίπατρος, ήταν μαθητές του Αποστόλου Παύλου που
εκχριστιάνισαν στη συνέχεια τους κατοίκους της Κέρκυρας.   Ιερό Παρεκκλήσιο των Αγίων Σίλα και Τιμόθεου Ο Ιερός Ναός βρίσκεται σε ύψωμα μετά το τέρμα της οδού Πανεπιστημίου, η οποία ξεκινά από τη διασταύρωση των οδών στα κοιμητήρια της Ευαγγελίστριας. Για να φτάσει κανείς στο σημείο, πρέπει να ανεβεί τα 117 σκαλιά που οδηγούν στο όμορφο αυτό εκκλησάκι, το οποίο ξεπροβάλλει μέσα από ένα υπέροχο φυσικό τοπίο όπου μπορεί κανείς να απολαύσει τη γαλήνη, την ηρεμία και τη φύση.   Apostle
Paul's Holy Water. East of the position where now Vlatades
monastery stands used to be a spring. It is said that Apostle Paul stopped
there to drink some water.
 Veria - After being chased from
Thessaloniki the Apostle Paul went to Veria, where he preached the Holy Gospel.
The spot in Veria where Paul stood and preached, is called the "Apostle
Paul's Altar" and is now an imposing monument with beautiful mosaics.
 Veria - During the night, Paul and Silas left with the help of Christians for Veria. They walked for a while on Egnatia Road and changed their route close to Pella, crossing a lush green fruitful and beautiful area. Veria was a very busy city with great population and had a flourishing synagogue. As soon as they got there, Paul and Silas visited the synagogue. It is also said that the Jews of Veria were more polite than those in Thessaloniki and heard with great interest Paul preaching the Holy Gospel.   Athens - In the year 51 Paul went to Athens by boat.
Athens was far from the typical bright city of classical times. The works of
art were frequently pillaged, the Romans deserted the city of Pallas Athena and
the descent of ideals started to become obvious.
While he was waiting for Silas and Timothy to come from Macedonia, he was walking around the city, discussing with the locals in the synagogue or the market and was upset by the numerous statuettes. Regarding the spot from where Apostle Paul spoke to the Athenians, it is also said that he preached in front of the High Court's Body as one of its members (Dionysius the Aeropagite) adopted the ideas of his preaching.  Athens   Acts 17:22-31: 22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you. 24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”  The Acts of the Apostles inform us that at some point Corinthian Jews united against Paul. They dragged him to court accusing him that he was illegally trying to convert people follow his preaching. Hebrews’ statement had no result as Paul's problem had nothing to do with the hostility of the pagans but of his fellow citizens.    Corinth     Kali Limenes - Crete  Kali Limenes - Crete Other places associated with Paul in peripheral areas of Greece, like the islands of Crete and Rhodes, were less impacted by his immediate preaching, due to his short stays. Nevertheless, the church would develop under his successors, most notably Titus, Paul’s co-evangelizer and first bishop of Crete. Paul’s (accidental) stops along the island’s rugged southern coast were caused by bad weather that obliged his ship to seek safe harbours. This occurred on Paul’s final trip, from Jerusalem to Rome, and was recorded in dramatic fashion by St Luke in the Acts.  Malta - Christianity has almost 2000 years of
history in Malta. It was brought to the island by no one other than the Apostle
Paul in 60 AD. Paul was being taken to Rome to be tried as a political rebel,
but the ship was wrecked just off the coast during a very bad storm. The
Maltese assisted the crew, St. Paul and others who were onboard the wrecked
ship. They looked after them, fed them and provided shelter for them until they
could continue with their journey. According to local tradition, St. Paul
preached the gospel of Christianity to the locals, who at the time were under
Roman rule. Even the Governor of the island Publius converted to Christianity
and became Malta's first Bishop          Saint Paul Writing His Epistles - Valentin de Boulogne  Saint
Paul - Rembrandt
Harmensz van Rijn  Basilica of St Paul Outside the
Walls - Rome
 Basilica of St Paul Outside the
Walls - Rome
 Basilica of St Paul Outside the
Walls - Rome  Basilica of St Paul Outside the
Walls - Rome Portrait of Paul on the wall
of his grotto in Ephesus  Saints Peter and Paul, the Holy Apostles
Η Β΄ ΙΕΡΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΙΚΗ ΠΕΡΙΟΔΕΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΟΥ ΠΑΥΛΟΥ
Ancient Thessalonica -- Footsteps of St Paul The conversion of St Paul - originally called Saul of Tarsus, he was on his way to arrest Christians, since he had made himself the sworn enemy of the Christian faith. He was blinded by a light, and heard Jesus speaking to him: "Saul Saul, why are you persecuting me?". "Who are you Lord?" he answered.
The Travels of Paul the Apostle | |
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Ο ΥΜΝΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΑΓΑΠΗΣ ~ ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΟΣ ΠΑΥΛΟΣ ΜΟΥΣΙΚΗ: Beethoven's Silence, composed by Ernesto Cortazar
Paintings in this video by El Greco.