After the sermon of the Apostle Paul, the heart of Dionysius opened to accept the faith in the true God
Today we honor the memory of the holy martyr Dionysius the Areopagite.
The biblical book “Acts of the Apostles” tells, among other things, about the sermon of the holy Apostle Paul in Athens. In this city, famous for its philosophers and pagan temples, the apostle noticed an altar on which was the inscription: “To the Unknown God.” Therefore, at a meeting of noble and learned Athenians in the Areopagus, the supreme council in Athens, the apostle announced that he had come to them to preach about that God whom the Athenians, without knowing it, worship, who created the whole world and gives to everyone life, breath, and everything. He explained to his listeners the difference between this omnipresent and almighty God and the soulless idols they worshipped. He also spoke to them about the resurrection of Christ, who preached repentance and eternal life and would come to judge the world.
Most of the Athenians were skeptical about this new teaching. But among the listeners there were those who believed the words of the holy apostle and turned to faith in Jesus Christ. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus. After the preaching of the apostle Paul, the heart of Dionysius opened to accept faith in the true God. And he was baptized together with his entire household.
Later, Dionysius accompanied the apostle as his disciple and companion. For three years he was inseparable from him, studying the word of God directly from him. Because at first the teaching of Christ was not written down, but was transmitted orally: from the apostles to their successors, from them to the next, etc.
Soon after, the apostle Paul sent him to preach in Athens in the rank of bishop. He also saw the other apostles and was with them in Jerusalem at the Dormition of the Mother of God. According to tradition, Saint Dionysius also preached in Gaul (today France), where he suffered greatly during the persecution by Emperor Domitian and was finally killed with the sword in 96 AD.
Source: BTA, Prof. Ivan Zhelev
