Saturday, October 3

Apostolic · 1st century

Hieromartyr Dionysius the Areopagite

Athenian judge converted by the Apostle Paul

Dionysius was a member of the Areopagus, the high court of Athens, and one of the few Athenians converted when the Apostle Paul preached there on the Unknown God, as recorded in Acts 17:34. Tradition holds that he had studied in Egypt, where he witnessed the darkness at the hour of the Crucifixion and declared that either God was suffering or the world was ending. After his conversion he was instructed by Paul and, according to church tradition, became the first bishop of Athens. Later tradition credits him with witnessing the Dormition of the Theotokos and with dying as a martyr. The influential mystical writings that circulate under his name — On the Divine Names, The Celestial Hierarchy, and others — profoundly shaped Christian theology East and West, though scholars date them to a later author writing in his name.

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