The great St. Paul, ‘Apostle of the Gentiles’, journeyed nearly everywhere in the known world to preach the Gospel and convert souls. Among the many places that he went to on his travels, he went to Athens, the capital of Greece, in the year 51 AD, and taught the many scholars there of the True God. While his endeavors in this city met with apparently little success, he did have at least one great accomplishment to offer to God: the strong fire within him had ignited another soul, one that would do much and in time would come down to us as St. Dionysius, more commonly known as St. Denis.

Now some time before St. Paul had come to Athens, Denis had been in Heliopolis, which is located in Egypt. While he was there, a sudden and miraculous darkness overspread the entire city. This was because it was at this time that in Jerusalem, Jesus Christ was dying on the cross for our sins. Denis seemed to have sensed this, for he cried out, "Either the God of nature is suffering, or the world is about to be dissolved."

Needless to say, this strange and miraculous event made an impression on Denis. With his mind thus prepared and his heart opened for the truth, when St. Paul preached in Athens, Denis quickly recognized and embraced the Truth of the Apostle’s words. St. Paul baptized him and appointed him Bishop over the Church of Athens that was just beginning. The new bishop was very zealous in bringing new members into the flock of the Church, as well as protecting and assisting his spiritual children that he had been assigned to help.

Some time later, Denis went to Jerusalem in order to visit the places which Jesus had sanctified by His sufferings. In Jerusalem, he met other men instrumental in spreading God’s Word, particularly Sts. Peter and James and the Greek Evangelist St. Luke. It was in that city that he received a very great privilege: he visited and spoke with the Blessed Virgin Mary! Imagine that! Speaking with the Mother of the One Who created you! Denis was understandably overwhelmed by speaking with Her, so much so that he declared that if he had not been told of the True God, he would have certainly considered Her a deity.

However, the pagan priests of Athens were not pleased at all of the good work that Denis was doing. They went so far as start a revolt against him. The holy bishop was able to make it out of Athens, and he went to Rome. He visited the Pope, St. Clement, who sent him to Gaul, later known as France, along with some other holy men.

While some of his companions stayed in Southern France to preach in the cities there, Denis moved on. Accompanied by the priest Rusticus and the deacon Eleutherius, Denis continued his journey northward as far as Lutetia, now modern Paris, where the Gospel had not yet been preached.

It was here that for many years, he and his companions labored in France with much success. This is the reason why St. Denis is the Patron Saint of Paris, since it was he who sowed the seeds of Catholicism there.

At length, the three holy men obtained the crown of martyrdom on Oct. 9, 119. Denis was beheaded at the advanced age of 110 years.

The spot where the three martyrs - Denis, Rusticus, and Eleutherius - suffered martyrdom, is the well-known hill of Montmartre. An ancient tradition relates that St. Denis, after his head was severed from his body, picked it up with his own hands and carried it two thousand paces to the place where, later, a church was built in his honor. The bodies of the martyrs were thrown into the river Seine. However a Catholic lady named Catulla, retrieved their remains and honorably buried them not far from where they had been beheaded. Soon thereafter, the local Catholics built a chapel over their tomb.

St. Denis was not only a great missionary and bishop, but he was also one of the most renowned writers of the early Church. Some of his works are still in existence, and the Catholic wisdom that fills them are worthy of a convert and disciple of St. Paul, whose apostolic spirit they breathe.