Prisca and Aquila, a missionary couple, intimate companions of St. Paul

In the opening verses of Acts of the Apostles, chapter 18, we are told that a certain Jew named Aquila had recently come to Corinth with his wife Prisca (Priscilla), due to an expulsion of the Jews from Rome by the emperor, Claudius. What interests us here is that shortly thereafter, St. Paul on his second missionary journey, also came to Corinth, and discovering that the couple were of the same trade as he (tent-makers), he resided with them and they worked together. What could sound like a simple arrangement of convenience or even a decision motivated by financial considerations, has a much deeper significance. St. John Chrysostom, doctor of the Church and renowned Scripture scholar and preacher, gives us a different angle on the mutual decision that united Paul, Prisca and Aquila, and we shall largely follow his exposition of this apostolic friendship.