Sainte PAOLA ROMANA (PAULE de ROME), veuve et abbesse

Francisco de Zurbarán. Sainte Paule, sa fille sainte Eustochium et saint Jérôme, 

1640, 247 X 174, Washington, National Gallery of Art

Sainte Paule

Veuve romaine, disciple de saint Jérôme (✝ 404)

Cette grande dame romaine avait épousé à dix-sept ans un mari qui la rendit heureuse et dont elle eut cinq enfants. Elle souffrit beaucoup quand elle le perdit. Alors elle décida de rejoindre Saint Jérôme en Palestine puisqu'elle l'avait connu à Rome. 

Elle distribua son héritage à ses enfants et partit avec une de ses filles, sainte Eustochium, dans l'un des monastères fondés par saint Jérôme à Bethléem. 

Elle assura à saint Jérôme deux biens précieux: une grande part de sa fortune pour continuer les travaux du monastère, une grande patience pour calmer ses colères.

À Bethléem de Juda, en 404, sainte Paule, veuve. D’une très noble famille de sénateurs romains, elle renonça au monde, distribua aux pauvres toutes ses richesses et, avec sa fille Eustochium, bienheureuse vierge du Christ, elle se retira auprès de la crèche du Seigneur.

Martyrologe romain

SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/507/Sainte-Paule.html

Claude Lorrain Paysage avec l’embarquement à Ostie de sainte Paule de Rome.

1639-40, 210 × 145. Madrid, Musée du Prado

XXVI JANVIER.  SAINTE PAULE, VEUVE.

La noble et pieuse veuve qui s'arracha aux délices de Rome et aux caresses de ses enfants, pour venir cacher sa vie à Bethléhem, réclame aujourd'hui sa place auprès du berceau de l'Enfant divin. Un aimant invincible l'a attirée et l'a fixée à cette humble crèche, plus riche à ses yeux que tous les palais ; elle y a trouvé ce Dieu pauvre dont elle aimait tant à soulager les membres souffrants, aux jours de son opulence. Par ses soins, de pieux monastères se sont élevés autour de cette glorieuse caverne où le Verbe apparut dans la chair Elle a demandé au grand Docteur saint Jérôme l'intelligence des divines Ecritures; et sa vie s'est écoulée dans la prière, dans les œuvres de la pénitence, et dans la méditation des saintes Lettres. Au milieu de la dégradation de la société romaine, c'est un grand spectacle de voir le courage chrétien de l'âge des Martyrs se réfugier au cœur de ces dames et de ces vierges de la capitale du monde, et les pousser vers les solitudes de l'Egypte, pour y contempler les vertus des Anachorètes et des Cénobites, ou vers les saints lieux de Jérusalem, pour y reconnaître la trace des pas de l'Homme-Dieu. Paule marche à la tête de ces nobles chrétiennes; et nous regrettons vivement que le défaut d'espace nous empêche de donner ici le récit de ses pieuses pérégrinations, racontées avec tant de charme et de sentiment par saint Jérôme, à la fille même de Paule, l'illustre vierge Eustochium. Nous nous contenterons de quelques traits, empruntés à l'endroit même où le saint Docteur raconte l'arrivée de la pieuse veuve à Bethléhem. Ayant distribué aux pauvres et à ceux qui la servaient, le peu qui lui restait d'argent, Paule, au sortir de Jérusalem, se dirigea sur Bethléhem; et, après s'être arrêtée au sépulcre de Rachel, qui est à droite sur la route, elle parvint à la ville qu'elle cherchait, et entra dans la caverne du Sauveur. Quand elle eut sous les yeux l'asile sacré de la Vierge, et l'étable où le bœuf reconnut son Maître, et l'âne la crèche de son Seigneur, je l'entendis m'assurer, dans son transport, qu'elle voyait, des yeux de la foi, l'Enfant enveloppé de langes, le Seigneur vagissant dans la crèche, les Mages en adoration, l'Etoile étincelant au-dessus de l'étable, la Vierge-Mère, le père nourricier empressé de la servir, les bergers arrivant au milieu de la nuit, les enfants massacrés, Hérode se livrant à sa fureur, Joseph et Marie fuyant en Egypte. Inondée de larmes d'allégresse, elle disait: « Salut, ô Bethléhem, Maison du Pain, dans laquelle est né ce Pain qui est descendu du ciel ! Salut, ô Ephrata! région fertile, dont Dieu même est la fertilité: c'est de toi que Michée a prédit : « Bethléhem, maison d'Ephrata, tu n'es pas la moindre des mille cités de Juda, De ton sein sortira celui qui sera Prince sur Israël, et sa sortie est du commencement, dès les jours de l'éternité. » En effet, c'est en toi qu'est né le Prince qui a été engendré avant l'étoile du matin, et dont la naissance au sein du Père précède tous les âges. Moi misérable, moi pécheresse,

j'ai été trouvée digne d'embrasser cette crèche d'où le Seigneur enfant a fait entendre ses premiers cris, de prier dans cette caverne où la Vierge-Mère a enfanté le Seigneur. Ici désormais sera mon lieu de repos, car ce lieu est la patrie de mon Maître. C'est ici que j'habiterai, car le Seigneur a choisi cette demeure pour lui-même. »

Nous donnerons maintenant la Légende de sainte Paule, composée en grande partie des paroles de saint Jérôme, telle qu'elle se lit dans le Propre des Eglises d'Espagne.

Paule, dame Romaine, de très noble race sénatoriale, mais beaucoup plus noble encore par la sainteté de sa vie, après la mort de Toxotius, son époux, qui était d'une égale naissance, et auquel elle avait donné cinq enfants, se livra entièrement au Seigneur. Alors, elle se mit à distribuer aux pauvres du Christ ses abondantes richesses, avec un tel amour qu'elle les recherchait par toute la ville, et qu'elle regardait comme une perte pour elle (au rapport de saint Jérôme) que quelque pauvre débile et affamé fût sustenté par le pain d'un autre. Elle persévéra dans ce zèle jusqu'à la mort, et elle disait quelquefois que son désir était de mourir en mendiant sa vie, et d'être ensevelie, à ses funérailles, dans un linceul étranger. Certaines dissensions des Eglises, sous le pontificat de saint Damase, ayant amené à Rome plusieurs évêques d'Orient et d'Occident, elle reçut chez elle saint Epiphane, évoque de Salamine en Chypre, et prodigua tous les offices de la charité à Paulin d'Antioche. Leurs vertus l'enflammèrent tellement, qu'elle brûlait d'abandonner sa patrie, et de se retirer au désert. C'est pourquoi, se hâtant de fuir le tumulte de la ville et les louanges des hommes, et préférant à Rome l'humble Bethléhem, elle descendit à Porto pour s'y embarquer. Son frère, ses proches, ses enfants l'accompagnaient et s'efforçaient de retenir cette pieuse mère au nom de l'amour maternel. Mais, quoique ses entrailles fussent déchirées par la douleur, elle levait cependant ses yeux sans larmes vers le ciel, et surmontant son amour pour ses fils par son amour pour Dieu, elle oubliait qu'elle était mère, pour se montrer servante du Christ.

Etant donc montée sur le vaisseau avec sa fille Eustochium, qui s'était associée à son projet et à son voyage, portée sur les ailes de la foi, elle désirait avec une incroyable ardeur voir Jérusalem et les saints lieux. Après avoir abordé d'abord en Chypre, puis à Séleucie, elle vint en Syrie et en Palestine, dont elle visita tous les sanctuaires avec tant de zèle et de piété, que si elle n'eût eu hâte de vénérer ceux qui lui restaient à parcourir, elle n'eût pu s'arracher aux premiers. Enfin elle s'arrêta à Bethlehem pour y demeurer toujours. Après y avoir élevé quatre monastères, l'un d'hommes, dont saint Jérôme reçut la conduite, et les trois autres de vierges, elle y passa le reste de sa vie dans une admirable sainteté. La vertu d'humilité brilla principalement en elle. Rien n'égala sa bonté ; nul ne fut plus tendre envers les pauvres. Elle souffrit avec une extrême patience et mansuétude les calomnies des envieux, et les diverses épreuves de ce monde. Lente à parler, elle était prompte à écouter. Elle savait par cœur les saintes Ecritures, et elle lisait assidûment l'Ancien et le Nouveau Testament. Elle voulut aussi apprendre l'hébreu, et ce fut avec un tel succès, qu'elle put chanter les Psaumes en cette langue, et la parler comme celle de son pays. Elle prenait son repos sur la terre couverte de cilices, si l'on peut appeler repos celui qui était interrompu jour et nuit par des prières presque continuelles. Au milieu même de la fièvre la plus brûlante, elle n'eut jamais de couche délicate.

Son abstinence était si grande, qu'elle excédait presque la mesure. La rigueur du jeûne et du travail venait encore épuiser ce corps affaibli, et à l'exception des jours de fête, à peine mêlait-elle un peu d'huile avec sa nourriture Jamais on ne put l'engager à prendre du vin pour rétablir les forces de son corps. Elle soulageait les malades par des soins et des offices admirables ; mais elle, qui se montrait si empressée envers les autres lorsqu'ils étaient infirmes, si elle venait à tomber malade, elle ne se permettait aucun soulagement ; on ne voyait de partialité dans sa conduite que par la dureté qu'elle avait pour elle-même, comparée à sa bonté envers les autres.

Enfin, étant tombée dans une grave maladie, elle comprit que la mort approchait. Déjà son corps était glacé, et il ne restait plus de vie et de chaleur que dans sa poitrine haletante. Alors, comme si elle eût senti qu'elle allait vers sa patrie et quittait une demeure étrangère, elle répéta ce verset, jusqu'au dernier soupir de son âme : « Seigneur, j'ai aimé la beauté de votre maison, et le lieu où habite votre gloire. » Et encore : « Qu'ils sont aimables, vos tabernacles, Dieu des armées ! Mon âme soupire, elle tombe de défaillance sous les portiques du Seigneur. » Puis, imprimant du doigt sur ses lèvres le signe de la croix, elle rendit à Dieu sa très sainte âme, le sept des calendes de février en la cinquante-sixième année de son âge. Les Evoques la transportèrent , de leurs propres mains, à l'Eglise de la Grotte sacrée. De toutes les villes de la Palestine était accourue à ses funérailles une multitude de moines, de vierges, de veuves et de pauvres, qui, comme à la mort de Dorcas, montraient les vêtements qu'elle leur avait donnés. Enfin, après trois jours, on l'ensevelit dans l'Eglise, près de la Grotte du Seigneur.

Vous avez aimé l'Emmanuel dans sa crèche, ô généreuse Paule ! vous avez préféré la nudité et l'obscurité de la grotte de Bethléhem à toutes les splendeurs de Rome; l'Emmanuel a reconnu tant d'amour ; et, pour prix de votre renoncement, il vous a associée pour jamais à sa propre félicité. Que votre exemple nous encourage à chercher Jésus enfant, à nous complaire dans les mystères de sa naissance. Que nul obstacle ne nous arrête, quand il s'agit d'aller à lui. Qu'il daigne nous révéler ses droits acquis au prix de tant de sacrifices, afin que nous apprenions à ne lui rien refuser. Que votre ardeur à sacrifier vos plus chères affections pour voler à lui nous instruise à régler du moins les nôtres. Priez pour que nos cœurs soient fidèles à Celui qui les a faits, et pour qu'ils soient toujours prêts à le suivre dans les voies auxquelles il les appelle. Combattez en eux cet esprit du monde, qui veut faire un pacte avec le Christianisme, pour anéantir les préceptes du Seigneur, en contestant la sagesse de ses conseils. Que la lumière de l'Esprit-Saint luise sur nous, que l'amour de Jésus échauffe nos cœurs ; et alors nous comprendrons les actions des Saints. Si elles confondent notre faiblesse, elles éclaireront notre esprit, et nous donneront courage pour remplir, sans nous flatter nous-mêmes, les devoirs que Dieu nous impose.

Priez, ô Paule, pour l'Eglise de Syrie, que vous avez sanctifiée par vos exemples. Qu'elle recouvre enfin la paix et l'unité. Veillez sur les sanctuaires de la Terre-Sainte, plus souillés par la présence et les sacrilèges des hérétiques que parles violences des Gentils. Affranchissez Jérusalem par vos prières ; sauvez l'honneur de Bethléhem ; et que l'Hostie qui ôte les péchés du monde ne soit plus offerte sur le lieu où fut la crèche de l'Emmanuel, par des mains impures et schismatiques. Protégez les pèlerins qui visitent, comme vous, le théâtre des mystères de notre Rédemption. Ranimez, dans toute la chrétienté, l'amour de ces saints lieux, que nos pères reconquirent autrefois par leurs armes ; que notre piété régénérée aime à se réchauffer en suivant les traces divines que le Sauveur de nos âmes a laissées en passant sur cette terre.

Dom Guéranger. L'ANNÉE LITURGIQUE

SOURCE : http://www.abbaye-saint-benoit.ch/gueranger/anneliturgique/noel/noel02/028.htm

Ambrogio di Baldese, Santa Paola Romana (1395 - 1399), tempera su tavola; Città del Vaticano, Pinacoteca Vaticana

SAINTE PAULE

Paule fut une très noble dame de Rome, dont saint Jérôme a écrit la vie en ces termes : « Si toutes les parties de mon corps étaient converties en autant de langues et que chacune d'elles pût former une voix humaine, je ne pourrais rien dire qui approchât des vertus de la sainte et vénérable Paule. Illustre de race, mais beaucoup plus noble par sa sainteté puissante en richesses, mais elle l’est maintenant bien davantage, de ce qu'elle a voulu être pauvre pour J.-C. Je prends à témoin J.-C. et ses saints anges, nommément son ange gardien et compagnon de cette admirable femme, , que je ne dis rien par flatterie ou par exagération, mais par pure vérité, reconnaissant que tout ce que j'en bourrai dire est au-dessous de ses mérites. Le lecteur veut apprendre en peu de paroles quelles furent ses vertus ; elle laissa tous les siens pauvres, étant elle-même encore plus pauvre. Entre toutes les pierres précieuses elle brille comme une perle inestimable ; et comme l’éclat du soleil éteint et obscurcit la lueur des étoiles, de même elle surpasse les vertus de tous par son humilité, se rendant la moindre de toutes, pour devenir la plus grande ; à mesure qu'elle s'abaissait, J.-C. l’élevait. Elle se, cachait et ne pouvait être cachée: elle fuyait la vaine gloire et elle mérita la gloire,. parce que la gloire fuit la vertu comme l’ombre, et en méprisant ceux qui la cherchent, elle cherche ceux qui la méprisent. Elle eut cinq enfants : Blésille, sur la mort de laquelle je l’ai consolée à Rome ; Pauline, qui laissa pour héritier de ses biens et de. ses résolutions son saint et admirable mari Pammache, auquel j'ai adressé un petit livre sui le sujet de sa perte ; Eustochie, qui demeure encore aujourd'hui dans les saints lieux et est par sa virginité un ornement précieux de l’Église; Rufine, qui, par sa mort prématurée, accabla de douleur l’ami si tendre de sa mère, et Toxoce, après la naissance duquel elle cessa d'avoir des enfants; ce qui témoigne qu'elle n'en avait désiré que pour plaire à son mari qui souhaitait d'avoir des enfants mâles. Après que son mari fut mort, elle le pleura tant qu'elle pensa perdre la vie, et elle se donna de telle sorte au service de Dieu qu'on aurait pu croire qu'elle aurait désiré d'être veuve.

Dirai-je qu'elle distribua aux pauvres presque toutes les richesses d'une aussi grande et aussi noble et aussi riche maison qu'était la sienne ? Enflammée par les vertus de saint Paulin, évêque d'Antioche, et d'Epiphane, qui étaient venus à Rome, elle pensait par moments à quitter son pays. Mais pourquoi différer davantage à le dire ? Elle, descendit sur le port; son frère, ses cousins, ses proches et ce qui est beaucoup plus que tout le reste, ses enfants qui l’accompagnaient et s'efforçaient de vaincre cette mère si tendre. Déjà on déployait les voiles,: et à force de rames, on tirait le vaisseau dans la mer; le petit Toxoce lui tendait les mains sur le rivage; Rufine, prête à marier, la priait d'attendre ses noces, sans proférer une parole, mais toute en pleurs; mais Paule, élevant les yeux au ciel sans verser une larme, surmontait, par son amour pour Dieu, l’amour qu'elle avait pour ses enfants. Elle oubliait qu'elle était mère pour témoigner qu'elle était servante de J.-C. Ses entrailles étaient déchirées, et elle combattait contre une douleur qui n'était pas moindre que si on lui eût arraché le coeur. Une foi accomplie souffre. cela contre les: lois de la nature; mais il y a plus encore; son coeur plein de joie le désire, et méprisant l’amour de ses enfants par un amour plus grand pour Dieu, elle ne trouvait de soulagement que dans Eustochie qu'elle avait pour compagne dans ses desseins et dans son voyage. Cependant le vaisseau sillonnait la mer, et tous ceux qui le montaient regardaient le rivage ; elle en détourna les yeux pour n'y point voir ce qu'elle ne pouvait voir sans douleur. Etant arrivée aux lieux de la terre sainte, et le proconsul de la Palestine, qui connaissait parfaitement sa famille, ayant envoyé des appariteurs pour lui préparer un palais, elle choisit une humble cellule. Elle parcourait tous les endroits où J.-C. avait laissé des traces de son passage, avec tant de zèle et de soin, qu'elle ne pouvait s'arracher de ceux où elle était que pour se hâter d'aller aux autres. Elle se prosterna devant la croix comme si elle y eût vu le Seigneur attaché. Entrant dans le sépulcre, elle baisait la pierre de la résurrection que l’ange avait ôtée de l’entrée du monument, et le lieu où avait reposé le corps du Sauveur, elle le léchait de ses lèvres comme si elle eût été altérée des eaux salutaires de la foi. Ce qu'elle y répandit de larmes, quels furent ses: gémissements et sa douleur, tout Jérusalem en a été témoin; le Seigneur qu'elle priait en est témoin lui-même. De là elle alla à Bethléem, et étant entrée dans l’étable du Sauveur, elle vit la maison sacrée de la vierge, et jurait,en ma présence, qu'elle voyait, des yeux de la foi, l’enfant enveloppé de langes, qui pleurait dans la crèche, les mages adorant le Seigneur, l’étoile qui brillait au-dessus, la vierge mère, le père nourricier aux petits soins, les bergers qui venaient la nuit pour voir le Verbe qui s'était incarné, comme s'ils récitaient; le commencement de l’Évangile de saint Jean : Au commencement était le Verbe, et le Verbe était avec Dieu et le Verbe s'est fait chair. Elle voyait les enfants égorgés, Hérode en fureur; Joseph et Marie fuyant en Egypte, et elle s'écriait avec une joie mêlée de larmes : « Salut, Bethléem, maison de pain, où est né le pain descendu du ciel; salut, terre d'Ephrata, région fertile, dont Dieu lui-même est la fertilité. David à pu dire avec confiance (Ps. CXXXI) : «Nous entrerons dans son tabernacle, nous l’adorerons dans le lieu où il a posé ses pieds, et moi, misérable pécheresse, j'ai été jugée digne de baiser la crèche où le Seigneur a pleuré tout petit. C'est le lieu de mon repos, parce que c'est la patrie de mon Seigneur, j'y habiterai puisque mon Seigneur l’a choisie.

Elle s'abaissa à un tel point d'humilité que celui qui l’aurait vue et qui aurait été témoin de sa grandeur n'aurait pu la reconnaître, mais l’aurait prisé pour la dernière des servantes, lorsque, entourée d'une multitude de vierges, elle était la dernière de toutes, en ses habits, en ses 'paroles, en sa démarche. Depuis la mort de son mari, jusqu'à son dernier jour, elle ne mangea avec aucun homme, quelque saint qu'il fût, et quand bien même elle eût su qu'il était élevé à la dignité épiscopale. Elle n'alla aux bains qu'en l’état de maladie; elle n'avait un lit assez doux que quand elle avait de fortes fièvres, mais elle reposait: sur un cilice étendu sur la terre dure; si toutefois on peut appeler repos, joindre les nuits aux jours pour les passer dans des oraisons presque continuelles. Elle pleurait de telle sorte pour des fautes légères qu'on eût estimé qu'elle avait commis les plus grands crimes. Lorsque nous lui représentions qu'elle devait épargner sa vue et la conserver pour lire l’Écriture sainte, elle nous répondait : « Il faut défigurer ce visage que j'ai si. souvent peint avec; du vermillon, de la céruse et du noir contre le commandement de Dieu. Il faut affliger ce corps qui a été dans tant de délices; il faut que des ris et des joies qui ont si longtemps duré soient compensés: par des larmes continuelles. Il faut changer en l’âpreté du cilice la délicatesse de ce beau linge et la magnificence de ces riches étoffes de soie; et comme j'ai plu à mon mari et, au monde, je désire maintenant plaire à J.-C. » Entre tant et de si grandes vertus, il me semble superflu de louer sa chasteté, qui lors même- qu'elle était dans le siècle, a servi d'exemple à toutes les damés de Rome, sa conduite ayant été telle que lés plus médisants n'ont osé rien inventer pour la blâmer. Je confesse ma faute en ce que lui voyant faire des charités avec profusion, je l’en reprenais, et lui alléguais le passage de l’apôtre (I Cor., VIII). « Vous ne devez pas donner de telle sorte qu'en soulageant les autres, vous vous incommodiez vous-même; mais il faut garder quelque mesure, afin que comme maintenant votre abondance supplée à leur nécessité, votre nécessité puisse être un jour soulagée par leur abondance. » J'ajoutai qu'il faut prendre garde à ne se mettre pas dans l’impuissance de pouvoir toujours faire le bien qu'elle faisait de si bon coeur. A quoi joignant plusieurs autres choses semblables, elle me répondait en fort peu de paroles et avec grande modestie, prenant le Seigneur à témoin qu'elle ne faisait rien que pour l’amour qu'elle ressentait pour lui; qu'elle souhaitait de mourir en demandant l’aumône, en sorte de ne laisser pas une obole à sa fille et d'être ensevelie dans un drap qui ne lui appartînt pas. Elle ajoutait pour dernière raison : si je suis réduite à demander, je trouverai plusieurs personnes qui me donneront; mais sucé pauvre meurt de faim faute de recevoir de moi ce que je lui puis aisément donner en l’empruntant, à qui demandera-t-on compte de sa vie? Elle ne voulait point. employer d'argent en ces pierres qui passeront avec la terre et le siècle, mais en ces pierres vivantes qui marchent sur la terre, et dont l’Apocalypse dit que la ville du grand roi est bâtie. A peine mangeait-elle de l’huile, excepté les jours de fête, ce qui fait assez connaître quel pouvait être son sentiment touchant le vin, les autres liqueurs délicates, le poisson, le lait, le miel, les neufs et autres choses semblables qui sont agréables au goût et dans l’usage desquelles quelques-uns s'estiment fort sobres; et s'en pouvoir soûler sans avoir sujet de craindre que cela fasse tort à leur continence. J'ai connu un méchant homme, un de ces envieux cachés qui sont la pire espèce de personnes, qui lui vint dire, sous prétexte d'affection, que son extraordinaire ferveur, la faisait passer pour folle dans l’esprit de quelques-uns et qu'il lui fallait fortifier le cerveau, et elle lui répondit (I Cor., IV) : « Nous sommes exposés à la vue du mondé, des anges et des hommes; nous sommes devenus fous pour J.-C., mais la folie de ceux qui sont à Dieu surpassé toute la sagesse humaine. » Après avoir bâti un monastère d'hommes dont elle donna la conduite à des hommes, elle partagea en trois autres monastères plusieurs. vierges tant nobles que de moyenne et de basse condition qu'elle avait rassemblées de diverses provinces; et elle les disposa de telle sorte que ces trois monastères étant séparés en ce qui était des ouvrages et du manger, elles psalmodiaient et priaient toutes ensemble. Si quelques-unes contestaient ensemble, elle les accordait par l’extrême douceur de ses paroles. Elle affaiblissait par des jeûnes fréquents et redoublés les corps de ces jeunes filles, qui avaient besoin de mortification, préférant la santé de leur esprit à celle de leur estomac : elle disait que la propreté excessive du corps et des habits était la saleté de l’âme et que ce qui passe pour une faute légère et comme une chose de néant parmi les personnes du siècle, est un très grand péché dans un monastère. Bien qu'elle donnât à celles qui étaient souffrantes toutes choses en abondance et leur fît même manger de la viande, s'il arrivait qu'elle tombât malade, elle n'avait pas pour elle-même une égale indulgence et péchait contre l’égalité en ce qu'elle était aussi dure envers elle que pleine de clémence envers les autres. Je rapporterai ici un fait dont j'ai été le témoin. Durant un été très chaud, elle tomba malade au mois de juillet d'une fièvre fort violente et lorsqu'après qu'on eut désespéré de sa vie, elle commença à sentir quelque soulagement, les médecins l’exhortant à boire un peu de vin d'autant qu'ils le jugeaient nécessaire pour la fortifier et empêcher qu'en buvant de l’eau elle ne devînt hydropique, et moi, de mon côté, ayant prié en secret le bienheureux évêque Épiphane de le lui persuader et même de l’y obliger; comme elle était très clairvoyante et avait l’esprit fort pénétrant, elle, se douta aussitôt de la ruse que j'avais employée et me dit en souriant que le discours qu'il lui avait tenu venait de moi. Lorsque le saint évêque sortit après l’avoir longtemps exhortée, je lui demandai ce qu'il avait fait; et il me répondit : « J'ai si bien réussi qu'elle a presque persuadé à un homme de mon âge de ne point boire de vin.» Elle était très tendre en la perte de ceux qu'elle aimait, se laissant abattre à l’affliction de la mort de ses proches et particulièrement de ses enfants; comme il parut en celle de son mari et de ses filles, qui la mirent au hasard de sa vie : car bien qu'elle fît le signe de la croix sur sa bouche et sur son. estomac pour tâcher d'adoucir par cette impression sainte la douleur qu'elle ressentait comme femme et comme mère, son affection demeurait la maîtresse et ses entrailles étant déchirées, elles accablaient la force de son esprit par la violence de leurs sentiments. Ainsi son âme se trouvait en même temps et victorieuse par sa piété et vaincue par, l’infirmité de son corps. Elle savait par coeur l’Écriture sainte; et bien qu'elle en aimât l’histoire, à cause qu'elle disait que c'était le fondement de la vérité, elle s'attachait de préférence au sens spirituel; et elle s'en servait comme du comble de l’édifice de son âme. Je dirai aussi une chose qui semblera peut-être incroyable à ses envieux. Elle désira d'apprendre la langue hébraïque, dont j'ai acquis quelque connaissance, y ayant extrêmement travaillé dès ma jeunesse et y travaillant continuellement, de peur que si je l’abandonnais, elle ne  m’abandonnât aussi. Elle vint à bout de son dessein, tellement qu'elle chantait les psaumes en hébreu et le parlait sans y rien mêler de l’élocution latine, ce que nous voyons faire encore à sa sainte fille Eustochie. J'ai navigué jusqu'ici avec un vent favorable et mon vaisseau a fendu les ondes de la mer sans peine; maintenant cette narration va rencontrer des écueils, car qui pourrait raconter la mort de Paule, sans verser des larmes? Elle tomba dans une grande maladie, ou pour mieux dire, elle obtint ce qu'elle désirait, qui était de nous quitter pour s'unir parfaitement à Dieu. Mais pourquoi  m’arrêtai-je et fais-je ainsi durer, encore davantage ma douleur en différant de la dire? Cette femme si prudente sentait bien qu'elle n'avait plus qu'un moment à vivre et que tout le reste de son corps était déjà saisi du froid de la mort. Son âme n'était plus retenue que par un peu de chaleur, qui se retirant dans sa poitrine sacrée, faisait que son coeur palpitait encore; et néanmoins comme si elle eût abandonné des étrangers; afin d'aller voir ses proches, elle disait ces versets entre ses dents : « Seigneur, j'ai aimé la beauté de votre maison et le lieu où réside votre gloire. Dieu des vertus, que vos tabernacles sont aimables! J'ai préféré être la dernière de tous dans la maison de mon Dieu. » Lorsque je lui demandais pourquoi elle se taisait et ne voulait pas répondre, et si elle sentait quelque douleur, elle me dit en grec : que nulle chose ne lui faisait peine et qu'elle ne voyait rien que de calme et de tranquille. Après quoi elle se tut et ayant fermé les yeux comme méprisant déjà toutes les choses humaines, elle répéta jusqu'au dernier soupir les mêmes versets, mais si bas qu'à peine les pouvions-nous entendre. Les habitants de tontes les villes de la Palestine vinrent en foule à ses funérailles. Il n'y eut point de cellule qui pût retenir les solitaires les plus cachés dans le désert, ni de vierges saintes qui pussent demeurer en leur petite retraite, parce qu'ils eussent tous cru faire. un sacrilège s'ils eussent manqué de rendre leurs devoirs à une femme si extraordinaire, jusqu'à ce que son corps eût été enterré sous l’église, tout contre la crèche de Notre-Seigneur. Sa sainte fille Eustochie qui se voyait comme sevrée de sa mère, ne pouvait souffrir qu'on la séparât d'avec elle. Elle lui baisait les yeux, elle se collait à son visage, elle la couvrait de ses embrassements et elle eût désiré être ensevelie avec sa mère. J.-C. est témoin qu'elle ne laissa pas une pièce d'argent à sa fille, mais qu'elle la laissa chargée de pauvres et d'un nombre infini de solitaires et de vierges qu'il lui était difficile de nourrir et qu'elle n'eût pu abandonner sans manquer à la piété. Adieu, Paule, assistez-moi par vos prières dans l’extrémité de ma vieillesse vous que je révère. »

La Légende dorée de Jacques de VORAGINE nouvellement traduite en français avec introduction, notices, NOTES ET RECHERCHES sur les sources par l'Abbé J.-B. M. ROZE, Chanoine Honoraire de la cathédrale d'Amiens. Édouard Rouveyre, Éditeur,   76, Rue de Seine, 76. Paris MDCCCCII

SOURCE : http://www.abbaye-saint-benoit.ch/voragine/tome01/032.htm

Estàtua de santa Paula a la façana de sant Miquel dels Reis

Saint Paula of Rome

Also known as

Paula the Widow

Paulina…

Pauline…

Memorial

26 January

Profile

Member of the Imperial Roman nobility, married to senator Toxotius. Mother of five children including Saint Eustochium and Saint Blaesilla. Widowed at age 32 in 379, she devoted her fortune and the rest of her life to spiritual development and care for the poor. Friend of Saint Marcella, Saint Epiphanius, and Saint Paulinus of Antioch. Friend, spiritual student and supporter of Saint Jerome whom she met in 382; he later wrote her biography. Pilgrim to the Holy Lands in 385. She settled in Bethlehem in 396 where she built churches, a hospice, monastery and convent where she served as the first abbess.

Born

5 May 347 at Rome, Italy

Died

404 at Bethlehem of natural causes

buried under the Church of the Nativity at Nazareth

Patronage

widows

Additional Information

Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate

Catholic Encyclopedia, by Louis Saltet

Golden Legend

Heroines That Every Child Should Know

Lives of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler

New Catholic Dictionary

Saints of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein

Sketches Drawn from the Life of Saint Paula, by the Abbe LaGrange, Vicar-General of Orleans

books

Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints

other sites in english

Catholic Online

Christian Iconography

Independent Catholic News

John Dillon

Vatican News

audio

Heroines That Every Child Should Know

sitios en español

Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición

fonti in italiano

Cathopedia

Santi e Beati

spletne strani v slovenšcini

Svetniki

MLA Citation

“Saint Paula of Rome“. CatholicSaints.Info. 15 May 2020. Web. 26 January 2021. <https://catholicsaints.info/saint-paula-of-rome/>

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-paula-of-rome/

Saint Paula. Line engraving by W. Marshall

St. Paula

Born in Rome, 347; died at Bethlehem, 404. She belonged to one of the first families of Rome. Left a widow in 379 at the age of 32 she became, through the influence of St. Marcella and her group, the model of Christian widows. In 382 took place her decisive meeting with St. Jerome, who had come to Rome with St. Epiphanius and Paulinus of Antioch. These two bishops inspired her with an invincible desire to follow the monastic life in the East. After their departure from Rome and at the request of Marcella, Jerome gave readings from Holy Scripture before the group of patrician women among whom St. Paula held a position of honour. Paula was an ardent student. She and her daughter, Eustochium, studied and mastered Hebrew perfectly. By their studies they aimed not so much to acquire knowledge, as a fuller acquaintance with Christian perfection.

She did not, however, neglect her domestic duties. A devoted mother, she married her daughter, Paulina (d. 395), to the senator Pammachius; Blesilla soon became a widow and died in 384. Of her two other daughters, Rufina died in 386, and Eustochium accompanied her mother to the Orient where she died in 419. Her son Toxotius, at first a pagan, but baptized in 385, married in 389 Laeta, daughter of the pagan priest Albinus. Of this marriage was born Paula the Younger, who in 404 rejoined Eustochium in the East and in 420 closed the eyes of St. Jerome. These are the names which recur frequently in the letters of St. Jerome, where they are inseparable from that of Paula.

The death of Blesilla and that of Pope Damasus in 384 completely changed the manner of life of Paula and Jerome. In September, 385, Paula and Eustochium left Rome to follow the monastic life in the East. Jerome, who had preceded them thither by a month, joined them at Antioch. Paula first made in great detail the pilgrimage of all the famous places of the Holy Land, afterward going to Egypt to be edified by the virtues of the anchorites and cenobites, and finally took up her residence at Bethlehem, as did St. Jerome. Then began for Paula, Eustochium, and Jerome their definitive manner of life. The intellectual and spiritual intercourse among these holy persons, begun at Rome, continued and developed. Two monasteries were founded, one for men, the other for women. Paula and Eustochium took a larger share in the exegetical labours of Jerome, and conformed themselves more and more to his direction. An example of their manner of thinking and writing may be seen in the letter they wrote from Bethlehem about 386 to Marcella to persuade her to leave Rome and join them; it is Letter XLVI of the correspondence of Jerome. But God was not sparing of trials to His servants. Their peace was disturbed by constant annoyances, first the controversy concerning Origenism which disturbed their relations with John, Bishop of Jerusalem, and later Paula's need of money, she having been ruined by her generosity. She died in the midst of these trials and good works. The chief and almost the only source of Paula's life is the correspondence of St. Jerome (P.L., XXII). The Life of St. Paula is in Letter CVIII, which, though somewhat rhetorical, is a wonderful production. The other letters which specially concern St. Paula and her family are XXII, XXX, XXXI, XXXIII, XXXVIII, XXXIX, LXVI, CVII.

Sources

LAGRANGE, Histoire de Sainte Paule (2nd ed., Paris, 1868); Acta SS., Jan., III, 327-37; see also Historia lausiaca, lxxix, in P.G., XXXIV, 1180; ST. JEROME, De viris illustribus in P.L., XXIII, 719; UPTON, The House on the Aventine in Catholic World, LXVII, 633-643.

Saltet, Louis. "St. Paula." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 22 Mar. 2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11582a.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Herman F. Holbrook. O Saint Paula, and all ye holy Virgins and Widows, pray for us.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.

Copyright © 2020 by Kevin Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11582a.htm

La Chiesa di Santa Paola Romana, situato nella periferia occidentale della città, nel quartiere Trionfale

Paula of Rome, Widow (RM)

Born in Rome, May 5, 347; died in Bethlehem, Palestine, on January 24, 404. This noble Roman lady of learning and mother of saints, lived Christ's message by being able to truly love that most unlikable crank Saint Jerome. Testimony about the life of Saint Paula is preserved in the e pistles of Jerome and in his eulogy to her (Epistle 108).

Paula was born into a patrician, Christian family. She was a descendent of the Scipios and Gracchi. When she was 15, Paula married the senator Toxotius with whom she had a son and four daughters. Although it was an arranged marriage, it was a happy one. Paula and Toxotius thoroughly enjoyed their wealth and position. The happiness this world offers, however, is ephemeral. Paula learned this lesson when, at age 32 (379 AD), she was widowed.

She loved her husband and was inconsolable at his loss. She comforted herself with her children (Blaesilla, Paulina, Eustochium, Rufina, and Toxotius). Even that was not enough; she grieved terribly until her friend, Saint Marcella, suggested that she devote herself to God. Finally, Paula took her friend's advice, converted her heart, and dedicated her life to God.

She gave up earthly treasures and social activities, slept on sackcloth, ate little, and indulged in nothing immoderately. Then she proceeded to consecrate her household to an ascetic way of life together with similar groups of Roman noblewomen, who resided on the Aventine and Coelian Hills of Rome. These ladies encouraged one another to live according to the Gospel, studied the Scriptures together intensely and scientifically to learn the ways of God, and did not wait until disaster forced the ascetic life upon them; they saw that luxury is out of place in a Christian.

Paula's life was such a powerful witness that she inspired her own daughters, Saints Blaesilla and Eustochium to sainthood. Eustochium was single-hearted for the Lord; she consecrated herself to a life of virginity, having learned austerity from her mother and Saint Marcella.

She gave hospitality to Saint Epiphanius of Salamis and Saint Paulinus of Antioch, when they visited Rome. Some say that it was through these saints that Paula met Saint Jerome. When Saint Jerome arrived in Rome in 382, Marcella insisted he should teach their group Hebrew and exegesis. Young Jerome was very sarcastic, nevertheless, he became the spiritual director of this evolving Christian community and provided them with instruction in the Scriptures.

Paula's second daughter Paulina married a school-friend of Jerome, but her children were stillborn and she died young--her husband became a monk. (Melania's houses rivalled those Jerome and Paula founded, but she wouldn't submit to his direction.)

At first Blaesilla followed in her mother's early elegant footsteps. Blaesilla threw herself so vehemently into the ascetic life that in 384 she died. Paula was almost crazy with grief, but Jerome, who received the news in Jerusalem, rebuked her. He wrote that she had the right to mourn the loss of her husband and daughter; nevertheless, she ought to realize that they had entered a realm of greater happiness than this world can offer. To assuage her sorrow, Jerome promised to glorify Blaesilla by writing about her.

Paula determined to enter a new life. In 385, Paula and her third daughter, Eustochium, abandoned her palace in Rome, intending to become hermits and devote themselves entirely to God. They visited Epiphanius in Cyprus and met Jerome in Antioch. The made a pilgrimage through Palestine and continued into Egypt to visit the monks and hermits there. The following year (386), mother and daughter settled in a mean house in Bethlehem. When Paula first arrived in Bethlehem, she cried, "I greet you, Bethlehem, the 'house of Bread,' for here was born that living Bread who came down from heaven." The Bread of heaven satisfied all her needs.

Austerity and prayer marked the passing of the years in this convent where every attention was given the poor and the study of the Scriptures. For 20 years Saint Paula presided over the sisterhood she founded near Saint Jerome's monastery. Everyone dressed in exactly the same fashion, quite simply, showing that they were all equal in God's sight.

She learned enough Hebrew to daily recite the Psalms in the original tongue. With her knowledge of Greek, which she had learned from her father, and Hebrew, Paula helped Jerome in his work of translating the Scriptures into Latin, and caring for him personally. She prodded Jerome to take an interest in the dispute over Origen.

Jerome praises Paula's efficient practicality and tactfulness; but he was alarmed by her excessive, self-imposed mortifications, and warned her than her lavish gifts to charity would land her in difficulties (which they did).

In the city of our Lord's birth, Paula used her wealth to build a large hospital, a monaster, convent, and churches, before she died penniless and serene at age 56. Her grand-daughter Paula, who had been placed in her care, succeeded her as directress of the convent. Saint Paula was buried near the birthplace of her Lord and Savior, under the Church of the Nativity. Her biographer was none other than Saint Jerome (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Farmer, Gill, Martindale, White).

In art, Saint Paula is a Jeronomite abbess with a book. Otherwise, she may be shown (1) as a pilgrim, often with Saint Jerome and her daughter Saint Eustochium; (2) prostrate before the cave at Bethlehem; (3) embarking in a ship, while a child calls from the shore; (4) weeping over her children; (5) with the instruments of the Passion; (6) holding a scroll with Saint Jerome's epistle Cogite me Paula (Roeder); (7) with a book and a black veil fringed with gold; or with a sponge in her hand (White). Saint Paula is the patroness of widows (Delaney, White).

SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0126.shtml#paul

André Reinoso. Saint Paula Teaching her Nuns, mid-17th century. Currently in the Monastery of the Hieronymites (Mosteiro dos Jerónimos), in Lisbon, Portugal.

André Reinoso. Santa Paula Instruindo as Monjas, meados do século XVII. No Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, em Lisboa, Portugal

Butler’s Lives of the Saints – Saint Paula, Widow

Article

This illustrious pattern of widows surpassed all other Roman ladies in riches, birth, and the endowments of mind. She was born on the 5th of May, in 347. The blood of the Scipio’s, the Gracchi, and Paulus Æmilius, was centered in her by her mother Blesilla. Her father derived his pedigree from Agamemnon, and her husband Toxotius his from Iulus and Ænas. By him she had a son also called Toxotius, and four daughters, namely, Blesilla, Paulina, Eustochium, and Rufina. She shone a bright pattern of virtue in the married state, and both she and her husband edified Rome by their good example; but her virtue was not without its alloy: a certain degree of the love of the world being almost inseparable from honours and high life. She did not discern the secret attachments of her heart, nor feel the weight of her own chains: she had neither courage to break them, nor light whereby to take a clear and distinct view of her spiritual poverty and misery. God, compassionating her weakness, was pleased in his mercy to open her eyes by violence, and sent her the greatest affliction that could befall her, in the death of her husband, when she was only thirty-two years of age. Her grief was immoderate till such time as she was encouraged to devote herself totally to God, by the exhortations of her friend Saint Marcella, a holy widow, who then edified Rome by her penitential life. Paula, thus excited to set aside her sorrow, erected in her heart the standard of the cross of Jesus Christ, and courageously resolved to walk after it. From that time, she never sat at table with any man, not even with any of the holy bishops and saints whom she entertained. She abstained from all flesh-meat, fish, eggs, honey, and wine; used oil only on holydays; lay on a stone floor covered with sack-cloth; renounced all visits and worldly amusements, laid aside all costly garments, and gave every thing to the poor which it was in her power to dispose of. She was careful in inquiring after the necessitous, and deemed it a loss on her side if any other hands than her own administered relief to them. It was usual with her to say, that she could not make a better provision for her children, than to secure for them by alms the blessings of heaven. Her occupation was prayer, pious reading, and fasting. She could not bear the distraction of company, which interrupted her commerce with God; and, if ever she sought conversation, it was with the servants of God for her own edification. She lodged Saint Epiphanius and Saint Paulinus of Antioch, when they came to Rome; and Saint Jerom was her director in the service of God, during his stay in that city for two years and a half, under Pope Damasus. Her eldest daughter Blesilla, having, in a short time after marriage, lost her husband, came to a resolution of forsaking the world, but died before she could compass her pious design. The mother felt this affliction too sensibly. Saint Jerom, who at that time was newly arrived at Bethlehem, in 384, wrote to her both to comfort and reprove her. He first condoles their common loss; but adds, that God is our master, that we are bound to rejoice in his will, always holy and just, to thank and praise him for all things; and, above all, not to mourn for a death at which the angels attend, and for one who by it departs to enjoy Christ: and that it is only the continuation of our banishment which we ought to lament. “Blesilla,” says he, “has received her crown, dying in the fervour of her resolution, in which she had purified her soul near four months.” He adds, that Christ seemed to reproach her grief in these terms: “Art thou angry, O Paula! that thy daughter is made mine? Thou art offended at my providence, and by thy rebellious tears, thou dost offer an injury to me who possess her.” He pardons some tears in a mother, occasioned by the involuntary sensibility of nature; but calls her excess in them a scandal to religion, abounding with sacrilege and infidelity: adding, that Blesilla herself mourned, as far as her happy state would allow, to see her offend Christ, and cried out to her: “Envy not my glory: commit not what may for ever separate us. I am not alone. Instead of you I have the mother of God, I have many companions whom I never knew before. You mourn for me because I have left the world; and I pity your prison and dangers in it.” Paula afterwards, completing the victory over herself, showed herself greatly superior to this weakness. Her second daughter Paulina was married to Saint Pammachius, and died in 397. Eustochium, the third, was her individual companion. Rufina died young.

The greater progress Paula made in spiritual exercises, and in the relish of heavenly things, the more insupportable to her was the tumultuous life of the city. She sighed after the deserts, longed to be disencumbered of attendants, and to live in an hermitage, where her heart would have no other occupation than on God. The thirst after so great a happiness made her ready to forget her house, family, riches, and friends; yet never did a mother love her children more tenderly. At the thought of leaving them her bowels yearned, and being in an agony of grief, she seemed as if she had been torn from herself. But in this she was the most wonderful of mothers, that whilst she felt in her soul the greatest emotions of tenderness, she knew how to keep them within due bounds. The strength of her faith gave her an ascendant over the sentiments of nature, and she even desired this cruel separation, bearing it with joy, out of a pure and heroic love of God. She had indeed taken a previous care to have all her children brought up saints; otherwise her design would have been unjustifiable. Being therefore fixed in her resolution, and having settled her affairs, she went to the water side, attended by her brother, relations, friends, and children, who all strove by their tears to overcome her constancy. Even when the vessel was ready to sail, her little son Toxotius, with uplifted hands on the shore, and bitterly weeping, begged her not to leave him. The rest, who were not able to speak with gushing tears, prayed her to defer at least her voluntary banishment. But Paula, raising her dry eyes to heaven, turned her face from the shore, lest she should discover what she could not behold without feeling the most sensible pangs of sorrow. She sailed first to Cyprus, where she was detained ten days by Saint Epiphanius; and from thence to Syria. Her long journeys by land she performed on the backs of asses; she, who till then had been accustomed to be carried about by eunnichs in litters. She visited with great devotion all the principal places which we read to have been consecrated by the mysteries of the life of our divine Redeemer, as also the respective abodes of all the principal anchorets and holy solitaries of Egypt and Syria. At Jerusalem the proconsul had prepared a stately palace richly furnished for her reception; but excusing herself with regard to the proffered favour, she chose to lodge in an humble cell. In this holy place her fervour was redoubled at the sight of each sacred monument, as Saint Jerom describes. She prostrated herself before the holy cross, pouring forth her soul in love and adoration, as if she had beheld our Saviour still bleeding upon it. On entering the sepulchre, she kissed the stone which the angel removed on the occasion of our Lord’s resurrection, and imparted many kisses full of faith and devotion to the place where the body of Christ had been laid. On her arrival at Bethlehem, she entered the cave or stable in which the Saviour of the world was born, and she saluted the crib with tears of joy, crying out: “I, a miserable sinner, am made worthy to kiss the manger in which my Lord was pleased to be laid an infant babe weeping for me! This is my dwelling place, because it was the country chosen by my Lord for himself.

After her journeys of devotion, in which she distributed immense alms, she settled at Bethlehem with her daughter Eustochium, under the direction of Saint Jerom. The three first years she spent there in a poor little house; but in the mean time, she took care to have an hospital built on the road to Jerusalem, as also a monastery for Saint Jerom and his monks, whom she maintained; besides three monasteries for women, which properly made but one house, for all assembled in the same chapel to perform together the divine service day and night; and on Sundays in the church that was adjoining. At prime, tierce, sext, none, vespers, complin and the midnight office, they daily sung the whole psalter, which every sister was obliged to know by heart. Their food was very coarse and temperate, their fasts frequent and austere. All the sisters worked with their hands, and made clothes for themselves and others. All wore the same uniform poor habit, and used no linen except for the wiping of their hands. No man was ever suffered to set a foot within their doors. Paula governed them with a charity full of discretion, animating them in the practice of every virtue by her own example and instructions, being always the first, or among the first, in every duty; sharing with her daughter Eustochium in all the drudgery and meanest offices of the house, and appearing every where as the last of her sisters. She severely reprimanded a studied neatness in dress, which she called an uncleanness of the mind. If any one was found talkative, or angry, she was separated from the rest, ordered to walk the last in order, to pray at the outside of the door, and for some time to eat alone. The holy abbess was so tender of the sick, that she sometimes allowed them to eat flesh meat, but would not admit of the same indulgence in her own ailments, nor even allow herself a drop of wine in the water she drank. She extended her love of poverty to her buildings and churches, ordering them all to be built low, and without any thing costly, or magnificent; she said that money is better laid out on the poor, who are the living members of Christ. She wept so bitterly for the smallest faults, that others would have thought her guilty of grievous crimes. Under an overflow of natural grief for the death of her children, she made frequent signs of the cross on her mouth and breast to overcome nature, and remained always perfectly resigned in her soul to the will of God. Her son Toxotius married Læta, daughter to a priest of the idols, but, as to herself, she was a most virtuous Christian. Both were faithful imitators of the sanctity of our saint. Their daughter Paula the younger, was sent to Bethlehem, to be under the care of her grandmother, whom she afterwards succeeded in the government of that monastery. Saint Jerom wrote to Læta, some excellent lessons for the education of this girl, which parents can never read too often. Our saint lived fifty-six years and eight months, of which she had spent in her widowhood five at Rome, and almost twenty at Bethlehem. In her last illness, but especially in her agony, she repeated almost without intermission certain verses of the psalms, which express an ardent desire of the heavenly Jerusalem, and of being united to God. When she was no longer able to speak, she formed the sign of the cross on her lips, and expired in the most profound peace, on the 26th of January, 404. Her corpse, carried by bishops, and attended with lighted wax torches, was interred on the 28th of the same month, in the midst of the church of the holy manger. Her tomb is still shown in the same place, near that of Saint Jerome, but empty: even the Latin epitaph which Saint Jerom composed in verse, and caused to be engraved on her tomb, is erased or removed, though extant in the end of this letter which he addressed to her daughter. Her relics are said to be in the possession of the metropolitan church at Sens, and the feast of Saint Paula is kept a holiday of precept in that city on the 27th of January; on which day her name is placed by Ado, Usuard, etc., because she died on the 26th after sunset, and the Jews in Palestine began the day from sunset: but her name occurs on the 26th in the Roman Martyrology, etc. See her life in Saint Jerome’s letter to her daughter, called her epitaph, Ep. 86, etc.

MLA Citation

Father Alban Butler. “Saint Paula, Widow”. Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints, 1866. CatholicSaints.Info. 25 January 2013. Web. 26 January 2021. <https://catholicsaints.info/butlers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-paula-widow/>

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/butlers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-paula-widow/

Statue de sainte Paule dans l'église Sainte-Paule de Sainte-Paule (Rhône, France).

Golden Legend – Life of Saint Pauline

Here followeth of Saint Pauline the Widow

Saint Pauline was a much noble widow of Rome, of whom Saint Jerome wrote the life, and saith first thus: If all my members were turned into tongues, and all my arteries should resound in human voice, yet I might not worthily write the virtues of Saint Pauline. I take witness of God and of his holy angels, and also of the angel that was keeper of this woman that I shall say nothing for praising but that same that I shall say shall be less than appertaineth to her virtues. She was born among the nobles of the senators of Rome, and of the lineage of the noble Gregois, rich of good and puissant of seignory at Rome. She was the most humble of all other, for like as the sun surmounteth the clearness of the stars, so surmounted she the beauty of others by her great humility.

When her husband was passed out of this world, she abode lady of all the goods and riches. It happed that, at the mandment of the Emperor, many bishops came to Rome, among whom were there the holy man Paulinus, the patriarch of Antioch, and Epiphanius, bishop of Cyprus, of whom she was esprised in good virtues, so that she gave largely of her goods for God’s sake. Her parents, ne her friends, ne her own children could not turn her, ne make her to change her purpose, but that she would become the pilgrim of Jesu Christ, for the amorous desire that she had to Jesu Christ surmounted the love that she had to her children. Only among all her children she had put her affection in Eustochium her daughter, whom she led with her in this pilgrimage. She took the sea and sailed so far that she came into the holy land of Jerusalem. O how great devotion she had to visit the sepulchre of Jesu Christ and the other holy places, and how all weeping she kissed them, there can no man rehearse. All the city of Jerusalem could speak of it, and yet best of all knew the Lord for whose love she had forsaken all things.

She had been at Rome so puissant and so noble, that every man coveted to do to her honour for her great renomee, but she that was founded upon humility sought the humble places and religious, and came at the last to Bethlehem. And when she had devoutly visited the place in which the Virgin Mary infanted and childed Jesu Christ, she fell in a vision, and as she sware to me, she saw in that vision the child wrapped in poor clouts Iying in the crib or in the rack, and how the three kings worshipped him, how the star came upon the house, and how the shepherds came to see him, and how Herod made persecution upon the innocents, and how Joseph bare the child into Egypt. And this vision she said, all in weeping and in laughing, and said: I salute thee Bethlehem wherein he is born, that descended from heaven, of thee prophesied Micah the fifth chapter, that of thee should be born the God that should govern the people of Israel, and the lineage of David should endure in thee unto the time that the glorious virgin should enfant Jesu Christ; and I wretched, as unworthy to repute me to kiss the crib in which our Lord wept as a child, and the virgin childed, here I shall take my rest and my dwelling, for my Saviour chose this place in Bethlehem.

She made there her habitation with many virgins that served God, and how well that she was lady of all, nevertheless she was the most humble and meek in speaking, in habit, and in going, in such wise that she seemed servant of all the other. She never ate after the death of her husband with no man, how good that he was; she visited as it is said tofore, all the holy places and the monks of Egypt, among whom were many of the ancient fathers and many holy men, and her seemed that she saw Jesu Christ among them. And after, she founded in Bethlehem an abbey in which she assembled virgins as well of noble estate as of middle and low lineage, and departed them in three congregations, so that they were departed in work, in meat, and drink, but in saying their psalter and adoring were they together at the hours as it appertaineth. And she induced and informed all the other in prayer and in work, by example giving, she was never idle. And all they were of one habit, and they had ne sheets ne linen cloth but to dry their hands, and they might have no licence to speak to men, and they that came late to the hours, she blamed debonairly or shortly, after that they were, and suffered not that any of them should have anything save the living and clothing, for to put away avarice from them. She appeased them sweetly that strove, and also she brake and mortified among the young maidens their fleshly desires by continual fastings, for she had liefer have them good, suffering sorrow and sickness, than their heart should be hurt by fleshly will. And she chastised them that were nice and quaint, saying that such nicety was filth of the soul, and said also that, word sounding to any ordure or filth should never issue out of the mouth of a virgin, for by the words outward is showed the countenance of the heart within, and she that so spake and was rebuked therefor, if she amended it not at the first warning, ne at the second, ne at the third, she should be dissevered from the others in eating and in drinking, by which she should be ashamed, and thus should be amended by debonair correction, and if she would not, she should be punished by right great moderation. She was marvellous debonair and pitiful to them that were sick, and comforted them and served them right busily, and to them largely to eat such as they asked, but to herself she was hard in her sickness and scarce, for she refused to eat flesh, how well she gave it to other, and also to drink wine. She was oft by them that were sick, and laid the pillows aright and in point, and frotted their feet and chauffed water to wash them. And her seemed that the less she did to the sick in service, so much less service did she to God, and deserved less merit, and therefore she was to them pitiful, and nothing to herself. In her right great sicknesses she would have no soft bed, but lay upon the straw or upon the ground, and took but little rest. For the most part she was in prayers both by day and by night, and she wept so much that it seemed of her eyes a fountain. So many tears ran from them, and when we said to her oft-times that she should keep her eyes from weeping so much, she said: The visage ought to be like to be foul because it hath so much been made fair and gay against the commandment of God, and the body ought to be chastised that hath had so much solace in this world, and the laughings ought to be recompensed by weepings, and the soft bed and the sheets ought to be changed into the sharpness of hair. I that was accustomed to please man and the world, I desire now to please Jesu Christ. And what shall I say of chastity in which she was ensample unto all ladies of time past when she was yet secular? For she conversed in such wise that they that were envious durst not avise on her any evil fame. She was debonair and courteous unto all, for she comforted the poor and warned the rich to do well, but in largess she passed so that no poor man complained of her. And this did she not by the great abundance that she had of goods, but by her wise governance, and when I said to her that she should have measure in doing alms, after that the apostle saith that, the alms that is done to another be not grievous to him that doth it. But she said that for the love of our Lord she did all, and that she desired to die, begging in such wise that she should not leave one penny to her daughter after her, and that she might be wrapped in a strange sheet when she should die.

And at the last she said: If I should demand ought, I should find enough that would give to me, and these beggars, if I gave to them nought and they so departed and died for poverty, of whom should God demand this? Oft said she so: They be happy that be merciful, and alms quencheth sins as the water quencheth the fire, but for to do alms it cometh not always to perfection, for many do alms that abide in their carnalities, they seem to be good without forth. but within they be mortal.

Pauline was not such an one, she affeebled her body right sore in fasting and in labouring, that unnethe she set her eyes to her meat, without eating fish, ne milk, eggs, or white meat, in which many ween to do great abstinence without eating flesh. For our Lord gave to her an adversary, the stimulation fleshly, by which she held her in humility without savouring anything of pride for the foison of her virtues, and also that she thought not to be higher than other women. She had always in her mind the holy Scriptures against the deceptions of the fiend, and especially this that Moses saith: God assayeth you if he love you, and this that saith Isaiah the prophet: Ye that have been at the solace and joys of the world and now be withdrawn from them and left them, lookafter none other thing but to suffer tribulation upon tribulation and know ye by tribulation is had patience, and by patience is had poverty. It is said, Job, primo capitulo, when it was showed to him the loss of his patrimony, he answered: I issued naked from the belly of my mother, and I shall re-enter naked again into the earth, like as God may be pleased so be it done, his name be praised and blessed. He learned us that we should not love the world, for the world shall finish in her covetise. When one told her that her children were right sick, she said: Who loveth his son or his daughter more than God is not worthy to be with God. A man, that seemed to be her friend, sent her word on a time that she had great need to keep well her brain, for because of the ardour that she had in virtues, she seemed to be out of her wit, and she answered: In this world we bereputed as fools for the love of Jesu Christ. And our Lord said to his apostles: The world hateth you, for ye be not of the world, if ye were of the world, that is to say of the conversation of the world, the world should love you. Fair Lord God we mortify ourselves always, and we be reputed as sheep that be brought to death, because that without plaining we mortify our bodies. In such patience was she unto the death, and suffered humbly the envy of them that were evil. She had in her mind the holy Scriptures, and she held her more to the spiritual understanding than to the histories of the Scripture. She could perfectly Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and French, and read coursably the Scriptures in these four languages.

Who may recount without weeping the death of this woman? She fell in a malady mortal and saw well that she should die, for all her body became cold, and she felt that her spirit held her in her breast. Then said she without plaining, and without having any charge save to God: Fair sweet Lord, I have coveted the beauty of thy house for to be in thy habitation that is so fair, my soul hath desired to be in thy realm. And when I demanded her wherefore she spake no more, and she would not answer me, and I asked if she suffered great pain, she said to me in Greek tongue that she was well and in good peace. And anon she left speaking to me, and closed her eyes in saying to God: Lord, like as the hart desireth to come to the fountain, so desireth my soul to come to thee; alas! when shall I come to thee fair Lord God? And in saying these words, she made a cross upon her mouth. There were bishops, priests, clerks, canons, and monks without number, and at the last, when she heard her spouse, Jesu Christ, which called her saying: Arise and come to me my sweet love and fair espouse, for the winter is passed. She answered gladly: The flowers be showed in our country, and I believe that I shall see the goods in the realm of heaven of my Lord Jesu Christ, and thus she rendered her soul and passed out of this world. And anon all the congregation of virgins made no cry in weeping as do the people of the world, but read devoutly their psalter not only unto the time that she was buried, but all the day and all the night. And with great pain could not Eustochium, her venerable daughter, the virgin, be withdrawn from her, but she kissed her and embraced her piteously in weeping the death of her mother. And Jesus witnesseth that Saint Pauline left not one penny to her daughter, she had so given alms of all her great riches. Many give largely for God’s sake, but they give not so much but some abideth.

When she was passed as said is, her lips ne her face were not pale, but was as reverent to look on as she had been yet alive. She was buried in a sepulchre in Bethlehem with right great honour by the bishops, priests, clerks, monks, virgins, and all the poor people of the country, which plained that they had lost their good mother that had nourished them. She lived in Rome holily thirty-three years, and in Bethlehem twenty years, and all her age was fifty three years seven months and twenty days, from the time of Honorius, emperor of Rome. Then let us pray to this holy woman that she pray for us.

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/golden-legend-life-of-saint-pauline/

Giuseppe Nuvolone  (1619–1703). The alms of Saint Paula of Rome, circa 1684

Heroines That Every Child Should Know – Paula

In the city of Rome when its imperial strength had faded, to seek pleasure and to give one’s self to display had taken the place of honest work and sober duty. The time of which we speak was the fourth century. Affairs of government had been moved to Constantinople, and the effects of the conduct of great matters in their midst was thus denied the Romans.

The populace, fed for ages on public doles and the terrible gaiety of gladiatorial shows had become thoroughly debased, and unable to work out their own bettering. The persons having riches were likewise degraded by a life of luxury and senseless extravagance. Men of that type aired themselves in lofty chariots, lazily reclining and showing to advantage their carefully curled hair, robes of silk embroidery and tissue of gold, to excite the admiration and envy of plainer livers. Their horses’ harness would be covered with ornaments of gold, their coachmen armed with a golden wand instead of whip, and troups of slaves, parasites and other servitors would dance attendance about them. With such display the poor rich creatures would pass through the streets, pushing out of the way or trampling and crushing to the dust whomsoever they might chance to meet—very much as some automobilists act to-day. Brutality and senseless show always are hand in glove with each other.

The rich women of Rome well matched such men. Their very shoes crackled under their feet from excess of gold and silver ornament. Their dresses of cloth-of-gold or other expensive stuff were so heavy that the wearers could hardly walk, even with the aid of attendants. Their faces were often painted and their hair dyed and mounted high on the head in monstrous shapes and designs.

Creeping into such a life as we have just been describing came the pure and simple precepts of Jesus—and they doubtless found many a soul athirst and sick with folly and coarse regard for riches. For years the Christians had been persecuted and many of their number gaining the strength that poverty and persecution bring. In opposition to the luxury-loving spirit, also, had risen among a number an austere denial of all pleasure, and such persons sought a solitary life in a cave or other retired spot. The deserts were mined with caverns and holes in the sand in which hermits dwelt, picking up food as best they might, their bones rattling in a skin blackened by exposure—they were starving, praying and agonising for the salvation of their own souls and for a world sunk in luxury and wickedness.

Now and then one of these hermits would leave his country solitariness and go to some city with a mission of converting vice to virtue. Among these was a man whom we know as Jerome, or Saint Jerome. He was a native of a village on the slope of the Illyrian Alps, and his full name was Eusebius Hieronymus. Inflamed with a zeal for doing great works, loving controversy and harsh and strong in conflict, Jerome sought Rome after years of study and prayer in the desert. In Rome he came to be a frequenter of a palace on the Aventine in which a number of rich and influential women held meetings for Christian teaching and sought a truer and purer life.

Of all these women we best know Paula. No fine lady of that day was more exquisite, more fastidious, more splendid than she. She could not walk abroad without the support of servants, nor cross the marble floor from one silken couch to another, so heavily was gold interwoven in the tissue of her dresses. Her eldest daughter, Blæsilla, a widow at twenty, was a Roman exquisite, loving everything soft and luxurious. It was said of her that she spent entire days before her mirror giving herself to personal decoration—to the tower of curls on her head and the touch of rouge on her cheeks. Paula’s second daughter, Paulina, had married a young patrician who was Christian.

The third member of the family, a girl of sixteen, was Eustochium, a character strongly contrasting with her beautiful mother and sister. Even in early years she had fixed her choice upon a secluded life and shown herself untouched by the gaudy luxury about her. And to this the following pretty story will bear witness. An aunt of hers was Prætextata, wife of a high official of the Emperor Julian, and like the Emperor a follower of the old faith in the gods rather than the new faith in the teachings of Jesus. The family of Paula were, however, as we said, Christian.

This aunt Prætextata saw with some impatience and anger what she considered the artificial gravity of her youthful niece, and when she heard that the maid had said she intended never to marry, and purposed to withdraw from the world, she invited Eustochium to her house on a visit. The young vestal donned her brown gown, the habit of humility, and all unsuspicious sought her aunt. She had scarcely found herself within the house, however, before she was seized by favourite maids, who were interested in the plot. They loosed Eustochium’s long hair and elaborated it in curls and plaits; they took away her little brown gown and covered her with silk and cloth-of-gold; they hung upon her precious ornaments, and finally led her to the mirror to dazzle her eyes with the reflection she would find in the polished surface.

The little maid with the Greek name and pure heart, let them turn her round and round and praise her fresh and youthful beauty. But she was a girl who knew her mind, and was blessed with a natural seriousness. Her aunt’s household she permitted to have their pleasure that day. Then again she donned her little brown gown; and wore the habit all her life.

To return to Jerome: he had hardly arrived in Rome when he was made secretary of a council held in that city by ecclesiastics in the year 382. During his stay he dwelt in the house upon the Aventine in which such women as Paula had been meeting. The little community were now giving up their excessive luxuries and were devoting their time and income to good works, to visiting the poor, tending the sick and founding the first hospitals. To the man of the desert the gentle life must have been more agreeable. In this retreat he accomplished the first portion of his great work, the first authoritative translation of the entire Canon of Scripture – the Vulgate – so named when the Latin of Jerome was the language of the crowd.

But he did not work alone. Paula and other women of the community helped in the translation. They studied with enthusiasm the Scriptures in Hebrew and in Greek; they discussed phrases difficult of understanding, and often held their own opinions against the learned Jerome whose scribes they were willing to be.

Thus began the friendship between Paula and Jerome, which was deepened by the death of Blæsilla. This eldest daughter of Paula had a serious illness. One night, in a dream or vision, Jesus seemed to appear to her and take her by the hand and say, “Arise, come forth.” Waking, she seemed to sit at the table like Mary of Bethany. From that night her whole life was changed. She gathered together her embroidered robes and her jewels and sold them for the poor. Instead of torturing her head with a mitre of curls, she wore a simple veil. A woollen cord, dark linen gown and common shoes replaced the gold embroidered girdle, the glistening silks and the golden-heeled shoes. She slept upon a hard couch. Like others of her family she was finely intelligent, and she became one of the “apprentices” of Jerome, who wrote for her a commentary on the book of Ecclesiastes, “Vanity of Vanities.”

Her conversion was enduring, but her health failed. In a few months another attack of fever laid her low. Her funeral was magnificent. Paula, according to Roman custom, accompanied her child’s body to the tomb of her ancestors, wild with grief, lamenting, and, at last, fainting, so that she was borne away as one dead.

The people were enraged. They accused Jerome, and other “detestable monks” of killing the young widow with austerities. “Let them,” they said; “be stoned and thrown into the Tiber.”

For days Paula wept and refused to see her friends. Jerome, because he had understood, loved and reverenced her child, she consented to admit. Paula listened to his telling her that she “refused nourishment not from love of fasting, but from love of sorrow”; that “the spirit of God descends only upon the humble,” and she arose and went forth. Nothing ever interrupted the friendship which from that time made the joy of her life and of Jerome’s.

It was in the summer of 385, nearly three years after his coming to Rome, and not a year after the death of Blæsilla, that Jerome left “Babylon,” as he called the tumultuous city. An affectionate company followed him to the seaport. Soon after Paula prepared for her departure, dividing her patrimony among her children. Her daughter, Paulina, was now married to a good and faithful husband, and these two undertook the charge and rearing of their youngest sister and the little Toxotius, a boy of ten. The grave young Eustochium, her head now covered by the veil of the devotee, clung to her mother’s side, a serene figure in the midst of all the misunderstanding and agitation of the parting.

Friends poured forth from the city to accompany them to the port, and all the way along the winding banks of the Tiber they plied Paula with entreaties and reproaches and tears. She made no answer. She was at all times slow to speak, the chronicle tells us. She freighted a ship at the port, Ostia, and retained her self-command until the vessel began to move from the shore where stood her son Toxotius stretching out his hands to her in last appeal, and by his side his sister Rufina, with wistful eyes. Paula’s heart was like to burst. She turned her eyes away, unable to bear the sight, and would have fallen but for the support of the firm Eustochium standing by her mother’s side.

The rich Roman lady, luxury-loving, had become a pilgrim. She had, however, according to the interpretation of the Christian spirit of that day, in renouncing her former life and all its belongings, set aside natural ties. Now she was going forth to make herself a home in the solitude of Bethlehem.

Her ship was occupied by her own party alone, and carried much baggage for this emigration for life. It came, hindered by no storms, to Cyprus, where old friends received Paula with honour, and conducted her to visit monks and nuns in their new establishments. She afterward proceeded to Antioch, where Jerome joined the party, and then along the coast of Tyre and Sidon, by Herod’s splendid city of Cæsarea and by Joppa rich with memories of the early apostles of their faith. Paula, the pilgrim, was no longer a tottering fine lady, but a strong, animated, interested traveller.

The little company continued on their tour for a year. They first paused, at Jerusalem, and here the tender, enthusiasm of Paula found its fullest expression. She went in a rapture of tears and exaltation from one to another of the sacred sites. She kissed the broken stone which was supposed to have been that rolled against the door of the Holy Sepulchre, and trod with pious awe the path to the cave where the True Cross was found. The legend of Helena’s finding the cross was still fresh in those days, and doubts there were none.

The ecstasies and joy of Paula, which found their expression in rapturous prayers and tears, moved all Jerusalem. The city was thronged with pilgrims, and the great Roman lady became their wonder. The crowd followed her from point to point, marvelling at her frank emotion and the warmth of her natural feeling.

From Jerusalem the party set out to journey through the storied deserts of Syria. This was in the year 387. They stopped everywhere to visit those monasteries built in awful passes of the rocks and upon stony wastes that the penance of the indwellers might be the greater. They found shelter with tanned and weather-beaten hermits in their holes and caverns. They poured upon them enthusiastic admiration, and shared with them their Arab bread and clotted milk, and also gave many an alm. Paula fascinated by the desert, would stay there and found a convent. But Jerome prevailed upon her to turn toward Jerusalem.

Thus they came to green Bethlehem, and the calm sweetness of the place and its pleasant fields smote their hearts. Here they determined to settle and build two convents—Jerome’s upon the hill near the western gate and Paula’s upon the smiling level below. He is said to have sold all that he had, and all that his brother, his faithful and constant companion, had, to gain money for the expense of his building. Paula, doubtless, had ample means from her former great wealth. Indeed, after her own was builded she had two other convents put up near by, and these were soon filled with devotees.

Also, she built a hospice for the reception of travellers, so that, as she said with tender smile and tears in eyes, “If Joseph and Mary should return to Jerusalem, they might be sure of finding room for them in the inn.” This gentle speech shines like a gleam of light upon the little holy city, and shows us the noble, natural kindness of Paula, and how profoundly she had been moved by associations to her most sacred and holy. Every poor pilgrim passing her door must to her sympathetic heart have had some semblance to that simple pair who carried the Light of the World to David’s little town among the hills.

Paula now laying aside wholly the luxurious habits of her life, set the example of simple and industrious living by washing floors and cleaning lamps and other household work. But she was far from ceasing her studies.

Jerome every day laboured at his great translation, and Paula and Eustochium copied, compared and criticised his daily labours. A great part of the Vulgate he had completed in Rome. His two friends had, doubtless, shared his studies during their long journey. They now read with him every day a portion of the Scriptures in the original; and it was at their entreaty and with their help that he began the translation of the Psalms. The following is a sympathetic description of the method of this work as it was carried out in the rocky chamber at Bethlehem, or in the convent close by:

His two friends charged themselves with the task of collecting all the materials, and this edition, prepared by their care, is that which remains in the Church under Jerome’s name…. It is pleasant to think of the two noble Roman ladies seated before the vast desk upon which were spread the numerous manuscripts, Greek, Hebrew and Latin… whilst they examined and compared, reducing to order under their hands, with piety and joy, that Psalter of St. Jerome which is still sung to-day.

So on a whole their days passed in fruitful labour. Jerome held a school for boys and young men, in which he taught the classics. But his great work, and the great work of Paula and Eustochium, was the translation of the Bible into what was then the speech of the people. For this they spared no pains nor costs. They must have found a quiet happiness above all they had calculated in this work. Their minds and thoughts must have been held by the charm of the noble poetry, by the puzzle of words to be cleared and read aright, by the constant interest of accomplishment that every sunrise brought to them, and brings ever to steadfast workers in these days.

And so they dwelt, the gentle Paula, a woman of courtesy, high spirit, steadfastness and gracious, sprightly humour; Eustochium, the grave young daughter who never left her mother’s side, whose gentle shadow is one with her mother’s; and Jerome, the greatest writer of his time, the mighty controversialist, a man evidently a well of force and sympathy, the kind friend and fellow-worker. Every day the three had conferences as to the most accurate renderings possible, and at all times the greatest respect for the scholarship and acuteness of one another. Amid them was the pleasant stir of independent opinion.

In the books that went forth from that seclusion in Bethlehem we find such an inscription as this:

You, Paula, and Eustochium, who have studied so deeply the books of the Hebrews, take it, this book of Esther, and test it word by word; you can tell whether anything is added, anything withdrawn: and can bear faithful witness whether I have rendered aright in Latin this Hebrew history.

Between these zealous workers in Bethlehem and the old Christian friends in Rome letters were constantly passing. And as the years of her absence grew, Paula, in time, heard of the marriage of Toxotius, who, a little boy of ten, had held out begging hands to her as her ship set sail from the port of Rome. Anon came the joyful news that a daughter had been born and named after her grandmother, Paula. The baby’s mother, Leta, looking forward with early longings for the child’s future, at once wrote to Jerome about the education of the little one.

The great writer’s first thought, amidst his joyous congratulations, is the probable conversion of the baby’s maternal grandfather, Albinus, a follower of the old gods.

“Albinus is already a candidate for the faith,” he writes, “a crowd of sons and grandsons besiege him. I believe, on my part, that if Jupiter himself had such a family he would be converted to Jesus Christ.”

Then Jerome gives, with tender detail, the counsels as to education for which Leta had asked. But he adds:

“It will be difficult to bring up thy little daughter thus at Rome. Send her to Bethlehem; she will repose in the manger of Jesus. Eustochium wishes for her; trust the little one with her. Let this new Paula be cradled on the bosom of her grandmother. Send her to me; I will carry her on my shoulders, old man as I am. I will make myself a child with her; I will lisp to fit her speech; and, believe me, I shall be prouder of my employment than ever Aristotle was of his” [as tutor to Alexander.]

The invitation was accepted. In a few years the little maiden was indeed sent to Bethlehem, though not till after the death of her grandmother Paula. And it was the child, the younger Paula, who at last closed the eyes of Jerome.

Paula, the grandmother, did not live long after the birth of her namesake. Her last illness was beginning. Eustochium watched her night and day, entrusting to no one else the tender last cares—sustaining the drooping head, warming the cold feet, feeding the weakened body, and making the invalid’s bed. If the mother fell asleep for a little while, the daughter would go for prayers to the Manger, close at hand and sanctified by its tender associations of motherhood.

But the precious life was slowly ebbing away. Knowing that her end was near, Paula began to repeat with great joy the verses of the Psalms she knew so well:

“Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thine honour dwelleth!”; “How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord God of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, fainteth, for the courts of the house of my God.”; “Better to be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.”

When she had finished, she began to say these songs of the threshold over again. She did not answer when spoken to, until Jerome came and asked gently why she did not speak and if she suffered. Then she answered in Greek, the language of her father and of her childhood, that she had no discomfort, but was “beholding in a vision all quiet and tranquil things.” “I feel already an infinite peace,” she said. And still she continued to murmur at intervals the words of that ancient song of pilgrimage until her voice grew fainter and fainter, and with the sigh of longing for God’s presence on her lips she entered it forever.

All Palestine may be said to have assisted at her funeral. A chorus of psalms and lamentations sounded forth in all languages—Hebrew, Greek, Latin. Hermits crept out of their caves, and monks came in throngs from their monasteries to bewail their generous friend, this great Roman lady, this devoted Christian. During her last days bishops from the neighbouring dioceses had gathered round her and her coffin was borne on their heads into the basilica of the Manger.

And there all the poor, the widowed and orphans lamented “their foster-mother,” “their mother,” and showed the gifts she had given them and the garments she had made for them. Eustochium could with difficulty be prevailed to leave her. She stayed kissing the cold lips, and at last, her grief breaking through the usual calm of her life, throwing her arms about the unconscious form and praying to be buried beside her.

Paula died at fifty-six. She had spent the last eighteen years of her life in Palestine.

Jerome, for the first time in his laborious life, lost his appetite for work. He could do no more. “I have been able to do nothing, not even from the Scriptures, since the death of the holy and gracious Paula,” he wrote. “Grief overwhelms me.”

Eustochium, with the instinct of true affection, drew him out of this stupor by inducing him to write a memoir of her mother for her. In two sleepless nights he dictated it. “He could not write himself. Each time that he took up the tablets his fingers stiffened and the stylus fell from his hand. He could not dwell,” he said, “on her great pedigree from the Scipios, the Gracchi, from Agamemnon, nor on her splendid opulence and her palace at Rome. She had preferred Bethlehem to Rome. Her praise was that she died poorer than the poorest she had succoured. At Rome she had not been known beyond Rome. At Bethlehem all Christendom, Roman and barbarian, revered her.”

“We weep not her loss; we thank God to have had her. Nay! we have her always, for all live by the spirit of God; and the elect who ascend to Him remain still always in the family of those He loves.”

Eustochium quietly took up the guidance of her mother’s convents and hospice and gently urged Jerome to resume his work. Writing almost countless letters, translating and commenting on the Scriptures he passed still many years, and at last, dying, at his own wish his body was buried in a hollow of the rocks at Bethlehem. To this day, it is said, his name can still be traced graven in the rock.

In the fifteen hundred years that have passed since the death of Paula, the homes of piety and charity established by her strength and love have been swept away. No tradition even of their site is left. But with one storied chamber is connected a warm interest. It is the rocky room, in one of the half caves, half excavations, close to that of the Nativity, and communicating with it by rudely hewn stairs and passages. In this, the legend runs, Jerome established himself while his convent was building. He called it his paradise. Sunlit from above, with prayer and the music of alleluias sounding there night and day, brightened by the glow of the pure affections of Paula and Eustochium and sanctified by their great work, from it flowed rivers of water to refresh the earth.

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/heroines-that-every-child-should-know-paula/

Jan Hovaert  (1592–) , Saint Jerome together with his disciples Saint Paula and Saint Eustochium, 266 X 165, Chiesa di Santa Maria Maddalena, Genua

ST. JEROME AND THE HOLY WOMEN OF ROME

 Jerome, one of the four Latin doctors, who we commemorate on the 30th September is best known for his translation of the Bible into Latin in the fourth century. This became known as the Vulgate and until last century it was the standard version for the Catholic Church. What is not known, little less recognised, is the role of a holy woman in the project, St. Paula whom is commemorated on 26th January.

Before Jerome arrived in Rome in 382 holy women lived in two noble households on Aventine Hill, one group under       Marcella and the other under Paula. Both households lived a community existence irrespective of status. They had learnt the Orthodox faith and monastic life according to St. Anthony from St. Athanasius during his exile when Marcella's mother, Albina, had invited him to her home in 340.  They thus spent their days in praying, studying, reciting the psalms and practising the ascetic life in order to grow more Christ like. 

        When Jerome arrived in Rome in 382 Marcella invited him to instruct these holy women living this quasi-monastic life in the Scriptures. As he found these women avid pupils he had them practise scriptural exegesis themselves and taught them the psalms in the original Hebrew language, which they sang throughout the day. Jerome was an irascible character, but his friendship with these women gave some stability to his life, despite his overall misogyny. 

Pope Damasus also employed Jerome, as his secretary, and directed him to produce a Latin version of the Bible. However with the death of his patron in 384 Jerome was forced to leave Rome and left for Jerusalem. He would remain in the vicinity of the holy city for the rest of his life where he taught, wrote and studied. He was accompanied by Paula and her daughter, Eustochium, whose wealth enabled Jerome to continue his scholastic works, including the completion of the Vulgate. I have always maintained that Paula made some contribution to this great work, but Jerome remained silent, even though he recognised her great ability. However the historian Palladius, a contemporary, gave an interesting insight to the relationship of these two when he wrote how Paula was hindered by Jerome. "For though she was able to surpass all, having great abilities, he hindered her by his jealousy, having induced her to serve his own plan."

After travelling throughout Egypt and the Holy Land, the two women and Jerome founded a double monastery in Bethlehem where all followed basically the same rule. The women were divided into three groups for meals and work, but came together at the third, sixth and ninth hours, at evening and in the middle of the night for the singing of the psalms. On Sunday they walked to Mass as a corporate body, and on returning were handed their individual work assignments for the week such as scrubbing floors, cooking, sewing, and helping the poor. Much stress was placed on knowing the Scriptures, which they had to learn by heart. This included the psalter, which in the course of the day was sung in its entirety. Paula wrote often to Marcella to join them, but she always refused, which led Jerome to accuse her of anti-semitism. Still she was content to lead her community with its increasing numbers to pray and study until her home was razed during the sacking of Rome by Alaric in 410. Marcella died shortly afterwards. Just prior to her death Jerome had dedicated his commentary on Galatians to her, wherein he expressed his desire "that I may heal her grievous wound with the balm of the scriptures."

         Despite the fact that Jerome's scholarship was marred by his quarrelsome character there is no doubt that his learning has been unmatched, except perhaps by Augustine. In an age when Greek forms dominated much of the intellectual output of Christianity, Jerome demonstrated that important Christian learning could be expresses as well in Latin. He did much to restore the importance of the Church's Jewish inheritance, evincing an enthusiasm for Hebrew texts that would not be seen again in the West until the Reformation.

With the death of Paula in 404, Eustochium became the superior of the monastery in Bethlehem. Jerome would outlive Paula by sixteen years. He was buried under the church of the Nativity in Bethlehem next to Paula and Eustochium. A famous 12th century initial to Jerome's commentary on Isaiah depicted Paula's burial under this church. The epitaph letter that Jerome wrote to Eustochium was probably the finest he ever wrote. "I have felt a grief as deep as your own." Indeed he should have, as without Paula, this remarkable woman, he never would have been able to pursue his studies. I have always wondered beside financial help for Jerome how much she contributed to the compilation of what we know as the Vulgate.

Marianne Dorman

SOURCE : http://mariannedorman.homestead.com/JeromeandPaula.html

Matías de Torres  (1635–1711). San Jerónimo y Santa Paula adorando al Niño Jesús, circa 1660 , 48 x 61, Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando,  Calle de Alcalá in the heart of Madrid

Santa Paola Romana Vedova

26 gennaio

Roma, 5 maggio 347 - Betlemme, 26 gennaio 406

Di ricchissima famiglia dell'alta aristocrazia romana, Paola nasce durante il regno di Costantino II. A quindici anni sposa Tossozio, un nobile del suo rango. Il suo è un matrimonio felice il cui frutto sono quattro figlie, Blesilla, Paolina, Eustochio e Ruffina, e un figlio, Tossozio. Ma a 32 anni Paola rimane vedova. Decide allora di aprire la casa accogliendo incontri, riunioni di preghiera e di approfondimento della dottrina cristiana, iniziative per i poveri. Nel 382 invita agli incontri il dalmata Girolamo, giunto a Roma insieme a due vescovi d'Oriente. Nel 384 e Girolamo riparte verso la Terrasanta per dedicarsi all'opera di traduzione in latino delle scritture. L'anno successivo parte verso l'Oriente anche Paola, accompagnata dalla figlia Eustochio, mentre Paolina, a Roma, si occuperà di Ruffina e Tossozio. Spende le sue ricchezze per creare una casa destinata ai pellegrini, e due monasteri, uno maschile e uno femminile. Paola prende dimora in quello femminile, nel quale si costituisce una comunità sotto la sua guida. Morirà qui a 59 anni.

Patronato: Vedove

Etimologia: Paola = piccola di statura, dal latino

Martirologio Romano: A Betlemme di Giudea, santa Paola, vedova: di nobilissima famiglia senatoria, rinunciò al mondo e, distribuite le sue sostanze ai poveri, insieme alla beata vergine Eustochio, sua figlia, si ritirò presso il presepe del Signore.

Figlia dell’alta e ricca aristocrazia senatoria romana, di religione cristiana, Paola nasce a Roma nel 347. A quindici anni ubbidisce ai genitori e sposa il ricco senatore Tossozio. Il matrimonio è felice e nascono cinque bambini. Paola non può desiderare altro dalla vita, è ricchissima, ma il suo cuore è buono e caritatevole. Per questo motivo viene rispettata e amata da tutti. Purtroppo all’età di trentadue anni rimane vedova.

Paola si dedica ai suoi amati figli, ma, da buona cristiana, sente che il suo compito è anche un altro: aiutare e assistere i poveri e divulgare il Vangelo. Con l’aiuto di un gruppo di nobildonne vedove e dell’amica Marcella, anche lei vedova e di famiglia patrizia, Paola rinuncia alle agiatezze e apre la sua lussuosa casa ai bisognosi di Roma, offrendo loro ospitalità e cibo. Riunisce un gruppo di fedeli con i quali prega, legge e studia le Sacre Scritture.

San Girolamo è stato di notevole sostegno morale per la crescita spirituale e culturale di Paola. Girolamo, grande studioso, si occupa della traduzione della Bibbia in lingua latina e arriva dall’Oriente a Roma per collaborare, in qualità di segretario, con il papa Damaso. Paola lo ospita a casa sua. Tra i due nasce una bella amicizia tanto che la donna decide di diventare monaca e partire per l’Egitto, assieme al santo e alla figlia Eustochio. A casa rimane un’altra figlia ad occuparsi dei fratelli.

Paola, dopo aver visitato i luoghi dove, in solitudine, vivono i “Padri del deserto” per pregare e stare più a contatto con Dio, si reca in pellegrinaggio anche in Terra Santa. A Betlemme, con le sue ricchezze, la matrona romana fonda una casa per i pellegrini che, numerosi, arrivano da ogni parte per visitare i luoghi dove nacque, visse e morì Gesù. Paola fa costruire anche due monasteri: uno maschile, guidato da San Girolamo, e uno femminile dove la santa romana vive umilmente assieme alla figlia Eustochio e ad altre cinquanta monache, assumendo il ruolo di badessa.

Santa Paola Romana, protettrice delle vedove, muore a Betlemme nel 406 ed è sepolta proprio accanto al luogo dove è nato Gesù, nella Basilica della Natività.

Autore: Mariella Lentini

Appartiene a una ricchissima famiglia “senatoria”, all’alta aristocrazia romana. Nata durante il lungo regno di Costantino II, a quindici anni le hanno fatto sposare Tossozio, un nobile del suo rango. Il suo è un matrimonio felice, perché arrivano via via quattro figlie (Blesilla, Paolina, Eustochio e Ruffina), e poi un maschio che viene chiamato Tossozio, come il padre. Ma è anche un matrimonio breve, troppo breve: a 32 anni Paola è, infatti, già vedova.

Continua a dedicarsi alla famiglia, ma anche a impegni religiosi e caritativi. Il suo palazzo accoglie incontri, riunioni di preghiera e di approfondimento della dottrina cristiana, iniziative per i poveri. Però non è un club di dame benefiche: ha piuttosto qualche connotato monastico, e acquista vivacità quando Paola invita agli incontri il dalmata Girolamo, giunto nel 382 a Roma insieme a due vescovi d’Oriente. In gioventù egli ha studiato a Roma; è stato poi in Germania e ad Aquileia, e per alcuni anni infine è vissuto in Oriente, asceta e studioso insieme. A Roma diventa collaboratore del papa Damaso. È un divulgatore appassionato degli ideali ascetici, ha una preparazione culturale di raro spessore, e di certo non la nasconde. Così nel clero e nell’aristocrazia si procura amici e nemici ugualmente accesi. Il suo ascendente è forte specialmente nella cerchia di Paola, alla quale comunica la sua passione per le Sacre Scritture. E nel 384 la conforta per un nuovo dolore che l’ha colpita: è morta Blesilla, la sua figlia maggiore.

Nel dicembre dello stesso anno muore il papa Damaso, e Girolamo riparte verso la Terra santa per dedicarsi all’opera che stava tanto a cuore a quel Pontefice, e che ora impegnerà lui fino alla morte: dare alla Chiesa le Sacre Scritture in una corretta e completa versione in lingua latina.

L’anno successivo parte verso l’Oriente anche Paola, accompagnata dalla figlia Eustochio, mentre Paolina, a Roma, si occuperà di Ruffina e Tossozio. (E inRoma si riaccendono vecchie calunnie su un suo presunto rapporto amoroso con Girolamo). Paola percorre dapprima l’Egitto, nei luoghi dove i Padri del deserto hanno voluto ritirarsi, «soli al mondo con Dio». Poi ritorna con la figlia in Palestina, a Betlemme: e qui si ferma per sempre. Spende le sue ricchezze per creare una casa destinata ai pellegrini, e due monasteri, uno maschile e uno femminile. Nel primo lavorerà Girolamo fino alla morte (nel 419/420). Paola prende dimora in quello femminile, nel quale si costituisce una comunità sotto la sua guida. Fra queste mura, «Paola era in grado di volare più in alto di tutte per le sue eccezionali doti» (Palladio, Storia lausiaca).

E qui Paola muore a 59 anni, affidando le cinquanta monache alla figlia Eustochio. Qui rimarrà per sempre sepolta: «In Betlemme di Giuda», come dice di lei il Martirologio romano, dove «con la beata vergine Eustochio sua figlia si rifugiò al presepe del Signore».

Autore: Domenico Agasso

SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/38700

Sketches Drawn from the Life of Saint Paula, by the Abbe Lagrange, Vicar-general of Orleans : https://catholicsaints.info/sketches-drawn-from-the-life-of-saint-paula-by-the-abbe-lagrange-vicar-general-of-orleans/

Saints Paula and Eustochium : https://www.christianiconography.info/eustochium.html

Voir aussi : http://orthodoxievco.net/ecrits/vies/synaxair/septembr/paule.pdf

http://www.umilta.net/egeria.html#PaulaEustochium

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf206.toc.html