What God did for us
As one of Christ's ambassadors, the apostle Paul pleads his cause in
the words: For our sake God made the sinless one into sin. If God had done
nothing more for
us than to give up his Son for those who scorned him, we should still need
to marvel at the
greatness of the gesture. But in addition to this tremendous generosity,
God
permitted him
who did no wrong to be crucified for wrongdoers. The sinless one, who was
holiness incarnate,
God made into sin: that is, he allowed him to be judged as a malefactor,
to
die as one accursed,
for a man hanged upon a tree is accursed by God. Such a sentence was far
worse than mere
death. Saint Paul implies this elsewhere in the words: He became obedient
unto death, even
the death of the cross. Let us constantly remember, therefore, the many
blessings we have
received from him.
-John Chrysostom
<<>><<>><<>>
January 26th - St. 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 epistles 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.
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 fa****on, 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 that
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 monastery, convent, and churches, before she died penniless
and
serene at age 56. Her granddaughter 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
****p, 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).
Saint Quote:
God be blessed; I'll pray for all of you in heaven. What more could I
desire
than to die for no other crime but that of being a religious and for
having
made my contribution to the Christian education of children. Dear father
and
family, I have been judged and condemned to death. I accept the sentence
with joy. No charges have been brought against me. I have been condemned
to
death only because I am a religious. Do not weep for me, I am not worthy
of
pity. I shall die for God and for my country. Farewell, I shall be waiting
for you in heaven.
--Saint Jaime Hilario writing to his family immediately after learning of
his death sentence
Bible Quote:
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I
also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath
an
ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (Revelation
3:21-22)
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