Paula of Rome

• Preferred Name: Paula of Rome
  
• Alternate Name: Paula
  
• Gender: F
  
• Clan Name: with note: Description: clan of the Furii Camilli.
  
• Birth: 5 MAY 347 in Rome, Italy at LATI: N1.903 LONG: E2.4963
  
• Burial: 404 in Church Of The Nativity In Nazareth, Palestine at LATI: N1.67 LONG: E5.25
  
• Death: 26 JAN 404 in Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestine at LATI: N1.7059 LONG: E5.2034
  
• Religion: convent for women and became the Abbess of the nuns in Bethlehem
  
• FSID: 93BR-J3L
  
• Notes:

  === Life Sketch ===
  Roman noble
  
  Born in AD 347 to an illustrious Roman family with ties to the gens Cornelia (the ancient high noble - Patrician - family that traced its origins to the legendary king, Agamemnon, and produced more eminent statesmen than any other in Rome’s history), Paula married a Senator, Toxotius, from whom she had five children: four girls and a boy. Until she was 32 years old, she lived in privilege and luxury, dressing in silk and being carried through the city by eunuch slaves. At the death of her husband, Paula approached the group of widows led by Saint Marcella, devoting herself with them to prayer and penance and hosting their semi-monastic order in her great Roman house on the Aventine Hill. It was Marcella, who, AD 382, introduced Paula to ​​St. Jerome, who was in Rome with Epiphanius, bishop of Salamina, and Paulinus of Antioch; Paula was deeply struck by these figures, and she housed the three pilgrims in her home. Jerome had a profound influence on Paula and was catalyst of her desire to embrace the monastic life in the East
  In the Holy Land
  
  In September AD 385, after the death of her daughter Blesilla, Paula decided to leave for the Holy Land, accompanied by her daughter, Eustochium, to follow monastic life. Jerome, who had left about a month ahead of them, rejoined them at Antioch, and together they made pilgrimage to the holy places in Palestine; they then went to Egypt, in the footsteps of the hermits and cenobites, and finally settled in Bethlehem. There they founded two monasteries, one for men and one for women. Every day the nuns sang the entire Psalter, which they had to know by heart. Paula was also particularly fond of fasting and performing works of charity. She even gave to the poor from the stores meant to provide for her own community’s subsistence. Both Paula and Eustochium took an active part in Jerome’s preaching, becoming his most fervent collaborators and conforming more and more to his spiritual direction. Jerome was a man of irascible temper, and Paula helped him, especially in his disputes with the followers of Origen, to conduct himself in their regard on the basis of humility and patience. A clear example of their lifestyle is evidenced by the letter Paula wrote to Marcella, who had remained in Rome, to try to persuade her to leave the City and to reach them in Bethlehem.
  The translation of the Bible into Latin
  
  Paula’s most significant contributions to Jerome’s preaching are the translation of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. She herself suggested the need for such a translation, and with her daughter Eustochium, dedicated herself to copying the work so it could be shared far and wide.
  Death
  
  In AD 406, at age 59, Paula understood that death was near. She seemed to hear the voice of Jesus speaking to her in the words of the Song of Songs: “Get up, my friend, my beloved, and come soon! For, behold, the winter is past, the rain has ceased, it is gone; show me your face, let me hear your voice, because your voice is gentle, your face is lovely.” To this she answered in the words of Psalm 27: “The Lord is my light and my salvation, of whom I will be afraid? The Lord is defending my life, who will I fear? I am sure to contemplate the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living,” and let herself go to death. Not only the monks and nuns of the two monasteries she founded, but also many of the poor, whom she had helped over the years, and who considered her a mother as well as a benefactor, took part in her exequies. She was buried in Bethlehem, in the church of the Nativity. Jerome dedicated the Epitaphium sanctae Paulae to her, and at his death in 419, was buried near the tombs of Paola and Eustochium.
  
  Santa Paula, también conocida como Santa Paula de Roma fue una antigua santa romana, discípula de san Jerónimo y fundadora de monasterios en la Tierra Santa. Es considerada co-patrona de la Orden de San Jerónimo. Wikipedia
  Nacimiento: 5 de mayo de 347 d.C., Antigua Roma
  Fallecimiento: 26 de enero de 404 d.C., Belén
  Libros: Itinera Hierosolymitana et descriptiones Terrae Sanctae : bellis sacris anteriora & Latina lingua exarata. 2 (1885), MÁS
  Hijos: Eustoquia, Blaesilla, Paulina, Rufina
  Nombre en italiano: Paola romana
  Patronazgo: viudas y Orden de San Jerónimo
  Venerada en: Iglesia católica
  
  Paula of Rome
  
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  Saint
  
  Paula
  Santa Paula Instruindo as Monjas (séc. XVII) - André Reinoso (Mosteiro dos Jerónimos).png
  Saint Paula with her nuns - 17th century. Painting of André Reinoso in Hieronymites Monastery, Lisbon, Portugal.
  Patroness of the Order of Saint Jerome
  Born AD 347
  Ancient Rome
  Died 26 January 404
  Bethlehem
  Venerated in Eastern Orthodox Church
  Roman Catholic Church
  Anglican Communion
  Feast January 26[1][2]
  September 28[3]
  Attributes Depicted as a Hieronymite abbess with a book; depicted as a pilgrim, often with Jerome and Eustochium; depicted prostrate before the cave at Bethlehem; depicted embarking in a ship, while a child calls from the shore; weeping over her children; with the instruments of the Passion; holding a scroll with Saint Jerome's epistle Cogite me Paula; with a book and a black veil fringed with gold; or with a sponge in her hand.[4]
  Patronage
  
  WidowsOrder of Saint Jerome monks and nuns
  
  Influences Saint Jerome, Saint Marcella
  Influenced Saint Jerome
  Tradition or genre
  Desert Mothers
  
  Paula of Rome (AD 347–404)[5] was an ancient Roman saint and early Desert Mother. A member of one of the richest senatorial families which claimed descent from Agamemnon,[6] Paula was the daughter of Blesilla and Rogatus, from the great clan of the Furii Camilli.[7] At the age of 16,[8][2] Paula was married to the nobleman Toxotius, with whom she had four daughters, Blaesilla, Paulina, Eustochium, and Rufina. She also had a boy, also named Toxotius.
  Life
  
  Information about Paula's early life is recorded by Jerome. In his Letter 108, he states that she had led a luxurious life and held a great status. She dressed in silks, and had been carried about the city by her eunuch slaves.
  Entering the religious life
  
  At the age of 32, Paula was widowed. She continued to dedicate herself to her family, but became more interested in religion as time went on.
  
  Through the influence of Marcella and her group, Paula became an enthusiastic member of this semi-monastic group of women. She met and learned from Paulinus, bishop of Antioch and Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis[9] In 382, she met Jerome, who had come to Rome with Epiphanius and Paulinus of Antioch. Born in Dalmatia, Jerome had studied in Rome as a youth and had traveled to Germany and Aquileia, and for some years had lived in the East as an ascetic and scholar.
  
  While on pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Egypt, with Jerome and her daughter, Eustochium, she visited monks and other ascetics including Paulinus of Nola, Melania the Elder, Rufinus of Aquileia and Isidore the Confessor. She then settled in Bethlehem and established a monastery for men and a convent for women and a hostel for pilgrims.[10][11][9] The monks' monastery was run by men with Jerome living and writing in one of its cells and Paula was abbess of the nuns.[12]
  Family
  
  Paula 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. Eustochium succeeded Paula as abbess and Paula the Younger (Paula's granddaughter) succeeded Eustochium. Paula's son, Toxotius, at first not a Christian, 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 Holy Land and in 420 closed the eyes of Jerome. These are the names which recur frequently in the letters of Jerome, where they are inseparable from that of Paula. It has been argued that Eustochius of Tours was the brother of Paula the Younger and the son of Toxotius.[7]
  Pilgrimage
  
  A year after the death of her husband, Paula pursued a pilgrimage to tour all of the holy sites, traveling with large entourages of both men and women[13] including her daughter Eustochium and Jerome himself.[12] Paula could undertake this voyage due to her widow status which left her a significant fortune allowing her exemption from remarriage. Additionally, having had a male heir and two married daughters provided supplementary financial insurance.[13] Her travels are documented by Jerome in his later writing addressed to Eustochium which discusses how Paula participated in the environments they toured. He discusses that Paula exemplified an intimate and emotional connection with the sights, experiencing visual vividness of biblical events at each locale.[12] Concluding her journey, Paula decided to remain in Bethlehem to develop a monastery and spiritual retreat with Jerome.
  Monastery establishment
  
  Once settled in Bethlehem, Paula and Jerome built a double monastery including one for Paula and her nuns and another for Jerome and his monks. The addition of a roadside hostel was also constructed to serve as an economic source to fund the monasteries.[13] This development took three years to complete and was primarily sourced by Paula who,[12] during this time of construction, stayed at another double monastery called Mount Olives.[13]
  
  Once completed, the monastery segregated each gender from one another during manual labor and meals, but practiced prayer in the same locale. Additional separation, within the nun monastery, included three different communities of women based on social rank who were divided in separate living quarters.[12]
  
  During its functioning, Jerome and Paula's retreat attracted large crowds of visitors both from Christian backgrounds and general travelers from a variety of regions including Ethiopia, Persia, and India.[12] Along with this, a

• m. 363

1. Toxotius Ceionius Albinus de Narbonne, b. 370 in Roma, Roman Empire