Wisdom Satu: Saint of the Day (Tuesday, October 20, 2015)-St. Paul of the Cross

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Saint of the Day (Tuesday, October 20, 2015)-St. Paul of the Cross

St. Paul of the Cross

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Lived(1694-1775) | Feast Day: Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Born in northern Italy in 1694, Paul Daneo lived at a time when many regarded Jesus as a great moral teacher but no more. After a brief time as a soldier, he turned to solitary prayer, developing a devotion to Christ's passion. Paul saw in the Lord's passion a demonstration of God's love for all people. In turn that devotion nurtured his compassion and supported a preaching ministry that touched the hearts of many listeners. He was known as one of the most popular preachers of his day, both for his words and for his generous acts of mercy.

In 1720 Paul founded the Congregation of the Passion, whose members combined devotion to Christ's passion with preaching to the poor and rigorous penances. Known as the Passionists, they add a fourth vow to the traditional three of poverty, chastity, and obedience, to spread the memory of Christ's passion among the faithful. Paul was elected superior general of the Congregation in 1747, spending the remainder of his life in Rome.

Paul of the Cross died in 1775, and was canonized in 1867. Over 2000 of his letters and several of his short writings have survived.

Comment:
Paul's devotion to Christ's passion must have seemed eccentric if not bizarre to many people. Yet it was that devotion that nurtured Paul's compassion and supported a preaching ministry that touched the hearts of many listeners. He was one of the most popular preachers of his day, known for both his words and his generous acts of mercy.

Quote:
Paul wrote that God's love "penetrates the inner core of one's being, changes the lover into his beloved. And on a higher level whre love is merged with sorrow and sorrow mingled with love, there results a certain blend of love and sorrow that is so complex that the love can no longer be distinguished from the sorrow nor the sorrow from the love."
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