Concerning the holy Virgin Paula, called Barbata, of Avila in Spain: an old poem about her: "A sheep guards the fold, whom they call by the name Paula; The crowd calls the Blessed one Barbata by name. Her beauty was such as Catherine's in the Virgin. When the vile pagans worshiped the wicked things of Avila, In its buildings, under the Spaniard Dacian (who was then Governor); A mad knight loves her ardently, impatiently. While he hastens to the hunt, maddened by love Of the beautiful girl, he marks himself for slaughter. Through the wide fields the most lovely Virgin went; The hunter overtakes her; wisely she escapes. Without delay, the wondrous maiden prays That a beard be given her, and she be greatly marked. But God did this; and he, marveling, withdrew To where the pious Virgin fled, where then... like a lion he roared. She herself lived well, and in her... life was revived."
Lorenzo Ramirez del Prado, that most distinguished man, in his notes on the same Julian's Adversaria, number 249, where Julian mentions St. Wilgefortis, likewise a bearded Virgin and Martyr, adds this note: different from St. Wilgefortis "I conjecture that Wilgefortis, or Liberata, is one person, and Paula Barbata another; since by our Julian they are described at different times, in different provinces and places, and with a different narration of the story."
[4] Tamayo, thoroughly knowledgeable about the affairs of Avila, since he had served there as Provisor and Vicar General, her relics at Avila as he himself acknowledges, says that for many centuries the body of the Virgin lay next to the tomb of St. Secundus, and was venerated by the citizens and surrounding peoples. It is now placed in a chapel of its own, dedicated to her name; the sequence of the story we have related can be seen there expressed in painting; another image of her is in the very ancient church of St. Lawrence. feast on February 20 Her memory is celebrated on February 20, although not yet with the solemn apparatus of sacred rites, as he seems to imply. The same story is narrated by Luis Ariz, a Benedictine, in his work on the affairs of Avila.
[5] Gil Gonzalez de Avila also mentions St. Paula Barbata in Volume 2 of his Ecclesiastical Theatre of Spain, where he also recites the poem from Julian mention among writers and says that Cardenosa, the Virgin's homeland, is distinguished with the title of a Marquisate. Sancho Davila, Bishop of Jaen, treats of the same in Book 3 of his work on the Veneration of Sacred Relics, chapter 8. Tamayo also cites other authors.
Note* Perhaps "vota" vows should be read?