Paula

CONCERNING ST. PAULA, WIDOW OF ROME, AT BETHLEHEM IN JUDAEA.

In the year of Christ 404.

Paula, Roman widow, at Bethlehem in Judaea (Saint)

From various sources.

SECTION I. The Feast Day and Life of St. Paula.

[1] St. Paula died on the seventh day before the Kalends of February, after sunset. Hence some assign her feast day to this day, January 26, and others to the following day, January 27. Concerning her, the ancient manuscript Martyrologies have the following for the seventh before the Kalends of February. The name of St. Paula in the Martyrologies, January 26. The Leodian of St. Lambert: "At Bethlehem, the dormition of St. Paula." The Laetiense: "And in the city of Bethlehem, the deposition of St. Paula the widow." The Tournai of St. Martin: "On the same day, in the city of Bethlehem, the passing of St. Paula, dedicated to God." The Centula of St. Riquier: "At Bethlehem, the dormition of St. Paula, a most noble matron, whose life St. Jerome described as a model for imitation, testifying that she was crowned with a long martyrdom" -- so he says below at number 48, namely that the pure servitude of a devout mind is a daily martyrdom. Wrongly, however, she is therefore called absolutely "Martyr" in the Trier manuscript of St. Martin. The manuscript of St. Maximin and Rabanus: "In the city of Bethlehem, the deposition of St. Paula, at whose requests the blessed Jerome composed very many works." The following also treat of her on the same day: the manuscript of Ado from the monastery of St. Lawrence near Liege, the manuscript Martyrology of St. Donatian at Bruges, and an ancient Breviary, in which she was venerated with an office of three Lessons. The Roman Martyrology: "At Bethlehem in Judah, the dormition of St. Paula the widow, mother of Eustochium, Virgin of Christ. She, being of the most noble Senatorial family, renouncing the world and distributing her possessions to the poor, withdrew to the Manger of the Lord, where, endowed with many virtues and crowned with a long martyrdom, she passed to the heavenly kingdom. St. Jerome wrote her life, admirable for its virtues." Francis Maurolycus: "Here should be placed the commemoration of St. Paula, who, a most noble Roman, daughter of Rogatus (in her Life, Rogati) and Blaesilla, wife of Toxotius. After having borne four daughters -- Blaesilla, Paulina, Eustochium or Julia, and Ruffina -- and a son, Toxotius, she lived as a widow at Rome for five years. Then, having traveled through Judaea and Egypt, she settled at Bethlehem, where she established four monasteries, one for men and three for virgins, and after living there twenty years, she was buried there, distinguished by the testimony of the blessed Jerome." More will be said below about the number of monasteries.

[2] Because she lived among virgins or even presided over them, she is also called by some a Virgin. So the manuscript Capuan Martyrology edited by the monk Michael, She is called a Virgin by some who notes that "Paula the widow" should be read, and adds that she is venerated there with an ecclesiastical office of three Lessons drawn from the life written by St. Jerome. In other manuscripts also she is sometimes called a Virgin; and we strongly suspect that the fact that a "Paula the Virgin" is recorded by some as having lived in the monastery of Kale, as we said above when treating of the Saints passed over on this day, arose from a double source: namely, that this Paula the widow, as Prioress of Virgins, was somewhere called a Virgin, and immediately afterward followed "in the monastery of Kale of St. Bathilde"; and from this some compiler of a Martyrology read and wrote: "Paula the Virgin in the Monastery of Kale."

[3] She is venerated by others on January 27. Because, however, St. Paula died after sunset, her feast day is noted by many on January 27. So the old Roman Martyrology edited by Rosweyde and the ancient Calendar of the Virgins of St. John at Capua: "The dormition of St. Paula." The Utrecht manuscript of St. Mary: "Likewise at Bethlehem, the dormition of St. Paula the widow." Usuard, Bellinus, the manuscript Florarium, and others add: "St. Jerome, writing her life admirable for its virtues, testifies that she was crowned with a long martyrdom." In the Parisian edition of the year of Christ 1536, it is added: "whose feast is celebrated at Paris on the fourth before the Kalends of February." The printed Bede and Ado: "And at Bethlehem in Judah, the dormition of St. Paula, mother of Eustochium, Virgin of Christ. She, being of the most noble Senatorial family, renouncing the world and having expended her wealth upon the poor, attained the poverty of Christ, and at the aforementioned town, glorious for the Lord's Nativity, was the Mother of a monastery of virgins. St. Jerome, writing her life admirable for its virtues, testifies that she was crowned with a long martyrdom." Notker adds: "And consenting to her requests, he composed very many works." Felicius, Canisius, and Galesinnius celebrate her with a lengthy encomium; the last, following Maurolycus, reports that she built four monasteries at Bethlehem.

[4] Her life, addressed to the Virgin Eustochium, was written by St. Jerome and inscribed as the "Epitaph of her Mother Paula." The Life written by St. Jerome. It is Epistle 27, frequently reprinted with his works, or separately with his other epistles; it has also been illuminated by the annotations of Marianus Victorius of Rieti, and by the annotations and emendations of Henry Gravius. Because in the fourth century St. Paula greatly promoted the monastic way of life, this epistle appeared in the Lives of the Fathers in absolutely all copies, perhaps inserted by St. Jerome himself, to whom they are attributed as Collector, as was said in connection with the Life of St. Anthony on January 17, Sections 9 and 11, in the Prolegomena. Herbert Rosweyde in that place illuminated it with his own notes, using the manuscript copies of Crespin, Aquicinct, Laetie (Benedictine), Camberon (Cistercian), Brussels (Carthusian), Roermond (Society of Jesus), and the Antwerp copy which formerly belonged to Balthasar Moret and now to the Professed House of the Society of Jesus. Whence this edition. We give it here collated by us with the manuscripts of St. Mary de Ripatorio and St. Maximin near Trier. Surius, Ribadeneira, Clemens Marchantius, and others published it on this January 26; and Haraeus, Lippelous, Doubletius, Gazaeus, Silvanus Razzius, Villegas, Fabricius, and Peter de Natalibus (Book 3, Chapter 39, but in an abridged epitome) on January 27. Baronius also inserted some parts into his Annals, Volume 4, year 382, and Volume 5, years 398, 399, and 404.

SECTION II. The Age, Monasteries, and Tomb of St. Paula.

[5] St. Paula died in the consulship of the Emperor Honorius for the sixth time and Aristaenetus, on the third day of the week, which we now call the third feria, or Tuesday. This was the year of Christ 404, with the Dominical letter in January being C. She completed her entire span of life in fifty-six years, eight months, The age of St. Paula and twenty-one days. She was therefore born on May 5, in the year of Christ 347, under the reigns of Constans in Italy and Constantius in the East, sons of Constantine. She lived at Rome as a widow in her holy resolution for five years, from about the year of Christ 379. She lived at Bethlehem for twenty years, from the year 384.

[6] There she remained for three years in a narrow little lodging, until she built cells and monasteries, as is said at number 20. In one of these men dwelt (and of this we shall treat at greater length in connection with the Life of St. Jerome on September 30 and of St. Eusebius of Cremona on March 5, Monasteries founded by her at Bethlehem both of whom lived in it); in the other she herself lived, more devout than other matrons in her manner of dress, as is said in the Life of St. Blaesilla. Virgins gathered from various provinces dwelt with her -- of noble, middling, and low birth -- divided into three bands. The question may be raised whether these bands were distributed into as many monasteries. So Maurolycus and Galesinnius judge in their Martyrologies, and Quaresmius in Book 6 of his Elucidation of the Holy Land, Pilgrimage 2, Chapters 2 and 14, and Pilgrimage 3, Chapter 2. And indeed each troop, or band, had its own Mother whose direction it followed. Furthermore, they are said by St. Jerome to have been divided into three bands and monasteries. In that passage, however, the St. Maximin manuscript has that they were divided into three bands throughout the monastery. And perhaps "monastery" in the singular should be read, in the same way as he had earlier proposed to speak about the order of the monastery, not monasteries. And in Epistle 16 to Pammachius: "We, in this province, having built a monastery and constructed a guest-house for travelers, lest perchance Joseph, coming with Mary to Bethlehem even now, should not find lodging." In the Life of St. Jerome, Marianus Victorius says that St. Paula built one monastery where she herself would dwell with the virgins, another where Jerome and the men would live, and a guest-house for visitors -- although he then thinks there were four monasteries based on this passage.

[7] But lest there be a dispute over words, it is certain that the three bands of virgins were enclosed within the same enclosure, as in a cloister, since they joined together very frequently each day (as stated at number 32) for psalmody and prayers, singing the Psalter in order at morning, the third, sixth, and ninth hours, evening, and midnight. This monastery was situated alongside the church which had been built at the cave of Christ's Nativity by the Emperor Constantine and his mother Helena, as Eusebius records in Book 3 of the Life of Constantine, Chapter 40 and following, and in his Oration on the Praises of Constantine. To this church the virgins proceeded only on Sunday, their church while on the remaining days they gathered at their own Oratory or church, which Quaresmius, in the above-cited Pilgrimage 3, Chapter 14, states was the one erected alongside the great church under the title of St. Catherine -- although he wishes there to have been three distinct churches for the virgins, one of which, with its complete monastery, he places a mile to the north of this church of Bethlehem, in Pilgrimage 3, Chapter 2, because at that place in a valley, on a slightly elevated site, there is a place called the Monastery of St. Paula -- ruined and demolished indeed, but where there are many ruins and foundations of buildings, an intact cell or chapel, and cisterns, from which it can be clearly judged that a distinguished and splendid monastery once stood there. And having cited many passages from this Life of St. Paula, he continues: "Since it is believed by constant and common tradition that one of the said monasteries was built in the aforementioned place, and for women, and in which St. Paula particularly dwelt, it is called the Monastery of St. Paula, and on account of singular devotion to this Saint and the other holy women, it is visited and venerated by pious faithful." It is now recognized from afar by a carob tree planted there, commonly called "Caroba." So says Quaresmius. But because these things do not agree well enough with the words of St. Jerome below at number 26, they seem rather to refer to times subsequent to the death of St. Paula; for a monastery could have been built there by later generations in honor of St. Paula, though we do not wish to assert this in the absence of all ancient evidence.

[8] So much for the monasteries, in which, as stated below at number 47, an immense multitude of Brothers and Virgins was counted, whom it was arduous to sustain. How many virgins were under her. Some suppose that the virgins numbered a hundred, induced perhaps by the words of St. Jerome to Laeta, the daughter-in-law of St. Paula, in Epistle 7, on the education of her daughter, whom he urged her to send from Rome to the grandmother: "Let her be in the bosom of her grandmother, who may repeat in the granddaughter what she accomplished in the daughter; who has learned by long practice to nurture, to preserve, to teach virgins, in whose crown the chastity of the hundredfold number is daily woven. Happy Virgin, happy Paula daughter of Toxotius, who is nobler by the virtues of grandmother and aunt than by her birth." But these words can be referred to the hundredfold fruit of virginity.

[9] Quaresmius treats of the tomb of St. Paula and of her daughter St. Eustochium in Pilgrimage 2, Chapter 19. "Opposite the tomb of St. Jerome," he says, "and on the eastern side of the sacred cave of Christ's Nativity, The tomb of her and her daughter is another which is called that of St. Paula of Rome and her daughter Eustochium the Virgin, because tradition holds that the bodies of these holy women were buried there" -- indeed, from this Life below at number 49, this is certain regarding St. Paula. "Over this tomb, although it has been stripped of those sacred treasures, Mass is celebrated and the Office is solemnly chanted on her feast day, with the Friars Minor also coming from Jerusalem for the celebration," as he narrates in Chapter 20, where he inserts the floor plan of the church and convent of St. Mary at Bethlehem, in which the place of her burial is shown.

[10] St. Jerome had led St. Paula and her daughter Eustochium to the pursuit of holiness, St. Jerome was the spiritual father of both and for this reason had incurred enormous hatred among the Romans, not without the suspicion that he loved them dishonorably, as he shows in Epistle 99 to Asella, where he writes these words in praise of St. Paula: "There was no other Roman matron who could subdue my mind, except one who mourned and fasted, was filthy with squalor, nearly blinded with weeping, whom the sun often found begging the Lord's mercy through the night; whose song was the psalms, whose speech the Gospel, whose delight continence, whose life fasting. No other could have pleased me except the one whom I never saw eating. But after I began to venerate, honor, and admire her for the merit of her chastity, all virtues immediately deserted me." And below: "Paula and Melania, having despised their possessions and abandoned their children, raised the Cross of the Lord like a banner of piety" -- that is, as he shortly adds, in sackcloth and ashes, while they consider the cleanliness of the baths to be filth, drink cold water sweeter than wine flavored with honey, and desire the things to come and believe that what is written is true.

LIFE BY ST. JEROME.

Paula, Roman widow, at Bethlehem in Judaea (Saint)

BHL Number: 6548

By St. Jerome.

PREFACE.

[1] If all the members of my body were turned into tongues and all my limbs resounded with a human voice, I would say nothing worthy of the virtues of holy and venerable Paula. Noble in birth, Paula, born of noble lineage but far nobler in holiness; once powerful in riches, but now more distinguished by the poverty of Christ. A scion of the Gracchi, an offspring of the Scipios, an heir of Paullus, whose name she bears, the true and genuine descendant of Marcia Papiria, the mother of Africanus: she preferred Bethlehem to Rome, and exchanged roofs gleaming with gold for the meanness of shapeless mud. We do not grieve that we have lost such a one, but we give thanks that we had her -- nay, that we still have her. For all things live to God, and whatever returns to the Lord is counted among the members of his household. Although the loss of her is the gaining of a heavenly home. She who, while she was in the body, was a pilgrim from the Lord, constantly lamented with a tearful voice, saying: "Woe is me, that my sojourn is prolonged! I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Kedar; my soul has been long a pilgrim." Nor is it strange that she bewailed being surrounded by darkness (for this is what Kedar means), since the world lies in wickedness, and as its darkness, so also its light; and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not comprehended it. She longs for heaven as her homeland. Hence also she frequently added: "I am a stranger and a pilgrim, as all my fathers were." Ps. 38:13; Phil. 1:23. And again: "I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ." And whenever she was afflicted by the weakness of her poor body (which she had contracted by incredible abstinence and doubled fasts), she turned over in her mouth these words: "I chastise my body and bring it into subjection, lest while preaching to others I myself should be found reprobate." 1 Cor. 9:27; Rom. 14:21; Ps. 34:13; 40:4; 31:4. And: "It is good not to drink wine nor to eat meat." And: "I humbled my soul in fasting." And: "You have turned all his bed in his sickness." And: "I was turned in my misery while the thorn is fastened in me." And amid the stings of pain, which she bore with wonderful patience, as though she beheld the heavens opened to her, she would say: "Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly and be at rest?" I call to witness Jesus and his holy Angels, and the very Guardian Angel who was the protector and companion of this admirable woman, that I say nothing for the sake of favor, nothing in the manner of flatterers, but that whatever I shall say, I say as testimony, and that it falls short of her merits -- praised by all what the whole world proclaims, what Priests admire, what choirs of virgins long for, what throngs of monks and of the poor bewail. Do you wish, reader, to know her virtues briefly? She left all her people poorer -- she who was herself the poorest. Nor is it strange to say this of her relatives and household, whom she had changed in both sexes from servants and handmaids into brothers and sisters, when she left Eustochium the Virgin, her daughter devoted to Christ (for whose consolation this little book is fashioned), far from noble lineage, rich only in faith and the grace of God.

CHAPTER I.

Paula's Birth, Marriage, Widowhood, and Departure from Her Homeland.

[2] Let us therefore take up the order of our narrative. Let others trace things further back and, from her very cradle and her toys, so to speak, bring forward her mother Blaesilla and her father Rogatus, The nobility and honors of her parents of whom the former is a descendant of the Scipios and Gracchi, and the latter is said, through his pedigree, wealth, and nobility across nearly all of Greece even to this day, to draw his blood from Agamemnon, who destroyed Troy in a ten-year siege. We shall praise nothing except what is her own and what flows from the purest fountain of a holy mind. Although the Lord and Savior in the Gospel taught the Apostles, when they asked what he would give to those who had left all things for his name's sake, that they would receive a hundredfold in the present and in the future eternal life. Matt. 10:28; Matt. 19:28. From which we understand that it is not praiseworthy to possess riches but to despise them for Christ's sake; by despising which she became more celebrated not to swell with honors but to think little of them for the sake of God's faith. Truly what the Savior promised to his servants and handmaids, he renders in the present. For she who despised the glory of one City is celebrated by the opinion of the whole world; she whom no one outside Rome knew when she lived at Rome, the barbarian and Roman world alike admires now that she lies hidden in Bethlehem. For what nation's people do not come to the holy places? And who in the holy places found anything to admire among men more than Paula? She, as the most precious gem gleams among many gems, and the radiance of the sun overwhelms and obscures the small fires of the stars, so surpassed the virtues and powers of all by her humility, and was the least among all so that she might be the greatest of all; and the more she cast herself down, the more she was raised up by Christ. She was hidden, yet not hidden. By fleeing glory she earned glory, which follows virtue like a shadow, and abandoning those who seek it, seeks those who despise it. But what am I doing, passing over the order of the narrative? While I am detained by individual points, I do not observe the rules of composition.

[3] Born, therefore, of such stock, she was joined in marriage to Toxotius, who drew the most exalted blood of Aeneas and the Julii. Married to Toxotius. Whence also his daughter Eustochium, a Virgin of Christ, is called Julia, and Iulius himself derived his name from the great Iulus. And we say these things not because they are great to those who possess them, but because they are wondrous to those who despise them. Worldly men look up to those who are distinguished by these privileges; we praise those who have despised them for the sake of the Savior. And it is marvelous that those whom we think little of when they possess such things, we proclaim when they choose not to possess them. Born, I say, of such ancestors, and having proved herself by her fruitfulness and her chastity, first to her husband, then to her relatives, and by the testimony of the entire City, she bore five children: Blaesilla, at whose death I consoled her at Rome; Paulina, who left the holy and admirable man Pammachius as heir both of her purpose and of her possessions, to whom we published a small book on her death; Eustochium, she bears him five children who is now in the holy places, a precious jewel of virginity and of the Church; Ruffina, whose untimely death struck down the devoted spirit of her mother; and Toxotius, after whom she ceased to bear children, so that you might understand that she had not wished to serve long in the office of marriage but had borne children in compliance with her husband's desire for a male heir.

[4] After her husband died, she mourned him so deeply that she nearly died herself; and she so turned herself to the service of the Lord as a widow she cherishes the poor with the greatest kindness that she seemed to have wished for his death. Why should I recount the riches of an ample and noble house, once the wealthiest, almost entirely expended upon the poor? Why speak of her most merciful spirit and kindness toward all, extending even to those she had never seen? What dying pauper was not wrapped in her garments? What bedridden invalid was not sustained by her means? She searched them out most diligently throughout the entire city, and counted it a loss if any weak or hungry person were sustained by another's food. She was stripping her children, and to her reproaching relatives she would say that she was leaving them a greater inheritance -- the mercy of Christ.

[5] Nor could she long endure the visits and throngs of persons of her exalted worldly rank and most noble family. She grieved at the honor paid to her and hastened to avoid and flee the lips of those who praised her. When Imperial letters had summoned the Bishops of East and West to Rome on account of certain dissensions in the Churches, she saw those admirable men and Pontiffs of Christ, Paulinus, Bishop of the city of Antioch, and Epiphanius of Salamis in Cyprus, She receives St. Epiphanius as a guest which is now called Constantia. Of these, she had Epiphanius as her guest; and Paulinus, though lodging in another's house, she won over by her hospitality as though he were her own. Kindled by their virtues, she thought from moment to moment of leaving her homeland: mindful of neither house, nor children, nor household, nor possessions, nor anything pertaining to the world; alone, if it can be said, and unaccompanied, she longed to set out for the desert of the Anthonies and Pauls. At last, when winter had passed, the sea was open, and the Bishops were returning to their own Churches, she too sailed with them in her vow and desire. With great constancy of soul, amid her affections, she departs from Rome. Why do I delay further? She went down to the port, accompanied by her brother, relatives, kinsmen, and -- what is more than all these -- her children, who desired to overcome the most tender mother by their love. Already the sails were being spread and the ship was being drawn into the deep by the pull of the oars. Little Toxotius stretched out his suppliant hands on the shore; Ruffina, now of marriageable age, begged silently with her tears that she would wait for her wedding. And yet she held her dry eyes toward heaven, overcoming her love for her children by her love for God. She did not know herself as a mother, so that she might prove herself a handmaid of Christ. Her inmost being was in agony, and she fought against the pain as though she were being torn from her own limbs -- all the more admirable to everyone in that she conquered so great a love. Among the hands of enemies and the harsh necessity of captivity, nothing is more cruel than the separation of parents from children. This, against the laws of nature, her full faith endured; indeed, her joyful spirit desired it; and despising her love of children with a greater love of God, she found rest in Eustochium alone, with her daughter Eustochium who was the companion both of her purpose and of her voyage. Meanwhile the ship plowed the sea, and while all those who sailed with her gazed back at the shore, she herself kept her eyes turned away, lest she see those whom she could not see without torment. I confess: no woman ever so loved her children, to whom, before she set forth, she had given everything, disinheriting herself on earth so that she might find an inheritance in heaven.

CHAPTER II.

The Sea Voyage to Syria; Thence the Overland Journey to Jerusalem.

[6] Carried to the island of Pontia, which the exile of Flavia Domitilla, She contemplates the place of exile of St. Flavia Domitilla once the most distinguished of women, had ennobled under the Emperor Domitian for her confession of the Christian name, and seeing the cells in which she had endured a long martyrdom, taking the wings of faith she yearned to see Jerusalem and the holy places. The winds were slow, and every speed seemed sluggish. Entrusting herself to the Adriatic sea between Scylla and Charybdis, she came as though over a pond to Methone, and there, having refreshed her body and laying her salt-wearied limbs upon the shore, she sailed past Malea and Cythera, the Cyclades scattered across the sea, and the straits dotted with frequent lands; past Rhodes and Lycia, she at last saw Cyprus, In Cyprus she is the guest of Epiphanius where, prostrating herself at the feet of the holy and venerable Epiphanius, she was detained by him for ten days -- not for rest, as he supposed, but for the work of God, as the outcome proved. For, visiting all the monasteries of that region, she left, as best she could, she bestows many gifts upon the monks there provisions and funds for the Brothers whom the love of the holy man had drawn thither from the whole world.

[7] Thence, by a short crossing, she sailed to Seleucia, from which, ascending to Antioch, detained briefly by the charity of the holy Confessor Paulinus, she lands in Syria in the middle of winter, burning with the ardor of faith, this noble woman, who formerly was carried on the hands of eunuchs, set forth sitting on a donkey. I pass over the journey through Coele-Syria and Phoenicia (for it is not my intention to write her travel diary), and shall name only those places which are contained in the sacred volumes.

[8] Having left behind Berytus, a Roman colony, and the ancient city of Sidon, she visits the maritime places of Palestine she entered the little tower of Elijah on the shore of Zarephath, in which she worshipped the Lord and Savior. Then through the sands of Tyre, on which Paul had knelt, she came to Coth, which is now called Ptolemais, and through the plains of Megiddo, witnesses to the death of Josiah, she entered the land of the Philistines. 2 Chron. 35. Marveling at the ruins of Dor, once the most powerful of cities, and conversely at the Tower of Strato, renamed Caesarea by Herod, King of Judaea, in honor of Caesar Augustus, she saw in it the house of Cornelius, now a church of Christ, and the little dwelling of Philip and the chambers of the four Virgin Prophetesses. Then Antipatris, a half-ruined little town which Herod had named after his father; and Lydda, which has become Diospolis, renowned for the resurrection and healing of Dorcas and Aeneas. Acts 9. Not far from there, Arimathea, the village of Joseph who buried the Lord; and Nob, once the city of the Priests, now a tomb of the slain. 1 Sam. 21:1; 22:19. Also Joppa, the port of the fleeing Jonah; and (to touch briefly on the fables of the poets) the spectator of Andromeda chained to the rock.

[9] Retracing her route to Nicopolis, which was formerly called Emmaus, where the Lord was recognized in the breaking of bread, she dedicated the house of Cleophas as a church. Luke 24:35. Setting forth from there, places near Jerusalem ascending Lower and Upper Beth-horon, cities founded by Solomon but later destroyed by various storms of war, she gazed to the right at Aijalon and Gibeon, where Joshua the son of Nun, fighting against five kings, commanded the sun and moon, and condemned the Gibeonites, for the tricks and snares of the covenant they had obtained, to be hewers of wood and drawers of water. At Gibeah, a city razed to the ground, she paused briefly, recalling its sin and the concubine cut to pieces, and the three hundred men of the tribe of Benjamin preserved on account of the Apostle Paul. Judg. 19 and 20.

[10] Why do I linger? Leaving behind on the left the mausoleum of Helena, The sacred places of Jerusalem queen of the Adiabenians, who had aided the people with grain during a famine, she entered Jerusalem, the city of three names -- Jebus, Salem, and Jerusalem -- which was afterward raised from the ruins and ashes of the city into Aelia by Aelius Hadrianus. And when the Proconsul of Palestine, who knew her family very well, sent his attendants ahead to order the praetorium prepared, she chose a humble cell. She went around all the holy places with such ardor and zeal that she could not have been drawn away from the first unless she were hastening to the rest. Prostrate before the cross, as though she could see the Lord hanging there, she worshipped. Entering the sepulcher of the resurrection, she kissed the stone which the Angel had rolled from the entrance of the tomb. And the very place of the body where the Lord had lain, as one thirsting for longed-for water, she licked with her faithful lips. What tears she shed there, what groans, what grief she poured forth -- all Jerusalem is witness, the Lord himself whom she implored is witness. Going forth from there, she ascended Sion, which means "citadel" or "watchtower." 2 Sam. 5:7; Isa. 29:1. This city David once conquered and rebuilt. Of the conquered it is written: "Woe to you, city of Ariel," that is, "lion of God"; and once the mightiest, which David conquered. And of the one which was built it is said: "Its foundations are in the holy mountains; the Lord loves the gates of Sion above all the tabernacles of Jacob." Ps. 86:1. Not those gates which we see today dissolved into dust and ashes, but the gates against which hell does not prevail, and through which the multitude of believers in Christ enters. She was shown the pillar supporting the portico of the church, stained with the blood of the Lord, to which he is said to have been bound and scourged. The place was pointed out where the Holy Spirit descended upon the souls of the one hundred and twenty believers, to fulfill the prophecy of Joel. Joel 2:28.

CHAPTER III.

The Journey to Bethlehem and to the Dead Sea.

[11] Then, having distributed money among the poor and her fellow servants according to her small means, she proceeded to Bethlehem, and on the right side of the road she stood at the tomb of Rachel, in which the mother of Benjamin -- She makes her way to Bethlehem not "Benoni," as the dying mother had called him, that is, "son of my sorrow," but as the father prophesied in the spirit -- brought forth "the son of the right hand." Gen. 35. And entering Bethlehem from there and going into the cave of the Savior, after she had seen the sacred lodging of the Virgin and the stable in which "the ox knew his owner she venerates the place of Christ's birth and the ass the manger of his Lord," so that what is written in the same Prophet might be fulfilled -- "Blessed is he who sows beside waters where the ox and the ass tread" -- she swore, in my hearing, that she could see with the eyes of faith the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, the Lord crying in the manger, with the greatest faith the Magi worshipping, the star gleaming above, the Virgin Mother, the diligent foster-father, the shepherds coming by night to see the Word that was made, and already now to inaugurate the beginning of the Evangelist John: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was made flesh"; the little ones slain, Herod raging, Joseph and Mary fleeing into Egypt. And mingling tears with joy, she said: Isa. 32:20; John 1.

[12] She devoutly greets Bethlehem. "Hail, Bethlehem, house of bread, in which was born that Bread which came down from heaven. Hail, Ephrata, most fertile and fruit-bearing region, whose fruitfulness is God. Of you Micah once prophesied: 'And you, Bethlehem, house of Ephrata, you are not the least among the thousands of Judah. Matt. 5:2. From you shall come forth for me he who is to be ruler in Israel, and his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity. Therefore he shall give them up until the time of her who is in labor. She shall bear, and the remnant of his brethren shall be converted to the children of Israel.' For in you was born the Prince who was begotten before the morning star, whose birth from the Father exceeds all ages. And the lineage of the house of David remained in you so long, until the Virgin should bear, and the remnant of the believing people should be converted to the children of Israel and freely proclaim: 'It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; but since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.' Acts 13:46; Matt. 15:24; Gen. 49:10. For God had said: 'I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.' And at that time the words of Jacob concerning him were fulfilled: 'The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a ruler from his loins, until he comes for whom it is reserved, and he shall be the expectation of the nations.' Well did David swear, well did he make his vows, saying: 'If I shall enter into the tabernacle of my house; if I shall ascend upon the couch of my bed; if I shall give sleep to my eyes and slumber to my eyelids and rest to my temples, until I find a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.' And immediately he set forth what he desired, and with prophetic eyes he perceived as coming the one whom we already believe has come. Ps. 131. 'Behold, we have heard of him in Ephrata; we have found him in the fields of the wood.' For 'vau,' the Hebrew word, as I learned from you as teacher, signifies not Mary the mother of the Lord, that is, 'her,' but 'him.' Whence he speaks confidently: 'We will go into his tabernacle; we will worship in the place where his feet have stood.' And am I, wretched and sinful, judged worthy to kiss the manger in which the infant Lord wailed? To pray in the cave in which the Virgin Mother brought forth the Lord as an infant? This is my rest, because it is the homeland of my Lord; here I will dwell, because the Savior has chosen it. I have prepared a lamp for my Christ. My soul shall live for him, and my seed shall serve him."

[13] She visits other sacred places near Bethlehem. Not far from there she descended to the Tower of Ader, that is, "of the flock," near which Jacob fed his flocks, and the shepherds, watching by night, were worthy to hear: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will." Luke 2:14. While they guarded sheep, they found the Lamb of God with pure and spotless fleece, which, amid the drought of the entire earth, was drenched with heavenly dew, and whose blood took away the sins of the world and put to flight the destroyer of Egypt when smeared upon the doorposts. Exod. 12. And immediately, with quickened step, she began to walk along the old road that leads to Gaza -- to the "power" or "riches" of God -- and silently pondered to herself how the Ethiopian eunuch, prefiguring the people of the Gentiles, changed his skin; and while rereading the Old Testament, found the fountain of the Gospel. Acts 8. And from there, turning to the right, she passed through Beth-zur and came to Eshcol, which means "cluster of grapes." From there, as a testimony of the most fertile land (and as a type of him who says, "I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples no man was with me"), the spies carried a cluster of grapes of marvelous size. Isa. 63:3. And after no great distance she entered the cells of Sarah, seeing the cradle of Isaac and the traces of the oak of Abraham, beneath which he saw the day of Christ and rejoiced. Gen. 18.

[14] Rising from there, she ascended to Hebron -- this is Kiriath-arba, that is, the city of the four men: Abraham, she visits Hebron Isaac, Jacob, and Adam the great, whom the Hebrews maintain was buried there, according to the book of Joshua, although many suppose the fourth to be Caleb, whose memorial is shown nearby. Josh. 14:15; 15; Judg. 1. Having examined these, she did not wish to proceed to Kiriath-sepher, that is, the "village of letters," because, despising the letter that kills, she had found the spirit that gives life. And she marveled more at the upper and lower waters which Othniel, son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, had received in place of the southern and arid territory; by the conducting of whose waters he made fertile the dry fields of the former Testament, so that she might find redemption from old sins in the waters of baptism. The next day, after the sun had risen, she stood on the height of Caphar Barucha, and places near the Dead Sea that is, the "village of blessing," the place to which Abraham accompanied the Lord. Gen. 18:17. Looking down from there upon the wide wilderness and the land that once belonged to Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, she contemplated the vineyards of balsam at Engedi and Zoar, "the three-year-old heifer," which was formerly called Bala and was translated in the Syrian tongue to Zoar, that is, "small." Gen. 19. She recalled the cave of Lot, and turning to tears, she admonished her companion virgins that they should beware of wine, in which is excess, whose offspring are the Moabites and Ammonites.

CHAPTER IV.

The Journey to the Jordan; into Galilee and Samaria.

[15] I linger long in the south, where the bride found the bridegroom resting, and where Joseph was merry with his brothers. Song 1:6; Gen. 43. I shall return to Jerusalem, and through Tekoa and Amos I shall behold the glowing light of the Mount of Olives, from which the Savior ascended to the Father. She visits the holy places around Jerusalem. On which mountain each year a red heifer was burned as a holocaust to the Lord, and whose ashes purified the people of Israel; on which, according to Ezekiel, the Cherubim, migrating from the temple, founded the Church of the Lord. Num. 19; Ezek. 10:18. After this she entered the tomb of Lazarus, saw the lodging of Mary and Martha, and Bethphage, the village of the priestly "jawbones"; and the place where the frisky colt of the Gentiles received the bridle of God, and, with the garments of the Apostles spread upon it, offered a soft back for sitting. Luke 19.

[16] By the straight road she descended to Jericho, recalling the man from the Gospel who was wounded, and, as the Priests and Levites passed by with the cruelty of their minds, the mercy of the Samaritan, that is, the "guardian," who placed the half-dead man on his own beast and carried him to the inn of the Church. Luke 10. And the place of Adommim, which means "of bloods," Jericho because much blood was shed there by the frequent raids of robbers. And the sycamore tree of Zacchaeus, that is, the good works of repentance, by which he trampled the sins lately stained and harmful with plunder, and from the height of virtues gazed upon the Lord on high. Luke 19. And beside the road, the places of the blind men who, having received their sight, had prefigured the mysteries of both peoples believing in the Lord. Entering Jericho, she saw the city which Hiel founded in Abiram his firstborn, and whose gates he set up in Segub, the youngest of his sons. 3 Kings 16:34. She gazed upon the camp of Gilgal, and the heap of foreskins, and the mystery of the second circumcision, and the twelve stones which, translated from the bed of the Jordan to that place, had established the foundations of the twelve Apostles; and the spring, once most bitter and barren under the law, which the true Elisha had seasoned with his wisdom and turned to sweetness and fertility. 4 Kings 2:21. Scarcely had the night passed when, in the most fervent heat, she came to the Jordan. She stood on the bank of the river, and as the sun rose, she recalled the Sun of Justice: how in the middle of the riverbed the Priests had set dry footprints; and how at the command of Elijah and Elisha, with the waters standing on either side, the waves had provided a path; and how the Lord had cleansed with his own baptism the waters polluted by the flood and stained by the destruction of the entire human race. Josh. 3; 4 Kings 2:14.

[17] It would take long if I wished to speak of the Valley of Achor, that is, of tumult and disturbances, in which theft and avarice were condemned; and of Bethel, the house of God, where upon the bare ground, naked and poor, Jacob slept; and placing a stone beneath his head (which in Zechariah is described as having seven eyes, and in Isaiah is called the cornerstone), he saw a ladder reaching up to heaven, on which the Lord leaned from above, the mountains of Ephraim extending his hand to those who ascended and casting down the negligent from on high. Josh. 7; Gen. 28; Zech. 3:9; Isa. 28:16. She also venerated, opposite each other, the tombs on Mount Ephraim of Joshua the son of Nun and of Eleazar the son of Aaron the Priest; of whom the former is buried at Timnath-serah, on the northern side of Mount Gaash, and the latter at Gibeah, the city of his son Phinehas. She wondered greatly that the distributor of possessions had chosen for himself the mountainous and rugged territory. Why should I mention Shiloh, where the destroyed altar is still shown today, and where the tribe of Benjamin anticipated the rape of the Sabines by Romulus? Judg. 21.

[18] She passed through Shechem -- not, as many read erroneously, Sychar -- which is now called Neapolis, and entered the church built on the side of Mount Gerizim around the well of Jacob, Samaria upon which the Lord sat, thirsting and hungering, and was satisfied by the faith of the Samaritan woman, who, after the five husbands of the Mosaic books and the sixth, the heresy of Dositheus, which she boasted of possessing, was abandoned, found the true Messiah and the true Savior. And turning aside from there, she saw the tombs of the twelve Patriarchs and Sebaste, that is, Samaria, which was named Augusta in the Greek tongue by Herod in honor of Augustus. There lie Elisha and the prophet Obadiah, and (than whom there was no greater among those born of women) John the Baptist. There she trembled, dismayed by many wonders: the tombs of Saints Elisha, Obadiah, and John the Baptist for she beheld demons roaring under various torments, and before the tombs of the Saints, men howling like wolves, barking with the voices of dogs, roaring like lions, hissing like serpents, bellowing like bulls. Others rolled their heads and, bending backward, touched the ground with the crown of their heads; and women suspended by their feet had their garments not falling down over their faces. She pitied them all, and shedding tears for each one, she implored the mercy of Christ. And weak as she was, she ascended the mountain on foot, in whose two caves, in the time of persecution and famine, the prophet Obadiah fed a hundred prophets with bread and water. 3 Kings 18. From there by a swift journey she passed through Nazareth, the nursery of the Lord, Cana and Capernaum, places of Galilee familiar with his signs; the Lake of Tiberias, sanctified by the Lord's sailing upon it; and the wilderness where many thousands of people were fed with a few loaves, and from the leftovers of those who ate, twelve baskets of the twelve tribes of Israel were filled. Luke 4. She climbed Mount Tabor, on which the Lord was transfigured. Judg. 4. She gazed in the distance at the mountains of Hermon and Hermonim and the very wide plains of Galilee, in which Sisera and all his army were overthrown, with Barak conquering. The torrent Kishon, which divided the middle of the plain, and the town near Nain, in which the son of the widow was raised, were pointed out. Luke 7. The day would fail me before words, if I wished to pass through all the places which the venerable Paula traversed with incredible faith.

CHAPTER V.

The Journey to Egypt.

[19] I shall pass on to Egypt, and between Succoth and the spring of Samson, which he brought forth from the molar tooth of a jawbone, I shall pause briefly and bathe my parched lips, so that, refreshed, I may see Moresheth, once the tomb of the prophet Micah, now a church. Leaving to the side the Choreans and the Gittites, Mareshah, Idumaea, She sets forth for Egypt and Lachish, and through the softest sands, which steal away the footprints of travelers, and the wide desolation of the desert, I shall come to the river of Egypt, Shihor, which means "turbid." And I shall cross the five cities of Egypt which speak the language of Canaan, and the land of Goshen, and the fields of Tahpanhes, in which God did wonders; and the city of No, which was later turned into Alexandria; and the town of the Lord, Nitria, in which the purest nitre of virtues daily washes the stains of very many. Judg. 15:19. When she saw this, and the holy and venerable Bishop Isidore the Confessor came to meet her, together with innumerable throngs of monks, of whom many were elevated by the priestly and Levitical degree, she rejoiced indeed at the glory of the Lord, but confessed herself unworthy of so great an honor. Why should I mention the Macariuses, the Arsatases, the Serapions, and the other names of the pillars of Christ? Whose cell did she not enter? She visits the cells of the holy monks. At whose feet did she not prostrate herself? In each of the Saints she believed she was seeing Christ; and whatever she bestowed upon them, she rejoiced that she had bestowed upon the Lord. Her ardor was wondrous, and her fortitude scarcely credible in a woman. Forgetting her sex and the frailty of her body, she desired to dwell among so many thousands of monks with her young women; and perhaps, since all would have received her, she would have obtained her wish, had not a greater desire for the holy places drawn her back.

[20] Traveling by ship from Pelusium to Maiuma on account of the most fervent heat, she returned with such speed that you would have thought her a bird. And not long after, intending to remain permanently in holy Bethlehem, she stayed for three years in a narrow little lodging until she could build cells and monasteries, and establish guesthouses for travelers of various kinds beside the road on which Mary and Joseph had found no lodging. She founds monasteries at Bethlehem.

CHAPTER VI. The Christian Virtues of Paula.

[21] Let the description of her journey end here, which she made in the company of many virgins and her daughter. Now let her virtue, which is her own, be described more fully, and in setting it forth, with God as judge and witness, I declare that I add nothing, I exaggerate nothing in the manner of flatterers; but rather, lest I exceed the bounds of credibility, I omit many things, lest among detractors who always gnaw me with their natural tooth, I be thought to fabricate, and to adorn Aesop's crow with borrowed colors. That which is the first virtue of Christians, she cast herself down with such humility Her humility that anyone who had not seen her and who longed to see her on account of the fame of her name, would not believe she was the woman herself but the last of her little handmaids; and when she was surrounded by frequent choirs of virgins, in dress, voice, demeanor, and gait she was the least of all.

[22] Never after her husband's death until the day of her falling asleep did she eat with any man, avoidance of dangers even one she knew to be holy and placed upon the pinnacle of the pontificate. She did not visit the baths unless in danger of death. She had no soft bedding, her manner of sleeping even in the gravest fever, but rested upon the hardest ground with haircloth spread upon it -- if indeed that can be called rest which joined days and nights with almost continual prayers, fulfilling those words from the Psalter: "I will wash my bed every night; I will water my couch with my tears." Ps. 6:7. continual weeping In her you would have believed there were fountains of tears: so did she mourn light sins that you would have supposed her guilty of the gravest crimes.

[23] When she was frequently warned by us to spare her eyes and save them for the reading of the Gospel, she would say: "The face must be disfigured which, contrary to God's commandment, I often painted with rouge, white lead, and antimony. zeal for penance The body must be afflicted which indulged in many pleasures. Long laughter must be compensated by perpetual weeping. Soft linens and the most costly silks must be exchanged for the roughness of haircloth. I who pleased a husband and the world now desire to please Christ." If I wished to praise chastity in her among such and so great virtues, chastity I should seem superfluous -- she who, even when she was in the world, was the model for all the Roman matrons, who so conducted herself that rumor never dared fabricate anything even from the mouths of slanderers.

[24] kindness Nothing was more merciful than her spirit, nothing gentler toward the humble. She did not court the powerful; yet neither did she look down upon the proud and those who sought petty glory with contempt. If she saw a poor person, she sustained him; if a rich one, she exhorted him to do good. generosity Her liberality alone exceeded measure. Even paying interest, she would frequently borrow again, so as to deny alms to no one who asked. I confess my error: when she was too lavish in giving, I would reprove her, citing these words of the Apostle: "Not that there should be ease for others and affliction for you, but by equality at this present time, that your abundance may supply their want, and their abundance may supply your want." 2 Cor. 8:13. And this from the Gospel of the Savior: "He who has two tunics, let him give one to him who has none." Luke 3:11. And that she should take care lest what she gladly did she could not always do; and many things of this kind, which she would dissolve with wonderful modesty and the fewest words, calling God to witness that she did everything for his name's sake; and that it was her vow to die a beggar; love of poverty that she would not leave a single coin to her daughter, and that at her funeral she would be wrapped in another's linen. At last she would conclude thus: "If I ask, I shall find many who will give to me; but if this beggar does not receive from me what I can give him even from borrowed funds, and he dies, from whom will his soul be required?" I wanted her to be more cautious in family matters; but she, more ardent in faith, was joined to the Savior with her whole soul, and poor in spirit she followed the poor Lord, returning to him what she had received, having become poor for his sake. And so she obtained what she wished, and left her daughter in great debt, which, still owing it to this day, she trusts not in her own strength but in the mercy of Christ to repay.

[25] Many matrons are accustomed to bestow gifts upon their trumpeters, and, having lavished generosity upon a few, to withdraw their hand from the rest. She was entirely free from this fault. For she distributed her money to each almsgiving as each one's need required -- not for luxury but for necessity. No poor person went away from her empty-handed. This she achieved not by the greatness of her wealth but by prudence in dispensing, always repeating: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Matt. 5:7. And: "As water extinguishes fire, so almsgiving extinguishes sin." Ecclus. 3:33. And: "Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of iniquity, who may receive you into everlasting tabernacles." Luke 16:9. And: "Give alms, and behold, all things are clean to you." Luke 11:41. And the words of Daniel, admonishing King Nebuchadnezzar to redeem his sins with almsgiving. Dan. 4:24. She did not wish to pour out her money on these stones, which will pass away with the earth and the world, but on living stones, which are rolled upon the earth, from which, in the Apocalypse of John, the city of the great King is built; which, Scripture relates, are to be changed into sapphire, emerald, jasper, and other gems. Rev. 21; Isa. 54:11-12.

[26] But these things can be common to many, and the devil knows that they are not placed at the highest pinnacle of virtues. Whence he speaks to the Lord, after the loss of Job's substance, the overthrow of his house, and the slaughter of his children: "Skin for skin, and all that a man has he will give for his life. Job 2:4. But stretch out your hand and touch his bones and his flesh, and see if he does not bless you to your face." We know that very many have given alms but have given nothing of their own bodies; have extended a hand to the needy but have been overcome by the pleasure of the flesh; have whitened the outside but have been full of dead men's bones within. But Paula was not such; for she was of such great continence that she nearly exceeded measure and contracted bodily weakness from excessive fasting and labor. fasting and abstinence She who, except on feast days, scarcely took oil in her food -- from this one fact let it be estimated what she thought of wine, fish-sauce, fish, milk, honey, eggs, and other things that are sweet to the taste. In the consumption of which certain persons think themselves most abstemious, and if they have stuffed their bellies with these, they suppose their chastity to be safe.

d. Others: "a few."

CHAPTER VII. The Invincible Endurance of Adversities.

[27] Envy always follows virtues, and lightning strikes the highest mountains. Nor is it strange that I say this of men, since even our Lord was crucified by the zeal of the Pharisees, and all the Saints have had rivals; even in Paradise there was a serpent, She suffers from rivals by whose envy death entered the world. The Lord had raised up against her Hadad the Edomite to buffet her, lest she exalt herself; and as by a certain sting of the flesh he frequently admonished her, lest the greatness of her virtues should carry her too high and she should believe herself placed on an eminence above the vices of other women. 3 Kings 13:14. I would say that she must yield to envy and give way to madness -- as Jacob had done before his brother Esau, and David before the most obstinate of his enemies, Saul; of whom the one fled to Mesopotamia and the other gave himself up to the Philistines, preferring to be subject to enemies rather than to the envious. Gen. 27; 1 Sam. 27. But she would reply: "You would say this rightly if the devil did not fight against the servants and handmaids of God everywhere, and did not precede those who flee to every place; if I were not held by love of the holy places, and could find my Bethlehem in another part of the world. patience overcomes envy Why should I not overcome spite by patience? Why should I not break pride by humility, and offer the other cheek to the one who strikes me? The Apostle Paul says: 'Overcome evil with good.' Rom. 12:21; Acts 5:41. Did not the Apostles glory when they suffered reproach for the Lord? Did not the Savior himself humble himself, taking the form of a servant, and become obedient to the Father even unto death, and the death of the cross, in order to save us by his Passion? If Job had not striven and conquered in battle, he would not have received the crown of justice, nor would he have heard from the Lord: 'Do you think I have spoken to you for any other reason than that you might appear righteous?' Job 33:32. 'Blessed' are called in the Gospel those 'who suffer persecution for the sake of justice.' Matt. 5:10. Let the conscience be secure that we do not suffer on account of sins; and affliction in this world is the stuff of rewards."

[28] Whenever the enemy was more insolent and leaped even to quarreling with words, she would chant that verse of the Psalter: "When the sinner stood against me, I was dumb and was humbled and kept silent from good things." Ps. 38:3. And again: "But I, as a deaf man, heard not, and as a dumb man not opening his mouth." Ps. 37:14-15. "And I became as a man that hears not and that has no reproofs in his mouth." In temptations she would turn over the words of Deuteronomy: "The Lord your God tries you, In temptation she encouraged herself with the words of Scripture that it may appear whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul." In tribulations and distresses she would repeat the words of Isaiah: "You who are weaned from the milk, who are drawn away from the breasts, expect tribulation upon tribulation, hope upon hope; yet a little while, because of the malice of lips, because of an evil tongue." Deut. 13:3; Isa. 28:9. And she would expound the testimony of Scripture for her own consolation, saying that it is the lot of the weaned -- that is, of those who have attained manhood -- to bear tribulation upon tribulation, so that they may deserve to receive hope upon hope, knowing that "tribulation works patience, patience works trial, trial works hope, and hope does not confound." Rom. 5:3. And: "Though our outward man is corrupted, yet the inward man is renewed; and our present light and momentary tribulation works for you an eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Cor. 4:16. And that the time would not be long, even though it seemed slow to human impatience, before God's help should be immediately seen, who says: "In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you." Isa. 49:8. And that deceitful lips and the tongues of the wicked were not to be feared, since with the Lord as helper we rejoice and ought to hear him admonishing through the Prophet: "Fear not the reproach of men, and be not afraid of their blasphemies." Isa. 51:7. "For as a garment, so shall the worm eat them; and as wool, so shall the moth devour them." Luke 21:19; Rom. 8:18. And: "In your patience you shall possess your souls." And: "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that shall be revealed in us." And elsewhere: "Bear tribulation upon tribulation, that we may act patiently in all things that befall us. For the patient man is very prudent, but the fainthearted is exceedingly foolish."

[29] In illnesses and frequent infirmity she would say: "When I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Cor. 12:10; 2 Cor. 4:7. And: "We have this treasure in earthen vessels, until this mortal puts on immortality, and this corruptible is clothed with incorruption." And again: she who bore her sickness "As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so also by Christ does consolation abound." And then: "As you are partakers of the sufferings, so shall you be also of the consolation." In sorrow she sang: "Why are you sad, O my soul, and why do you disturb me? 1 Cor. 1:5; ibid. v. 7; Ps. 41-42. Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him, the salvation of my countenance and my God." sorrow In dangers she would say: "If anyone will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Luke 9:23. dangers And again: "Whoever wishes to save his soul shall lose it." ibid. v. 24. And: "Whoever shall lose his soul for my sake shall save it." When the loss of family possessions and the ruin of her entire patrimony was reported, she would say: loss of goods "For what does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul? Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul?" Matt. 16:26. And: "Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither." Job 1:2. "As it has pleased the Lord, so is it done; blessed be the name of the Lord." And: "Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world." 1 John 2:15-17. "For all that is in the world is the desire of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of this life, which is not of the Father but of the world." And: "The world passes away, and its concupiscence." I know that the very grave illnesses of her children were reported to her, especially of her beloved Toxotius, whom she loved most dearly; and when she had accomplished that feat of virtue: the illness of her son "I was troubled and I spoke not," she burst forth into these words: "He who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." Ps. 76:5; Matt. 10:37; Ps. 78:11. And praying to the Lord, she would say: "Possess, O Lord, the children of the slain, who daily mortify their bodies for you."

[30] I know that a certain whisperer (which sort of person is the most pernicious) announced, as though with goodwill, the judgments of those calling her foolish that on account of her excessive ardor in the virtues she seemed insane to some, and they said her brain needed soothing. To which she replied: "We are made a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men." 1 Cor. 4:9; 1 Cor. 1:10; Ps. 68:6; Ps. 70:7. And: "We are fools for Christ's sake, but the foolishness of God is wiser than men." Whence also the Savior speaks to the Father: "You know my foolishness." And again: "I am become as a wonder to many, and you are a strong helper." "I am become as a beast before you, and I am always with you." Ps. 72:23; Mark 3:21; John 8:48; Matt. 12:24; 2 Cor. 1:12; John 15:19. He whom in the Gospel even his relatives wished to bind as one out of his mind, and his adversaries taunted, saying: "He has a demon and is a Samaritan." And: "He casts out demons by Beelzebub the prince of demons." "But let us hear the Apostle exhorting: 'This is our glory, the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity, and in the grace of God, we have lived in the world.' And the Lord saying to the Apostles: 'Therefore the world hates you, because you are not of the world. For if you were of the world, the world would certainly love what is its own.'" And she would turn her words to the Lord himself: "You know the hidden things of the heart, and all these things have come upon us, and we have not forgotten you, and we have not done wickedly in your covenant, nor has our heart turned back." Ps. 43:22. And: "For your sake we are put to death all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." Rom. 8:36; Ps. 117:6; Prov. 7:2. "But the Lord is my helper; I will not fear what man shall do to me. For I have read: 'My son, honor the Lord and you shall be strengthened, and fear none but the Lord.'"

[31] She overcomes her enemies with the armor of Christ. With these and similar testimonies, as with the armor of God, she armed herself against all vices indeed, but especially against raging envy; and by enduring injuries, she softened the fury of the rabid breast. And so, even to the day of her death, both her patience and the zeal of others was manifest to all -- a zeal that gnaws its own author, and while striving to harm a rival, rages against itself with its own fury.

CHAPTER VIII. The Training of the Virgins.

[32] I shall speak also of the order of the monastery, and how she turned the continence of the Saints to her own profit. She sowed carnal things so as to reap spiritual things; she gave earthly things so as to receive heavenly things; she conceded brief things so as to exchange them for eternal things. After the monastery of men, which she had handed over to men to govern, she divided the many virgins whom she had gathered from diverse provinces, of noble, middling, and low birth alike, into three bands and monasteries, She distributes the Virgins into three bands in such a way, however, that while separated in work and food, they were joined in psalmody and prayers. After the Alleluia was sung (by which sign they were called to the assembly), no one was permitted to remain behind, but she, coming first or among the first, would await the arrival of the others, provoking them to work by her modesty and example, she prescribes for them the rule of rising not by terror. At morning, the third, sixth, and ninth hours, evening, and midnight, they sang the Psalter in order; and no Sister was permitted to be ignorant of the psalms or not to learn something from the Holy Scriptures daily. and of singing the canonical hours Only on Sunday did they proceed to the church, alongside which they lived, and each troop followed its own Mother; and returning together from there, they applied themselves to the work assigned, making garments either for themselves or for others. If any was of noble birth, she was not permitted to have a companion from her own household, lest, mindful of her former way of life and the error of her wanton childhood, she should rekindle the old fault and renew it by frequent conversation. The habit of all was the same. and their habit They used linen only for drying their hands. So great was the separation from men that she even kept them apart from eunuchs, lest she give any occasion to the slanderous tongue, which is accustomed to attack the Saints as a consolation for its own transgressions.

[33] If any one of them was too slow in coming to the psalms or too sluggish in work, she corrects those who err she would approach her in various ways: if she was irascible, with gentle words; if patient, with reproof, imitating the words of the Apostle: "What will you? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in the spirit of mildness and meekness?" 1 Cor. 4:2. Except for food and clothing, she permitted no one to have anything, Paul saying: "Having food and clothing, with these we are content," lest the habit of having more should give room to avarice, which is filled by no riches, she guards poverty and the more one has, the more one seeks, and is diminished by neither abundance nor want. 1 Tim. 6:8. She reconciled those who quarreled with one another with the gentlest speech. The wanton flesh of young women she broke with frequent and doubled fasts, she disciplines the wanton preferring that their stomachs should ache rather than their minds. If she saw any one of them more adorned than the rest, she rebuked the offender with a furrowed brow and a sad countenance, saying that cleanliness of body and dress is uncleanness of soul, and that a shameful and wanton word should never proceed from a virgin's mouth, for by such signs a lustful spirit is shown, and through the outward man the vices of the inward man are displayed. Any whom she perceived to be talkative, she chastises those given to quarrels garrulous, and forward, and to delight in quarrels, and who after frequent admonition refused to amend, she made pray at the doors of the refectory, last and apart from the assembly of the Sisters, and to eat her food separately, so that the shame which reproof had not corrected might bring amendment. She abhorred theft as sacrilege, and what among worldly people is considered light or nothing, she said was the gravest offense in monasteries.

[34] Why should I recall her clemency and attentiveness toward the sick, whom she nourished with extraordinary care and service? she tends the sick, Although she generously provided all things to others who were ill, and even furnished them with meat to eat; severe toward herself: whenever she herself fell sick, she did not indulge herself, and seemed unequal in this, that she exchanged clemency toward others for harshness toward herself. No young woman of sound and vigorous body had given herself to such continence as she herself had, with her broken and aged and weakened frame. I confess that in this matter she was more obstinate, in that she did not spare herself and would yield to no one who admonished her. I shall relate what I myself experienced. In the month of July, during the most burning summer heat, she fell into a raging fever, and after she had been given up for dead, when by the mercy of God she had begun to breathe again, the physicians urged that for the restoration of her body she needed a little mild wine, lest by drinking water she should develop dropsy; and I had secretly asked the blessed Bishop Epiphanius to advise her, or rather to compel her, to drink wine. She refuses wine even when ill: But she, being prudent and of keen intelligence, immediately perceived the stratagem, and smiling, intimated that what he said was my doing. What more? When the blessed Bishop, after much exhortation, had gone out, and I asked him what he had accomplished, he replied: "I have made such progress that the old man nearly persuaded me not to drink wine." I relate these things not because I approve of burdens taken up inconsiderately and beyond one's strength, since Scripture warns, "Do not lift a burden above yourself"; but because I wished to prove from this perseverance also the ardor of her mind and the desire of a faithful soul, singing: "My soul has thirsted for you; how manifold is my flesh for you!" Ps. 62:2.

[35] It is difficult to maintain moderation in all things; and truly, according to the maxim of the philosophers, "Virtue is the mean; excess is vice." This we can express in one brief saying: "Nothing in excess." She feels the death of her family. She who had such obstinacy in the contempt of food was gentle in mourning, and was broken by the deaths of her family, especially of her children. For both at the death of her husband and of her daughters she was always in danger; and though she signed her mouth and breast, and strove to soothe a mother's grief by the impression of the cross, she was overcome by her feeling, and her believing mind was prostrated by a parent's bowels of compassion; and while conquering in spirit, she was conquered by the frailty of the body. A languor once seized her and held her for a long time, so that she caused both anxiety to us and danger to herself; in which she rejoiced, saying at every moment: "Wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Rom. 7:24. Let the prudent reader say that I write blame instead of praise. I call Jesus as witness, whom she served and I desire to serve, that I invent nothing on either side, but set forth as a Christian concerning a Christian what is true -- that is, I write history, not panegyric -- and that her faults are the virtues of others. I speak of faults according to my own mind, and the desire of all the Sisters and Brothers who loved her and miss her in her absence.

[36] For the rest, she finished her course, she kept the faith, and now enjoys the crown of righteousness, she acquires the eternal reward of her labors, and follows the Lamb wherever he goes. She is satisfied, because she hungered, and joyfully she sings: "As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God." O blessed exchange of things! She wept, that she might laugh forever. Ps. 47:9. She despised the broken cisterns, that she might find the Lord, the fountain. She was clad in sackcloth, that she might now wear white garments and say: "You have torn my sackcloth and clothed me with joy." She ate ashes as bread, and mingled her drink with weeping, saying: "My tears have been my bread day and night," that she might feast on the bread of Angels forever and sing: "Taste and see that the Lord is sweet." Ps. 29:12; Ps. 41:4; Ps. 33:9; Ps. 44:1. And: "My heart has uttered a good word; I speak my works to the King." And she saw in herself the words of Isaiah, or rather of the Lord through Isaiah, fulfilled: "Behold, those who serve me shall eat; but you shall hunger. Behold, those who serve me shall drink; but you shall thirst. Isa. 65:13. Behold, those who serve me shall rejoice; but you shall be confounded. Behold, those who serve me shall exult; but you shall cry out from the sorrow of your heart, and from the crushing of your spirit you shall howl."

CHAPTER IX. Hatred of Heretics. Zeal for Sacred Scripture.

[37] I had said that she always fled the broken cisterns, that she might find the Lord, the fountain, and might joyfully sing: "As the deer desires the springs of water, so my soul desires you, O God." Ps. 41:1. "When shall I come and appear before the face of God?" I shall touch briefly, therefore, on how she avoided the muddy cisterns of the heretics, and regarded them as heathens. a. A certain crafty old man, and, as he fancied himself, learned and knowing, Questioned by an Origenist heretic about various controversies of the faith, without my knowledge began to put questions to her and to say: "What sin did an infant commit, that he should be seized by a demon? At what age shall we rise again? If in the same age at which we die, then after the resurrection there will be need of nurses; but if in another, it will by no means be a resurrection of the dead, controversies of the faith, but a transformation into other persons. The distinction of sex also, of male and female -- will it exist, or not? If it will, then marriages, and intercourse, and procreation will follow; if it will not, then with the distinction of sex removed, the same bodies will not rise again: for the earthly habitation weighs down the mind that thinks many things; but they will be thin and spiritual, since the Apostle says: 'It is sown an animal body; it shall rise a spiritual body.'" 1 Cor. 15:44. From all of which he sought to prove that rational creatures, on account of certain faults and ancient sins, had fallen into bodies; and according to the diversity and deserts of their sins were born in this or that condition, so that they might either enjoy health of body and the riches and nobility of their parents, or, coming into sickly flesh and the households of the poor, might pay the penalties of their former sins, and be shut up in this present world and in bodies as in a prison.

[38] She consults St. Jerome: When she had heard this and reported it to me, pointing out the man, and the necessity fell upon me of resisting a most wicked viper and deadly beast -- of whom the Psalmist speaks, saying: "Do not deliver to beasts the souls of those who confess to you," and: "Rebuke, O Lord, the beasts of the reed, who, writing iniquity, speak lies against the Lord and lift their mouth on high" -- I confronted the man and, by the prayers of her whom he was striving to deceive, shut him up with a brief interrogation, saying: b "Do you believe that there will be a future resurrection of the dead, He confutes the heretic, or not?" Ps. 73:19 and 67:31. When he answered that he did believe it, I continued: "Will the same bodies rise, or different ones?" When he said, "The same," I asked: "In the same sex, or in another?" To this question he fell silent, turning his head this way and that like a serpent, lest he be struck. And proves that in the resurrection there will be distinction of the sexes, "Since you are silent," I said, "I will answer for you and draw the consequences: If a woman will not rise as a woman, nor a male as a male, there will be no resurrection of the dead, for sex implies members, and members make up the whole body. But if there will be no sex and no members, where will be the resurrection of bodies, which cannot exist without sex and members? Moreover, if there will be no resurrection of bodies, there will by no means be a resurrection of the dead. But that objection too which you raise about marriages -- that if the same members remain, marriages will follow -- is dissolved by the Savior, who says: 'You err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.' Matt. 22:29. 'For in the resurrection of the dead they shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, but shall be like the Angels.' Where it says, 'They shall neither marry nor be given in marriage,' the diversity of sexes is shown. For no one says of stone and wood, 'They shall neither marry nor be given in marriage,' since these have no nature of marrying; but of those who could marry, and by the grace and power of Christ do not marry. But if you object: 'How then shall we be like the Angels, when among the Angels there is neither male nor female?' -- listen briefly: The Lord does not promise us the substance of Angels, but their manner of life and blessedness. In the same way John the Baptist, before he was beheaded, was called an Angel; and all the Saints and virgins of God, even in this world, express in themselves the life of Angels. For when it is said, 'You shall be like the Angels,' a likeness is promised, not a change of nature."

[39] "And at the same time, answer me: How do you interpret the fact that Thomas touched the hands of the risen Lord and saw his side pierced by a lance? and of the other members, And Peter saw the Lord standing on the shore, and eating a piece of roasted fish and a honeycomb? He who stood certainly had feet. He who showed his wounded side surely also had a belly and a chest, without which there are no sides attached to belly and chest. He who spoke was speaking with tongue, palate, and teeth. For as a plectrum strikes the strings, so the tongue strikes the teeth and produces a vocal sound. He whose hands were handled consequently also had arms. Since, therefore, he is said to have had all his members, he must have had a whole body, which is made up of members -- not indeed a feminine one, but a masculine one, that is, of the same sex in which he had died. But if you object, 'Then we too shall eat after the resurrection? And how did he enter through closed doors, contrary to the nature of dense and solid bodies?' -- hear this: Do not, on account of food, drag the faith of the resurrection into calumny. For the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue was raised and was commanded to be given food, and Lazarus, four days dead, is written to have sat at table with him, lest their resurrection be thought a phantom. Mark 5:43; John 12:2. But if he entered through closed doors and you therefore try to prove a spiritual and aerial body, then before he suffered too, because contrary to the nature of heavier bodies he walked upon the sea, he had a spiritual body; and the Apostle Peter, who also walked with tottering step upon the waters, must be believed to have had a spiritual body. But rather, the power and virtue of God is shown, when something is done contrary to nature. Matt. 14:25 and 29. And that you may know that in the greatness of signs not a change of nature but the omnipotence of God is demonstrated: he who walked by faith began to sink through unbelief, unless the hand of the Lord had raised him up, saying: 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?' I marvel that you harden your face, when the Lord says: 'Put your finger here, and touch my hands; and stretch out your hand, and put it into my side, and be not unbelieving but faithful.' John 20:27. And elsewhere: 'See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Luke 24:39. Handle and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see me have.' And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. You hear of bones and flesh, and feet and hands -- and c you fashion for me the globes of the Stoics and certain airy delusions."

[40] "Furthermore, if you ask why an infant is seized by a demon when he has no sins, or at what age we shall rise again, since we die at different ages, you will unwillingly accept: 'The judgments of God are a great deep.' And: 'O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and how untraceable his ways!' Ps. 35:7; Rom. 11:33. 'For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?' But the diversity of ages does not change the truth of bodies. For since our bodies daily flow and either grow or decrease, shall we then be as many persons as we are daily changed? Or was I one person when I was ten years old, another at thirty, another at fifty, another now with a head entirely gray? Therefore, according to the traditions of the Churches and the Apostle Paul, this is to be answered: and the perfect stature, that we shall rise in the perfect man, and in the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ, in which the Jews assert that Adam was created, and in which we read that the Lord and Savior rose again; and many other things which I brought forward from both Testaments to choke the heretic. Eph. 4:13.

[41] From that day she began to detest the man, and all who were of the same opinion, Paula abhors heretics: so that she publicly proclaimed them enemies of the Lord. And I have said these things not to refute the heresy briefly, which would require many volumes in response, but to show the faith of so great a woman, who preferred to endure the perpetual enmity of men rather than to provoke God's anger by harmful friendships.

[42] I shall say therefore, as I had begun: Nothing was more teachable than her mind. She was slow to speak, swift to hear, mindful of that precept: "Hear, O Israel, and be silent." She held the Holy Scriptures by heart. Ecclus. 32:9. And although she loved the historical sense, and called this the foundation of truth, she followed more closely the spiritual understanding, and by this summit protected the edification of the soul. She arranges for St. Jerome to expound the Scriptures to her: Finally she compelled me to read through the Old and New Testament with her daughter, as I expounded it. This I denied out of modesty, but on account of her persistence and frequent entreaties I consented to teach what I had learned -- not from myself, that is, from presumption, the worst of teachers -- but from illustrious men of the Church. Wherever I hesitated and frankly confessed my ignorance, she would by no means acquiesce in my uncertainty, but by continual questioning compelled me to indicate which of many and various opinions seemed to me the most probable. I shall mention also what will perhaps seem incredible to my rivals: She desired to learn the Hebrew language, which I had partly learned from adolescence with much labor and sweat, She learns the Hebrew language, and which I do not cease to meditate upon with unwearied application lest it abandon me; and she succeeded, so that d she sang the psalms in Hebrew e and spoke the language without any peculiarity of Latin pronunciation. This indeed we still see in her holy daughter Eustochium, who always clung so closely to her mother and obeyed her commands that she never slept without her, never went out, never took food, never had a single coin in her own power; but rejoiced that the small patrimony of both father and mother was distributed by her mother to the poor, and considered devotion to her parent the greatest inheritance and riches. I ought not to pass over in silence what joy she felt when she heard that her granddaughter Paula, born of f Laeta and Toxotius -- nay, conceived by a vow and g promise of future virginity -- was in her cradle and among her toys singing Alleluia with a babbling tongue, She has a daughter-in-law and granddaughter who imitate her way of life, and breaking the names of grandmother and aunt with half-formed words. In this alone did she have any longing for her homeland: that she might know that her son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter had renounced the world and were serving Christ. And this she obtained in part. For her granddaughter is reserved for Christ's h bridal veil, her daughter-in-law, devoting herself to eternal chastity, follows her mother-in-law's works, faith, and almsgiving, and at Rome strives to reproduce what Paula accomplished at Jerusalem.

CHAPTER X. Death. Burial.

[44] What are we doing, O my soul? Why do you dread to come to her death? Already a rather long book is being fashioned, while we fear to arrive at the end, as though by our silence and our preoccupation with her praises, her death could be deferred. Until now we have sailed with favorable winds, and the gliding keel has furrowed the a rippling waters of the sea; now our discourse runs upon the rocks, and amid the b swelling motions of the waves, shipwreck threatens c each of us, so that we are compelled to say: "Master, save us, we perish." And: "Arise, why do you sleep, O Lord?" For who could narrate the death of Paula with dry eyes? She fell into a most grievous illness -- or rather, she found what she desired: to leave us and to be more fully joined to the Lord. Matt. 8:25; Ps. 43:23. In which illness the devotion of her daughter Eustochium, always proven toward her mother, was all the more approved by everyone. She falls ill; She herself would sit by the bed, hold the fan, support her head, while Eustochium ministers to her diligently, place the pillow, rub her feet, warm her stomach with her hand, arrange the soft bedding, temper the warm water, apply the napkin -- anticipating all the duties of the maidservants, and considering whatever another had done as subtracted from her own reward. With what prayers, what laments and groans she ran back and forth between her mother lying ill and the Cave of the Lord, that she might not be deprived of so dear a companion, that she might not live without her, that she might be carried on the same bier! But O the fragile and fleeting nature of mortals! Unless the faith of Christ lifts us to heaven and the eternity of the soul is promised, the condition of bodies is the same for us as for beasts and cattle. The same death befalls the just and the impious, the good and the evil, the clean and the unclean; the one who sacrifices and the one who does not sacrifice. Eccles. 9:2. As the good man, so also the sinner; as he who swears, so he who fears an oath. Likewise both men and beasts are dissolved into dust and ashes.

[45] Why do I linger so long and make my grief longer by postponing it? The most prudent of women perceived that death was at hand; and while the other parts of her body and limbs were growing cold, she yearns for heaven: only the warmth of the soul was still palpitating in her sacred breast. And nevertheless, as though she were going to her own people and leaving strangers, she d whispered those little verses: "Lord, I have loved the beauty of your house, and the place where your glory dwells." Ps. 25:8. And: "How lovely are your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord." Ps. 83:1. And: "I have chosen to be cast aside in the house of my God, rather than to dwell in the tents of sinners." ibid. 11. And when I asked her why she was silent, why she would not respond, whether anything pained her, she answered in Greek that she had no distress, but perceived all things to be quiet and tranquil. she prays continually: After this she fell silent, and closing her eyes, as though she already despised mortal things, she kept repeating the same little verses until the expiration of her soul, so that what she said we could barely hear; and holding her finger to her mouth, she traced the sign of the cross upon her lips. In her final breath she imprints the sign of the cross upon herself: Her breath had failed, and she was gasping toward death; and her soul, eager to break free, turned even that rasping sound by which the life of mortals ends into praises of the Lord. e The Bishops of Jerusalem and of other cities were present, and Priests of the lower rank, and an innumerable multitude of Levites; the whole monastery, choirs of Virgins and monks, filled the place. And as soon as she heard the Bridegroom calling: "Arise, come, my nearest one, my beautiful one, my dove; for behold, the winter has passed and gone, the rain has departed" -- she joyfully answered herself: "Flowers have appeared in the land; the time of pruning has come." Cant. 2:10; Ps. 26:13. And: She departs this life. "I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living."

[46] From that moment there was no wailing, no lamentation, as is customary among the people of the world, but swarms of psalms in diverse tongues resounded. She was borne by the hands of Bishops, She is carried out honorably by the hands of Bishops, with lamps and tapers, who placed their necks beneath the bier, while other Bishops carried lamps and tapers before, and others led the singing choirs, and she was placed in the central church of the Savior's cave. The whole throng of the Palestinian cities assembled for her funeral. What monk hiding in the desert did his cell contain? What virgin was kept back by the seclusion of her chamber? They considered it sacrilege not to have paid the last office to such a woman. Widows and the poor, after the example of Dorcas, displayed the garments she had given them. Acts 9:39. The whole multitude of the destitute cried out that they had lost their mother and f nurse. Acts 9:39. And what is remarkable, no pallor had changed her face; but such a dignity and gravity had filled her countenance that you would have thought her not dead but sleeping. g The psalms in Greek, Latin, and Syriac were sung in order, not only for three days until she was buried beneath the church and beside the cave of the Lord, but throughout the whole week, all who had come believing it their own funeral and their own tears. The venerable virgin, her daughter Eustochium, as though weaned upon her mother, could not be torn from her parent: kissing her eyes, clinging to her face, embracing her whole body, and wishing to be buried with her mother.

[47] Jesus is my witness that not a single coin was left by her to her daughter, She left a great debt behind. but, as I have already said, a great debt was left behind; and, what is more difficult than this, an immense multitude of brothers and sisters, whom it is arduous to support and impious to cast off. What is more admirable than this virtue -- that a woman of the most noble family, once of great wealth, distributed all things with such faith that she reached almost the utmost poverty? Let others boast of their money and of the coins heaped up in the treasury of God, and of gifts hanging from golden chains. No one gave more to the poor than she who kept nothing for herself. Now she enjoys riches and those good things which neither eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor have entered into the heart of man. We grieve for our own lot, and shall seem rather to envy her glory if we wish to weep longer for her who reigns.

[48] Be at peace, Eustochium; you have been enriched with a great inheritance. Your portion is the Lord, and -- that you may rejoice all the more -- your mother has been crowned with a long martyrdom. Devoted service is a daily martyrdom. For not only is the shedding of blood counted as confession, but the immaculate servitude of a devout mind is also a daily martyrdom. That crown h is woven of roses and violets; this one of lilies. Whence also it is written in the Song of Songs: "My beloved is white and ruddy"; granting the same rewards to victors in peace and in war. Cant. 5:10. Your mother, I say, heard with Abraham: "Go out from your land and from your kindred, and come to the land that I will show you." Gen. 12:1. And through Jeremiah, the Lord commanding: "Flee from the midst of Babylon, and save your souls." Jer. 50:8. But she went out of her land and did not return to Chaldea until the day of her death; nor did she desire the pots of Egypt and i the fleshly broths, but, accompanied by choirs of virgins, she was made a citizen of the Savior; ascending from little Bethlehem to the heavenly kingdom, she says to the true Naomi: "Your people shall be my people, and your God shall be my God." Ruth 1:16.

[49] Epilogue of this life. I have dictated this book for you in two late-night sessions, with the same grief that you yourself bear. For whenever I tried to fix my pen and compose the promised work, my fingers stiffened, my hand dropped, my faculties grew faint. Whence the uncultivated speech, without any elegance or grace of words, attests the writer's purpose.

[50] Jerome invokes the holy Paula. Farewell, O Paula, and by your prayers aid the final old age of him who reveres you. Your faith and works unite you to Christ: being present, you will more easily obtain what you ask. I have raised a monument to you more lasting than bronze, which no passage of time can destroy. I have inscribed an epitaph upon your tomb, which I have appended to this volume, so that wherever our discourse may reach, the reader may know that you were praised and that you were laid to rest in Bethlehem.

Title of the tomb: She whom Scipio begot, whom the Pauli brought forth as parents, Epitaph of Paula. Scion of the Gracchi, illustrious offspring of Agamemnon, Lies in this tomb: the ancients called her Paula. Mother of Eustochium, first lady of the Roman Senate, She followed the poverty of Christ and the k Bethlehemite fields.

Do you see this narrow tomb cut in the rock? It is the dwelling of Paula, who possesses the heavenly kingdoms. Riches, and offspring, she is buried in the cave of Bethlehem. Here was your manger, O Christ, and here the mystic Magi Bore their gifts and offered them to Man and God.

The holy and blessed Paula fell asleep on the seventh day before the Kalends of February, the third day of the week, after the setting of the sun. She was buried on the fifth day before the Kalends of the same month, in the sixth consulship of the Augustus Honorius and of Aristaenetus. She lived in her holy resolution at Rome five years, at Bethlehem twenty years. She completed the whole span of her life in fifty-six years, eight months, and twenty-one days.

e. John.