Saint Paulinus, Bishop of Nola

(Pontius Meropius Anicius Paulinus).

Born at Bordeaux about 354; died 22 June, 431. He sprang from a distinguished

family of Aquitania and his education was entrusted to the poet Ausonius. He

became governor of the Province of Campania, but he soon realized that he could

not find in public life the happiness he sought. From 380 to 390 he lived almost

entirely in his native land. He married a Spanish lady, a Christian named

Therasia. To her, to Bishop Delphinus of Bordeaux and his successor the

Presbyter Amandus, and to St. Martin of Tours, who had cured him of some

disease of the eye, he owed his conversion. He and his brother were baptized at

the same time by Delphinus. When Paulinus lost his only child eight days after

birth, and when he was threatened with the charge of having murdered his

brother, he and his wife decided to withdraw from the world, and to enter the

monastic life. They went to Spain about 390.

At Christmas, 394, or 395, the inhabitants of Barcelona obliged him to be

ordained, which was not canonical as he had not previously received the other

orders. Having had a special devotion to St. Felix, who was buried at Nola in

Campania, he laid out a fine avenue leading to the church containing Felix's

tomb, and beside it he erected a hospital. He decided to settle down there with

Therasia; and he distributed the largest part of his possessions among the poor.

In 395 he removed to Nola, where he led a rigorous, ascetic, and monastic life, at

the same time contributing generously to the Church, the aqueduct at Nola, and

the construction of basilicas in Nola, Fondi, etc. The basilica at Nola counted five

naves and had on each side four additions or chapels (cubicula), and an apsis

arranged in a clover shape. This was connected with the old mortuary chapel of

St. Felix by a gallery. The side was richly decorated with marble, silver lamps

and lustres, paintings, statuary, and inscriptions. In the apsis was a mosaic

which represented the Blessed Trinity, and of which in 1512 some remnants were

still found.

About 409 Paulinus was chosen Bishop of Nola. For twenty years he discharged

his duties in a most praiseworthy manner. His letters contain numerous biblical

quotations and allusions; everything he performed in the Spirit of the Bible and

expressed m Biblical language. Gennadius mentions the writings of Paulinus in

his continuation of St. Jerome's "De Viris Illustribus " (xlix). The panegyric on the

Emperor Theodosius is unfortunately lost, as are also the Opus sacramentorum

et hymnorum", the "Epistolae ad Sororem", the "Liber de Paenitentia", the "Liber

de Laude Generali Omnium Martyrum", and a poetical treatment of the "De

Regibus" of Suetonius which Ausonius mentions. Forty-nine letters to friends

have been preserved, as those to Sulpicius Severus, St. Augustine, Delphinus,

Bishop Victricius of Rouen, Desiderius, Amandus, Pammachius, etc. Thirty-three

poems are also extant. After 395 he composed annually a hymn for the feast of

St. Felix, in which he principally glorified the life, works, and miracles of his holy

patron. Then going further back he brought in various religious and poetic

motives. The epic parts are very vivid, the lyrics full of real, unaffected enthusiasm

and an ardent appreciation of nature. Thirteen of these poems and fragments of

the fourteenth have preserved.

Conspicuous among his other works are the poetic epistles to Ausonius, the

nuptial hymn to Julianus, which extols the dignity and sanctity of Christian

marriage, and the poem of comfort to the parents of Celsus on the death of their

child. Although Paulinus has great versatility and nicety, still he is not entirely

free from the mannerisms and ornate culture of his period. All his writings breathe

a charming, ideal personality, freed from all terrestrial attachments, ever striving

upward. According to Augustine, he also had an exaggerated idea concerning

the veneration of saints and relics. His letter xxxii, written to Sulpicius Severus,

has received special attention because in it he describes the basilica of Nola,

which he built, and gives copious accounts of the existence, construction, and

purpose of Christian monuments. From Paulinus too we have information

concerning St. Peter's in Rome. During his lifetime Paulinus was looked upon as

saint. His body was first interred in the cathedral of Nola; later, in Benevento;

then it was conveyed by Otto III to S. Bartolomeo all'Isola, in Rome, and nary in

compliance with the regulation of Pius X of 18 Sept., 1908 (Acta Apostolicae

Sedis, I, 245 sq.) was restored to the cathedral of Nola. His feast, 22 June, was

raised to the rank of a double.

Klemens Loffler

Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XI

Nihil Obstat, February 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor

Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York

The Catholic Encyclopedia: NewAdvent.org