Paul of the Cross
Paul ( or Paul) of the Cross (Italian Paolo della Croce ), born Paolo Francesco Danei ( born January 3, 1694 Ovada, † October 18, 1775 ) was an Italian mystic and the founder of the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ. He is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church as a saint.
Biography
The hl. Paul of the Cross is considered one of the greatest Catholic mystics of the eighteenth century. Paul, who came from a wealthy merchant family, had a conversion experience with 19 years dedicated towards a prayer life. The early reading of the Treatise on the Love of God ( Treatise ) of St. Francis de Sales and the spiritual direction by a priest of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin taught him the primacy of love. The belief that God can most easily be found in the Passion of Jesus Christ, accompanied him from then on through his whole life. He saw the suffering of Christ as the most overwhelming sign of God's love and at the same time as the door to union with God. His life was dedicated to the task, to spread this message and to found a community whose members would do likewise.
"I 'm Paul of the Cross, Jesus has been crucified. "
At the age of 26 years Paul had a number of prayer experiences that convinced him that God invited him to found a community who lead an evangelical life and proclaim the revealed in the suffering of Jesus love of God would. In a vision he saw himself and his companions in the Habit, she would wear: a long, black tunic, on the one heart " The suffering of Jesus Christ" is under a white cross, with the inscription. During the vision, he heard the words: "This is to show how pure his heart must, in which the holy name of Jesus is imprinted ". The first name of the new community was "the arms of Jesus ." Later it was known as the " Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ" or the Passionists.
Encouraged by his bishop, who clothed him in the black habit of a hermit, Paul wrote the end of 1720 while forty -day retreats, the rule of the new community. The community should have a life of penance, result in loneliness and poverty, and to teach people the easiest way to look at the suffering of Jesus.
His first companion was his own brother, John Baptist, who along with Paul on June 7, 1727 in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome by Pope Benedict XIII. was ordained a priest. After the consecration they devoted himself to preaching in parishes, especially in remote areas where there were not enough priests. Their preaching and retreats, they gave in seminaries and religious houses, made their mission known, and the community began to grow.
The privation of life of the first Passionist attracted large amounts, but Paul preferred a slow, sometimes painful growth spectacular. His main goal was, in his own words, to form " an aligned exclusively to God, fully apostolic man" " a man of prayer, detached from the world, from the things of itself, so that it to the name of a disciple of Jesus Christ bears right. "
The first monastery was founded in 1737 on the Monte Argentario ( Grosseto Province ); the Community had nine members. Paul called his monasteries " ritiro " ( withdrawal) to emphasize the life of solitude and contemplation, which he considered to be necessary for those who wished to proclaim the message of the cross. In addition to the common hours of prayer the members of his community should devote each day to the contemplative prayer at least three hours.
During his lifetime, Paul was known from the cross, especially as a preacher and spiritual director. More than two thousand of his letters, which were mostly devoted to the spiritual direction are obtained.
Paul of the Cross died on 18 October at the Saints John and Paul Monastery ( at Santi Giovanni e Paolo ). His congregation at that time consisted of 180 priests and brothers who lived in twelve monasteries, especially in the region of the Papal States. In addition, there was a monastery of contemplative sisters in Corneto (now Tarquinia ), which Paul had founded a few years before his death, in order to promote the memory of the suffering Jesus in a life of prayer and penance, and that still exists today.
Paul of the Cross was beatified on October 1, 1852, and on 29 June 1867 by Pope Pius IX. canonized. His feast day is celebrated on October 19, earlier on 28 April.
Quotes
It is an excellent and holy exercise that passion our Lord to remember and meditate, because in this way we will achieve union with God. In this exercise, the holiest of all schools, we learn true wisdom, because here all the saints have become wise. From a letter of Saint Paul of the Cross
Works
- Paolo della Croce: The Spiritual Diary of St. Paul of the Cross. ( Translator's Martin Bialas ) Pattloch, Aschaffenburg 1976 ISBN 3-557-91123-3.
- Paolo della Croce: In the cross is salvation. A selection from his writings. ( Translator's and edited by Martin Bialas ) Benziger, Zurich 1979 ISBN 3-545-20511-8.