Saint Who?
Saints Who Were Poets
Saint Paulinus of Nola
Bishop († 431)Feast: June 22
“The man without Christ is dust and shadow.” Paulinus was the son of the Roman prefect of Gaul. He studied law and quickly rose to a high position, becoming governor of Campania. The simple devotion of the inhabitants to the martyr Felix had a profound impact on Paulinus. He sought instruction in the faith, which he received from Saint Ambrose in Milan. He maintained a loving devotion to Saint Felix ever after.
Paulinus and his wife, Therasia, eventually settled near the basilica of Saint Felix in Nola, Spain. Having lost their only child as a tiny infant, they increased their prayer and good works. Committing to live as brother and sister, they gave away more and more of their property and personally cared for the needy and enslaved. Saint Jerome said that Paulinus’ alms filled both East and West.
He was ordained a priest, and some years later became Bishop of Nola. A talented writer, he authored many poems and hymns, including one of the earliest extant Christian wedding songs. When an old teacher, a pagan poet, reproved him for abandoning literature, he replied that he had not abandoned poetry but ennobled it: “To my mind the only art is the faith, and Christ is my poetry.” Paulinus died in 431.
Heavenly Father, may devotion to your saints
lead us to embrace the beauty of holiness.
