Saint Paula

Saint Paula
Saint Paula with her nuns - 17th century. Painting of André Reinoso in Hieronymites Monastery, Lisbon, Portugal.
Patroness of the Order of Saint Jerome
Born	347 AD Ancient Rome
Died	26 January 404 AD Bethlehem
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church Roman Catholic Church
Feast	January 26
Attributes	Depicted as a Hieronymite abbess with a book; depicted as a pilgrim, often with St. Jerome and St. Eustochium; depicted prostrate before the cave at Bethlehem; depicted embarking in a ship, while a child calls from the shore; weeping over her children; with the instruments of the Passion; holding a scroll with Saint Jerome's epistle Cogite me Paula; with a book and a black veil fringed with gold; or with a sponge in her hand.
Patronage	widows; Order of Saint Jerome monks and nuns.
Influenced	by Saint Jerome
Tradition or genre	Desert Mothers

Saint Paula of Rome (347 – 404 AD), was an ancient Roman saint and early Desert Mother.

A member of one of the richest senatorial families which claimed descent from Agamemnon, Paula was the daughter of Blesilla and Rogatus, from the great clan of the Furii Camilli. In her mid teens, Paula was married to the nobleman Toxotius, with whom she had four daughters, Blaesilla, Paulina, , and Rufina. She also had a boy, also named Toxotius. Information about Paula's early life is recorded by Saint Jerome. In his Letter 108, he states that she had led a luxurious life and held a great status. She dressed in silks, and had been carried about the city by her eunuch slaves.

At the age of 32, Paula was widowed. She continued to dedicate herself to her family, but became more interested in religion as time went on.

Through the influence of Saint Marcella and her group, Paula became an enthusiastic member of this semi-monastic group of women. In 382, she met Saint Jerome, who had come to Rome with Saint Epiphanius and Bishop Paulinus of Antioch. Born in Dalmatia, Jerome had studied in Rome as a youth and had traveled to Germany and Aquileia, and for some years had lived in the East as an ascetic and scholar.

While on pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Egypt, she settled in Bethlehem and established a monastery for men and a convent for women.