St. Paul of the Cross was born on 3 January 1694

  his Feast Day is the 19^th of October.

The following is an abridged  version of a  homily once given by  Fr. Brian Traynor CP.

Paul Danei was born above his father’s tobacco shop in Ovada, 50k north-west of Genoa in 1694. He was the eldest of 16 children of whom nine died as infants.  These early experiences with death clearly influenced his developing spirituality. 

As a layman, Paul was employed by his bishop to conduct retreats for priests and seminarians. Later he became a retreat director, spiritual guide, preacher, and even confessor to the Pope.  He frequently established small prayer groups after his parish missions so that the enthusiasm of the occasion would not be lost.  He saw living a community life as vital to his vocation.  He founded the Passionists in l721, but he had to overcome many obstacles in the ensuing years to gain full approval from Rome for his Rule of Life.   In his first rule, Paul called for Passionists to promote the living memory of the Passion in the hearts of people, to live a life like the apostles (going out to proclaim the good news and returning to solitude with Jesus), to live together in joy, harmony and peace, and to assist the church in its apostolic mission.

Paul speaks of the Passion of Jesus as “the  most overwhelming sign of God’s love”.  Rather than nominate particular pastoral activities as the ‘works of the congregation’, Paul saw the primary ministry of Passionists as “promoting the living memory of the Passion”, and in fact this is their first vow.  In order to do this, Paul spoke of the need to establish an effective relationship with the person of Jesus, in his suffering.

 As Paul and his followers preached among the poor and illiterate, he directed them “not to preach in a lofty manner that the people cannot understand”.  This resulted in Passionists deliberately seeking to be down to earth and practical in their instruction and apostolic preaching. Paul was renowned spiritual director and he wrote very practical advice that reflected the confidence one must have in God.

Paul was described by some writers as ‘the greatest missionary of his time’ and by others as the ‘the greatest contemplative’.  It was the blending of these aspects of Christian tradition that made his Rule of Life unique.  Passionists were called to live in ‘Retreats’ where they prayed, studied & prepared for their labours, or rested after them.  They were called to pray & recreate in common and this strong bond of community life is central to their witness to people living in community.

 Paul saw that an active apostolic life can only be sustained by a life of prayer and contemplation. There are many lessons for  us all in these basic elements of Paul’s life:

Live with a total openness to God’s will and a seeking to shape one’s life by reflecting the self-giving love of Jesus highlighted in his passion and death (on the Cross).  In this way one seeks to hand everything over to God.

Develop a life of prayer & solitude seeking to experience God’s total and personal love.

Create a ‘retreat’ environment where one can rest from labour, reflect on and share about God’s loving presence, and prepare to enter work or ministry ‘with the spirit of Jesus’.  This environment (e.g. the home) is ideally built around ‘community’, ‘family’.