Today is Dec. 14, the memorial of St. John of the Cross.
We pray today at Mass in the responsorial psalm, “Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.”
The year after her husband died, Paula, a wealthy Roman, set out on pilgrimage in the Holy Land. Traveling in her sizable retinue were her daughter and her confessor, St. Jerome.
In a letter written after St. Paula’s death, Jerome described her first visit to the manger. “She came to Bethlehem and entered into the cave where the Savior was born. Here, when she looked upon the inn made sacred by the virgin and the stall where ‘the ox knew his owner and the ass his master’s crib,’ and where the words of the same prophet had been fulfilled ‘Blessed is he that sows beside the waters where the ox and the ass trample the seed under their feet’: when she looked upon these things I say, she protested in my hearing that she could behold with the eyes of faith the infant Lord wrapped in swaddling clothes and crying in the manger, the wise men worshipping Him, the star shining overhead, the virgin mother, the attentive foster-father, the shepherds coming by night to see the word that had come to pass and thus even then to consecrate those opening phrases of the evangelist John, ‘In the beginning was the word and the word was made flesh.'” Her spiritual ecstasy invites us to approach the manger with the same faith and wonder. As we gaze upon the familiar Nativity scene, can we see with the eyes of faith what Paula saw?
Transforming Bethlehem into a spiritual hub
Paula decided to remain in Bethlehem. Her work transformed Bethlehem into a thriving spiritual center, bankrupting herself in the process. She established monasteries (one for women, which she ran, and one for men, led by St. Jerome) and a hostel for pilgrims. She became a master of Scripture, in part thanks to Jerome’s instruction, and was renowned for her asceticism. In fact, it is thanks to St. Paula that St. Jerome’s translation of the Bible, the Latin Vulgate, became widespread. Paula’s efforts remind us that our own resources — material and spiritual alike — can be used to build up the Kingdom of God.
Let us pray,
May the splendor of your glory dawn in our hearts, we pray, almighty God, that all shadows of the night may be scattered and we may be shown to be children of light by the advent of your Only Begotten Son. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
