Ne 8, 2-4. 5-6. 8-10; Ps 18; 1 Cor 12, 12-31; Luke 1, 1-4; 4, 14-21.
Belonging to a very rich family of the high Roman aristocracy. Paola was born in Rome in 347. At fifteen she married Tossozio, a noble of her rank: a happy marriage, hers, enlivened by the birth of four daughters (Blesilla, Paolina, Eustochio and Ruffina) and a son called with the same name as his father. Unfortunately, however, at only 32 years old, Paola found herself a widow and combined with caring for her family various charitable commitments: her palace hosted meetings, prayer meetings and meetings to study Christian doctrine, and initiatives for the poor. With Eustochio he then decides to join the cenacle that Saint Marcella had created on the Aventine, realizing an ascetic ideal of denial of the vanities of the world and of high religious culture. In 382, coming from the Holy Land, Girolamo arrived in Rome and became a collaborator of Pope Damasus. He is a passionate popularizer of ascetic ideals, and thanks to his excellent cultural preparation he also has a strong influence in the circle of Marcella and Paola, to whom he communicates his passion for the Holy Scriptures. In 384 Paola’s daughter, Blesilla, dies, and then also Pope Damasus. Jerome then returns to Palestine to dedicate himself to the work that was so dear to the pontiff, and which would occupy him until his death: giving the Church the Bible in a correct and complete version in Latin, the so-called Vulgate. The following year Paola also left for the East, accompanied by Eustochio, while in Rome Paolina took care of Ruffina and Tossozio. He visits the Holy Land and then the region of Egypt where the Desert Fathers retreated, then goes to Bethlehem and stops here forever, spending his wealth to create a house for pilgrims and two monasteries: in the male one Jerome will work until his death, while Paola forms a community under her guidance in the female one. And here he died on January 26, 406 at the age of 59, entrusting the fifty nuns to his daughter Eustochio.
