Saint Paulinus of Nola, Saints John Fisher and Thomas More

Lives of the Saints

by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. edition

[1894]

June 22.—ST. PAULINUS OF NOLA.

PAULINUS was of a family which boasted of a long line of senators, prefects, and consuls. He was educated with great care, and his genius and eloquence, in prose and verse, were the admiration of St. Jerome and St. Augustine.

He had more than doubled his wealth by marriage, and was one of the foremost men of his time. Though he was the chosen friend of Saints, and had a great devotion to St. Felix of Nola, he was still only a catechumen, trying to serve two masters.

But God drew him to Himself along the way of sorrows and trials. He received baptism, withdrew into Spain to be alone, and then, in consort with his holy wife, sold all their vast estates in various parts of the empire, distributing their proceeds so prudently that St. Jerome says East and West were filled with his alms.

He was then ordained priest, and retired to Nola in Campania. There he rebuilt the Church of St. Felix with great magnificence, and served it night and day, living a life of extreme abstinence and toil.

In 409 he was chosen bishop, and for more than thirty years so ruled as to be conspicuous in an age blessed with many great and wise bishops. St. Gregory the Great tells us that when the Vandals of Africa had made a descent on Campania, Paulinus spent all he had in relieving the distress of his people and redeeming them from slavery. At last there came a poor widow; her only son had been carried off by the son-in-law of the Vandal king. “Such as I have I give thee,” said the Saint to her; “we will go to Africa, and I will give myself for your son.”

Having overborne her resistance, they went, and Paulinus was accepted in place of the widow’s son, and employed as gardener. After a time the king found out, by divine interposition, that his son-in-law’s slave was the great Bishop of Nola. He at once set him free, granting him also the freedom of all the townsmen of Nola who were in slavery.

One who knew him well says he was meek as Moses, priestlike as Aaron, innocent as Samuel, tender as David, wise as Solomon, apostolic as Peter, loving as John, cautious as Thomas, keen-sighted as Stephen, fervent as Apollos. He died in 431.

Reflection.—”Go to Campania,” writes St. Augustine; “there study Paulinus, that choice servant of God. With what generosity, with what still greater humility, he has flung from him the burden of this world’s grandeurs to take on him the yoke of Christ, and in His service how serene and unobtrusive his life!”

Saint Paulinus of Nola, Bishop; Saints John Fisher, Bishop, and Thomas More, Martyrs 2 Cor 11:1-11/Mt 6:7-15 (368).

https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/saints/paulinus-of-nola-724
CATHOLICISM SAINTS ST. PAULINUS OF NOLA

https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/saints/john-fisher-637
CATHOLICISM SAINTS ST. JOHN FISHER

https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/saints/thomas-more-787
CATHOLICISM SAINTS ST. THOMAS MORE

*St. Thomas More (Detail) – Rubens.

Saint Thomas More was the High Chancellor of England, who was martyred and executed at Tower Hill in London because he would not approve of Henry VIII’s divorce and remarriage and the establishment of the Church of England. He is described as “A Man For All Seasons.” Artwork by the master Peter Paul Rubens.

*Paulinus of Nola (/pɔːˈlaɪnəs/; Latin: Paulinus Nolanus; also Anglicized as Pauline of Nola; c. 354 – 22 June 431) born Pontius Meropius Anicius Paulinus, was a Roman poet, writer, and senator who attained the ranks of suffect consul (c. 377) and governor of Campania (c. 380–81) but—following the assassination of the emperor Gratian and under the influence of his Spanish wife Therasia of Nola—abandoned his career, was baptized as a Christian, and probably after Therasia’s death became bishop of Nola in Campania. While there, he wrote poems in honor of his predecessor St Felix and corresponded with other Christian leaders throughout the empire. He is credited with the introduction of bells to Christian worship and helped resolve the disputed election of Pope Boniface I. His renunciation of his wealth and station in favor of an ascetic and philanthropic life was held up as an example by many of his contemporaries—including SS Augustine, Jerome, Martin, and Ambrose—and he was subsequently venerated as a saint. His relics became a focus of pilgrimage, but were removed from Nola sometime between the 11th and 20th centuries. His feast day is observed on 22 June in both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. In Nola, the entire week around his feast day is celebrated as the Festival of the Lilies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulinus_of_Nola

*John Fisher (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535) was an English Catholic bishop, cardinal, and theologian. Fisher was also an academic and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI.

Fisher was executed by order of Henry VIII during the English Reformation for refusing to accept him as the supreme head of the Church of England and for upholding the Catholic Church‘s doctrine of papal supremacy. He was named a cardinal shortly before his death. He is honored as a martyr and saint by the Catholic Church. He shares his feast day with Thomas More on 22 June in the Catholic calendar of saints and on 6 July in that of the Church of England.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Fisher

*Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord High Chancellor of England from October 1529 to May 1532. He wrote Utopia, published in 1516, which describes the political system of an imaginary island state.

More opposed the Protestant Reformation, directing polemics against the theology of Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin and William Tyndale. More also opposed Henry VIII’s separation from the Catholic Church, refusing to acknowledge Henry as supreme head of the Church of England and the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. After refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy, he was convicted of treason and executed. On his execution, he was reported to have said: “I die the King’s good servant, and God’s first”.

Pope Pius XI canonized More in 1935 as a martyr. Pope John Paul II in 2000 declared him the patron saint of statesmen and politicians.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_More

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  

Jn 20:21