St Paul of the Cross

Paul’s family were merchants; they bought and sold things in his community. They were good people who tried hard to follow what the Catholic Church teaches. When Paul turned 19 years old, he decided to become a soldier with the Italian army. After only 1 year he knew being a soldier was not what God wanted him to do with his life. He started have visions in his dreams about beginning a new order of priests, but he didn’t know what to do about these dreams - he wasn’t a priest and he didn’t know if this was God trying to speak to him. He asked his Bishop to help him figure out what God was trying to tell him and the Bishop said that he believed God wanted him to begin this new order. So Paul started the order called the Barefoot Clerks of the Cross and the Passion (known as the Passionists). Paul, his brother, John, and two other men were ordained priests and took the vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and devotion to the passion of Christ. The order grew quickly and spread throughout Italy. The priests spent their time preaching and teaching people about the passion and death of Jesus Christ, helping them see the beautiful gift that God gave us in His Son Jesus. Paul worked hard his whole life to spread the Gospel of Jesus’ love for us and he died when he was 81 years old.