Loss Can Lead To Gain

Saint Paulinus of Nola (ca. 354-431) was praised by such well-known contemporaries as Saints Augustine, Jerome, Melania, Martin, Gregory the Great, and Ambrose. Born near Bordeaux, he was the son of the Roman prefect of Gaul, who had extensive property in both Gaul and Italy. Paulinus became a distinguished lawyer, held several public offices in the Roman Empire, and is considered one of the most important Christian Latin poets of his time. With his Spanish wife, Therasia, he retired at an early age to a life of cultured leisure. As the wealthy and privileged son of the Roman prefect of Gaul, Paulinus and Therasia moved to her estate in Spain. They seemed to have it all. After many childless years, they had a son who died a week after birth. That loss changed them profoundly, and was their beginning of a life of great austerity and charity, giving away most of their Spanish property to charity (to the displeasure of their relatives) and turned their residence into a shelter for the wayward poor. Perhaps as a result of that great example, Paulinus was rather unexpectedly ordained a priest at Christmas by the bishop of Barcelona, and later made bishop of Nola – a town in Naples – by popular demand. Reflect on the losses in your own life. Ask God to help you transform your pain into compassionate outreach to others.

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