Paul of the Cross, born Paolo Francesco Danei, was an Italian Catholic mystic and founder of the Passionists - order of Barefooted Clerks of the Holy Cross and Passion
He was the second of 16 children, only 6 survived infancy. As a child he was taught by a priest who kept a school for boys in Cremolino.
In his early years he taught catechism in the churches near his home.
He experienced a conversion to a life of pray aged 19. It became his lifelong conviction that God is most easily found in the Passion of Christ.
In 1715 he left working for his father in his dry-goods store to join a crusade against the Turks. He quickly realized he did not want to be a soldier and returned to working for his father.
In 1720 he had a series of prayer experiences which made it clear to him that he was to form a community (it became a congregation) A legend tells that in a vision he saw himself clothed in a habit which he and his companions would wear.
His bishop clothed him in the black habit of a hermit. He wrote the Rule for the community during a 40 day retreat at the end of 1720. The community were to live a penitential life, in solitude and poverty, teaching people in the easiest possible was how to meditate on the Passion of Christ.
Paul’s first companion was his brother John Baptist. They helped Cardinal Corrandini establish a new hospital. They devoted their energies to providing nursing care and administered pastoral care to both a patients and staff. X!
In 1727 they were both Pope Benedict X111. They devoted themselves to preaching missions in parishes. Paul was a popular preacher. He also had the gifts of healing and prophecy.
In 1737 the first Retreat ( the name Passionists gave to their monasteries) was opened.
Paul wrote more than 2,000 letters, most of them letters of spiritual direction, have been preserved,
There was a steady growth. By the time he died in 1775, some 38 years later, the congregation had 180 fathers and brothers, living in 12 Retreats mostly in the Papal States. There was also a monastery of contemplative nuns.
In 2020 there were 1,890 members - including 1,423 priests. The Passionists official name is the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ.
Sources
Wikipedia
Encyclopedia of Saints by Howard Loxton
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