Paula of Rome (AD 347–404) was an ancient Roman Christian saint and early Desert Mother. A member of one of the richest senatorial families which claimed descent from Agamemnon, Paula was the daughter of Blesilla and Rogatus, from the great clan of the Furii Camilli. At the age of 16, Paula was married to the nobleman Toxotius, with whom she had four daughters, Blaesilla, Paulina, Eustochium, and Rufina. She also had a boy, also named Toxotius. Disciple of St. Jerome, she is considered the first nun in the history of Christianity.
Life
Information about Paula's early life is recorded by St. Jerome. In his Letter 108, he states that she had led a luxurious life and held a great status. She dressed in silks, and had been carried about the city by her eunuch slaves.
Entering the religious life
At the age of 32, Paula was widowed. She continued to dedicate herself to her family, but became more interested in religion as time went on.
Through the influence of Marcella and her group, Paula became an enthusiastic member of this semi-monastic group of women. She met and learned from Paulinus, bishop of Antioch and Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis In 382, she met Jerome, who had come to Rome with Epiphanius and Paulinus of Antioch. Born in Dalmatia, Jerome had studied in Rome as a youth and had traveled to Germany and Aquileia, and for some years had lived in the East as an ascetic and scholar.
While on pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Egypt, with Jerome and her daughter, Eustochium, she visited monks and other ascetics including Paulinus of Nola, Melania the Elder, Rufinus of Aquileia and Isidore the Confessor. She then settled in Bethlehem and established a monastery for men and a convent for women and a hostel for pilgrims. The monks' monastery was run by men with Jerome living and writing in one of its cells and Paula was abbess of the nuns.
Family
Paula married her daughter, Paulina (d. 395), to the senator Pammachius; Blesilla soon became a widow and died in 384. Of her two other daughters, Rufina died in 386, and Eustochium accompanied her mother to the Orient where she died in 419. Eustochium succeeded Paula as abbess and Paula the Younger (Paula's granddaughter) succeeded Eustochium. Paula's son, Toxotius, at first not a Christian, but baptized in 385, married in 389 Laeta, daughter of the pagan priest Albinus. Of this marriage was born Paula the Younger, who in 404 rejoined Eustochium in the Holy Land and in 420 closed the eyes of Jerome. These are the names which recur frequently in the letters of Jerome, where they are inseparable from that of Paula. It has been argued that Eustochius of Tours was the brother of Paula the Younger and the son of Toxotius.
Pilgrimage
A year after the death of her husband, Paula pursued a pilgrimage to tour all of the holy sites, traveling with large entourages of both men and women including her daughter Eustochium and Jerome himself. Paula could undertake this voyage due to her widow status which left her a significant fortune allowing her exemption from remarriage. Additionally, having had a male heir and two married daughters provided supplementary financial insurance. Her travels are documented by Jerome in his later writing addressed to Eustochium which discusses how Paula participated in the environments they toured. He discusses that Paula exemplified an intimate and emotional connection with the sights, experiencing visual vividness of biblical events at each locale. Concluding her journey, Paula decided to remain in Bethlehem to develop a monastery and spiritual retreat with Jerome.
Monastery establishment
Once settled in Bethlehem, Paula and Jerome built a double monastery including one for Paula and her nuns and another for Jerome and his monks. The addition of a roadside hostel was also constructed to serve as an economic source to fund the monasteries. This development took three years to complete and was primarily sourced by Paula who, during this time of construction, stayed at another double monastery called Mount Olives.
Once completed, the monastery segregated each gender from one another during manual labor and meals, but practiced prayer in the same locale. Additional separation, within the nun monastery, included three different communities of women based on social rank who were divided in separate living quarters.