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The saints

St. Paul of the Cross

The founder of the Passionists, who preached the cross and felt far from God for decades.

Feast: 20 October · 1694 to 1775 · Reformation and missions · Genoa, Monte Argentario and Rome

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Painting of St. Paul of the Cross in a black habit with the Passionist badge, holding a crucifix.

Plet philippe, 2005. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Home / The saints / St. Paul of the Cross

Monte Argentario, Italy

Paul Danei had a vision calling him to found a congregation devoted to the Passion of Jesus.1

He wore a black habit with a heart and the words Passion of Jesus Christ.1

The Passionists preached missions, especially to the poor, telling of Christ’s suffering and love.

Patronage No official patronage we can cite yet. The Church remembers him as the founder of the Passionists.

01St. Paul of the Cross

Fifty years of dryness

For around fifty years he felt dryness and darkness in prayer, and kept going.1

Live it this week

Carry a crucifix

Paul preached the Passion everywhere. Carry a small crucifix in your pocket this week, and when you touch it, say thank you to Jesus for one specific thing.

Notes

How we know · 1 source for this page
  1. Franciscan Media, Saint of the Day: “Saint Paul of the Cross”. franciscanmedia.org. franciscanmedia.org

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain); Verse numbers are modern, with Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.

Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.