ST. PAUL OF THE CROSS

He was born January 3, 1694 in Ovada, Italy.  From his early years he had a compassionate love for the Crucified Christ.  When he first felt the call to follow Christ, it was as a hermit.  Then he felt the desire to gather companions and finally he was convinced that he was called to found a congregation.  Contemplation and preaching of the Crucified were to be the form of the essential charism of the congregation.  It was a long and arduous road for St. Paul, but the congregation was finally approved.

MOTHER MARY CRUCIFIED

She was born in Corneto, now called Tarquinia, Italy in 1713. She was a Benedictine nun and spiritual directee of St. Paul of the Cross whom she met in 1738. She had to wait a long time for the Passionist Nuns to be founded in 1771. She had to travel alone in her desert of life, with only the candle-like flame of trust to light her way.