Before he was a saint, Paulinus was rich — a Roman senator, a poet, a man with every door open to him. Then grace took hold, and he spent the rest of his life giving it back: his wealth to the poor, his estates sold, his energy poured out ransoming captives until, the old story says, he offered himself in exchange for a widow’s son.
He became bishop of Nola and is remembered for a charity that never counted the cost. It is an uncomfortable feast for a comfortable age. What would we give away, if we believed what we say we believe?
A candle lit in a home that tries, in small ways, to hold its things a little more loosely.
Feature: Chrisma