Paula and Eustochium of Rome
“Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.”
Luke 8:1-3
Today, Sept. 28, is the day set aside in the church calendar to honor and remember Paula and Eustochium of Rome. Paula was born into a wealthy family in the year 347 A.D. At an early age, she married a nobleman and had a family with him. She bore five children, one of whom was her daughter, Eustochium. Paula was widowed at age 32 and although she cared for her family, she became increasingly interested in the study of religion.
In the year 382, through her study group, Paula met St. Jerome. She and Eustochium began studying with Jerome and followed him on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. “The three of them settled in Bethlehem and there Paula had four monasteries erected – one for men, over which Jerome presided, and three for women.”[i] While in Bethlehem, Paula and Eustochium continued to study Scripture and assist Jerome in his writing. “Paula presided over the Bethlehem monasteries for twenty years until her death in 404.”[ii] Eustochium then led the monasteries until she died in 419 or 420.
In the passage from Luke’s Gospel appointed for today, several women are named as followers of Jesus. Of the many people mentioned in the Bible, a smaller number are mentioned by name. Usually, when a person is named in the Bible, it is because they are important, or their purpose or ministry is important. In a time when women were not recognized publicly as leaders in society, Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna were women who supported Jesus, the disciples and their work spreading the Good News of the kingdom of God. Likewise, the work that Paula and Eustochium did, their study and their support of Jerome and local clergy were extraordinary.
How can we use the gifts that we possess to help spread the Good News of the kingdom of God? We might not think that we have the appropriate status in the world to influence others and make a dramatic difference. Yet, like those early women — both the followers of Jesus and Paula and Eustochium in the fifth century — we should strive to use whatever gifts we possess to spread the good news of Jesus Christ.
Collect for Paula and Eustochium
Compel us, O God, to attend diligently to your Word, as did your faithful servants Paula and Eustochium, that, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we may find it profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness; and that thereby we may be made wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen
“Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018,” page 431
[i] Episcopal Church, “Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018,” (2019), pg. 430
[ii] Ibid.
