2008 PASSIONIST CHARISM RESOURCES - Passionists

ST. PAUL OF THE CROSS
The 2008 Passionist Charism Resources reflect on the life, spirituality and teachings of St. Paul
of the Cross, by means of a selection of readings from the book “St. Paul of the Cross, Founder
of the Passionists”, by Fr. Charles Alméras.
Charles Alméras was a French priest who studied at the Catholic Institute of Toulouse, received
a Ph.D. from the Sorbonne, and has pubished several historical works as well as novels in
France.
St. Paul of the Cross by Charles Alméras is the definite biography of one of the most remarkable
spiritual figures of the Passionist Order.
From earliest youth, St. Paul had an extraordinary humility and great devotion to the Passion of
Jesus Christ. When he became a religious, he preached love of the Cross, with all its sorrows
and sufferings, as a way toward spiritual perfection and the salvation of souls, and personally
practised what he preached with eloquence. His life was noted for the astonishing severities he
embraced as a means toward greater humility and charity, austerities that mortified the flesh
and led to a liminous increase in holiness which attracted followers wherever he journeyed.
In this sensitive and dramatic biography, Father Alméras records St. Paul’s struggles to
establish his own perfection and to found a great religious order. He tells of the external life of
St. Paul, of his travels, the magnificent sermons he preached, and of his great reputation for
sanctity throughout Italy. Father Alméras plumbs the amazing spiritual depths of St. Paul of the
Cross as few biographers have done. The result is a biography which will be accepted as the
outstanding study of St. Paul. A distinguished Passionist says of it: “It is a work of scholarship
and literary distinction which shows a profound appreication of St. Paul of the Cross and the
Passionist Congregation.”
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