Paula and Eustochium of Rome

Paula was born in Rome in 347 into one of the great noble families of the Roman world. She traced her ancestry back to Cornelia Africana, the mother of the Gracchi, who had long been remembered as the model of the devoted Roman matron. Just as Cornelia regarded her sons as her greatest treasures, Paula would become an example of another kind—the Desert Mother who surrendered earthly wealth in order to serve God.

Paula married while still young and became the mother of five children. Widowed at the age of thirty-two, she had known all the comforts and privileges of Roman aristocratic life. But after the death of her husband, her life began to change dramatically. Inspired by the example of Marcella, whom the Church commemorates on January 31, Paula devoted herself to prayer, rigorous spiritual discipline, and the care of the poor and needy. Both Paula and Marcella eventually turned their great Roman homes into places of Christian community, gathering around them widows and women who had dedicated themselves to a life of prayer and service.

In 382, Paula met Jerome, who had come to Rome at the invitation of Bishop Damasus and was staying in the home of Marcella. Paula and her daughter Eustochium quickly became devoted students and friends of this brilliant but famously difficult scholar. Jerome was known for his sharp tongue and fierce temper, and Paula and Eustochium became among those closest to him. They often reminded him of the gentleness and humility that Christ calls his followers to show.

Although members of her noble family encouraged Eustochium to marry, she chose instead, under Jerome’s spiritual guidance, to dedicate her life entirely to God and made a vow of perpetual virginity. Jerome later wrote his well-known work De custodia virginitatis for her instruction and encouragement.

Paula and Eustochium were not merely patrons of Jerome’s work. They were serious students of Scripture in their own right. Both were fluent in Greek and, under Jerome’s instruction, became students of Hebrew as well. When Jerome eventually left Rome and returned to the East, Paula and Eustochium followed him. After making a pilgrimage through the Holy Land, they settled with him in Bethlehem.

There Paula used her wealth to establish four monasteries—one for men, directed by Jerome, and three for women under her own leadership. Bethlehem became their home and a center of prayer, study, hospitality, and biblical scholarship.

Their love for Scripture continued to deepen. Paula and Eustochium asked Jerome difficult and thoughtful questions that helped lead him to write many of his biblical commentaries. Paula also encouraged him persistently to undertake the enormous task of producing a new Latin translation of the Bible from the original languages. That translation eventually became known as the Vulgate.

Paula supplied Jerome with books and other resources needed for his work, while she and Eustochium reviewed his translations, suggested revisions, and helped edit his writings. The women living in their communities also served as scribes, making copies of the completed works so that they could be circulated. Paula and Eustochium were, therefore, far more than admirers standing in the background. They were colleagues and essential partners in the work that produced the Latin Vulgate.

Paula guided the communities at Bethlehem for about twenty years, until her death in 404. Jerome, deeply grieving the loss of his friend and companion in ministry, wrote in his eulogy for her: “If all the members of my body were turned into tongues and all my joints were to utter human voices, I should be unable to say anything worthy of the holy and venerable Paula.”

After Paula’s death, Eustochium assumed responsibility for the monasteries and continued the work begun by her mother. She remained in Bethlehem until her own death around 419 or 420. Her niece, also named Paula, was with her at the end and then continued the leadership of the communities.

The lives of Paula and Eustochium remind us that some of the greatest works of the early Church were not accomplished by famous bishops and theologians alone. Behind Jerome’s monumental work stood two remarkable women whose faith, learning, generosity, persistence, and devotion to Holy Scripture helped give generations of Christians access to the Word of God.