You're listening to the SSPX podcast.

We're happy to present True Heroes, a series of stories of the lives of the saints presented by Father Thomas Tam.

The passion of Jesus is a sea of sorrows, but it is also an ocean of love.

Ask the Lord to teach you to fish in this ocean. Dive into its depths.

No matter how deep you go, you will never reach the bottom. St. Paul of the Cross.

Hello, my friends, and welcome to True Heroes. Today we will be discussing St. Paul of the Cross and his life of extreme

and rigorous penance, which will lead him to a life of great sanctity, in which he freely conversed

with the mother of God and her divine son. Let us then begin his story. Born in Northern Italy, in Ovada on January 3,

1694, Paul Daneo lived at a time when many regarded Jesus as a great moral teacher,

but nothing more than that. His infancy and youth were spent in great innocence

and piety, and after a brief time as a soldier, he turned to prayer, developing a devotion to Christ's

passion. Paul saw in the Lord's passion a demonstration of God's love for all people.

In turn, that devotion nurtured his compassion and supported a preaching ministry that touched the hearts of many listeners.

He was known as one of the most popular preachers of his day,

both for his words and for his generous acts of mercy.

In 1720, Paul founded the Congregation of the Passion,

whose members combined devotion to Christ's passion with preaching to the

poor and rigorous penances. On November 22, 1720, the bishop vested him with the habit that had

been shown to him in a vision, which we will get to a little later.

From that point, the saint applied himself to preparing the rules of his institute,

and in 1721, he went to Rome to obtain the approbation of the Holy See.

At first he failed, but finally succeeded when Benedict XIV, approved the rules in 1741 and 1746.

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