Paulinus of Nola, in a letter to Sulpicius Severus of c. 396 (Letter 5), invites him to join Paulinus at Nola (southern Italy), under the protection of *Felix (priest and confessor of Nola, S00000). Written in Latin at Nola.
Evidence ID
E05092
Type of Evidence
Literary - Letters
Major author/Major anonymous work
Paulinus of Nola
Paulinus of Nola, Letter 5.15 (to Sulpicius Severus)
Summary:
Paulinus invites Sulpicius Severus to travel from Gaul and join him and his community in Nola. The community is defined by its vicinity to Felix’s tomb, and the saint is referred to as its patron (patronus).
Summary: Frances Trzeciak.
Cult PlacesBurial site of a saint - tomb/grave
Non Liturgical ActivityVisiting graves and shrines
Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityVisiting graves and shrines
Saint as patron - of a community
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - lesser clergy
Source
Letter 5 in the letter collection of Paulinus of Nola (ob. 431). It is one of many letters which Paulinus addressed to aristocratic and ascetic Roman circles in the later fourth and early fifth centuries. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Paulinus did not curate a collection of his letters: instead collections were compiled by friends and admirers.This letter dates from roughly 396 and in it Paulinus invites his friend Sulpicius Severus, who was based in Primuliacum (modern Prémillac) in southern Gaul, to join him in Nola. This was not the only time Paulinus would make such a request; yet Severus did not join him. In later letters Paulinus expresses impatience over this, and even suggests that Severus’ unwillingness to even visit Nola is disrespectful to Felix (see $E02874).
Discussion
For a fuller discussion of Paulinus’ desire to characterise Felix as a special protector of Nola and its surrounding area, see E04767.Bibliography
EditionHartel, W., Sancti Pontii Meropii Paulini Epistulae, 2nd ed., revised M. Kamptner (Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 29; Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna, 1999).
Translation
Walsh, P.G., Letters of St. Paulinus of Nola, vol. 1 (Ancient Christian Writers 35; Westminster MD: Newman Press, 1967).
Further Reading
Conybeare, Catherine, Paulinus Noster: Self and Symbols in the Letters of Paulinus of Nola (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).
Trout, Dennis, Paulinus of Nola: Life, Letters and Poems (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999).
Record Created By
Frances Trzeciak
Date of Entry
19/02/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00000 | Felix, priest and confessor of Nola | Felix | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Frances Trzeciak, Cult of Saints, E05092 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E05092