Paulinus of Nola, bishop – June 22nd
St Paulinus of Nola (d. 431, Sicily) (Relics: Nola, Italy; Sutera, Sicily)
First Class Relics
Cattedrale di Nola (Cathedral of Nola)
Piazza Duomo 1
80035 Nola, Italy
*Annually on June 22nd crowds of people fill the square in front of this church to celebrate the feast of St Paulinus. A silver bust of the saint is processed into the crowd and eight festive obelisks and an ornamental wooden boat are blessed. The obelisks and boat harken back to a legendary story of the saint. It is said that as Barbarian tribes were invading Italy, St Paulinus offered to be taken captive in exchange for the return of a widow’s son. This action of selfless love is said to have so impressed the leader of this invading party that he chose to grant St Paulinus his freedom. St Paulinus then returned to Italy and was warmly welcomed by the people of Nola.
*Apart from this celebration relics of St Paulinus rest within this church in the fourth chapel on the left side of the nave.
Santuario di San Paolino
(Sanctuary of Saint Paulinus)
Via Madonna del Monte
93010 Sutera, Sicily, Italy
*Relics of St Paulinus of Nola are said to rest within an urn in this church. They are carried in procession annually on the Tuesday after Easter.
*This shrine claims to have received its relics of St Paulinus of Nola in 1336. It is believed that they came from the remains that had been at San Bartolomeo all’Isola in Rome, Italy.
Churches of Honor in Rome
San Bartolomeo all'Isola
(Saint Bartholomew on the Island)
Piazza San Bartolomeo, Tiber Island
Rome, Italy
*This church housed the relics of St Paulinus of Nola for about 1000 years until they were transferred to the Italian city of Nola in 1909.
*Relics of the apostle, St Bartholomew, rest within the red porphyry basin that supports the main altar.
*Enshrined in each of the side altars are relics of recent martyrs from around the world.
*The Holy Roman Emperor, Otto III, began building San Bartolomeo all’Isola in 998 to honor his friend St Adalbert (d. 997) who had recently been martyred. An arm of St Adalbert is currently enshrined in the chapel to the left of the main sanctuary. It rests within a little metal box placed under the altar of this chapel.
