(ABOUT A.D. 649.)
[Roman Martyrology, Usuardus, &c. Authority:--A very ancient
anonymous life, of which Restarius, Canon of S. Vito, who flourished
in 887, made use in his "Hist. brevis episcoporum Virdunensium."]
This saint, a native of Autun, and not, as some have maintained, of
Flanders, was of noble birth. He received an excellent education in
his youth, whereby his parents, unintentionally, prepared him for the
service of the church, their desire being that he should distinguish
himself in the world. But he, despising the pomps and pleasures of a
secular life, retired into the Vosges mountains, and lived as a hermit
on that mountain which has since borne his name, the Paulsberg, within
sight of Trèves. On one occasion, having visited the monastery of
Tholey, near S. Wendelin, he was so moved by the piety of the monks,
and their earnest desire to number him amongst them, that he entered
the monastery, where he soon endeared himself to all the brethren by
his gentleness and holy example. Amongst the pupils at Tholey was
Grimo, a kinsman of king Dagobert, on whose property the monastery was
situated. On the death of Ermenfried, bishop of Verdun, on the
recommendation of Grimo, Paul was nominated to the vacant see. He
found that on account of the disorder of the times, his church was in
the most profound debasement. The cathedral was without clergy to
celebrate mass and recite the psalter, and it was served occasionally
by a priest who visited it at wide intervals, and was unendowed. The
bishop at once sent for his friend and patron, Grimo, and exposed to
him the spiritual and temporal distress; and by the intercession of
Grimo with Dagobert, the king, Paul was provided with land, by means
of which he could support a staff of clergy. By his diligence and zeal
he was enabled, before he died, to organise the diocese, and to
provide for its spiritual supervision.
In Art, he is represented, for some unknown reason, with a taper in
his hand, also with an oven, for he is said to have been baker at
Tholey for the community, and to have, on one occasion, gone into the
oven to place the loaves, when the shovel was lost.