On these pages you will find some specific information about the Passionists.  It includes a brief history of the Passionists, a short biography of our founder, St. Paul of the Cross, an explanation of the Passionist Sign, information about Passionist Associates and a Passionist links page that will give you an idea of the scope and mission of the Passionists worldwide.  Following is a summary of some of the material, but please visit the individual pages as well for more details and some really great Passionist links.  You can use the navigation buttons on the left or the hyperlinks in the above text.

The icon above shows the Founder of the Passionists, St. Paul of the Cross, inviting us to focus our hearts on Christ the Spouse, the King of Glory and of utmost humility: these are the titles we can observe on the small icon of the Passion which he is presenting with his right hand. The black gown symbolizes the mourning heart of one who contemplates the Crucified One. The red stole indicates he’s a priest and the staff shows he’s a missionary of the Gospel. In his left hand he holds the Rule of life for his followers

Our Founder Paolo (Paul) Danei was born at Ovada, Province of Alessandria in NW Italy on January 3rd 1694.  Brought up in a pious Christian family, his early life was characterized by a number of courageous and hardly run-of-the-mill options. At 18 he decided he'd live a holy and perfect life. In 1715 he enrolled in the Venetian forces engaged in a holy crusade against the Ottoman Turks. However, just before setting out, he came to realize God was calling him to something quite different.

In 1718 he renounced a substantial inheritance as well as marriage as he sought to deepen his spiritual experience and better determine his life's true vocation. And so, in 1720, vested in a rough black tunic and barefoot, and begins a long and solitary period of intense reflection, meditation and penance, in the course of which he clearly comes to see he's being called by the Spirit to proclaim God's immense love and mercy revealed to us through the Cross of Jesus Christ.  Hence his future religious title, "Paul of the Cross".  Between the 2nd and 7th December of that year he writes down his Rule for a future Passionist Congregation.

Two years later he withdrew to a hermitage on Monte Argentario, close to Orbetello, together with his brother John Baptist. During the next few years he moved to various places in central and southern Italy as he patiently awaited the pontifical approval of his new Institute.

Ordained a priest in 1727, he begins an intense itinerant missionary activity at parishes in different parts of Italy and, in 1737 he opens the very first Passionist community (known as a "retreat") on Monte Argentario.

At long last, in 1741, Pope Benedict XIV approves his Rule for the new Congregation. Very soon afterwards Paul takes in new companions and founds a string of retreats and his Congregation begins to grow and thrive. Paul never ceases to preach, covering many parts of the country, all the while counseling and directing souls through an incredible number of letters.

Toward the end of his days, in 1771, he founded the first monastery for Passionist nuns at Tarquinia, in the province of Viterbo. Paul of the Cross breathed his last on October 18th 1775 at his General House of Saints John and Paul in Rome where he had shortly before gone to live. Pope Pius IX declared Paul a saint the 29th June of 1867. His relics lie in an amazingly beautiful chapel dedicated to him adjacent to the basilica of Ss. John & Paul. Many consider him the greatest mystic of the 18th Century.

The Passionist vocation The Passionist Family was founded, as we saw above, by St. Paul of the Cross, who passed on to his followers the challenge to communicate to the world God's infinite love for us all, as manifested in the Passion and death of his Son.

With a special vow to promote the living memory of the Passion of Christ, Passionists, faithful to their holy Founder's charism, reside in fraternal communities where their members are dedicated to prayer and the ministry, principally but not only in the form of itinerant mission preaching, retreats, spiritual direction and chaplaincies, as well as staffing a good many parishes. They strive to live simply in a spirit of poverty, thus reminding people that an inordinate desire for possessions can be overcome through the far greater joy of giving.

Well aware that the Passion of Jesus continues in the world of our day, the sons of St. Paul of the Cross are ever intent upon sharing in the anxieties and problems of their brothers and sisters in the world, particularly the poor and the marginalized who constitute so many o the "crucified" of our age.

The Passionists wear a black habit with a sign on their breasts in the shape of a heart surmounted with a cross and the words "IESU XPI PASSIO" (The Passion of Jesus Christ) inside, beneath which are the three nails of the crucifixion. This sign is a reminder of the special legacy of St. Paul of the Cross: that his Congregation should keep alive the memory of the sufferings of Jesus and promote true devotion to his Passion in the hearts of the faithful.

What do Passionists do? Following their Founder's example, the Passionists dedicate themselves to evangelizing - and even re-evangelizing - the faithful, especially among the poor and those excluded from society in the more neglected areas, as also among those who presume to deny the existence of God in their lives.. This ministry of the Word is exercised most specifically in the preaching of parish missions and spiritual exercises.

The Gospel message is proclaimed not only in churches for it is also taken to peoples' homes, the schools, hospitals, the armed forces, the prisons and even to open public places. In many places one sees erected, at crossroads and outside churches, a large wooden cross with the Passionist sign attached, a loving reminder of missions preached there by members of the Passionist Congregation.

Passionists also go out as missionaries to distant lands, especially to under-developed areas of the world. Also some important Catholic shrines, as well as parishes and centers for spirituality, are staffed by Passionists.

Last Modified: April 30, 2008