ST PALDO, ABBOT - 11 OCTOBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN OCTOBER

Saints celebrated on the 11th of October

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SAINT PALDO, ABBOT

Originally from Benevento in Italy, Saint Paldo was the first abbot and founder of the monastery of St  Vincent (S. Vincentius) at Volturno.

For the sake of Jesus he and his two relatives Taso and Tato, who were biological brothers, planned to leave the worldly life and everything they had. Their intention was to look for a hermitage in Gaul in order to live there, secluded from the world, recognised by no one but God.

In order to establish His will and implore His help, they decided to make a pilgrimage to Rome to visit the holy places and the tombs of the apostles. Having thus set out, disguised as beggars, they found overnight shelter on their journey at the Farsa monastery. Its pious abbot Thomas recognised them as he performed the customary foot washing. Thereupon Paldo, Taso and Tato made their intentions known to him. He persuaded them to return to him once they had completed their pilgrimage to Rome, and told them of a deserted place in the land of the Samnites at the foot of Volturno, which featured an ancient oratory in honour of St Vincent. There they could settle and in that way take care of not only their own souls, but also the souls of many others. 

Paldo and his relatives recognised this as the will of God, did as advised and built a monastery there. These events took place around the year 703. They were soon joined by disciples whom St Paldo led it with great wisdom and holiness until the end of his life on October 11, 720. His body was buried there by the brothers and shone with many miracles. Taso succeeded him as abbot, and after his death in 729, Tato, who fell asleep in the Lord in 739. The monastery soon attracted a great number of holy men. In the 9th century, 900 monks died there as martyrs at the hands of the Saracens. 

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 4, Augsburg, 1875, pp. 658-659)

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Paldo may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org