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Jan. 24, Bl. Paula Gambara-Costa, widow, Franciscan Third Order Secular. Almighty God destined this holy woman to be a special pattern for Christian wives and widows in bearing the trials and difficulties …More
Jan. 24, Bl. Paula Gambara-Costa, widow, Franciscan Third Order Secular.
Almighty God destined this holy woman to be a special pattern for Christian wives and widows in bearing the trials and difficulties of their state. Paula was born in Brescia, in northern Italy, of a very noble family. Even in her youth she showed a special love for solitude and a quiet, devout life. Prayer and spiritual reading were her delight, and she would gladly have changed her place in the world for life in a convent. But since her parents promised her in marriage to the young count Louis Costa, lord of Benasco, Paula recognized the will of God in this arrangement and complied with the wishes of her parents.
After the wedding the count conveyed his young wife in great pomp to the castle at Benasco in the province of Piedmont. He himself was quite fond of gaiety and amusement, and would have drawn his inexperienced wife into the whirl of worldly pleasures, for in the beginning she believed it a duty to yield …More