Paulinus the Bishop

Paulinus, bishop of Nola in Campania, composed many short works in verse. He also wrote a work of comfort to Celsus, On the Death of a Christian and Baptized Child, a sort of epitaph, well fortified with Christian hope; many Letters to Severus; and, before he became bishop, a panegyric in prose, On Victory over Tyrants, addressed to Theodosius, which maintained that victory came through faith and prayer rather than through arms. He also wrote a Sacramentary and a Hymnal. [a] He also addressed many letters to his sister On Contempt of the World, and published treatises of different kinds on various occasions. The most notable of all his minor works are On Repentance and A General Panegyric of All the Martyrs. He lived in the reign of Honorius and Valentinian, and was distinguished not only for learning and holiness of life but also for his power to cast out demons.