Jan. 15 Saturday of the First Week in Ordinary Time; Our Lady of Prompt Succor; Black Christ of Esquipulas (Guatemala) , Weekday

It was from St. Jerome (+ 420) that the west learned of the life of St. Paul the Hermit; the book, which he devoted to the life of the first Christian hermit, charmed and instructed generations of the faithful and formed the inspiration of many artists. St. Paul is said to have died in 341, in a hermitage in the region of Thebes in Egypt after having received at the age of 113 a visit from St. Antony. In the previous calendar (1962) St. Paul is celebrated as a Confessor, III class and St. Maurus is commemorated.