Evidence ID
E05092Saint Name
Felix, priest and confessor of Nola (southern Italy) : S00000Saint Name in Source
FelixType of Evidence
Literary - LettersEvidence not before
395Evidence not after
397Activity not before
395Activity not after
397Place of Evidence - Region
Italy south of Rome and SicilyPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
NolaPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Nola
Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
Adriaticum MareMajor author/Major anonymous work
Paulinus of NolaCult activities - Places
Burial site of a saint - tomb/graveCult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Visiting graves and shrinesCult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergySource
Letter 5 in the letter collection of Paulinus of Nola (ob. 431). It is one of many letters which Paulinus addressed to aristocratic and ascetic Roman circles in the later fourth and early fifth centuries. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Paulinus did not curate a collection of his letters: instead collections were compiled by friends and admirers.
This letter dates from roughly 396 and in it Paulinus invites his friend Sulpicius Severus, who was based in Primuliacum (modern Prémillac) in southern Gaul, to join him in Nola. This was not the only time Paulinus would make such a request; yet Severus did not join him. In later letters Paulinus expresses impatience over this, and even suggests that Severus’ unwillingness to even visit Nola is disrespectful to Felix (see E02874).Discussion
For a fuller discussion of Paulinus’ desire to characterise Felix as a special protector of Nola and its surrounding area, see E04767.Bibliography
Edition
Hartel, W., Sancti Pontii Meropii Paulini Epistulae, 2nd ed., revised M. Kamptner (Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 29; Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna, 1999).
Translation
Walsh, P.G., Letters of St. Paulinus of Nola, vol. 1 (Ancient Christian Writers 35; Westminster MD: Newman Press, 1967).
Further Reading
Conybeare, Catherine, Paulinus Noster: Self and Symbols in the Letters of Paulinus of Nola (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).
Trout, Dennis, Paulinus of Nola: Life, Letters and Poems (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999).
