SIMONE di SAN PAOLO. — A Discalced Carmelite, in the world Paolo Franciosi, born at Volterra on 5 September 1572, died at Milan on 6 September 1622. He carried out his activity in Rome and Lombardy, where he was everywhere venerated and sought out for his holiness and his eminent gifts as a spiritual director.
He left many ascetical treatises in manuscript, some of which were published together with his major work Riforma dell'uomo, published posthumously at Como in two volumes in 1662 and soon translated into French. A vigorous writer, he united theological depth with sound practical realism, and through his work, published in Italy about ten times until the early eighteenth century, contributed considerably to the flourishing of true Christian piety, in times that were also difficult for spirituality.