I have always found the Fathers of the early Church
period intriguing. From bombastic rhetoric to gentle pastoral sentiments, their
writings strengthen the historical claims of orthodox Christianity. Their
perspectives can be out of sync with modern sensibilities, but their mark on the church is well-recognized. The
stories of strong female witnesses in the early years of the Christianity receive
less scholarly focus.
Mike Aquilina of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology and
Christopher Bailey offer readers a rare perspective into the women of early
Christianity. After editing a volume on the Church Fathers, the two authors
received prompting from their wives to draft a companion volume. The book,
entitled Mothers of the Church: The
Witness of Early Christian Women, discusses the social position of women in
the first centuries. It highlights the countercultural truth claims about
gender made by the church, and tells the stories of select women from the
period of the New Testament through the fourth century. Whenever possible, Aquilina
and Bailey share writings of the women themselves and early biographical
information from those closest to them.
During Jesus’ time, women had few legal or social rights
in Roman or Jewish communities. The father in each Roman family wielded legal
and social rights, known as patria
potestas. A newborn infant traditionally was placed at his feet. He could
pick up the infant to recognize him or her as a member of the family, or order
the child to be suffocated or exposed to the elements.[1] Abandoned
newborns usually died, but could be taken by a passerby to become a slave.
Child slaves serviced clients in brothels and performed other demeaning tasks
associated with their lack of status within a family.[2] Christians often
rescued and adopted abandoned children.
Since daughters were less valuable in society, they were
rejected more often than sons.[3] Women received less formal education than
men, so their literacy rates were lower. Thus, few autobiographies exist from
female Christians in the early church. Aquilina and Bailey keep the cultural
context of each of the women featured in perspective, sharing their family
situations and level of education.
[Image 2]
Mothers
of the Church honors women who stepped outside the norms of
their culture to walk in the truth of scripture, which declares that men and
women are “one in the Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal 3:28). Jesus healed and taught
both genders alike, and chided Martha when she suggested that Mary’s place was
serving the household rather than learning from Him.[4] The Gospels record the words of His mother Mary, the
Samaritan woman, and numerous others who received Christ’s love and respect.
Women accompanied Him to the cross, and served as the first witnesses to His
resurrection.
[Image 3]
Soon after Jesus’ death, stories of strong Christian
women began to trickle into the historical record. Paul sent greetings to
female leaders in the communities to which he wrote, including Lydia,
Priscilla, and Phoebe.[5] Next, the book covered early heroines and martyrs. A
noblewoman named Thecla reputedly broke off her engagement after hearing Paul
speak. She sought him out and became Christian. She was imprisoned with Paul.
God miraculously saved her from execution, and she traveled with Paul to
Antioch.[6] God later delivered her from a second execution, this time by beast
in the amphitheater. A lioness turned on the other animals and fought to the
death to save Thecla.[7] Thecla lived to continue to evangelize.
St. Perpetua and St. Felicity accepted martyrdom for
Christ boldly, as I wrote in an earlier post.
Perpetua wrote an account of her period of imprisonment. It is one of the few
first-hand records from a Christian woman of the time period.[8] Church
historian Eusebius also recorded the story of St. Blandina, a humble slave who
was also martyred for the faith. She joined her companions in in death “after
she had – like a noble mother, encouraged her children and sent them victorious
to the King…”[9] St. Agnes of Rome betrothed herself to Jesus, and was sent to
a brothel as punishment. Then men found themselves unable to touch her, and she
was sentenced to death. She went joyfully, offering God praise.[10]
[Blandina Facing Death, Image 4]
Christian women led their secular compatriots in becoming
talented philosophers and poets. Christian families tended to value their
daughters’ education, so that they would be able to comprehend and teach God’s
revelation. St. Macrina’s brother, St. Gregory, wrote of her wit and wisdom.
She received a full education, particularly in the area of scripture, and
taught her brothers even until her death.[11] Another noblewoman, Proba, wrote
a cento poem using lines from Virgil to convey the essential message of
Christianity.[12] Such an endeavor required extensive knowledge of classical
poetry and language structure.
Multiple learned Christian women formed a community
around St. Jerome. They exchanged letters with one another which have been
preserved, and Jerome wrote a beautiful letter eulogizing St. Marcella. She and
Jerome shared an intellectual bond that lasted decades. He compared her
favorably to the prophetess Anna [13] and told her sisters in Christ that, “It
was unbelievable how much she delighted in the divine Scriptures.”[14] Coming
from the foremost biblical scholar of his time, this was high praise. Her
friends St. Paula and St. Eustochium devoted themselves to study in Palestine
and sent a letter begging Marcella to join them. They cite scripture
extensively and plead in ornate prose, “As a hen gathers her chicks, you took
us under your wing… Will you leave us to dread the swoop of the hawk and the
shadow of every passing bird of prey? Separated from you, we do what we can.”[15]
Clearly, these women love the Word and lived boldly for Him.
Other Christians were married with children. St. Monica
raised St. Augustine. He was a brilliant student, but fell in with a heretical
sect in his early adulthood. Monica prayed for him for years, showing her love
for him and concern for his eternal salvation. After his conversion to
Christianity, Augustine wrote of his mother, “Our conversation reached the
point where the very highest pleasures of the bodily senses, even in the
brightest material light, seemed not only worthy of comparison, but not worthy
of mentioning because of the sweetness of that life of the saints… We soared
even higher by our inner meditation and talking and admiring your works.”[16]
The pair shared a transcendent spiritual fellowship made possible through
Monica’s ceaseless efforts on her son’s behalf.
[Monica and Augustine, Image 6]
Additional saints covered by the book include St. Helena,
St. Olympias, Proba, and Egeria. Though the book is brief, it gives a good
survey of noteworthy women in the early centuries of the church. When I
finished reading, I found myself touched by their everyday sacrifices to live
according to their faith, as well as the courageous moments of witness in the
face of imminent death. Sadly, there seem to be few records in their own words
due to their cultural status. However, my heart is reassured by the knowledge
that God knows every thought of those whose stories perished as the years
passed. The heroines of the faith lived each day with authenticity and hope. I
pray that we each learn to do the same.
Image sources:
[Image 1] Front cover of Mothers of the Church: The Witness of Early Christian Women by Mike Aquilina and Christopher Bailey (Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing, 2012), https://www.abebooks.com/9781612785622/Mothers-Church-Witness-Early-Christian-161278562X/plp.
[Image 2] Harold Copping, "Jesus at the Home of Mary and Martha," (1927), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harold_Copping_Jesus_at_the_home_of_Martha_and_Mary_400.jpg.
[Image 3] Chris Light, "Way of the Cross, 12 Dies on the cross: Our Lady of Peace Shrine is along I-80 in Pine Bluffs, Wyoming," (2016), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:12_Hangs_on_the_cross_2016-10-15_2927.jpg.
[Image 4] Illustration on page 9 of The History of France, Introductory Course, Ernest Lavisse, Armand Colin, (1919), 9, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Blandina#/media/File:Lavisse_elementaire_009_blandine.jpg.
[Image 5] Francisco de Zurbarán - The Yorck Project (2002) 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei (DVD-ROM), distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Eustochium#/media/File:Francisco_de_Zurbar%C3%A1n_043.jpg.
[Image 6] Ary Scheffer, "Painting of Augustine of Hippo and his mother Monica of Hippo," https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Saint_Augustine_and_Saint_Monica.jpg.
Footnotes:
[1] Joyce Salisbury, Perpetua’s Passion: The Death and Memory of a Young Roman Woman (New York: Routledge, 1997), 5.
[2]
Mike
Aquilina and Christopher Bailey, Mothers
of the Church: The Witness of Early Christian Women (Huntington, IN: Our Sunday
Visitor Publishing, 2012), 16.
[3] Aquilina and Bailey, Mothers of the Church, 15.
[4] Aquilina and Bailey, Mothers of the Church, 35.
[5] Aquilina and Bailey, Mothers of the Church, 39-40.
[6] Aquilina and Bailey, Mothers of the Church, 54.
[7] Aquilina and Bailey, Mothers of the Church, 57.
[8] Aquilina and Bailey, Mothers of the Church, 57.
[9] Aquilina and Bailey, Mothers of the Church, 73.
[10] Aquilina and Bailey, Mothers of the Church, 74-75.
[11] Aquilina and Bailey, Mothers of the Church, 94-96.
[12] Aquilina and Bailey, Mothers of the Church, 98.
[13] Aquilina and Bailey, Mothers of the Church, 109.
[14] Aquilina and Bailey, Mothers of the Church, 111.
[15] Aquilina and Bailey, Mothers of the Church, 104.
[16] Aquilina and Bailey, Mothers of the Church, 128.
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