Many other heroines of Christian charity descended from an illustrious family at that time exiled in the forests of Pontus, were also distinguished by the same virtues; to wit, Emmelia, mother of St. Basilius, Macrina his aunt, and Macrina his sister, who were true servants of the poor, undertaking as they did long journeys to discover unknown suffering, with a view to its relief. Anthusa, mother of St. John Chrysostom, suffered great privations in order to give away as much as possible, whilst Olympiade, widow of a prefect of Constantinople, and heiress of an immense fortune, distributed her money with ungrudging freedom. The emperor, who was anxious to marry Olympiade to a member of his own family, deprived her of the management of her property, but afterwards restored it to her, knowing what a noble use she would make of it. Olympiade visited the sick, the orphans, the widows, and the aged, gave alms to the prisoners and the exiles, and ransomed the captives, for her liberality knew no bounds; she was, moreover, seconded in her works of charity by ecclesiastical virgins (vierges ecclésiastiques), devoted to the service of God. Never was woman’s apostolic mission more effective, nor had charity more zealous servants.
The wonderful influence which Olympiade and her companions exercised in the Christian world, towards the close of the fourth century, was derived from their ardent charity, which radiated from Constantinople throughout the whole empire, and awoke a sympathetic response at Rome, Milan, Lyons, Trèves, Rheims, &c. Thus Melanie, the elder daughter of the Consul Marcellinus, Proba, Falconia, St. Juliana, St. Demetriada, St. Paula, mother of St. Ambrose, and her daughter St. Marcellina, Roman ladies of the highest rank, were endowed with the heroism of the Roman character purified by the Christian religion. St. Ambrose, who has given us so touching an account of their good works, calls them “the august brides of Jesus Christ.” They dwelt with their own families, but passed nearly all their time in workshops, where they laboured together for the benefit of the poor, leaving off their occupations only to sing hymns, recite psalms, attend church for the hearing of God’s word, sharing with each other the task of instructing the people, distributing alms to the poor, and giving succour to the weak. Thus was prepared the way for the first charitable institutions which were called into existence at the bidding of Melanie the Younger, Fabiola, St. Paulina, and St. Pammachius, thanks to the help given by a great number of Roman ladies whose lives set an example of all the Christian virtues.
Whilst St. Melanie the Younger was exciting the enthusiasm of the Catholic world by her ardent charity, St. Marcella, the most illustrious of the gifted daughters of St. Jerome, was the pride and admiration of the Roman aristocracy. Gifted in the very highest degree both in respect to birth, wealth, grace, and beauty, at a time, too, when these rare endowments were rendered such a source of peril, owing to the capture of the Eternal City by Alaric (410), she had withdrawn to a modest dwelling on the Aventine Hill, with Principia, a young maiden recommended to her by St. Jerome. Here she had to submit to every kind of outrage, without permitting her zeal to be lessened by this cruel trial. She afterwards opened a fresh centre of charity, having founded not far from Rome the Convent of the Relieving Virgins (Vierges Secourables), which was taken as a model for many similar institutions throughout Italy.
Fig. 268.—Robert I., Duke of Burgundy, having slain his father-in-law, builds the Church of Sémur to expiate the crime, and has the parricide represented on the building.—Tympan in the portico of the Church of Sémur (Eleventh Century).
Her friend St. Paula, who was Roman by birth, and a descendant of the Scipios, whose daughters were saints, whose theatre of action was in the East, whose tomb was at Bethlehem, and whose panegyrist was St. Jerome, followed in her footsteps. A widow at thirty, she effected a sweeping change in her own household and property, set all her slaves at liberty, and devoted herself to doing good; then shrouding herself in an incomparable modesty, and breaking off all her social ties, she emigrated to Palestine, where she worked miracles of charity. Long before her death, in 404, she had distributed all her worldly wealth to the poor. She had herself become so needy that it was necessary to borrow money to pay for her funeral, and her beloved daughter, who closed her eyes, inherited nothing but her faith and charity.
The marvels of charity wrought by the Christian ladies for two centuries were imitated in the fifth by many bishops, who had in turn become missionaries and dispensers of alms. St. Paulinus, the illustrious Bishop of Nolo, who died in 431 at the age of eighty, after having for forty years fed, clothed, and comforted the poor of his diocese, after having released the insolvent debtors from prison, ransomed the captives, and allowed himself to be sold as a slave to the barbarians in order to rescue from their hands the son of an unfortunate widow, is the most perfect type of the prelates of this remarkable epoch. Amongst his many other remarkable contributions to literature, must be cited his “Discourse on Almsgiving,” which is an eloquent exposition of his doctrine. St. Paulinus, by his teaching and his example, had formed an eminent school of disciples, amongst them Sulpicius Severus (363–420), who, in concert with some pious ladies of the Roman aristocracy, seems to have been desirous of inaugurating a new era of things in the reign of Gregory the Great.
The ransom of the captives was the most urgent of the works of charity in the sixth century, for the wars and invasions of the barbarians had reduced whole populations to slavery; and so the Church devoted all its resources and efforts to this work of redemption, Pope Gregory deeming no sacrifice too great for furthering it. He was, moreover, powerfully seconded by the earnest efforts of women who constituted themselves the humble handmaids of Jesus Christ. The Empress Constantina, her sister-in-law Theodissa, St. Sopatra, and St. Damienna, all of whom were imperial princesses, sent him enormous sums from Constantinople; the Empress Leontia, Theodelinda, Queen of the Lombards, and her son Theodoaldus acted in a similar manner. As Christianity extended westward, the bright light of charity radiated in the same direction. St. Adelberga, wife of the first Christian King of England, and her daughter Bertha, wife of Ethelbert, King of Kent, were zealous in the cause of benevolence upon their conversion to the faith.
This impulse given to the Christian spirit did not slacken: St. Clotilda, Queen of the Franks, who was guided by the counsels of the Archbishop of Rheims, the eminent doctor St. Remigius; St. Albofleda, sister of Clovis; St. Radegonda of Thuringia, wife of King Clotaire, who founded a hospital at Athies, and a monastery at Poitiers; and St. Bathilda, of noble birth, who, after degrading herself to the humble condition of slavery, shared the throne of Neustria as the wife of Clovis II., were so many heroines of charity. Bathilda, in the course of a long and wise administration of affairs (645–680), was the good angel of the unfortunate. The abbot St. Gènes was her almoner, and her privy councillors were St. Eloi, St. Owen, St. Leger—venerable prelates whose active and pious co-operation was in perfect harmony with the prompting of her own heart. She founded abbeys, and, what was even more useful, increased the number of hospitals which were built in every direction. The royal abbey of Chelles, near Paris, founded by Queen Clotilda and rebuilt by Bathilda, and another monastery which she constructed after the same plan, were establishments of religious education, literary instruction, and benevolence.
