The Witness of Early Christian Women: Mothers of the Church

by Mike Aquilina

Meet the heroines of Christianity's formative years! The Witness of Early Christian Mothers of the Church demonstrates the radical nature of Christianity's understanding of women and their roles, especially in a pagan society that viewed them as little more than property. The variety of women here is poor widows, consecrated virgins, heroic martyrs, but also businesswomen, the wealthy, and an indomitable traveler on a world tour. Each chapter features a concise biography accompanied by writings from the early Church about the woman in question. The Mothers of the Church

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion, History, Spirituality, Christian

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Mike Aquilina is author or editor of more than thirty books, including The Fathers of the Church, The Mass of the Early Christians, and A Year with the Church Fathers. He has co-hosted eight series that air on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN). He has co-authored books with Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., and theologian Scott Hahn. He is past editor of New Covenant magazine and The Pittsburgh Catholic newspaper. He appears weekly on Sirius Radio's "Sonrise Morning Show." Mike and his wife, Terri, have six children, who are the subject of his book Love in the Little Things.

In 2011 Mike was a featured presenter of the U.S. Bishops' Diocesan Educational/Catechetical Leadership Institute. He also wrote the USCCB's theological reflection for Catechetical Sunday in 2011.

His reviews, essays and journalism have appeared in many journals, including First Things, Touchstone, Crisis, Our Sunday Visitor, National Catholic Register, and Catholic Heritage. He contributed work on early Christianity to the Encyclopedia of Catholic Social Thought.

Mike is a also poet whose works have appeared in U.S. literary journals and have been translated into Polish and Spanish. He shared songwriting credits with Grammy Award-winner Dion DiMucci on the forthcoming album "Tank Full of Blues."

Reviews

[Joseph R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aquilina has written many books about early Church history. Here, he profiles many women who were examples of the radical shift in attitudes towards women instituted by Jesus Christ. In the ancient world, women were, at best, secondary people. They had no direct influence over government and could not testify in court. They were esteemed for their beauty and their ability to bring new men into the world. By contrast, Christ treated women as equals and ministered to them as much as to men. Only one male disciple was at the foot of the cross; four to six women were there (including His mom). In the first four centuries of the Christian era, many women witnessed to their Christian faith in diverse ways.

Aquilina groups these mothers of the church according to those ways. Some were martyrs to the faith, including popular ones like Saint Agnes, Saint Perpetua, and Saint Felicity. Others are less famous, like Saint Thecla, who was a contemporary of the apostle Paul. Her story comes down from the earliest centuries though The Acts of Paul and Thecla are not canonical. Like many other virgin martyrs, she defied her parents' and her society's wishes, refusing to marry and instead following a life a prayer into her old age.

Other women were writers and thinkers, roles almost unheard of for women in antiquity. Proba the Poet wrote an epic in the Roman style but she retold Christ's life. Saint Marcella started a monastic group for herself and other women, learning and praying together. Aquilina includes Saint Monica in this group, who not only prayed for her son Augustine's conversion but also argued with the great doctor of the Church.

The final group is independent women, of whom Saint Helena is the most famous. She was the mother of Emperor Constantine, the ruler who legalized Christianity in AD 313. Helena embraced the Faith and went to the Holy Land to find the sites where Jesus lived and died. She ran the expedition herself, the first archeological effort in Israel, which had fallen into ruin. I found Egeria the Tourist the most charming. She wrote letters to her community at home (southern France), describing her pilgrimages to holy sites around the Mediterranean. She was free to travel and had no regular group with her. No male companions are ever mentioned. She climbs Mount Sinai and visits Thecla's tomb, drawing inspiration and grace from her adventurous life.

This book is a quick read at 160 pages. It provides a lot of interesting insights into how the world changed for the better with the coming of Christianity and how women played important roles in the early Church. Aquilina's style is easy to read and he presents many passages from ancient texts describing these mothers of the early Christian Church.

Highly recommended.

[Nicole Fernyc · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very quick and easy read that is wonderful for men and women both. The author does a great job assembling and synthesizing early Christian texts to paint a picture of the lives of some of the most legendary female saints and martyrs of the Church. Only a few of the women mentioned in this book were known to me previously, so I learned a lot from it! I found it especially inspiring how many of the legendary and well-known Church fathers personally knew these women and wrote letters expressing their admiration for them. I highly recommend this book to all Catholics!

[Cherlynn Womack · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read on the roles of women & how they amounted to basically nothing except giving birth. Christianity reversed the roles of women & these "mothers of the church" are inspiring role models that reshaped the traditions of women. I enjoyed reading this book in my church's book club.

[Julianne Saratsis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our small group at church read through this book together for a Lenten book study. I learned so much, both about the lives of these women, but also why being an outspoken Christian witness was SO unusual in ancient times. I highly recommend this book to anyone who needs some inspiration!

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming volume with stories modernly rephrased from source texts about prominent women in the early church. Simple and beautiful.

[Janeen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprising stories of the strength and influence of early Christian women.

[Colleen]

Very superficial overview.

[Janet Ames · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned so much about wonderful, holy women of the Church, some of whom were new to me. Their stories here are inspiring and heartfelt.

[William T]

Pub. 2012