Women in the History of the Church

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ChristIsTheWay

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I am currently writing a paper on women in the Church, especially, but not limited to, the early Church. There is one figure I am interested in including in the report but I can not recall her name. She was a noble lady with considerable territory. On her death, she left her territory to the Church. If I remember correctly, there was a legend that she asked a pope for permission to celebrate Mass. According to the legend, the pope agreed to give permission if she could build 100 churches, I think, but according to the legend she died after building 99. Probably not a true account, but I hope it might help someone here recall her name. Thanks for any help.

P.S. I’d also appreciate any recommendations on women you think I should include in the report. Of course I will include the Mother of God, but anyone not so famous or well known that you think would be interesting. Thanks again.
 
ChristIsTheWay said:
I am currently writing a paper on women in the Church, especially, but not limited to, the early Church. There is one figure I am interested in including in the report but I can not recall her name. She was a noble lady with considerable territory. On her death, she left her territory to the Church. If I remember correctly, there was a legend that she asked a pope for permission to celebrate Mass. According to the legend, the pope agreed to give permission if she could build 100 churches, I think, but according to the legend she died after building 99. Probably not a true account, but I hope it might help someone here recall her name. Thanks for any help.

P.S. I’d also appreciate any recommendations on women you think I should include in the report. Of course I will include the Mother of God, but anyone not so famous or well known that you think would be interesting. Thanks again.
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Edith Stein!
 
Permission to celebrate mass? What?

Edith Stein? St. Therese Benedicta? She never “celebrated Mass”, although I am quite sure she PARTICIPATED in many many Masses throughout her life.

Can you expand on what you mean by your question?
 
I do not believe the legend about permission to celebrate Mass is true, but it is a legend that is associated with the woman whose name I am trying to remember so I can include her in my report. I included the legend in my first post in hopes it might help someone here ID her. As you can tell, it is a unique legend. From what I can remember, she was an interesting person but I just can’t remember her name. Basically, as I stated in my post, I am hoping someone here will remember the name of this woman. As to Edith Stein, I belief estesbob was answering my second question, as it was clearly stated in the PS section of my post.
 
JCPhoenix said:
Permission to celebrate mass? What?

Edith Stein? St. Therese Benedicta? She never “celebrated Mass”, although I am quite sure she PARTICIPATED in many many Masses throughout her life.

Can you expand on what you mean by your question?
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I was answering his PS
 
A good place near the start would be the Passion of Perpetua and Felicity, an early martyrdom account. It’s quite fascinating and moving.
Then there’s the Acts of Paul and Thecla, about a young girl who follows Paul around and is thrown to the lion’s.
Leading Christian figures would of be Mary Magdalene, Priscialla (a wealthy woman who financed Paul’s missions Romans 16:3), a lady named Pheobe who apparently served as a deaconess at the Church in Cenchreae and brought Paul’s epistle to Rome to be read (Romans 16:1). There was a gal by the name of Lydia, the first European convert to Christianity (Acts 16:11-15)
I think there’s a book called The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark, and a chapter is devoted to women in the early Chrstian movement. Notably, it discusses why there were more women in the pews than men. Sounds familiar.
Good luck!
 
My guess is that she may be one of the saintly Catholic Queens of the west who heped civilize Barbarian men afer the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Many letters from Gregory the Great to these women still exist I believe, so could be from that period.
st julie
 
Your paper sounds interesting.
May I recommend St. Hilda of Whitby (d. 680) to your attention? She was one of the Mothers of the English Church and the Mother of English literature. She was a person of overwhelming power and influence in her time and place; not power bestowed by men, but rather, acknowledged by men.
 
St. Teresa of Jesus (aka “of Avila”) and St. Catherine of Siena, both Doctors of the Church, and St. Scholastica.
 
estesbob said:
Edith Stein!
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Edith Stein was the first name that came to my mind! Even though her writings can be more intellectual than I can handle, I do get so much from her writings. She talks about modern day issues that even though it was in the 30s, she could be talking about today. I never heard of her until last year and I’m so glad that I was introduced to her!
 
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