Five Women From the Early Church You Should Know (Who Aren’t Named Mary)*

*Okay, except for one of them, but she’s not one of the two or three you’re thinking of.
In a society where inheritance went to the first male relative, Christianity bore a unique position: all were inheritors. As Paul wrote: there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, demonstrating that neither is more valuable than the other.

Michael Harrell

Catherine of Alexandria

A princess and scholar in Roman Egypt at the time of the emperor Maxentius, Catherine was a dedicated student of philosophy. She committed herself to virginity until she met a man who surpassed her not only in beauty, but in intelligence, wealth and dignity as well – a tall order for a princess scholar, no doubt. At the age of fourteen, she spurned her Roman pagan upbringing and became a Christian. She traveled to Rome to convince the emperor that persecuting Christians was a moral error. In turn, the emperor sent many scholars and philosophers to argue with Catherine – whose eloquence won many over, at which point they professed Christ and were martyred. Catherine continued to receive people, including Maxentius’ wife Valeria, while imprisoned and won many to Christ before she was herself martyred.

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Mary of Egypt

At a young age, Mary ran away and lived on the streets of Alexandria for seventeen years, where she made ends meet by prostituting herself and spinning flax. During the Feast of the Holy Cross, Mary made an “anti-pilgrimage” to Jerusalem, looking to sway the Christians there and find partners along the way. However, on the feast day itself, when she attempted to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre – which still stands today – some force prevented her, overtaking her body. Struck with remorse for her sinful lifestyle, she immediately prayed for forgiveness and dedicated her life to Christ, fleeing from the temptations in the city to the desert and living out her life as a Christian ascetic hermit. She entered the church, and was told by a voice to go west of the Jordan into the desert. She obeyed, receiving absolution, baptism and communion at the monastery of St. John the Baptist before retiring to the desert. Years later, she met a passing monk, related her life story to him, and received communion one last time. A year later, the monk found her body in the desert – suffering no decay, perfectly preserved.

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