In this brief paper I have examined prominent female Christians and monasteries they established. Four women and their monasteries were presented: Marcella, Macrina, paula, and Olympias. These devoted women were a highborn. Asan aristocratic woman, they accepted monastic vocation. Marcella was the first in Rome to accept the monastic vocation. created Aventine Circle which provided the original impetus for the flowering of Roman female monasticism. The nature of Marcella’s monastery is that it not only focuses on ascetic practices but also bible study and theology. Their scholarship was so high that Jerome was admired. Macrina also founded a monastery for women on their estate at Annesi. For Macrina’s personal ascetic development, we can see a sequence of the changes which eventually transformed an ordinary household into an ascetic household and then into an ascetic community. In Macrina’s community there was no difference of status between masters and salves. Macrina abolished statues and treated slaves as equal, regardless of staus and rank. It is very significant in the light of the contemporary social barriers which separated masters from their slaves. Her community played a important role as an example of monasteries of St. Basil.
Paula founded monastery in Bethlehem with her daughter. Two monasteries were founded, one for men, the other for women. Indeed, their intellectual and spiritual intercourse in Bethlehem monastery began at Rome, from Aventine Circle. Paula and Eustochium took a larger share in the exegetical labours of Jerome, and conformed themselves more and more to his direction. Olympias was the heiress to a large fortune. She donated her wealth upon the churches in Asia Minor and Syria and spent her strength and wealth ministering to the needs of the poor and infirm. Donations were sent to shelters for the homeless, to prisons, and to those in exile. As while Olympias was being involved diverse ministries of local church as deaconess, she became to found a monastery in Constantinople. Olympia established herself in a large house with a number of maidens, who also desired to consecrate their lives to the service of God. The first novices of her monastery were her fifty handmaids, who desired to live in purity. Four of Olympia’s kinswomen also joined her, soon the community swelled to 250 nuns. Olympia’s strict rule emaciated her body and it was impossible to find anyone with more severe ascetic practices.
Looking in a new way at the evidence, I believe there are ample reasons for retelling the story of early Christianity in the West. As a founder of monastery, many devout women played an important role in Christian spirituality in early church. We need to reevaluate them as a major player in the development of Christian spirituality.