The women who Augustine admired

In his works, Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430) not only extols the spiritual greatness of many of the women who appear in the Scriptures, but also presents them as models of conversion and devotion.

He especially liked to highlight those lives that reflected divine mercy and grace. In these women, Augustine saw the “incarnation” of the Christian message and a special capacity to be beacons of hope and virtue for all. Let’s look at some examples:

The wise virgins (Mt 25:1-13). Augustine considers them independent women who do not need the approval of others:

• “[The foolish virgins] were seeking what had been their custom, that is, to shine with the oil of others, to go hunting for praise from others” (Sermon 93, 10).
• “This means carrying the oil with you and not having to buy it from the merchants, from the flatterers. For the flatterers sell their praises like oil to fools” (Letters 140, 31.74)

The Samaritan woman (Jn 4:5-43): is the model of a person capable of leaving the past behind to open herself to a hopeful and happy present:

• “She left her water jar there. She cast away lust from her and went in haste to proclaim the truth” (Treatise on the Gospel according to Saint John 15, 30)

The Canaanite woman (Mt 15:21-28) is a mirror in which to seek humility and piety:

• “The Canaanite woman offers us an example of humility and a path of piety. She teaches us to rise from humility to greatness” (Sermon 77,1)
• “What her repeated cries had failed to obtain, she obtained through her humble confession” (Holy Virginity 32, 32).

The woman with the hemorrhage (Mk 5:25-34) is that woman, an example of deep, strong, and rooted faith:

• “Others oppress, this one touches. There are many who oppress the body of Christ annoyingly, few who touch it healthily” (Sermon 77, 6).
• “That touching symbolizes faith. He who believes in Christ touches Him” (Sermon 243, 2)
• “The feeling of the one thing that touched me has been greater than that of the crowd pressing against me. The crowd knows how to press easily. If only I knew how to touch!” (Sermon 375C, 6)

The poor widow (Mk 12:41-44) represents the clear image of those on whom God and Jesus truly set their eyes:

• “This woman entered the temple with only two pennies. Who deigned to look at her? Only He who, seeing her, did not look at whether her hand was full or not, but at her heart. He observed her, proclaimed her action, and in doing so proclaimed that no one had given as much as she did. No one gave as much as she who reserved nothing for herself” (Sermon 105A, 1).
• “She put in all she owned. She had much, for she had God in her heart. It is more valuable to have God in your soul than gold in your treasury. Who put in more than the widow who kept nothing for herself?” (Sermon 107 A).
• “The poor widow bought as much with two pennies as Peter bought by abandoning his nets, as Zacchaeus bought by giving half his possessions. Heaven is worth as much as you had.” (Commentary on Psalms 49:13)
• “The widow who gave two pennies, did she sow little? As much as Zacchaeus. She had less wealth, but the same will. She gave two pennies with the same love that Zacchaeus gave half of his wealth. If you look at what they gave, the difference is clear; but, if you observe how they gave it, you will perceive that it is the same. She gave all she had, he what he possessed” (Commentary on Psalms 125,11)

The sinful woman (Lk 7:37-39), for her part, knew how to recognize that true forgiveness only comes from Jesus:

• “A woman’s hair is superfluous property. Cleanse with your hair (the Lord’s feet), cleanse them completely, show mercy as the sinful woman did” (Sermon 99, 13).

A paradigmatic example is the case of Martha and Mary (Lk 10:38-42), his friends from Bethany, and how Jesus recalls that one of them was the one who knew how to see and choose the best:

• “In these two women are represented two lives, the present and the future; one laborious and the other idle; one unhappy and the other happy; one temporal and the other eternal” (Sermon 104, 4).
• “What Martha was doing was certainly necessary, but temporary: things for the journey, not yet things proper to heaven; she was concerned with the journey, not yet with what she was going to possess” (Sermon 255, 2)
• “Mary chose contemplation, she chose to live by the Word. What will it be like to live by the Word without words? She now lives by the Word, but through spoken words. There will be another way of living by the Word, but without any spoken words. The Word itself is Life” (Sermon 169, 17).
• “He does not say that Martha’s part is bad, but he emphasizes that Mary’s part is the best, and it will not be taken away.” (Trinity 1, 10,20)
• “Martha was thinking about how to feed the Lord; Mary about how to be fed by Him. Martha was preparing a feast for the Lord; Mary was already enjoying the Lord’s feast” (Sermon 104, 1)