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to have a wife; but she became a patron to me, not simply because she was a woman, but because she was a philosopher and adorned with reverence. And how did she become Paul's patron? For what did Paul need, who ran about the inhabited world, who bore his body lightly, who trampled upon the necessities of nature, who drove out demons, who cured diseases through his garments, whose voice and shadow the devil trembled at, who was honored as an angel among the faithful, whom even wild beasts revered, whom the sea was shamed into sparing, and having held him for a night and a day did not drown him, the citizen of paradise, who was caught up to the third heaven, who shared in the ineffable things with God, who labored more than all the apostles, the chosen instrument, the bridal-attendant of the Church, the herald of the nations, who ran over land and sea, and everywhere set up trophies of his own courage, who wrestled continuously with hunger and thirst, who fought with nakedness and cold, and said Until this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked; who was dead to the world, who considered the world to be dead, the citizen of the heavens, the mad lover of Christ, who was hotter than fire, stronger than iron, harder than adamant; is this man not ashamed to say about a woman, that She has been a patron of many, and of myself also? and not only does he say it, but he also writes it; and he not only writes it simply, but in writing to so great a populace of the Romans, puffed up and proud because of their external dignities, he wrote these things; and not only did he write to them, but he also wished this to be made manifest to the generations after them. For if he had not wished it, he would not have put this in his letter; but now, wishing the matter to be handed down in perpetual memory, he both greets the woman, and stirs up all to her support, and calls her his own patron, and is not ashamed nor does he blush. So great a thing is a philosophic soul even in a woman's 63.490 body. But I say these things, so that a woman may not make the excuse, saying, that because I am a woman I have not reached the full measure of piety. For behold, this woman, and nature was not a hindrance, but she was deemed worthy to become Paul's patron, and she is proclaimed everywhere in the inhabited world. But how did she become his patron? Did she perhaps snatch him from dangers? She sat beside him when he was bound, she comforted him in chains, she brought him comfort from his necessary needs, she restrained those who plotted against him, she gave herself up to death, so as to rescue that holy man when being led away from his circumstances. For this very reason he also eulogizes the one after her, saying thus: Greet Priscilla and Aquila. See here again the woman shining forth; for though the pair is one, yet the woman is placed before the man; for he did not say, Aquila and Priscilla, but, Priscilla and Aquila. And who were these? Tentmakers by trade, standing at their workshop; but neither their trade, nor their poverty was a hindrance; but passing by the whole city, this blessed man was led to this little room. For what reason and why? Not because it had columns, nor because it had slabs and a floor adorned with mosaics, nor because it had a golden roof, nor because it had herds of slaves, nor because it had the service of eunuchs, but because the little room was pure of all these things; because the wife and husband, gathering the fruit of righteous labor, made their house a church, not by plundering, nor by being covetous, but by using the labor of their body for their necessary sustenance. For this very reason Paul considered this dwelling most suitable for lodging. And that you may learn that, approving the virtue of their soul, he stayed there, hear what follows. Who for my life, he says, laid down their own necks; to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.

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γυναῖκα σχεῖν· προστάτις δέ μου ἐγένετο, οὐκ ἐπειδὴ γυνὴ ἦν ἁπλῶς, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ φιλόσοφος καὶ εὐλαβείᾳ κομῶσα. Καὶ πῶς Παύλου προστάτις ἐγένετο; τίνος γὰρ ἐδεῖτο Παῦλος ὁ τὴν οἰκουμένην περιτρέχων, ὁ τὸ σῶμα εἰκῆ περικείμενος, ὁ τὰς ἀνάγκας τῆς φύσεως καταπατήσας, ὁ δαίμονας ἀπελαύνων, ὁ νόσους διὰ τῶν ἱματίων διορθούμενος, οὗ τὴν φωνὴν καὶ τὴν σκιὰν ἔτρεμεν διάβολος, ὃς ὡς ἄγγελος παρὰ τοῖς πιστοῖς ἐτιμᾶτο, ὂν ᾐδέσθησαν καὶ θηρία, ὃν ἐδυσωπήθη τὸ πέλαγος, καὶ νυχθήμερον ἀπολαβὼν οὐκ ἀπέπνιξεν, ὁ τοῦ παραδείσου πολίτης, ὁ εἰς τρίτον ἁρπαγεὶς οὐρανὸν, ὁ τῶν ἀποῤῥήτων τῷ Θεῷ κοινωνήσας, ὁ πλέον τῶν ἀποστόλων ἁπάντων κοπιάσας, τὸ σκεῦος τῆς ἐκλογῆς, ὁ νυμφαγωγὸς τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, ὁ κήρυξ τῶν ἐθνῶν, ὁ γῆν καὶ θάλατταν περιδραμὼν, καὶ πανταχοῦ τρόπαια στήσας τῆς ἰδίας ἀνδρείας, ὁ λιμῷ καὶ δίψει διηνεκῶς παλαίων, ὁ γυμνότητι καὶ κρυμῷ πυκτεύων, καὶ λέγων Μέχρι τῆς ἄρτι ὥρας καὶ πεινῶμεν καὶ διψῶμεν καὶ γυμνητεύομεν· ὁ τῷ κόσμῳ νενεκρωμένος, ὁ τὸν κόσμον νεκρὸν εἶναι νομίζων, ὁ τῶν οὐρανῶν πολίτης, ὁ μανικὸς ἐραστὴς τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ πυρὸς θερμότερος, ὁ σιδήρου εὐτονώτερος, ὁ ἀδάμαντος στεῤῥότερος· οὗτος οὐκ αἰσχύνεται λέγων περὶ γυναικὸς, ὅτι Προστάτις πολλῶν ἐγενήθη καὶ αὐτοῦ ἐμοῦ; καὶ οὐ λέγει μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ γράφει· καὶ οὐ γράφει μόνον ἁπλῶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ δήμῳ τοσούτῳ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἐπιστέλλων φλεγμαίνοντι καὶ μέγα φρονοῦντι ἀπὸ τῶν ἔξωθεν ἀξιωμάτων, ταῦτα ἐπέστελλεν· οὐκ ἐκείνοις δὲ μόνον ἐπέστελλεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ταῖς μετὰ ταῦτα γενεαῖς ἐβούλετο τοῦτο γενέσθαι κατάδηλον. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἐβούλετο, οὐκ ἂν τῇ ἐπιστολῇ τοῦτο ἐνέθηκε· νῦν δὲ θέλων διηνεκεῖ μνήμῃ παραδοθῆναι τὸ πρᾶγμα, καὶ προσαγορεύει τὴν γυναῖκα, καὶ διεγείρει πάντας εἰς τὴν ἐκείνης ἀντίληψιν, καὶ προστάτιν αὐτὴν ἑαυτοῦ καλεῖ, καὶ οὐκ αἰσχύνεται οὐδὲ ἐρυθριᾷ. Τοσοῦτόν ἐστι καὶ ἐν γυναικείῳ σώ63.490 ματι ψυχὴ φιλόσοφος. Ταῦτα δὲ λέγω, ἵνα μὴ προφασίζηται γυνὴ λέγουσα, ὅτι διὰ τὸ γυνὴ εἶναι οὐκ ἔφθασα εἰς μέτρον εὐλαβείας πεπληρωμένον. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ αὕτη γυνὴ, καὶ ἡ φύσις οὐκ ἐγένετο κώλυμα, ἀλλὰ κατηξιώθη γενέσθαι Παύλου προστάτις, καὶ πανταχοῦ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἀνακηρύττεται. Πῶς δὲ ἐγένετο αὐτοῦ προστάτις; κινδύνων αὐτὸν ἴσως ἐξήρπασε; ∆εδεμένῳ παρεκάθισεν, ἐν ἁλύσει παρεμυθήσατο, τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀναγκαίων χρειῶν παραμυθίαν εἰσήγαγε, τοὺς ἐπιβουλεύοντας ἀνέστειλεν, εἰς θάνατον ἑαυτὴν ἐξέδωκεν, ὥστε τὸν ἅγιον ἐκεῖνον ἀπαγόμενον ἐξαρπάσαι περιστάσεων. ∆ιὰ δὴ τοῦτο καὶ τὴν μετ' ἐκείνην ἐγκωμιάζει, λέγων οὕτως· Ἀσπάσασθε Πρίσκιλλαν καὶ Ἀκύλαν. Ὅραδὲ καὶ ἐνταῦθα πάλιν τὴν γυναῖκα λάμπουσαν· εἰ γὰρ μία ἡ ξυνωρὶς, ἀλλὰ προτέτακται ἡ γυνὴ τοῦ ἀνδρός· οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν, Ἀκύλαν καὶ Πρίσκιλλαν, ἀλλὰ, Πρίσκιλλαν καὶ Ἀκύλαν. Τίνες δὲ ἦσαν οὗτοι; Σκηνοποιοὶ τὴν τέχνην, ἐπὶ ἐργαστηρίου ἑστῶτες· ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἡ τέχνη, οὐδὲ ἡ πενία γέγονε κώλυμα· ἀλλὰ τὴν πόλιν ἅπασαν παραδραμὼν ὁ μακάριος οὗτος εἰς τὸ δωμάτιον τὸ τοῦτο κατήγετο. Τίνος ἕνεκεν καὶ διὰ τί; Οὐκ ἐπειδὴ κίονας εἶχεν, οὐδὲ ἐπειδὴ πλάκας καὶ ἔδαφος ψηφῖσι διηνθισμένον, οὐδὲ ἐπειδὴ χρυσοῦν ὄροφον, οὐδὲ ἐπειδὴ ἀνδραπόδων ἀγέλας, οὐδὲ ἐπειδὴ εὐνούχων θεραπείαν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ τούτων ἁπάντων μάλιστα τὸ δωμάτιον καθαρὸν εἶναι· διότι γυνὴ καὶ ἀνὴρ τὸν ἐκ δικαίων συνάγοντες πόνον, ἐκκλησίαν τὴν οἰκίαν ἐποίουν, οὐχ ἁρπάζοντες, οὐδὲ πλεονεκτοῦντες, ἀλλὰ τῇ τοῦ σώματος λειτουργίᾳ πρὸς τὴν ἀναγκαίαν ἀποχρώμενοι διατροφήν. ∆ιὰ δὴ τοῦτο μάλιστα Παῦλος ἐπιτήδειον τοῦτο τὸ οἴκημα πρὸς τὸ καταλῦσαι ἐνόμισεν. Καὶ ἵνα μάθῃς ὅτι τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτῶν τὴν ἀρετὴν ἀποδεξάμενος, ἐκεῖ κατέμενεν, ἄκουσον τῶν ἑξῆς. Οἵτινες ὑπὲρ τῆς ψυχῆς μου, φησὶ, τὸν ἑαυτῶν τράχηλον ὑπέθηκαν· οἷς οὐκ ἐγὼ μόνος εὐχαριστῶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶσαι αἱ Ἐκκλησίαι τῶν ἐθνῶν.