We won’t talk about the Aventine because it is the beating heart of our institute with the general curia, the novitiate, the Thouret Foundation, its marvellous park… or because the hill is embellished with beautiful medieval churches and constantly immersed in the scents and colours of the municipal rose garden and the orange garden.

The reason is something else. And perhaps it will surprise us.

Marcella and the Bible

in the hands of women and young people

The first group of virgins and widows recorded in Rome met on the Aventine Hill, in the majestic palace of the patrician Marcella, near the garden of Santa Sabina.

In the second half of the 4th century, Marcella, a woman of vast and refined culture, passionate about the Holy Scriptures, had the courage to approach Jerome and involve him, with his contribution of biblical knowledge, in the ‘Aventine circle’, which met in her palace.

It is often said that the ‘circle’ was founded by Jerome, but this is not the case: in fact, he himself recounts (epistle 127) that while he was in Rome with two bishops, he was approached by a certain Marcella who, insisting, convinced him to participate in their meetings and to contribute his biblical knowledge. So the initiative came from this woman, who had already lost her father at an early age and who lived with her mother, Albina, following the premature death of her husband.

In a small and unadorned room in the sumptuous family palace on the Aventine Hill, Marcella instructed her young nieces and nephews in the Holy Scriptures and gradually offered a listening ear and a place to stay to the women who didn’t want to return to their domus. Soon, that isolated cell became a meeting place for her rich friends who took turns in study, penance, prayer and spiritual conversations.

Thus began the first experiment in collective life for women in Rome. At the centre was the Holy Scripture.

Many women were involved in the initiative: among the first were Paola and one of her daughters, Eustochio, then Sofronia, Asella, Principia, Marcellina, Lea and Marcella’s own mother, Albina.

The Cenacle was made up of virgins and widows, priests and monks who would meet to converse, especially about the Holy Scriptures, particularly the Psalms. To better understand their meaning, Marcella learned Hebrew, in addition to Latin and Greek.

These were the decades of the spread of the spiritual exegesis of Origen, with its strong hold on young people and women: so the psalms were prayed in Hebrew, read and commented on, comparing the Latin, Greek and Hebrew versions. And Marcella was the main animator. A fascinating aspect of Marcella, in fact, was her ability to be lovingly authoritative. Some Roman priests would go to her ‘if any dispute arises regarding a text of Scripture’. And Marcella didn’t shy away.

A strong woman, experienced in life and enthusiastic about the Scriptures, who would face Alaric’s soldiers to save her young friend Principia during the Sack of Rome in 410. She died shortly afterwards, from the beatings she had received. A woman with deep friendships, both female and male. Among the latter, there was also the rough-hewn Jerome, who deserves credit for saving Marcella’s name and life from oblivion.