Feast of St Marcella (410), a wealthy widow of Rome who gave away her fortune, “preferring to store her money in the stomachs of the needy rather than hide it in a purse.” She founded one of the first communities of Christian women. St Jerome served as their spiritual advisor.
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During the sack of Rome she was beaten by invaders. Eventually they were shamed to withdraw, but at 85 she found it hard to recover from this trauma and she died soon after, smiling, “conscious of having lived a good life and hoping for a reward hereafter.”
