By Clement Harrold
March 27, 2025
One notable aspect of the Christian moral revolution was its insistence that women are equal to men in dignity and worth. The earliest Christians took seriously the declaration in the book of Genesis that both men and women are created in God’s “image and likeness” (Gen 1:27). As the Gospel spread around the Mediterranean world, so did the biblical truth that men and women “are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28; cf. 1 Cor 11:11-12).
The Church’s advocacy on this point became so well known that her pagan critics frequently accused her of promoting an effeminate religion suitable only for women and slaves. In the derisive words of the philosopher Celsus, who lived in the second century: “[Christians] manifestly show that they desire and are able to gain over only the silly, and the mean, and the stupid, with women and children” (Contra Celsum, Bk III, Ch 44).
Celsus’s critique was echoed by another pagan, Caecilius, who features in a dialogue called Octavius, written by a Christian apologist named Minucius Felix. In the dialogue, written at the end of the second century, Caecilius describes Christianity as being guilty of “having gathered together from the lowest dregs the more unskilled, and women, credulous and, by the facility of their sex, yielding” (Ch VIII).
These samples suffice to show something of the rampant misogyny which characterized the ancient world. Within this milieu, it is all the more remarkable that the New Testament should provide so many examples of holy and heroic women. Here we shall consider seven such role models.
1. Elizabeth
Luke’s Gospel describes Elizabeth as the wife of Zechariah and a relative of Our Lady (see Lk 1:36). Despite the fact that Elizabeth was “barren” and “advanced in years” (Lk 1:7), she and Zechariah miraculously conceived a son, who would be known as John the Baptist, the great forerunner of Christ. Elizabeth is also a major player in the second joyful mystery of the rosary—the Visitation—when the baby John leaps in her womb and Mary launches into her famous Magnificat. Elizabeth’s Spirit-filled greeting to Mary on this occasion has been immortalized in the words of the Hail Mary: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” (Lk 1:42). Elizabeth’s feast day falls on November 5th, while the Visitation is celebrated on May 31st.
2. Anna the Prophetess
Anna appears in just three verses in the New Testament (see Lk 2:36-38), yet her impact in the Gospel narrative is tangible. We are told that Anna was 84 years-old when she met the Holy Family during the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. Luke describes her as a prophetess from the lost tribe of Asher who was widowed at a young age. Her name is a Greek form of the Hebrew Hannah, meaning “favor” or “grace.” Anna’s exemplary holiness is demonstrated through her worshipping God “with fasting and prayer night and day” (Lk 2:37). Her evangelical heart is highlighted in the detail that, following her encounter with the Christ Child, she “spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Lk 2:38). Anna is recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church, and we celebrate her feast day on September 1st.
3. The Samaritan Woman
Jesus’s encounter with the woman of Samaria at the well in John 4 is a perfect illustration of how Christianity redefined the relationship between men and women; even the disciples are amazed when they return to find Jesus conversing alone with a woman (see Jn 4:27). Soon this courageous woman becomes a model of Christian discipleship. Despite her initial skepticism, the Samaritan woman steadily grows in her desire for the spiritual waters which Christ alone can give: “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw” (Jn 4:15). When her time comes to leave, the woman is so captivated by her encounter with the Lord that she leaves her water jug behind as she rushes back to the city to share the Good News with everyone she knows (see Jn 4:28-29).
4. Mary of Bethany & Mary Magdalene
We treat these two names together because of the longstanding debate, particularly in Western Christianity, over whether the two Marys are the same person. If these two Marys are separate women, they are both exceptional figures in their own right; if they are the same woman, then she is doubly extraordinary! To Mary of Bethany belongs the honor of having sat at the Lord’s feet contemplating “the one thing necessary” (see Lk 10:42). On another occasion, when she anointed Christ’s feet with fragrant ointment, the Master praised her for having done “a beautiful thing to me” (Mt 26:10). Her tears over the death of her brother Lazarus also appear to be the catalyst for Jesus’s own grief at the tomb of His friend (see Jn 11:33).
Mary’s tears are mirrored in the tears of Mary Magdalene at Jesus’s tomb, when she mistakes Him for the gardener. After the Master calls her by name, Mary recognizes His true identity, thereby becoming the first recorded witness to the Resurrection (see Jn 20:11-18). Even before she became the “apostle to the apostles,” however, Mary Magdalene had the privilege of helping fund Jesus’s ministry in Galilee after He healed her of seven demons (see Lk 8:2-3).
Today, the Church celebrates St. Mary Magdalene on her traditional feast of July 22nd, while St. Mary of Bethany is celebrated together with her sister St. Martha and her brother St. Lazarus on July 29th.
5. Lydia
Mentioned by St. Luke in the book of Acts, Lydia was involved in the purple-dye trade and was probably a wealthy woman. A native of Thyatira, in modern-day Turkey, she is regarded as the first documented convert to Christianity in Europe. Scripture describes her as “a worshiper of God” whose heart was opened in response to the preaching of St. Paul (Acts 16:14). Immediately after hearing this preaching, Lydia was baptized together with her household. Thereafter, she proceeded to invite Paul and his companions to stay at her home (see Acts 16:15). Christian tradition celebrates Lydia for her openness to faith and for her hospitality. Her feast day falls on August 3rd.
6. Priscilla
Priscilla and her husband, Aquila, are mentioned on six different occasions in the New Testament. They were a missionary couple of Jewish heritage who started out in Rome but were exiled to Corinth following an edict of expulsion from the Emperor Claudius (see Acts 18:2). Like St. Paul, Priscilla and Aquila were tentmakers (see Acts 18:3), and at some point they converted to Christianity. From there they became zealous evangelists, so much so that Paul could affectionately call them his “fellow workers in Christ Jesus” (Rom 16:3). This holy couple even played a role in catechizing Apollos, who would later become a major figure in the early Church (see Acts 18:26). Priscilla and Aquila were also known for opening up their home as a space for Christian worship (see 1 Cor 16:19). At one point, Paul credits the couple for having risked their own lives to save his, noting that they received the gratitude of all the Gentile churches (see Rom 16:4). Christian tradition holds that Priscilla and Aquila were martyred together upon their return to Rome; their feast day is celebrated on July 8th.
7. Mary, the Mother of Jesus
Since the Reformation, Mary’s role in salvation history has often been undermined by Protestant Christians who assert that the New Testament provides no grounds for affording her the kind of exalted status that she enjoys in Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy. This is ironic not only because Reformers like Luther and Calvin defended the classic Marian dogmas, but also because Scripture actually does hold Our Lady in incredibly high esteem.
According to the New Testament, Mary is the one whose perfect submission to the will of God helps undo the sin of Eve (see Lk 1:38), the one who is filled with grace (see Lk 1:28), the one who is overshadowed by the Holy Spirit (see Lk 1:34), the one who is most blessed among women (see Lk 1:42), the one whom all generations will call blessed (see Lk 1:48), the one whose maternal intercession moves Jesus to begin His ministry of miracles (see Jn 2:5), the one whom Jesus entrusts to His most cherished disciple (see Jn 19:27), and the one who is portrayed as a spiritual mother to all believers (see Rev 12:17).
From a biblical standpoint, Mary is the Mother of God (see Lk 1:43) and the new Ark of the Covenant who earns the wrath of Satan (see Rev 11:19-12:1,17). She is present, moreover, at all the crucial moments in the gestation of the Church: the Incarnation, the birth of Christ, the crucifixion (see Jn 19:25-27), and Pentecost (see Acts 1:14). In short, our Blessed Mother receives a far more elevated status than any other human figure in Sacred Scripture; and as such, she ought to be appreciated and celebrated by all Christians.
Further Reading
Mike Aquilina, The Witness of Early Christian Women: Mothers of the Church (Our Sunday Visitor, 2014)
Stacy Mitch, Courageous Women: A Study on the Heroines of Biblical History (Emmaus Road Publishing, 2002)
About Clement Harrold
Clement Harrold earned his master’s degree in theology from the University of Notre Dame in 2024, and his bachelor’s from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2021. His writings have appeared in First Things, Church Life Journal, Crisis Magazine, and the Washington Examiner.
