Wheeler, Henry, 1835-1925 
 Deaconesses, ancient and 
 modern 
 
DEACONESSES 
 
 ANCIENT AND MODERN 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. HENRY WHEELER 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 The Memory of the Just^ Methodisvt and the Temperance Reformation^ 
 Rays of Light in the Valley of Sorrow, etc. 
 
 The Lord giveth the word : 
 
 The women that publish the tidings are a gjeat host. 
 
 — PsA. Ixviii, II, 
 
 ^vvlcTijui fil vfilv ^oiiSt^' ttjv adcl^TjV rjnuv. ovrrav (SiaKOvov -i]c, eKK7iria'taq 
 TT/g tv KeyxP^alg- — ROM. xvi, i. 
 
 NETV YORK; HUNT &- BATON 
 
 CI NCI NN A TI: CRANSTON &= STOIVE 
 1889 
 
Copyright, 1889, by 
 
 H U N T & E ATON, 
 
 New York. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter Page 
 
 I. Prophetesses of the Old Testament 5 
 
 II. Women of the Gospels 20 
 
 III. Women of the Acts 31 
 
 IV. Women of the Epistles 40 
 
 V. Deaconesses of the Apostolic Church 46 
 
 YI. Deaconesses of the Early Church 57 
 
 VII. The Ordination of Deaconesses 78 
 
 VIII. The Work, Character, and Persecutions of the An- 
 cient Deaconesses 103 
 
 JX. The Decline and Disappearance of the Ancient Or- 
 der OF Deaconesses 124 
 
 X. Deaconesses and Sisterhoods Fundamentally Differ- 
 ent 134 
 
 XI. The Female Diaconate and the Error of the Spir- 
 itual Marriage of the Individual with Christ... 150 
 
 XII. The Deaconesses op Kaiserswerth 167 
 
 XIII. Deaconesses in England 201 
 
 XIV. Deaconesses in the United States 234 
 
 XV. Deaconesses in the Methodist Episcopal Church. . . . 258 
 
 XVI. Conclusion 297 
 
TO THE 
 
 DEACONESSES OF THE CHURCH OF GOD; 
 
 IN MEMORY OF THE ANCIENT, IN SYMPATHY WITH THE 
 MODERN; 
 
 WITH PROFOUND RESPECT FOR WOMAN'S WORK 
 IN EVERY SPHERE, 
 
 THIS VOLUME IS MOST RESPECTFULLY 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 This work is an attempt to bring before the reader 
 a brief historical outline of the ancient order of dea- 
 conesses, its disappearance in the Middle Ages, and 
 its revival in modern times. 
 
 The condition of the world calls for the employ- 
 ment of all agencies that can lessen its sorrows and 
 shed the light of Gospel truth into its dark places. 
 The contest between the forces of good and evil is 
 becoming more severe, and the zeal of the Church 
 more intense. New instrumentalities for good are 
 sought, and old ones long discarded are brought into 
 requisition. 
 
 The simple forms of labor existing in apostolic 
 times were destroyed by priestly assumptions and am- 
 bition, and woman as an officer of the Church was set 
 aside. The work of the Reformation is not yet com- 
 plete ; the wheat is not all winnowed from the chaff. 
 A brighter day is dawning. As the Church is bap- 
 tized with the Holy Ghost she goes back to the spirit 
 of primitive Christianity, recognizes the ministry of 
 woman, and sends her forth with blessing and author- 
 ity. But the Church will not reach her highest 
 development and power until, in spiritual right and 
 privilege in Christ Jesus, every line of distinction 
 
4 Preface. 
 
 between male and female is obliterated as it is be- 
 tween Jew and Greek, bond and free. 
 
 Should these pages contribute any thing to the ad- 
 vancement of woman's work in the Church it will be 
 matter of humble gratitude to God on the part of the 
 writer. For this purpose it is presented to the pub- 
 lic, and especially to those interested in the deaconess 
 movement. 
 
 The author acknowledges his obligation to his life- 
 long friend, James Ponsford, Esq., of Arlington 
 House, Cheddar, England ; to William R. Murphy, 
 Esq., Rev. A. Spaeth, D.D., and Rev. A. Cordes, Rec- 
 tor of the Mary J. Drexel Deaconess Home, Philadel- 
 phia, for valuable books. 
 
 We have, in the proper place, referred to the sev- 
 eral authors from whom we have quoted, but have not 
 given the full titles. The work of Dean Howson is 
 entitled Deaconesses; or, The Official Help of Women 
 in Parochial Work and in Charitable Institutions. 
 London : Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 
 1862. The work of J. M. Ludlow is entitled Woman's 
 Work in the Church. Alexander Strahan, London 
 and New York, 1866. The Church Fathers used is 
 the edition published by the Christian Literature 
 Company, New York. 
 
 The work is sent forth with the hope that the 
 divine blessing may attend it and the cause it advo- 
 cates. The Author. 
 
 1018 Arch Street, Philadelphia, April, 1889. 
 
DEACONESSES, 
 
 ANCIENT AND MODERN. 
 
 CHAPTEK I. 
 
 PRELIMINARY. 
 
 PROPHETESSES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 Man and woman in their creation and bj natural 
 endowments are inseparably united. The bond can 
 never be broken. They stood together in the purity 
 of Eden, and together fell in the transgression, shar- 
 ing its penalty in the loss of purity and paradise. 
 
 "They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow, 
 Through Eden took their sohtary way." 
 
 Thus they entered upon their career of mutual sin 
 and alienation from God. " Hand in hand " must 
 they seek to regain the lost paradise, and side by side 
 work out their physical and moral destiny. That this 
 is what God intended, both nature and revelation 
 plainly teach. To help humanity in its lapsed condi- 
 tion, God called and inspired some to make known 
 his will. The endowments bestowed on his servants 
 
6 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 of old have kindled high and holy aspirations in right- 
 eous souls of ever J generation, and the employment 
 of men and women in the prophetic office in the 
 earliest ages is, at least, an intimation of God's de- 
 sign in the subsequent and fuller development of his 
 Church. 
 
 We may justly infer that agencies employed at one 
 time would be employed at another when the ends to 
 be accomplished are the same ; and that spiritual en- 
 dowments given in one age would be given in an- 
 other when the work of God demanded them. That 
 this has always been the faith of the Church is seen in 
 the fact that the gracious gifts of the Holy Spirit 
 have been invoked on those specially consecrated to 
 religious work. In the ordination of a deaconess in 
 the ancient Church the bishop prayed : *' O Eternal 
 God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator 
 of man and of woman, who didst replenish with the 
 Spirit Miriam and Deborah, and Anna, and Hub 
 dah, ... do thou now also look down upon this 
 thy servant, w^ho is to be ordained to the office 
 of a deaconess, and grant her thy Holy Spirit." * Here 
 is a recognition of the fact that in the old dispensa- 
 tion God endowed and filled with his Holy Spirit 
 some holy women whom he called to do special 
 work in his Church. In every age substantially the 
 same needs have appeared, and the same agencies have 
 been employed in modified forms, and endowments 
 * Apostolical Comtitutiorwif Book viii, c. xx. 
 
Prophetesses of the Old Testament. T 
 
 of the same Spirit have been ^ven. There is " one 
 Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of 
 all, who is above all, and in you all." So it will be 
 to the end. 
 
 Believing that it is God's design to employ women 
 in every age for the spread of his truth, the com.fort 
 of his people, and the establishment of his kingdom, 
 we seek for some illustrations under the old dispen- 
 sation. 
 
 " The Lord giveth the word: 
 
 The women that publish the tidings are a great host." 
 
 Psa. Ixviii, 11. (R. Y.) 
 
 "We will consider briefly the female characters of 
 the Old Testament w^ho were identified with the work 
 of God as leaders and teachers, under the name of 
 prophetesses. 
 
 MmiAM. Miriam is the first prophetess on record 
 designated by that name, though it is not likely that 
 she was the first woman through whom God spoke 
 prophetically. In tlie rabbinical traditions there are 
 seven prophetesses in Old Testament times : Sarah, 
 Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail, Huldah, and 
 Esther.* 
 
 The following are the principal statements and 
 allusions to Miriam and her work : "And Miriam the 
 prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her 
 hand ; and all the women went out after her with 
 timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered 
 * Stanley's Jewish Churcfi, vol i, p. 488. 
 
8 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 them, Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed 
 gloriously : the horse and his rider hath he thrown 
 into the sea." Exod. xv, 20, 21. 
 
 " And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses. . . . 
 And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by 
 Moses ? hath he not spoken also by us ? And the 
 Lord heard it." Num. xii, 1, 2. 
 
 " O my people, what have I done unto thee ? and 
 wherein have I wearied thee ? testify against me. 
 
 " For I brought tliee up out of the land of Egypt, 
 and redeemed thee out of the house of servants ; and 
 I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam." Mic. 
 yi, 3, 4. 
 
 It can hardly be said that before the exodus God 
 had an organized people. At the earliest time that 
 God gave to man his revealed will, and designated 
 the system of worship that would be acceptable to 
 him, he employed consecrated women in his service. 
 Miriam was the sister of Moses and Aaron. Accord- 
 ing to Josephus, Miriam watched the fate of the in- 
 fant set afloat on the Nile in the ark of bulrushes, 
 came to the king's daughter when the child was res- 
 cued, and managed the stratagem for his preserva- 
 tion, calling the child's mother to be its nurse. After 
 describing the rescue of the child from the river, 
 by the servant who could swim, he says: "Now 
 Miriam was by when this happened, not to appear to 
 be there on purpose, but only as staying to see the 
 child. . . . And, indeed, such providence was exer- 
 
Prophetesses of the Old Testament. 9 
 
 cised in the care of this child as showed the power of 
 God." * 
 
 Upon the passages quoted above (Exod. xv), Dr. 
 A. Clarke says : " By this we find that God not only 
 poured out his Spirit upon men, but upon women 
 also. It is likely that Miriam was inspired by the 
 Spirit of God to instruct the Hebrew women as Moses 
 and Aaron were to instruct the men." 
 
 We see by ]^um. xii that she laid claim to the pro- 
 phetic office and influence. The word of God by 
 Micali shows that she was constituted joint leader of 
 the people w^ith her two brothers, Moses and Aaron. 
 " Hence," says Clarke, " it is very likely that she was 
 the instructress of the women, and regulated the times 
 and places of their devotional acts ; for it appears that 
 from the beginning to the present day the Jewish 
 women worshiped apart." Peculiar honor was con- 
 ferred on this godly woman, " the third member, the 
 eldest born of that noble family, whose name now 
 first appears in the history of the Church, afterward 
 to become so renowned through its Grecian and Eu- 
 ropean form of Maria and Mary. She came forth, 
 as was the w^ont of Hebrew w^omen after some great 
 victory, to meet the triumphant hosts, with her Egyp- 
 tian timbrels, and with dances of her country-women 
 — Miriam, who had watched her infant brother by 
 the river-side, and now greeted him as the deliverer 
 of her people, or rather, if we may with reverence 
 
 * Josephus, Book ii, c. ix. 
 
10 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 say so, greeted the divine Deliverer, by the new and 
 awful Name, now first clearly proclaimed to her fam- 
 ily and nation." * 
 
 •' Sing unto Jehovah, for he is lifted up on high, on high. 
 The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. 
 My strength and song is Jah, and he is become my salvation. 
 He is my God, and I will praise him • my father's God, and I will 
 exalt him.'' 
 
 One writer, listening to the voices of past centuries, 
 says : " Hark ! The hum of mighty hosts ! It rose 
 and fell, fainter and more faint ; then the murmur of 
 water was heard and lost again, as it swelled and 
 gathered and burst in one grand volume of sound like 
 a halleluiah from myriad lips. Out of the resounding 
 echo, out of the dying cadence, a single female voice 
 arose. Clear, pure, rich, it soared above the tumult 
 of the host that hushed itself, a living thing. Higher, 
 sweeter, it seemed to break the fetters of mortality 
 and tremble in sublime adoration before the Infinite. 
 My breath stilled with awe. Was it a spirit voice — 
 one of the glittering host in the jasper city Uliat had 
 no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in 
 it ? ' And the water — was it the river, clear as crystal, 
 flowing from the great white throne ? But no! The 
 tone now floated out soft, sad, human. There was no 
 sorrowful strain in that nightless land where the leaves 
 of the trees were for the healing of the nations. The 
 beautiful voice was of earth, and sin-stricken. From 
 
 * Stanley's Jtwish Church, vol. i, p. 46. 
 
Pkophetesses of the Old Testament. 11 
 
 the sobbing that mingled with the faint ripple of 
 water it went up inspired with praise to the sky, and 
 — hark ! the Hebrew tongue : 
 
 " 'The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.* 
 
 " Then the noise of the multitude swelled again, 
 and a clash of music broke forth from innumerable 
 timbrels. 1 raised my head quickly — it was the 
 song of Miriam after the passage of the Red 
 Sea." * 
 
 It is evident that Miriam moved in a higher sphere 
 than was allotted to ordinary Israelitish women, and 
 served God in his public worship, leading and direct- 
 ing vast hosts of worshipers in a system of worship 
 that was peculiarly spectacular and demonstrative. 
 If tradition or the historian Josephus be correct, she 
 was married and became a mother and grandmother ; 
 and yet the relation of wife and mother did not debar 
 her from the office of instructress and prophetess. 
 "We know she was a chosen and inspired leader, and 
 yet not so lifted above the experience and life of com- 
 mon humanity that she could not err. She grievously 
 sinned in that she rebelled against Moses, and was 
 severely punished by God amid the silent grief of her 
 nation, but was forgiven, healed, and at length died 
 in the favor of God on the borders of Canaan. 
 
 Deborah. This remarkable woman is introduced 
 to us in the following manner : " And Deborah, a 
 
 * F. McLandburgh. 
 
12 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 prophetess, tlie wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel 
 at tliat time. And she dwelt under the pahn-tree 
 of Deborah, between Eamah and Bethel, in Mount 
 Ephraim : and the children of Israel came up to her 
 for judgment." — Judg. iv, 4, 5. 
 
 In the days of Deborah the Israelites were op- 
 pressed by surrounding nations, and all the chiefs of 
 the tribes had lost heart, and despondency filled the 
 land. How often under like circumstances has God 
 raised up some special instrument to bring relief 
 to the oppressed ! It was so in the political history 
 of the Jewish people, and has been so in the history 
 of the Church. In the darkest hour the deliverer 
 comes. 
 
 In the early days of the nation, in the time of the 
 theocracy, prophetic endowment, spiritual power, and 
 political rule were sometimes united in the same per- 
 son. The Spirit of God descended upon Deborah, 
 and she was the instrument of conveying to her peo- 
 ple the divine will in things sacred and civil. 
 
 " Deborah's title of prophetess includes the notion 
 of inspired poetry, and in this sense the glorious tri- 
 umphal ode well vindicates her claim to the office. 
 This song, which was composed in consequence of the 
 great victory over Sisera, is said to have been sung 
 by Deborah and Barak. It is usually regarded as the 
 composition of Deborah, and was probably indited by 
 her to be sung on the return of Barak and his war- 
 riors from the pursuit. It belongs indisputably to 
 
Prophetesses of tfie Old Testament. 13 
 
 tlie first rank of Hebrew poetry, and is one of its 
 most splendid and difficult specimens." ^ 
 
 In the ecstasy and energy of inspiration the proph- 
 etess pours out her whole soul in thanksgiving to God 
 for his divine aid, and in gratitude to the people of 
 Israel for their patriotism in rising spontaneously to 
 throw off the yoke of oppression. " Her strains are 
 bold, varied, and sublime ; she is every-where full of 
 abrupt and impassioned appeals and personifications; 
 she bursts away from earth to heaven and again re- 
 turns to human things; she touches now upon the 
 present, now dwells upon the past, and closes at length 
 with the grand promise and result of all prophecy, 
 and of all the dealings of God's providence, that the 
 wicked shall be overthrown, while the righteous shall 
 ever triumph in Jehovah's name." f 
 
 In this instance, in one of the darkest periods of 
 Jewish history, God chose a woman as the organ of 
 communication with his people. By the purity and 
 infiuence of her character she was the head of the na- 
 tion. By her intercourse with God, by her patriotic 
 zeal, her unswerving faith, and her hope in the future 
 of her nation, she became, indeed, ''a mother in Is- 
 rael." She was " the wife of Lapidoth." As God 
 designed the great majority of women for wifehood 
 and motherhood, it is not surprising that he makes no 
 distinction between the married and unmarried in his 
 calls to labor. God, whose wisdom is infinite, chooses 
 
 * McClintock and Strong, art. " Deborah." \ Ibid. 
 
14 Deaconessls, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 instruments adapted to his work, independent of the 
 mere accidents of life. Purity of character, conse- 
 cration to his service, a desire to do his will, a single 
 eye to his glory, a waiting for God's call, a readiness 
 to be sent — these are the characteristics that secure 
 the honor of some special service in the cause of God 
 and man. 
 
 Hannah. The biblical account of Hannah is given 
 in 1 Sam. i and ii. The simple and natural story 
 has excited the interest and won the favor of the 
 good in all ages, and her beautiful prophetic song has 
 found an echo in many hearts. 
 
 "The Lord maketli poor, and makelh rich: 
 He bringetli low, he also lifteth up. 
 He raiseili up the poor out of the dust, 
 He lifteth up the needy from the duughill, 
 And maketh them to sit with princes, 
 And inherit the throne of glory: 
 For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, 
 And he hath set the world upon them. . . . 
 The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; 
 And he shall give strength unto his king, 
 And exalt the horn of his anointed." (R. V.) 
 
 "The Magnificat of Hannah is an evangelical song 
 chanted by the spirit of prophecy under the Levitical 
 law. It is a prelude and overture to the Gospel. It 
 is a connecting link of sweet and sacred melody be- 
 tween the Magnificat of Miriam after the passage of 
 the Ked Sea — sjnnbolizing the death, burial, and res- 
 urrection of Christ — and the Magnificat of Mary, the 
 annunciation of his birth. It is not only a song of 
 
Prophetesses of the Old Testament. 15 
 
 thanksgiving, it is also a prophecy. It is the utter- 
 ance of the Holy Ghost moving within her, and mak- 
 ing her maternal joy on the birth of Samuel to over- 
 flow in outpourings of thankfulness to God for those 
 greater blessings in Christ, of which that birth was 
 an earnest and pledge." ^ 
 
 Not much is said of Hannah in the sacred writings, 
 but enough to show the beauty of her character and 
 her exalted piety. She loved God and his worship, 
 consecrated her first-born to the service of the sanctu- 
 ary, and under the inspiration of God gave utterance 
 to the beautiful prophetic song in which she foretold 
 the overthrow of the enemies of her people and the 
 comincr of the Messiah. 
 
 Peculiar honor was conferred on Hannah, in that 
 she was the first to describe the Saviour of the world 
 as a KING before there was a king in Israel, and ^' she 
 first a])plied to him the remarkable epithet, Messiah 
 in Hebrew, Christ in Greek, and Anointed in En- 
 glish," f which was adopted by nearly all the inspired 
 writers that succeeded her in both the Old and New 
 Testaments. 
 
 Thus wonderfully does God honor woman by plac- 
 ing her among the prophets ; and in this is Hannah 
 distinguished above all, in that she unfolds the lead- 
 ing title by which the Son of God should be known 
 in all the world and in all ages. " Moreover, he who 
 is suitably interested in these things, . . . does he not 
 
 * Wordsworth. f Dr. Hales, quoted by Dr. Clarke. 
 
16 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 apply liis mind, and perceive, and acknowledge, that 
 tlirongli this woman, whose very name, wdiich is 
 Hannah, means ' this grace ' — the very Christian re- 
 ligion, the very city of God, whose King and Founder 
 is Christ, in fine, the very grace of God, hath thus 
 spoken by the prophetic spirit, whereby the proud 
 are cut off so that they fall and the humble are filled 
 so that they rise, which that hymn chiefly cele- 
 brates?"* 
 
 HuLDAH. Kothing is known of Haldah, the proph- 
 etess, but what is recorded in 2 Kings xxii. The 
 prophecy she uttered is contained in verses fifteen to 
 twenty inclusive. A very brief prophecy, but the 
 circumstances that called it forth are remarkable and 
 worthy of special notice. The people of Israel had 
 departed from God during the reign of the wicked 
 kings Manasseh and Amon ; but the good Josiah in- 
 augurated a reformation. 
 
 The high-priest Hilkiah found the Book of the 
 Law in the house of the Lord. There was, however, 
 such a dearth of religious knowledge that not one of 
 all the king's servants, neither high-priest nor scribe, 
 could give the meaning of the law to the king when 
 he demanded it. Jeremiah was a prophet in Israel 
 at that time, but he was not appealed to; perhaps 
 he was at his home in Anathoth and could not be 
 readily consulted, or else it was the purpose of God 
 that Iluldah should be consulted and her prophecy 
 
 * Augustine, City of God, Book xvii, c. iv. 
 
Pkophetesses of the Old Testament. 17 
 
 recorded, as this is the only cii-cumstance by wliich 
 her name is perpetuated in the Chiircli, though it is 
 likely she was a constant instructor of the people. 
 
 Aside from the office of prophetess she stood well 
 in the nation. She was "the wife of Shallum the 
 son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the 
 w^ardrobe;" "which Shallum," says Josephus, "was 
 a man of dignity, au'l of an eminent family." "We 
 find from this, and we have many facts in all ages to 
 corroborate it, that a pontiff, a pope, a bishop, or a 
 priest may, in some cases, not possess the true know^l- 
 edge of God ; and that a simple wouian, possessing 
 the life of God in the soul, may have more knowl- 
 edge of the divine testiuionies than many of those 
 whose office it is to explain and enforce them." * 
 
 This is true, but it is evident that the know^ledge 
 possessed by Huldah was not of the ordinary kind, 
 and though a woman she was one of those appointed 
 of God to teach and enforce the divine law and to be 
 a mouth-piece for God to his people. The note of 
 Dr. Priestly is apt and to the point : " It pleased God 
 to distinguish several women with the spirit of proph- 
 ecy, as well as other great attainments, to show that 
 in his sight, and especially in things of a spiritual nat- 
 ure, there is no essential pre-eminence in the male 
 sex, though in some things the female is subject to 
 the male." 
 
 " Women are the subjects of four distinct commands 
 
 * Adam Clarke, D.D. 
 
18 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 in the decalogue. The names of women occur in the 
 genealogies; and in some cases they were entitled to 
 hold property in tlie Land of Promise. Women were 
 thus recognized in the Old Testament as members of 
 society, as constituents of the body corporate, and as 
 inspired and authorized transmitters of divine ora- 
 cles." * 
 
 The prophetesses are, relatively, few in number, 
 and yet are sufficient to establish the truth given above 
 by Dr. Priestly. In this sense God is not the re- 
 specter of persons. By holy me# or by holy women 
 God speaks or works as it may please him. There 
 were prophets of old, no doubt, whose names and 
 prophecies it did not please God to preserve. Tliey 
 served their generation, and their record is on high. 
 This is true, also, of prophetesses. Enough has been 
 presented to show that in Old Testament times God 
 inspired women, as well as men, and sent them to 
 make proclamation of liis will : some from the rulers 
 of the people, as Miriam ; some from the wealthy and 
 eminent, as Huldah ; and some from the middle or 
 lowly, as Hannali. 
 
 These women were not deaconesses. No, but they 
 were office-bearers in the Church of God, and spe- 
 cially endowed by the Holy Ghost. And the early 
 Church fathers who penned the prayer to be used at 
 tlie ordination of a deaconess prayed that God would 
 replenish with the Holy Spirit the consecrated dea- 
 
 * Dr. Charteris, Presbyterian Review, 1888. 
 
Prophetesses of the Old Testament. Id 
 
 conesses as he did " Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, and 
 Huldah." 
 
 Deaconesses are not inspired as were prophetesses, 
 neither have deacons been inspired since the days of 
 tlie apostles, but they may be "replenished with the 
 Holy Spirit," and be prepared to discharge the work 
 assigned them to the glory and praise of Jesus Christ 
 our Lord. In this sense they have served God, the 
 Church, and their generation as efficiently as the 
 prophetesses of the old dispensation. 
 
20 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 THE WOMEN" OF THE GOSPELS. 
 
 The spirit of prophecy, which had so long ceased 
 in Israel, hegan to appear again at the opening of 
 the new dispensation. As at the beginning of the 
 Mosaic it rested alike upon Moses and Miriam, so 
 at the beginning of the Gospel dispensation it rested 
 also on both Zacharias and Elisabeth. 
 
 Elisabeth belonged to a sacerdotal family. She 
 " was of the daughters of Aaron," and her husband 
 also was a priest. By the will of God she became 
 the mother of John the Baptist. " The angel said. 
 Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy 
 wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt 
 call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and 
 gladness ; and many shall rejoice at his birth." Luke 
 i, 13, 14:. At a later period, before the birth of John, 
 Elisabeth was ''tilled with the Holy Ghost." The 
 spirit of prophecy was upon her, and gave her a clear 
 understanding of the mystery of the birth of the 
 promised Messiah. She blessed the Virgin Mary, and 
 said, " Blessed art thou among women, and blessed 
 is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to 
 me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me ? " 
 Luke i, 42. 
 
The Women of the Gospels. 21 
 
 Mary. The relation of the Virgin Mary to the 
 Gospel dispensation and to the divine Saviour is excep- 
 tional. In every respect it seems so sacred that we can- 
 not enter upon it, even in thought, without feeling that 
 we " stand on holy ground." As mother of the Sav- 
 iour of the world she holds a peculiar position. "We 
 may rightly attribute to her the most beautiful traits 
 of womanly character, and revere her as the highest 
 model of female purity, love, and piety. In her re- 
 lation to the history of redemption, as the mother 
 of Christ, she must forever stand alone. But in her 
 relation to the Church, and her utterances of divine 
 truth, we may place her with other holy women who 
 have been instruments of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Hannah, upon the occasion of the birth of Samuel, 
 a future prophet and judge of Israel, sung in hal- 
 lowed measure. And Mary, like the ancient proph- 
 etess, in the moment of inspired exaltation pours 
 forth her joy in poetic utterances — a proof that the 
 same Spirit, in different ages and persons, breathes 
 the same holy strains. But the song of the latter 
 is gentler, grander, opening into a far sublimer per- 
 spective. " And Mary said, 
 
 " My soul doth magnify the Lord, 
 
 And my spirit liath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 
 
 For he hath looked upon the low eitate of his handmaiden. 
 
 For behold, from henceforth all generations sliall call me blessed. 
 
 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things ; 
 
 And holy is his name. 
 
 And his mercy is unto generations and generations 
 
22 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 Of them that fear him. 
 
 He hath showed strength with his arm ; 
 
 He hatli scattered the proud in the imagination of tlieir heart. 
 
 He hath put down princes from tlieir thrones, 
 
 And hath exalted them of low degree. 
 
 The hungry he hath filled with good things; 
 
 And the rich he hath sent empty away. 
 
 He hath holpen Israel his servant, 
 
 That he might remember mercy 
 
 (As he spake unto our fathers) 
 
 Toward Abraham and his seed forever." Luke i, 46-55. (R. V.) 
 
 Anna. Tlie ao^ed prophetess of St. Luke's gospel 
 is introduced just as Simeon had taken the infant 
 Christ in his arms and was uttering his departing 
 triumphal song: "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant 
 depart in peace, according to thy word ; for mine 
 eyes have seen thy salvation." 
 
 "And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the 
 daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was 
 of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven 
 years from her virginity; and she was a widow of 
 about fourscore and four years, which departed not 
 from the temple, but served God with fastings and 
 prayers night and day ; and she coming in that in- 
 stant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake 
 of him to all them that looked for redemption in 
 Jerusalem." 
 
 This prophetess had attained to a great age and 
 sanctity of character. She was blessed with the com- 
 panionship of her husband but seven years, and ever 
 after his death remained in widowhood. She was 
 
The Women of the Gospels. 23 
 
 one of those " widows indeed " commended of Paul 
 to Timothy. Her giving "thanks likewise unto the 
 Lord," when she saw the infant Jesus in the arms 
 of the aged priest, was not tlie only instance of 
 her prophesying, or the only reason why she was 
 called a " prophetess." Her constant attendance at 
 the temple service at the liours appointed for prayer, 
 whicli were nine in the morning and three in tlie 
 afternoon, and serving God in " prayers and fastings 
 niglit and day," are proofs of her zeal and devotion. 
 " The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him ; 
 and he will show them his covenant." "Such an ap- 
 pellation must have been caused by some earlier and 
 frequent utterances, dictated by the spirit of prophecy, 
 by reason of which she ranks among the list of holy 
 women, who, both in earlier and later times, were 
 chosen instruments of the Holy Ghost." * 
 
 There were dwelling at Jerusalem at this time 
 many pious families, who were living in immediate 
 expectation of the coming Messiah. It had been 
 made known to the aged Simeon that he should not 
 die until " he had seen the Lord's Christ." Others 
 could read and interpret the promises and prophecies 
 and were "waiting for the consolation of Israel." 
 The honor of bearing to these families the glad tid- 
 ings that the Saviour had come was reserved for 
 Anna. Was she not the^^'^^ ev^angelist? 
 
 " And spake of him to all them that looked for 
 * Lange, in loco. 
 
2.1: Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 redemption in Jerusalem. It is probable she went 
 about from house to house ^ testifying the grace of 
 God. In the margin of our common version, Israel 
 is put instead of Jerusalem^ which the translators 
 thought was nearly as eligible as the word they re- 
 ceived into the text. . . . Were this reading to be 
 received, it would make a very essential alteration 
 in the meaning of the text, as it would intimate that 
 this excellent woman traveled over the land of Israel^ 
 proclaiming the advent of Christ. At all events, it 
 appears that this widow was one of the first pub- 
 lishers of the Gospel of Christ ; and it is likely that 
 she traveled with it from house to house through 
 the city of Jerusalem, where she knew they dwelt 
 who were expecting the salvation of God." * 
 
 There were some, even in that fallen city and de- 
 praved age, whose hearts were right in the sight of 
 God. They had waited long, but their faith was still 
 alive and their love burning. Anna, perhaps more 
 aged than Simeon, was chosen to bear the welcome 
 news to them that Messiah had come. It well be- 
 fitted her spotless character, her long residence in 
 the temple, her deep dj. otion. She was standing on 
 the verge of eternity ; she must soon rise to serve 
 God in the temple made without hands ; let her go 
 to tell those who, like herself, had hopefully waited 
 his coming, that the Lord had "suddenly come to 
 his temple." She went forth as one who had glad 
 
 * Adam Clarke, D.D., in loco. 
 
The Women of the Gospels. 25 
 
 news to tell. Her heart beat faster, and her aged 
 limbs received new strength, her youth w^as renewed, 
 and her eyes beamed with unearthly luster. Was she 
 weary? We think not. The human frame will bear 
 much under the impulse of a hallowed joy. As she 
 went up and down the streets of the ancient city her 
 feet touched the earth but lightly, because of the 
 happiness of her soul, as she went from house to 
 house and ceased not until she '^ spake of him to all 
 them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem." 
 
 Elisabeth and Anna belonged to the old dispensa- 
 tion rather than the new. Their piety was of the 
 Old Testament type ; the center of their thought and 
 worship was the temple. They lived on the thresh- 
 old ; the old was fading, the new was assuming defi- 
 nite form. In them the two dispensations were beau- 
 tifully blended — the faith and hope inspired by the 
 promises, and the joy of reaHzation. Anna, having 
 seen ''the Lord's Christ," and proclaimed his advent 
 to aU those in Jerusalem who were *' waiting the 
 consolation of Israel," slept with her fathers. The 
 Lord Jesus, emerged from the obscurity of Nazareth, 
 proclaimed his mission, and laid the foundations of 
 his kingdom. Prophets or prophetesses were no 
 longer needed to foretell his coming or declare his ad- 
 vent. The prophetic office was embodied in himself. 
 He was the one of whom Moses said, ''A prophet 
 shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your 
 brethren, like unto me ; him shall ye hear." When 
 
26 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 liis work was accomplislied and he had ascended, the 
 prophetic Spirit was again given and the sublime 
 promise of the Father was fultilled : "And it shall 
 come to pass afterward, that I will poor out mj Spirit 
 upon all flesh; and jour sons and your daughters shall 
 prophesy. . . . And also upon the servants and upon 
 the handmaids in those days will I pour out my 
 Spirit." Joel ii, 28, 29. 
 
 There are " many otlier women " mentioned in the 
 gospels, who stood in close relation to Christ and his 
 work, whose affection and fidelity commended them 
 as examples to all generations. It is not within our 
 purpose to treat of them separately, as they were not 
 called by the Holy Ghost, or designated by Christ, to 
 any distinctive work. The number of women won 
 to discipleship shows that from the flrst women 
 were associated with Christ in helpful and blessed 
 ministries. "VVe will give them as grouped by the 
 evangelists : 
 
 " And many women were there beholding afar off; 
 which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto 
 him : among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary 
 the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of 
 Zebedee's children." Matt, xxvii, 55, 56. 
 
 " Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, 
 and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Cleophas, 
 and Mary Magdalene." John xix, 25. 
 
 " It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary 
 the mother of James, and other women that were with 
 
The Women of the Gospels. 27 
 
 them, which told these things unto the apostles." 
 Luke xxiv, 10. 
 
 There are a few facts brought to view in these Script- 
 ure statements instructive to us, to which we ask a 
 moment's attention. The women mentioned by Mat- 
 thew " followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering un- 
 to him." The object of their ministry was the Son 
 of God, who in the hour of his sorrow needed and ac- 
 cepted the ministries of his faithful servants. They 
 were deaconesses indeed. The idea involved in the 
 Greek word is precisely that of helpful service. The 
 derivation does not point, as is often thought, to 
 laboring and slaving in the dust, but rather to the 
 notion of alacrity and willing activity.* The help- 
 ful work of these female disciples offered to the Son 
 of God was not rejected by him. There were times 
 in his life when woman's work and sympathy were 
 more acceptable than those of man. When Christ 
 was engaged in his public ministry in Galilee these 
 w^omen " ministered unto him of their substance," re- 
 lieving his wants, lessening his sorrows, and adding to 
 his joys. 
 
 They were in deep sympathy with his sufferings. 
 John tells us they "stood by the cross of Jesus." It 
 would seem that all the male disciples except John 
 had fled, but not the women. Perhaps they were in 
 less danger than the men from the excited multitude. 
 Be this as it may, their fidelity was more conspicuous, 
 
 * Howson, p. 15. 
 
28 Deaconesses, Anciext and Modern. 
 
 their compassion greater, and the agony of Chi'ist drew 
 with more powerful attraction tlie tender sympathies 
 of woman. This is only an ilhistration of the law of 
 our being. God made woman capable of the most 
 tender sympathy, and the greatest help to all suffering 
 human beings. 
 
 It is a striking and grateful fact that this need of 
 help appeared in the Savionr of the world, and found 
 in woman such willing helpfulness as could be ex- 
 tended in the hour of his death and in the burial of 
 his sacred body. Attendant upon the ministry, suf- 
 ferings, death, and burial of Christ the first deacon- 
 esses w^ere found. Their tender ministries soothed 
 his last sufferings, prepared his body for the tomb ; 
 theirs were the latest vio^ils on the evenino; of the cru- 
 cifixion, and earliest on the morning of the resurrec- 
 tion. Mary was tlie first to see the resurrection body 
 of the Lord, and " woman " was the first gracious 
 resurrection word that fell from his sacred lips. 
 
 Does not this indicate a field for the energies and 
 sympathies of woman ? '' Inasmuch as ye have done 
 it unto one of the least of these my brethren ye have 
 done it unto me." Matt, xxv, 40. Thus she serves 
 the Lord in the lowliest of his brethren. Suffering is 
 widespread, and its demands cannot be met as they 
 should be but by the gentle hand of woman. 
 
 What an error the Church and the world have made 
 in tryhig to restrict the energies of woman to her own 
 home ! " It would surely be a great mistake to limit 
 
The \yoMEN OF the Gospels. 29 
 
 the divine law of woman's mission on the earth to the 
 mere relation of marriage. The Scripture is far wider 
 than our prejudices. Wherever helping work is to 
 be done, there woman is in her place. Motherly and 
 sisterly care are often most needed when they cannot 
 be had within the sphere of domestic life. Home is 
 indeed woman's highest and most natural sphere ; but 
 the outcasts of society cannot be reached by home in- 
 fluences unless those influences are brought to them, 
 and it is only a female hand that can bring them. If 
 the activity of the stronger sex is to penetrate all parts 
 of human life, and yet feminine influence is to be re- 
 stricted within families, the equilibrium of society is 
 not preserved, but marred."* 
 
 " They told these things unto the apostles." Thus 
 these faithful women proclaimed the Gospel to the 
 men who were afterward to be the teachers of the 
 whole human race. What honor God hath bestowed 
 on woman ! She ministered to Christ of her sub- 
 stance. She stood by the cross and manifested her 
 sympathy when scarcely a pitying eye gazed on him 
 from all the multitude. And when he had risen from 
 the dead, she was the first bearer of the glad tidings 
 to his chosen apostles. Surely the honor conferred 
 on woman by Christ at the opening of the gospel dis- 
 pensation should not be denied her in the later devel- 
 opment of it. 
 
 Does not this, therefore, point to another field for 
 
 * Howson, p. 16. 
 
30 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 the energy and zeal of female disciples? "The har- 
 vest truly is great, but the laborers are few." The 
 commission given by Christ to woman, " Go and tell 
 my disciples;" " J3e not afraid, go, tell my brethren," 
 has never been taken from her by divine authority. 
 God intended that she should help in the world's evan- 
 gelization. That she should exercise a helpful minis- 
 try, teach the ignorant, nurse the sick, comfort the 
 afflicted, drop the seed of divine truth into the wounds 
 made by Sovereign Love, and tell tlie glad tidings of 
 the Saviour's resurrection to a despondent Church and 
 an unbelieving world. 
 
The Women of the Acts. 31 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE WOMEN OF THE ACTS. 
 
 Jesus Christ, after his resurrection, told his dis- 
 ciples " that they should not depart from Jerusalem, 
 but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith 
 he, ye have heard of rae. For John truly baptized 
 with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy 
 Ghost not many days hence." Acts i, 4, 5. As many 
 female disciples had manifested such striking lidelity 
 and sympathy it w^ould be expected that ready obedi- 
 ence to Christ's commands would characterize them. 
 As Christ had conferred such great honor, and admit- 
 ted them to such great privileges, we would expect 
 they would be found waiting the fulfillment of the 
 promise and would share in the baptism of the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 Accordingly, we find them named with the apostles 
 who were waiting with one accord the coming of the 
 Comforter. " These all continued with one accord in 
 prayer and supplication, with the w^omen, and Mary 
 the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren." Acts i, 
 14. God designed that they should share in the perils 
 and labors of the world's evangelization ; they must 
 therefore share in the preparatory baptism absolutely 
 
32 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 essential to success. Tliey were included in the prom- 
 ise of the Father as given by Joel : " I will pour out 
 my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your 
 daughters shall prophesy." Joel ii, 26. They were 
 also included in the fulfillment of the promise, for God 
 is faithful who has promised. " And they were all 
 filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with 
 other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." 
 Acts ii, 4. 
 
 The particular labors of these women who received 
 the spiritual baptism are not given, neither are those 
 of most of the apostles. It is in harmony with the 
 spirit of the apostolic Church to suppose that employ- 
 ment was found for all the activities of both men and 
 women who were specially endowed for work by the 
 baptism of the Holy Spirit. Men and women shared 
 in the suffering inflicted by persecution. " As for 
 Saul, he made havoc of the Church, entering into every 
 house, and haling men and women committed them 
 to prison. Therefore they that were scattered abroad 
 went every- where preaching the word." Acts viii, 3, 4. 
 
 The storms of persecution are only winds that fan 
 the fire of faith, and carry the spark of truth further 
 to those beyond. The ashes of the martyrs is the 
 seed of the Church. 
 
 " Flung to the heedless winds, 
 Or on the waters cast, 
 Their ashes shall be watched 
 And gathered at the last; 
 
The Women of the Acts. 33 
 
 And from tliat scattered dust, 
 
 Around us and abroad, 
 Shall spring a plenteous seed 
 
 Of witnesses for God. 
 
 " Jesus has now received 
 
 Their latest living breath ; 
 Yet vain is Satan's boast 
 
 Of victory in their death ; 
 Still, still, though dead, they speak, 
 
 And, trumpet-tongued, proclaim 
 To many a wak'uing land 
 
 The one avaihng Name." 
 
 The women mentioned in the above passage of 
 Scripture shared in the faith and suffering; did they 
 not also share in the labor ? There is no rule of in- 
 terpretation that would lead us to dissever these pas- 
 sages or to disconnect the suffering of the one from 
 the preaching of the other. AYe do not claim that 
 these Christians were invested with any ecclesiastical 
 office. The Church was in its infancy. Christ had 
 invested the apostles with divine authority, the Church 
 had set apart for a special purpose the seven deacons, 
 but even to these the ministry of the word had not 
 been primarily intrusted. Church order and office 
 came later. The deacons, some of them at least, 
 preached ; all the scattered Church, men and women, 
 preached because God was in them. '' They labored 
 as evangelists, wherever they came, without any offi- 
 cial obligation or any express authority. They were 
 moved by the inward power of that faith which can- 
 
34 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 not but speak of the truth of which the heart is full ; 
 they were influenced by the Spirit, with whom they 
 had been anointed ; they were controlled by their love 
 of the Saviour, to whom they owed the remission of 
 their sins and all their blessed hopes. This propaga- 
 tion of the Gospel beyond Jerusalem was not the work 
 of the apostles themselves, but of other Christians 
 who held no office but were invested with the general 
 priesthood of believers. According to human concep- 
 tions of church government aud the ecclesiastical office, 
 such a course should not have been adopted. But the 
 Lord of the Church did not restrict himself to the apos- 
 tolic office wdiich he had instituted, in such a manner 
 that no work could be legitimate, acceptable to God, 
 or rich in promise and in blessing, unless it were per- 
 formed by the apostles. Here, too, Christ teaches us 
 that no human being and no Unite ordinance can be 
 regarded as necessary and absolutely indispensable. 
 He alone is at all times and in all places indispensa- 
 ble.'' ^ From among these laborers came the offices 
 of deacons, evangelists, elders, and bishops, being 
 called for by the success of the Church and the exi- 
 gencies of the times. But we may safely infer from 
 this that the voluntary unofficial work of the Church 
 should not be superseded by those who hold ecclesias- 
 tical position. 
 
 Dorcas. This devout and charitable w^oman is 
 mentioned in Acts ix, 36, and following verses. Little 
 
 * Lange, Com. 
 
The Women of the Acts. 35 
 
 is known of her, apart from lier good deeds bj wliicli 
 slie endeared herself to all, especially those who were 
 the recipients of her benefactions. She was a dis- 
 ciple of Christ, connected with the church in Joppa. 
 Her circumstances, position in life, and family connec- 
 tions are not known, but some facts moi'e important 
 than these are recorded. She had heard and believed 
 the doctrine of Christ, imbibed his spirit, and was 
 identified with his people. She was a deaconess with- 
 out the name. The testimony of her character is thus 
 given : " This woman was fall of good works and alms- 
 deeds which she did." If we mistake not, this testi- 
 mony is unique ; it stands alone ; and thus this pious 
 woman is peculiarly honored of God. In liow^ many 
 spheres of usefulness her energies and means were em- 
 ployed we know not ; but she was " full of good works 
 and alms-deeds which she did." There was no room 
 for more ; her consecration and service were complete. 
 Her means, talents, time, and energies were all em- 
 ployed for God. Thus early did the Church learn to 
 feed the hungry and clothe the naked. In primitive 
 times widows formed a distinct part of the Christian 
 community. Dorcas specially cared for them. She 
 worked for Christ when she made garments for 
 the poor. She honored him by her acts of devotion 
 and sacrifice. " Pure religion and undefiled before 
 God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and 
 widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspot- 
 ted from the world." James i, 27. Christ honored 
 
36 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 her above many. She died, and by the power of 
 Christ Peter raised her from the dead, " and when he 
 had called the saints and widows he presented her 
 alive." Acts ix, 41. This was a great confirmation 
 of the Gospel. 'No doubt her remaining days were 
 spent in zealous labors for God and the Church. 
 " Thus was a richer treasure laid up for her in heaven, 
 and she afterward returned to a more exceedino^ weio:ht 
 of glory than that from which so astonishing a provi- 
 dence had recalled her for a season."* 
 
 Through all the ages Dorcas is honored in the 
 Church for her good works, and her name is perpet- 
 uated in those societies wdiich have been organized to 
 clothe the poor and naked. Her name is as oint- 
 ment poured forth, and her example furnishes an 
 undying impulse to works of charity. 
 
 The Daughters of Philip. "And the same man 
 had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy." 
 Acts xxi, 9. These women were not devoted to a 
 life of celibacy by special vows. It is very probable 
 that they were young, as the great activity of their 
 father Philip, the deacon and evangelist, would pre- 
 clude the idea of his being of advanced age. "Their 
 virginity is probably referred to only as a reason for 
 their being still at home, and not as having any 
 necessary connection with their inspiration." f Their 
 inspiration and work was the still visible fulfillment 
 of tlie prophecy of Joel : " Your sons and your 
 
 * Joseph Benson, D.D. f Alexander, iu luco. 
 
The Women of the Acts. 37 
 
 daughters shall prophesy." This was twenty years 
 after the Pentecostal baptism, and could not be at- 
 tributed to any momentary enthusiasm enkindled by 
 that event. But the fact that four daughters in one 
 family were devoted to the cause of Christ, and spe- 
 cially endowed with the gift of prophecy — inspired 
 of God to speak to the edification of the people — 
 attests the high spiritual life of the Church and the 
 position that women held in the working force of 
 apostolic Christianity. " Probably these were no 
 more than teachers in the Church ; for we have al- 
 ready seen that this is a frequent meaning of the 
 word prophecy, and this is undoubtedly one thing 
 intended by the prophecy of Joel. If Philip's 
 daughters might be jproplietesses^ why not teach- 
 ers f^"^ " Tliat predictive powers did occasionally 
 exist in the New Testament prophets is proved by 
 the case of Agabus, Acts xi, 28, but this was not 
 their characteristic. The prophets of tlie New Tes- 
 tament were supernaturally illuminated expounders 
 and preacliers." f If this is true of the prophets, it 
 is also true of the prophetesses. 
 
 '' The home of the evangelist Philip, whose office 
 as a deacon expired after the persecution (Acts viii), 
 became, in consequence of the fulfillment of the 
 prophecy of Joel, the honored central point of the 
 Christian congregation of Cesarea. His four daugh- 
 ters, who had received the gift of prophecy and of 
 
 *Adara Clarke, D.D., in loco. f Smiili's Did. 
 
38 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 interpretation, and who, as pure virgins, represent 
 the chastity of tlie daughters of Zion, furnish new 
 and clear evidence that all believers alike enjoy the 
 privileges of children ; and even the earlier instances 
 of the prophetesses Miriam, Deborah, etc., prove that 
 there is no difference in the kingdom of grace be- 
 tween male and female." * " There is neither Jew 
 nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is 
 neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ 
 Jesus." Gal. iii, 28. 
 
 The four daughters of Philip are the only women 
 specially named as prophesying in the New Testa- 
 ment, but there is no reason to suppose that these 
 are the only women so honored. The function of 
 "prophet" in the New Testament and early Church 
 was a distinguished one, and is now only beginning 
 to be understood. Important as it is, it is one 
 which St. Peter's speech (Acts ii) and the narrative 
 (Acts XX i) compel us to acknowledge was exercised 
 by women. This fact assumes great importance, read 
 in connection with Paul's wouds: "And are built 
 upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus 
 Christ himself being the chief corner-stone." These 
 were New Testament prophets. " No words can add 
 to the solemnity of the truth thus conveyed. Eph. ii, 
 20. In so far as regards the extraordinary endowments 
 of the Spirit women are found to be admitted to the 
 rank next to that of the apostles." f 
 
 *Lange, in loco. t Dr. Charteris, Presb, Review^ 1888. 
 
The Women of the Acts. 39 
 
 These prophetesses were perpetuated beyond the 
 apostolic age. Eusebius, quoting from an earher au- 
 tlior, who places in contrast the false prophets and 
 prophetesses carried away by the Montanist heresy, 
 says: "After stating other matters, he enumerates 
 those who had prophesied under the New Testament. 
 Among these he mentions one Ammias and Quad- 
 ratus. 'But the false prophet,' says he, 'is carried 
 away by a vehement ecstasy, accompanied by want 
 of all shame and fear. Beginning, indeed, with a 
 designed ignorance, and terminating, as before said, 
 in involuntary madness. They will never be able 
 to show that an}' of the Old or any of the New 
 Testament were thus violently as^itated and carried 
 away in spirit, neither will they be able to boast that 
 Agabus, or Judas, or Silas, or the daughters of Philip, 
 or Ammias, in Philadelphia, . . . ever acted in this 
 way.' " * Here prophesying is distinguished from 
 that peculiar frenzy so often found in those who 
 falsely assume the prophetic office. This Philadel- 
 phia prophetess must, have lived at the end of the 
 second century. 
 
 * Eusebius, Ecd. Hist, Book v, c. xvii. 
 
40 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 THE WOMEN OF THE EPISTLES. 
 
 It is probable tliat the churches of a230stolic 
 times were all, in the main, constituted alike. Tliere 
 were Jews and Greeks, bond and free, male and 
 female, with variations as to numbers, wealth, and 
 social position, according to circumstances and 
 places. We can easily trace these facts in the 
 epistles of St. Paul. His allusion to his fellow- 
 helpers and fellow-sufferers in the cause of Christ ; 
 his reflections upon the defection of some, and his 
 salutations to the faithful and beloved, reveal to us, 
 at least in part, tlie elements that constituted the 
 churches to which he wrote. We may therefore 
 conclude that, finding female workers and ofiicers in 
 one church, they also existed in others, even though 
 they may not be specifically named. 
 
 The sixteenth chapter of Paul's Epistle to the 
 Romans is rich in allusions to the pious and devoted 
 women that came within the circle of his acquaint- 
 ance and labors. 
 
 '' I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which 
 is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea : 
 that ye receive her in the Lord, as becometli saints, 
 and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she 
 
The Women of the Epistles. 41 
 
 hath need of jou : for she hath been a succorer of 
 many, and of myself also." Rom. xvi, 1, 2. 
 
 It will comport better with om- plan to consider 
 the character and office of Phebe in a later chapter. 
 We shall therefore proceed to the other names here 
 mentioned, and speak of their labors and position in 
 the Church. Finding other w^omen also named who 
 were helpers of the apostle in his labors and suffer- 
 ings, but who did not occcupy any official position, 
 as Phebe did, w^e may remark that, whatever the 
 functions of deaconesses were, in the ministrations 
 of charity, or in the arrangement of public worship, 
 they had nothing in them that would exclude the 
 full activities of other female disciples to whom no 
 title was applied. 
 
 Immediately after his commendation of Phebe 
 Paul says : " Greet Mary, who bestowed much labor 
 on us." Rom. xvi, 6. " Salute Tryphena and Try- 
 phosa, who labor in the Lord." " Salute the beloved 
 Persis, which labored much in the Lord." And in 
 another epistle Paul speaks again of "those women 
 which labored with me in the Gospel." Phil, iv, 3. 
 These commendations and salutations are indicative 
 of great activity in the Church on the part of these 
 female disciples. Such phrases as " bestowed much 
 labor on us," " who labor in the Lord," " which la- 
 bored much in the Lord," would not be used of any 
 ordinary church members, or in reference to those w^ho 
 did only ordinary church work. They certainly show 
 
42 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 that these pious females consecrated time and talents 
 to God. Their work or position in the Church seemed 
 not to depend on or to be governed by their social 
 relations. Some of them were married, and jet in 
 connection with the marriage tie husband and wife 
 in sweetest harmony were eminent and efficient help- 
 ers in the work of the Lord. 
 
 " Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ 
 Jesus." Rom. xvi, 3. Others, no doubt, were single, 
 and some were probably widows. The social relation 
 seemed not to be a barrier. Consecration to God is 
 the all-important thing, and where this is perfect the 
 energies of body and soul will find an outfluw toward 
 God and his cause. 
 
 " Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labor much 
 in tlie Lord." Rom. xvi, 12. These names are men- 
 tioned in such a way "as to convey the impression 
 of stated systematic work." * They were holy 
 women, who were assistants to the apostle in his 
 work, probably by exhorting, visiting the sick, etc. 
 
 Persis also, it seems, excelled the preceding ; for 
 of her it is said "she labored much in the Lord." 
 " We learn from this that Christian women, as well 
 as men, labored in the ministry of the word. In 
 those times of simplicity all persons, whether men 
 or women, who had received the truth believed it to 
 be their duty to propagate it to the uttermost of 
 their power. Many have spent much useless labor 
 
 * Howson, p. 53. 
 
The Women of the Epistles. 43 
 
 endeavoring to prove that these women did not 
 preach. That there were some prophetesses as well 
 as prophets in tlie Christian Church we learn ; and 
 that a woman might praj or prophesy, provided she 
 had her Ijead covered, we know ; and that whoever 
 prophesied spoke nnto others to edification, exhorta- 
 tion, and comfort St. Paul declares, 1 Cor. xiv, 3. 
 And that no preacher can do n:iore every person must 
 acknowledge, because to edify, exhort, and comfort 
 are the prime ends of the Gospel ministry. If 
 women thus prophesied^ then women preached. 
 There is, however, much more than this implied in 
 the Christian ministry, of which men only, and men 
 called of God, are capable." * 
 
 With this comment we entirely agree, excepting 
 only the last sentence. The Scriptures clearly show 
 that women bore a part in the ministry of the word. 
 This is not opinion, or inference, but direct state- 
 ment. What there is in the Christian ministry of 
 which men only are capable Dr. Clarke does not tell 
 us, and we do not know. 
 
 Thus in the epistles of Paul " we find continued 
 that bright chain of female excellence, beginning with 
 those holy women who, with the apostles, followed 
 the Saviour in all his journeyings, and ministered to 
 him of their substance ; the Marys, and Joannas, and 
 Susannas (Luke viii, 2, 3), and which then links 
 itself on to the above mentioned names through 
 
 * Adam Clarke, D.D., in loco. 
 
4i Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 Dorcas, full of good works and alms-deeds (x\cts ix, 
 36) ; and, above all, tlirougli tliat remarkable person- 
 age of the apostolic age, Priscilla, the wife of Aquila, 
 the Jew of Pontus, wdiom the Acts shows us with 
 him, expounding the way of God more perfectly to 
 Apollos (Acts xviii, 26) ; the husband and wife 
 both helpers of Paul in Christ Jesus, who had for his 
 life laid down their necks ; unto whom not only he 
 gave thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. 
 Rom. xvi, 3, 4. The female diaconate must, there- 
 fore, have been, from the first, like every other office 
 in the Christian Church, only the full developed type, 
 and not the exceptional monopoly of a woman's func- 
 tion and work." * 
 
 * Ludlow, Woman's Wui% p. 7. 
 
Deaconesses of the Apostolic Church. 45 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 DEACONESSES OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 It has long been known to scholars wlio have given 
 attention to the Holy Scriptnres and Church history, 
 that the office of deaconess belonged to the Church in 
 apostolic and primitive times. Because of defection 
 from the simplicity and purity of those times it soon 
 passed out of use, or was merged into those unnatural 
 monastic organizations so prevalent in mediaeval days. 
 And such have been the customs and prejudices for 
 centuries past against a principal or public sphere for 
 woman that her true position has been denied her, to 
 the great loss of the Church and the hinderance of 
 the work of God. 
 
 We will examine those passages in the apostolic 
 writings on which the claim for a female diaconate 
 is based. 
 
 " I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is 
 a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea." Rom. 
 xvi, 1. The Greek word (didnovov) which the trans- 
 lators of the English version here rendered " servant" 
 was rendered '' deacon," in Phil, i, 1 ; 1 Tim. iii, 2, 8, 
 and in other portions of the apostolic writings. If 
 the same translation had been followed here as in the 
 
4:6 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modeen. 
 
 above, the passage would Lave read, " I com mend unto 
 you Phebe our sister, which is a deacon of the church 
 which is at Cenchrea." In that case, the name, at 
 least, of the female diaconate would have been famil- 
 iar to us now. 
 
 Variations in the translation of the same original 
 Greek vvords have led to confusion of ideas in the 
 minds of the readers of the English version, and 
 long usage has ci'eated strong prejudices against any 
 change. 
 
 As to the official position which Phebe occupied 
 in the church at Cenchrea we condense the following 
 points from McClintock and Strong : " What is said 
 of her (Phebe) is worthy of especial notice, because 
 of its bearing on the question of the deaconesses of 
 the apostolic Church. On this point we have to 
 observe (1.) th-it the term [6idKr>vo(;) here applied to 
 her, though not in itself necessarily an official term, 
 is the term which would be applied to her if it were 
 meant to be official ; (2.) that this term is applied in 
 the Aj)Osiolical Constitutions to women who minis- 
 tered officially, the deaconess being called ^ dtaKovog 
 as the deacon is called 6 didKovog ; (3.) that it is now 
 generally admitted that in 1 Tim. iii, 11, Paul applies 
 it so himself ; (4.) that in the passage before us 
 Phebe is called the didicovog of a particular church, 
 which seems to imply a specific employment; (5.) 
 that the church at Cenchrea to which she belonged 
 could only have been a small church ; wlience we may 
 
Deaconesses of the Apostolic Church. 47 
 
 draw a fiiir conclusion as to what was customary in 
 the matter of such female ministrations in the larger 
 churches ; (6.) that, wliatever her errand in Rome 
 might be, the independent manner of her going 
 there seems to imply (especially when we consider 
 the secluded habits of Greek women) not only that 
 she was a widow, or a woman of mature age, but that 
 she was acting officially ; (7.) that she had already 
 been of great service to Paul and others, either by 
 her wealth or her energy, or botli ; a statement which 
 closely corresponds with the description of the quali- 
 fications of the enrolled widows in 1 Tim. v, 10; 
 (8.) that the duty which we here see Phebe discharg- 
 ing implies a personal character worthy of confidence 
 and respect.'' ^ 
 
 The word di,diiovog is inclusive of both sexes. It 
 is very generally conceded that in Rom. xvi, 1, it is 
 applied to Phebe in its technical sense as denoting an 
 office, though Conybeare says it cannot be "confidently 
 asserted, especially as the word diaKovog is so constantly 
 used in its non-technical sense of one who ministers 
 in any way to others." f Some are of the opinion 
 that the female deacon is more frequently mentioned 
 in Scripture than the male deacon by the official 
 title : " We observe that when any of the seven are 
 referred to it is never by the title of deacon ; thus 
 Philip is called ' the evangelist.' (Actsxxi, 8).":j: "It 
 
 * McClintock and Strong's Ency., art. "Phoebe." 
 f Life of Paul, vol. i, p. 435. \ Ibid. 
 
48 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 is worth remarking that Phebe is called a deaconess, 
 but that Stephen is never called a deacon. And 
 further, if Phil, i, 1, does include deacons of both 
 kinds the ' woman-deacon ' is actually mentioned oft- 
 ener in Scripture by the official title than the ' man- 
 deacon.' " * 
 
 If the term diciKovog is here applied to Phebe to 
 designate an office, then she has tlie distinguished 
 honor of being the first in the order of time to whom 
 it was thus applied ; the Epistle to tlie Komans, in 
 which it is applied to Phebe, being assigned to A. D. 
 58, while the Epistle to the Philippians, in which it 
 is applied to deacons of both kinds, probably, is as- 
 signed to A. D. 62. 
 
 Of the social position and character of Phebe, 
 Conybeare says : " She was a widow of consideration 
 and wealth who acted as one of the deaconesses of 
 the Church, and was now about to sail to Rome upon 
 some private business, apparently connected with a 
 law-suit in which she was engaged." f Phebe was 
 a woman of importance and social standing. She did 
 not occupy any menial position in the church at 
 Cenchrea, was no mere "door-keeper or cleaner of 
 the place of worship," as Dr. W. L. Alexander main- 
 tains, but held a more honorable position, and dis- 
 charged both secular and spiritual functions. 
 
 She had " business" at the capital of the empire, 
 and such a journey meant considerable expense. She 
 
 *Ho\vson, p. 58. \ Life of Paul, vol. ii, p. 154, 
 
Deaconesses of the Apostolic Church. 49 
 
 had been a snccorer of many, and tliis is to be under- 
 stood in the sense of patronage and protection ; serv- 
 ice performed by a superior to an inferior. At 
 Cenchrea she was a deaconess of the Church, and 
 Paul guarantees the genuineness of her faith when he 
 calls her " our sister." She had stood by him in some 
 hour of need, and, perhaps, had entertained and 
 sheltered him under her own hospitable roof at the 
 time when he made a vow at Cenchrea and seemed to 
 have had a great deliverance, and had used her influ- 
 ence and wealth for the advancement of the cause of 
 Christ. 
 
 Paul's commendation is strong and beautiful : 
 *' That ye receive lier in the Lord as becometh saints ; 
 and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she 
 hath need of you : for she hath been a succorer of 
 many, and of myself also." She is here commended 
 for her energy, liberality, and fidelity. Surely she 
 was a worthy office-bearer in the Church of God. 
 
 In speaking of the women of the epistles we pur- 
 posely omitted tlie name of Priscilla, giving only 
 Paul's greeting, thinking that a more appropriate 
 place for her would be with Phebe, the deaconess ; as 
 many eminent scholars believe that she held that po- 
 sition, and even if she did not bear the name she evi- 
 dently performed the functions of that office. Her 
 connection with Paul and the Church continued 
 through many years. Slie is first named in Acts xviii, 
 1, 18. Paul, having come from Athens to Corinth, 
 
50 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 found a temporary residence with Aqnila and Pris- 
 cilla on account of oneness of faith or occupation, as 
 thej were all " tent-makers." 
 
 Again, in Acts xviii, 24, 29, she is named as residing 
 in Ephesus. Here she found Apollos, "an eloquent 
 man and mighty in the Scriptures," who " tanght dili- 
 gently the things of the Lord, knowing only the bap- 
 tism of John, . . . whom, when Aquila and Priscilla 
 had heard, they took him unto them and expounded 
 unto him the way of God more perfectly." 
 
 We need not wonder at the superior knowledge of 
 Priscilla and Aquila. For eighteen months they 
 heard Paul in Corinth ; night and day they labored, 
 prayed, searched the Scriptures, and taught together, 
 in the synagogue, in the workshop, and in the house. 
 They w^ere well-instructed Christians, having been 
 tauglit by the Holy Ghost, and by Paul. Perhaps 
 Apollos knew nothing of the doctrine of atonement, 
 the resurrection of Christ, or the outpcuring of the 
 Spirit at Pentecost. " They took him unto them," to 
 their home, not publicly disputing in the synagogue. 
 Tliey showed him kindness, treated him with consid- 
 eration, and then '' instructed him." Here was 
 woman's tact and kindness. " Love me and then say 
 what thou wilt." " This eloquent man, and mighty in 
 the Scriptures, who was even a public teacher, was not 
 ashamed to be indebted to the instructions of a Chris- 
 tian woman^ in matters that not only concerned his 
 own salvation, but 'also the work of the ministry, in 
 
Deaconesses of the Apostolic Church. 51 
 
 which he was eno^asjed. It is disojracefal to a man to 
 be ignorant when he may acquire wisdom ; but it is 
 no disgrace to acquire wisdom from the meanest 
 person or tiling. The adage is good : Despise not 
 advice, even of the meanest ; the gaggling of geese 
 preserved the Koman State." * 
 
 The above quotation is somewhat curious, and the 
 inference drawn as to the liumility of Apollos is strik- 
 ing. Perhaps it would have been more pertinent in 
 the first century of the Christian era, considering the 
 seclusion of both Jewish and Grecian women ; but 
 aversion to instruction from women in the Christian 
 Church did not exist in apostolic times, as it did later, 
 and evidently it lingered in the early part of the nine- 
 teenth century, as Dr. Clarke seemed to regard it as a 
 great virtue for Apollos to submit to be instructed by 
 Priscilla. Yea, it lingers now! But surely the clouds 
 are being lifted from the intellect of woman, and the 
 fetters are being taken from her, when one hundred 
 and sixty thousand women are employed as teachers 
 in the United States alone (1889). 
 
 In Priscilla, we have an illustration of what the 
 married woman can, in connection with home duties, 
 do in the general service of the Church. Such female 
 ministrations were of great importance in the state of 
 society in whose midst the early Christian communi- 
 ties were formed. The remarks of Archdeacon Evans 
 on the position of Timothy at Ephesus are ^i^x^^ just: 
 
 * Adam Clarke, D.D., in loco. 
 
62 Deaconesses, Anciext and Modeen. 
 
 "In liis dealings with the female part of his flock, 
 which in that time and country required peculiar del- 
 icacy and discretion, the counsel of the experienced 
 Priscilla would be invaluable. Where, for instance, 
 could he obtain more prudent and faithful advice than 
 hers in the selection of widows to be placed upon the 
 eleemosynary list of the Church, and of deaconesses 
 for the ministry ?" 
 
 Eternity alone will reveal the good accomplished by 
 this godly couple. They are identified with Paul in 
 the stormiest period of his life. They had "a church 
 in their house," and while Paul preached daily in the 
 synagogue, market, or in " the school of Tyrannus," 
 Priscilla gave private instruction, and taught the new 
 converts " the way of God more perfectly." 
 
 From Rom. xvi, 3, 4, we learn that they had again 
 returned to Rome, and Paul sends them his Christian 
 greetings: ''"Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers 
 in Christ Jesus : who have for my life laid down their 
 own necks : unto whom not only I give thanks, but 
 also all the churches of the Gentiles." In Rome also 
 they had gathered " a church in their house," an in- 
 dication of labor and zeal. This salutation is one of 
 the warmest outbursts of affection found in the epis- 
 tles of Paul. They had at some time endangered 
 their lives to save his, and this act of heroism w\as a 
 matter of thanksgiving on the part of all thj Gentile 
 churches. 
 
 Eight or ten years later we again get a glimpse of 
 
Deaconesses of the Apostolic Church. 53 
 
 this devoted husband and wife. Paul is now at Rome 
 under condemnation of death, " ready to be offered," 
 and the time of his departure at hand. He writes to 
 his "dearly beloved son," Timothy, a farewell letter, 
 and sends his final salutations to " Priscilla and 
 Aquila." "There they disappear. Probably they 
 survived Paul, growing older and older, let us hope, 
 side by side, and in their deaths not long divided. 
 They saw him face to face no more. But we imagine 
 them visiting togetlier the scene of the apostle's exe- 
 cution and his humble grave ; and we see theui living 
 to tell a succeeding generation of tliat feeble bodily 
 presence and the might}^ soul within it, of that stam- 
 mering speech which, nevertheless, penetrated men's 
 minds by its directness and melted their hearts by its 
 fire."* 
 
 The names already quoted from the writings of 
 Paul will suffice to show that the employment of 
 women in the public and private work of the Church 
 was quite common in apostolic times, and that some 
 of them, at least, have official designations. It is evi- 
 dent also that they did their work well and met wisely 
 and heroically the claims the Church had on them, 
 meriting and receiving high apostolic commendations. 
 
 There are some passages in the pastoral epistles 
 that are supposed by many of the best scholars to have 
 some bearing upon the subject of apostolic deaconesses. 
 In the first epistle to Timothy the apostle tells what 
 
 * Minor Characters^ p. 83. 
 
54: Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 a Cliristian bishop and deacon slionld be. He says : 
 '' A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one 
 wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospi- 
 tality, a23t to teach ; not given to wine, no striker, not 
 greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, 
 not covetous ; one that ruletli well his own house, hav- 
 ing his children in subjection with all gravity." Then, 
 speaking of the deacons, he says : " Likewise must the 
 deacons be grave, not double-tongued, not given to 
 much wine, not gi*eedy of filthy lucre. . . . Even so 
 must their wives (yvvalKag) be grave, not slanderers, 
 sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the 
 husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their 
 own houses well." 1 Tim. iii, 2-12. 
 
 It will seem strange, even to the ordinary reader, 
 that while special injunctions are given to the deacon^ 
 wives there is none given to the wives of bishops. It 
 has been observed by some that, " whereas if the exam- 
 ple of a deacon's w^fe be of sufficient moment to de- 
 serve a special apostolic exhortation, that of a bishop's 
 wife must need it far more."* Therefore some have 
 referred " their waives " to the bishops as well as the 
 deacons. This view is not considered tenable by the 
 best scholarship. " Two meanings only appear to have 
 been put upon this passage till the Reformation : one 
 which referred it to w^omen generally, the other which 
 referred it to the female diaconate."t Against the 
 first view there are strong objections. Chrysostom 
 * Ludlow, p. 4. f Ibid. 
 
Deaconesses of the Apostolic Chukch. 55 
 
 says: "Some say that this is spoken of women gener- 
 allj" ; but it is not so. For why should lie have thrown 
 in something about women amongst the things which 
 he had been saying ? But he speaks of tliose who have 
 the dignity of the diaconate." On this Dr. Adam 
 Clarke observes : " Whatever is spoken here becomes 
 women in general, but if the apostle had those termed 
 deaconesses in his eye, which is quite possible, the 
 words are peculiarly suitable to them. . . . Possibly, 
 therefore, the apostle may have had this order of dea- 
 conesses in view, to whom it was as necessary to give 
 counsels and cautions as to the deacons themselves; 
 and to prescribe their qualifications, lest improper 
 persons should insinuate themselves into that office."* 
 That these instructions were given in regard to the 
 women deacons can be supported by the best scholar- 
 ship in the English tongue. Bishop Ellicott, Dean 
 Alford, and Dr. Wordsworth, whom Dean Howson 
 says are "the three best modern English commenta- 
 tors on the pastoral epistles," take this view. How- 
 son himself says : " We hold it almost certain that a 
 candid and thoughtful student, looking carefully over 
 the whole ground, and taking in his hand the light ob- 
 tained from the facts of the early Church, will come 
 to the conclusion that ^female diaconate is here im- 
 plied — an order of deaconesses working co-ordinately 
 with the deacons, though, of course, less prominently 
 and publicly."t He also says " that the setting apart 
 * Adam Clarke, D.D., in loco, \ Howson, p. 58. 
 
56 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 of women as deaconesses, so far as the Bible is con- 
 cerned, rests on the same kind of foundation as the 
 observance of Sabbath on Sunday or the practice of 
 infant baptism." * 
 
 It seems to have been the order of God that men 
 and women should work side by side in advancing 
 tlie interests of his kingdom and in bringing the 
 blessed ministries of the Gospel of Christ to the 
 hearts and homes of men. '' Deaconesses working co- 
 ordinately with the deacons." None can tell how 
 much good the world has lost, or how much evil it 
 has suffered, by the infringement of the order of God 
 in setting aside this arrangement, founded in reason 
 and demanded by the nature and condition of man- 
 kind. 
 
 In every age and under all conditions the Gospel 
 of Christ creates benevolent impulses in the human 
 lieart. Christian women have ever felt them, and if 
 allowed would have given them outward form conso- 
 nant with the will of God and the wants of the times ; 
 but men thought they must be restricted and curbed, 
 and so laid out certain channels in which they should 
 run, and the result shows that men lacked wisdom and 
 grace to guide them. 
 
 * Howson, p. 58. 
 
Deaconesses of the Early Church. 57 
 
 CHAPTER YL 
 
 DEACONESSES OF THE EARLY CHURCH. 
 
 We now leave the Cliurch directed and presided 
 over by the apostles, and look at it as it existed in 
 the ages immediately succeeding them. All change 
 in the working and organization of the Church was 
 gradual. It must have been much the same for many 
 years after the death of John as it was in the times of 
 Paul. Changes would occur as civilization changed 
 and as the exigency of the times required. 
 
 We have seen that the primitive diaconate consisted 
 of two co-ordinate branches, male and female. It is, 
 indeed, a question whether there was not a greater 
 call for the labors of the deaconess than for those of 
 the deacon, because of the peculiar customs of the 
 people and age in which Christianity had its origin. 
 So that, as IS'eander says, " this service of women had 
 a special ground in the circumstances of the times." 
 Females among the Jews, Greeks, and Romans lived 
 in greater seclusion than is customary in Europe or 
 America. The spread of the Gospel of Christ would 
 have been long delayed without this female agency. 
 The customs of the East have not changed much even 
 to our own time. The great want of our missions in 
 
58 Deaconesses, Ancient and Mcdeen. 
 
 Oriental countries to-daj is more consecrated females, 
 who can gain access to the homes of Moliammedan 
 and Hindoo women. Men can never go where they 
 are, and they cannot and will not come to hear the 
 Gospel from the lips of men, and without w^oman the 
 Orient will he covered with a pall of night for ages 
 to come. For this reason they were employed in the 
 early Church. The apostles, acting under divine au- 
 thority, adapted the means to the end sought and to 
 the exigency of the times. More ecclesiastical flexi- 
 bility is what has been needed in all the ages since. 
 " Thus w^e find the deaconess a conspicuous figure in 
 the early Church, side by side with the deacon. And 
 it is by this parallelism that we shall probably appre- 
 hend her position most correctly." * 
 
 The deacon of the earliest Christian times was not 
 such as is now found in the modern Church. In Pres- 
 byterian and Congregational Churches the deacon is 
 an officer who assists the minister in various duties, 
 but does not preach. In the Church of England, the 
 Protestant Episcopal, and the Methodist Episcopal 
 Churches a deacon is an officer who is authorized to 
 administer baptism, to perform the marriage cere- 
 mony, and to assist the elder in the administration of 
 the Lord's Supper, but who is not authorized to con- 
 secrate the elements. Ilis duties are thus s])ecified in 
 the ordination service: "It appertaineth to the office 
 of a deacon to assist the elder in divine service. And 
 
 * Howson, p. 34. 
 
DEACONESbES OF THE EaRLY ChURCH. 59 
 
 especially wlien he administers the holy communion to 
 help him in the distribution thereof, and to read and 
 expound the holy Scriptures ; to instruct the youth 
 and to baptize. And, furthermore, it is his office to 
 search for the sick, poor, and impotent, that they may 
 be visited and relieved." The office in the Episcopal 
 Churches is probably more ministerial than it was at 
 first. There was a greater difference between the 
 deacon and the presbyter in the first ages than now. 
 The specific duties of visiting and relieving the poor 
 are not performed by the deacon more than by the 
 presbyter. As a rule, the deacon is a young minister, 
 in the first or second year of his ordination, who ex- 
 pects at the end of the term to be ordained a presby- 
 ter or elder in the Church of God. '" The primitive 
 deacons were half laymen, and such was the position 
 of the primitive deaconesses." * At a later period 
 the deacons assumed greater prerogatives and mani- 
 fested great ambition, which called forth the condem- 
 nation of the councils of the Church. 
 
 It is a disputed point whether the diaconate arose 
 from the appointment of the " seven," as narrated in 
 the sixth chapter of Acts, or whether it did not arise 
 earlier even than that. Mosheim says : ••' The Church 
 was undoubtedly provided from the beginning with 
 inferior ministers or deacons. No society can be with- 
 out its servants, and still less such societies as those of 
 the first Christians were. And it appears not only 
 
 * Hovvson, p. 34. 
 
60 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 probable, but evident, that the young men who car- 
 ried away the dead bodies of Ananias and Sapphira 
 were the subordinate ministers, or deacons, of the 
 church at Jerusalem, who attended the apostles to 
 execute their orders." * 
 
 As to the particular time when this office originated 
 in the apostolic Church, it matters not ; it was insti- 
 tuted under the immediate direction of the apostles 
 themselves. We adopt the following conclusion : 
 " Whatever view may be taken of Acts vi, it appears 
 clear that the later Church office (Phil, i ; 1 Tim. iii) 
 developed itself from the office designated in Acts vi, 
 and may be traced back to it. The functions of the 
 deacon w^ere primarily secular, but soon rose into spir- 
 itual importance. Hence the moral qualifications de- 
 scribed (1 Tim. iii) as necessary for the office of deacon 
 are substantially the same as those of the bishop." f 
 The organization of each Church, as Christianity 
 spread, was much the same. " All the Christian 
 Churches followed the example of that at Jerusalem, 
 in whatever related to the choice and office of the 
 deacons. Some, particularly the Eastern Churches, 
 elected deaconesses^ and chose for that purpose ma- 
 trons or widows of eminent sanctity, who also minis- 
 tered to the necessities of the poor, and performed 
 several other offices that tended to the maintenance 
 of order and decency in the Church." % Widows 
 
 * Ecd. Hist, vol. i, p. 102. f McClintock and Strong. 
 
 X Moslieim, Hist, vol. i, p. 102. 
 
Deaconesses of the Early Church. 61 
 
 were not always chosen, either in the apostolic or 
 post-apostolic Churches, for the office of deaconess. 
 " They seem to have been divided into two chisses, 
 not very precisely distinguished from one another; 
 one class of older women, one of younger." ^ "Wid- 
 ows were preferred, and especially widows who had 
 been mothers and educators of children. For this 
 Tertullian gives the following reason : " In order, for- 
 sooth, that their experimental training in all the 
 affections may, on the one hand, have rendered them 
 capable of readily aiding all others with counsel and 
 comfort, and that, on the other, they may none the 
 less have traveled down the whole course of probation 
 whereby a female may be tested." f 
 
 The deacons and deaconesses were chosen or elected 
 by the main body of the membership, and this course 
 of procedure has the apostolic sanction. " Wherefore, 
 brethren, look ye out among you seven men of hon- 
 est report, full of the Holy Ghost, and wisdom, whom 
 we may appoint over this business." The seven were 
 thus chosen, '' whom they set before the apostles : 
 and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on 
 them." Acts vi, 3-6. The deacons were chosen by 
 the brethren and ordained by prayer and the imposi- 
 tion of hands by the apostles. We have no reason to 
 suppose but that deacons and deaconesses were chosen 
 and set apart for their work in the same way. In the 
 early Church all officers were thus promoted by the 
 
 * Howson, p. 34. f Tert., Veil. Vir., c. ix. 
 
 5 
 
62 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 concurrent acts of tlie menjbersliip and clergy, " wliicli 
 was according to the example of the apostles and 
 apostolic preachers, who in the first plantation of the 
 churches ordained bishops (presbyters) and deacons 
 with the consent of the whole Church." * 
 
 If deacons were at first only chosen to attend to 
 certain temporalities of the Church it is evident that 
 some of them, at least, began almost immediately to 
 discharge spiritual functions, and so the sphere of their 
 activities became at once enlarged. Stephen is an 
 eminent example. He boldly proclaimed the truth 
 of God, and his enemies " were not able to resist the 
 wisdom and the spirit by which he spake." Acts vi, 
 10. He also sealed the truth with his blood, and 
 became the first martyr of the Cliristian Church. 
 Philip, also one of the seven, became a noted and 
 successful evangelist. Dr. Thomas Scott says : '' The 
 deacons were prnnarily appointed to dispense the 
 charity of the Church and to manage its secular con- 
 cerns ; yet they preached occasionally or taught in 
 private, or were readers in the public assemblies, and 
 pastors and evangelists were chosen from among 
 them." t 
 
 Admitting that the seven were ordained by the 
 apostles to a specific secular work (Acts vi), it is easy 
 to trace the expansion of the work into a higher and 
 a spiritual sphere. " The possession of any special 
 Xdpiojia (spiritual endowment) would lead naturally 
 
 * King's Prim. Ch., p. 41. •)• Scott's Com., 1 Tim. iii. 
 
Deaconesses of the Early Church. 63 
 
 to a higher work and office, but the idea that the diac- 
 onate was but a probation through which a man had 
 to pass before he could be an elder or bishop was 
 foreign to the constitution of the Church of the first 
 century." "^ The fathers in the early post-apostolic 
 Church very frequently refer to them as those who 
 preach the word of life, and they are associated with 
 the presbyters as having authority. Poly carp, the 
 disciple of John, says : " Wherefore, it is needful to 
 abstain from all these things, being subject to the 
 presbyters and deacons as unto God and Christ. The 
 virgins also must walk in a blameless and pure con- 
 science." f 
 
 Also, in the epistle attributed to Ignatius, contem- 
 porary with Folycarp : " I exhort you to study to do 
 all things with a divine harmony while your bishop 
 presides in the place of God, and your presbyters in 
 the place of the assembly of the apostles along with 
 your deacons who are most dear to me, and are in- 
 trusted with the ministry of Jesus Christ." ;{: " It 
 behooves you also, in every way, to please the deacons 
 who are ministers of the mysteries of Christ Jesus ; 
 for they are not ministers of meat and drink, but 
 servants of the Church of God." § Again, " And 
 what is the presbytery but a sacred assembly, the 
 counselors and assessors of the bishop ? iVnd what are 
 the deacons but imitators of the angelic powers (or 
 
 * McClintock and Strong, art. " Deacon." f Epist. Polycarp, c. v. 
 X Epist Ignatius^ Mag., c. vi. § Ibid , D-al, c. ii. 
 
64 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 Christ), fulfilling a pure and blameless ministry unto 
 liim, as the holy Stephen did to the blessed James, 
 Timothy and Linus to Paul, Anencletus and Clement 
 to Peter ? He, therefore, that will not yield obedience 
 to such must needs be one utterly without God, an 
 impious man w^ho despises Christ, and depreciates 
 his appointments." * 
 
 It is not necessary to multiply quotations from the 
 Church fathers to show that the deacons of the 
 apostolic and post-apostolic churches preached the 
 Gospel and were permanent officers of the Church 
 organization, and were not simply candidates for a 
 higher order in the ministry. All the witnesses prior 
 to A. D. 680 speak of the diaconate in connection 
 w^itli spiritual services or the rites of the Church. 
 
 If we take the thought suggested by Dean Howson, 
 that as the deaconess is a conspicious figure in the 
 early Church, side by side with the deacon, and it is 
 by this parallelism that we shall probably apprehend 
 her position most correctly, can we not ascertain her 
 work and place by finding those of the deacon? 
 These duties were, to assist the presbyter or bishop in 
 the service of the sanctuary and in the administra- 
 tion of the Lord's Supper. The deacon had power to 
 administer the sacrament of baptism, and he instructed 
 and catechized the catechumens. His part was, when 
 the bishop or presbyter did not preach, to read a 
 homily from one of the fathers, to receive the offer- 
 
 * Epist. Igrtcitius, TraL, c. vii. 
 
Deaconesses of the Early Ciiukch. 65 
 
 ings of the people, to act as uslier in the cliurch, to 
 rebuke any that were disorderly in time of divine 
 worship, ''to take care of the necessitous orphans, 
 widows, martyrs in prison, and all the poor and sick 
 who had any claim upon the public resources of tlie 
 Church." It was also his especial duty to care for the 
 spiritual as well as tlie bodily wants of the people. 
 Preaching does not seem to have been necessarily con- 
 nected with his office so much as to catechize and in- 
 struct, but this instructing in the principles and doc- 
 trines of Christianity was near akin to preaching ; and 
 in the absence of the bishop he served as a substitute, 
 though not presenting his own expositions, but " read 
 ing a homily from one of the fathers." This, however 
 was a restriction of former privileges. St. Ambrose 
 bishop of Milan, A. D. 380, says expressly that deacons, 
 in his time, did not preach, though he thinks that they 
 were all originally evangelists, as were Philip and 
 Stephen. 
 
 Preaching was not so closely confined to the clergy 
 in the first centuries of Christianity as at a later period. 
 The administration of the rites of the Church was con- 
 fined to them, but preaching could be performed by 
 laymen when invited by the bishop. Lord King 
 shows this in his Primitive Church by citing the 
 case of Origen, "who, going from Alexandria to 
 Palestine, by the desire of the bishops of that country 
 publicly preached in the church, andexp ounded the 
 Holy Scriptures, although he was not yet in holy 
 
66 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 orders." A certain bisliop, being offended at this, 
 wrote against it. Alexander, bisliop of Jerusalem, 
 and Tlieoctistus of Cesarea wrote to liini in defense 
 of it as follows : " Whereas you write in your letter 
 that it was never before seen, or done, that laymen 
 should preach in the presence of bishops, therein you 
 wander from the truth ; for wheresoever any are 
 found that are fit to profit the brethren, the holy 
 bishops, of their own accord, ask them to preach unto 
 the people."* 
 
 This was not done in any disorderly way, so that 
 the '' sacred office " was not prostituted thereby. It 
 was only with tlie consent, or at the invitation, of the 
 bishop of the Church, and only by those who were " fit 
 to profit the brethren." The same custom was fol- 
 lowed by the Puritans, and their intelligent laymen, 
 one after another, expounded the Scriptures and in- 
 structed the people. In justification of this course 
 they cited the instance quoted above.f In regard to 
 the constitution of the early churches and this prac- 
 tice among tliem, another eminent authority says : 
 " Their presidents were the elders, oSicially of equal 
 rank. . . . Under the superintendents of these el- 
 ders were the deacons and deaconesses. . . . The 
 duty of teaching was by no means incumbent on the 
 elders, altliough the apostle wishes that they should 
 be apt to teach. The capacity for instructing and 
 edifying in the assemblies was rather considered as a 
 
 * King's Trim. CK P- 163. f Young's Ghron. Pil. Fathers. 
 
Deaconesses of the Early Chuech. 67 
 
 free gift of the Spirit {x^pf-^l^^ nveviiarncov)^ ^vhich 
 manifested itself in many Christians, although in dif- 
 ferent modes (Trpo^TJr?^^ — dtddaicaXoc — y?iG)aaxi XakC^v^ 
 1 Cor. xii, 28-31 ; xiv). Still less was a distinct 
 priestly order known at this time ; for the whole 
 society of Cliristians formed a royal priesthood 
 {YSaraXEiov lepdrevfia, 1 Pet. ii, 9)."^ 
 
 This shows that in primitive times the mere act 
 of preaching or expounding the holy Scriptures was 
 not reserved for the clergy, nor considered their ex- 
 clusive right. God sometimes endowed others with 
 gifts and graces to profit the brethren, and these were 
 called forth by the proper church authority to exer- 
 cise their gifts and edify the people, though they had 
 not been ordained by the imposition of hands. When 
 this custom was set aside it was a great loss to the 
 Church, and it has gained immensely by its revival 
 in modern times. Thus the whole line of lay preach- 
 ers, of Methodism and of other Cliurches, and some 
 of the most noted evangelists, both men and w^omen, 
 whom the world has ever seen, have been called forth 
 to labor and bless mankind. 
 
 Let us now inquire as to the work of the deaconess. 
 Was her work peculiar to herself ? Or was it the 
 same as that performed by the deacon 'i The view 
 held by most historians of the Church is that the 
 deaconess performed for the female portion of the 
 congregation what the deacon did for the male por- 
 
 * Geiseler, Ch. His., vol. i, p. 90. 
 
08 Deaconesses, Ancip:nt and Modern. 
 
 tion. After stating the work of tlie deacon Dr. 
 Pliilip Scliaif says : " Deaconesses, or female helpers, 
 had a similar charge of the poor and sick in the fe- 
 male portion of the Church. This office was tlie 
 inore needful on account of the rigid separation of 
 the sexes at that day, especially among the Greeks. 
 It opened to pious women and virgins, and especially 
 to widows, a most suitable held for the regular official 
 exercise of their peculiar gifts of self-denying love 
 and devotion to the welfare of the Church. Through 
 it they could carry the light and comfort of the Gos- 
 pel into the most private and delicate relations of 
 domestic life, without at all overstepping their natural 
 sphere. Paul mentions Phebe as a deaconess of the 
 church at Cenchrea, the port of Corinth ; and it is 
 more than probable that Tryphena and Tryphosa 
 and Persis, whom he commends for their labor in the 
 Lord, served in the same capacity at Pome." ^ By 
 specifying the work of the deacon we have also speci- 
 fied the work of the deaconess. The wants of the 
 female portion of the Church are substantially the 
 same as those of the male portion. 
 
 The spiritual baptism that came upon the disciples 
 at the Pentecost set every heart on fire with the love 
 of God, and " they all began to speak with other 
 tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." This 
 was remembered during the apostolic age, and some 
 of the subjects of it, perhaps, survived the apostles. 
 * P. Schaff, Hist. Ch., vol. i^ p. 135. 
 
Deaconesses of the Early Chukch. 69 
 
 It was not an uncommon thing for women to speak 
 or prophesy to the edification of the Church ; and 
 doubtless some of those who were set apart as dea- 
 conesses obeyed the divine impulse and told publicly 
 and privately the story of tiie cross. Neither deacons 
 nor deaconesses were specially ordained to the work 
 of preaching in the early post-apostolic Clmrch, 
 and yet we are constrained to believe that it was not 
 foreign to either. Priscilla took Apollos and " ex- 
 pounded unto him the way of God more perfectly," 
 unfolding to his inquiring mind the Scriptures of 
 truth. "Tlie new^ life which pervaded the Avhole 
 Christian society w^ould lead women as well as men 
 to devote themselves to the labors of love." * Teach- 
 ing was certainly a part of their work. " The social re- 
 lations of the sexes in the cities of the empire would 
 make it fitting that the agency of woman should be 
 employed largely in the direct personal application 
 of spiritual truth (Tit. ii, 3, 4), possibly in the prepa- 
 ration of female catechumens. Their duties were to 
 take care of the sick and poor and to minister to mar- 
 tyrs and confessors in prison, to whom they could 
 more easily gain access than the deacons ; to instruct 
 catechumens, and to assist at the baptism of women ; 
 to exercise a general oversight over the female mem- 
 bers of the Church, and this not only in public, but 
 in private, making occasional reports to the bishops 
 and presbyters." f 
 
 * McClintock & Strong. f Ihid. 
 
70 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 Jerome says : " Each in his own sex they ministered 
 in baptism and in the ministry of the word." * 
 
 At this point we will examine a very ancient work, 
 called the ApostollGal Constitutions^ as in many in- 
 stances it refers to the deaconess of the early Cliurch. 
 These so-called Apostolical Constitutions assume to 
 have been formulated by the apostles, but that is not 
 received by the learned. Nevertheless, their spurious- 
 ness does not destroy their historical value. If they 
 are forgeries, they are very ancient, and must have 
 reflected the customs of their times. The following 
 is the result of the latest and best scholarship. 
 
 '' We may accept as established the following po- 
 sitions : 
 
 " 1. The Apostolical Constitutions are a compila- 
 tion, the material being derived from sources differ- 
 ing: in ao^e. 
 
 "2. The first six books are the oldest; the seventh, 
 in its present form somewhat later, but . . . proven 
 to contain matter of a very ancient date. The eighth 
 book is of latest date. 
 
 " 3. It now seems to be generally admitted that the 
 entire w^ork is not later than the fourth century, al- 
 though the usual allowance must be made for later 
 textual changes, whether by accident or design." f 
 
 We have quoted the above because we shall have 
 
 * "In suo sexu ministrabant in baptismo et ministerio verbi." — 
 Jerome ou Rom. xvi, 1. 
 
 \ Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. vii, p. 388. 
 
Deaconesses of the Early Church. 7.1 
 
 occasion to refer to the work showing the character 
 and duties of the deaconess and her ordination to office 
 in the Church. 
 
 " Let the deaconess be a pure virgin, or, at the 
 least, a widow who has been but once married, faith- 
 ful and well esteemed." * It is evident tliat in the first 
 Christian age some married women were deaconesses, 
 as Priscilla, who traveled and labored with her hus- 
 band, but is generally named first, probably because 
 of greater energy and an official position in the Church. 
 But the provision above is a very natural one, because 
 the cares of a family generally would preclude a mar- 
 ried woman from devoting all her time to the work of 
 a deaconess ; and a married woman, having her own 
 home, and being provided for by her husband, could 
 devote whatever time she could command to benevo- 
 lent labors, and do the work of a deaconess without 
 the distinctive title. 
 
 " For let the bishop preside over you as one hon- 
 ored with the authority of God, which he is to exer- 
 cise over the clergy, and by which he is to govern 
 all the people. But let the deacon minister to him 
 as Christ does to his Father. . . . Let also the dea- 
 coness be honored by you in the place of the 
 Holy Ghost, and not do or say anj^ thing witliout the 
 deacon ; as neither does the Comforter say or do 
 any thing of himself, but giveth glory to Christ by 
 waiting for his pleasure. And as we cannot believe 
 
 * Apost. Con., Book ii, c. xvii. 
 
72 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 on Christ witlioiit the teaching of the Spirit, so let 
 not any woman address herself to the deacon or 
 bishop withont the deaconess." ^ 
 
 This sliows the honor in which tlie deaconess 
 was held as belonging to the ministerial orders of 
 tlie Church. It also sliows how soon the Church 
 departed from the trutli, giving an honor and im- 
 portance to ministers wliich God never designed 
 they should have, and which had no parallel or prec- 
 edent in apostolic times. To represent the bishop 
 as having the authority of God, and placing the 
 deacon in the same relation to the bishop that the 
 Son of God is to his Father, and the deaconess in 
 the place of the Holy Ghost, seems to ns but little 
 short of blasphemy. 
 
 It was also provided that "the deaconesses should 
 stand at the entrances of the women," as the deacons 
 did at those of the men, and should provide places 
 for strangers who had come in to worship. " Nay, 
 if a poor man, or one of a mean family, or a 
 stranger comes upon you, whether he be old or 
 young, and there be no place, the deacon shall find 
 a place for even these, and that with all his heart ; 
 that, instead of accepting persons before men, his 
 ministration toward God may be well pleasing. The 
 very same things let the deaconess do to those women, 
 whether poor or rich, that come unto them." f 
 
 " Ordain also a deaconess who is faithful and holy 
 
 * Apost Cons.^ Book ii, c. xxvi. f Ibid., Book ii, c. Ivii, Iviii. 
 
Deaconesses of the Eakly Chukch. 73 
 
 for the ministrations toward women. For sometimes 
 he cannot send a deacon, who is a man, to the women, 
 on account of unbelievers. Thou shalt tlierefore send 
 a woman, a deaconess, on account of the imaginations 
 of the bad. For we stand in need of a woman, a 
 deaconess, for many necessities ; and, first, in tlie bap- 
 tism of women the deacon shall anoint only their fore- 
 heads with the holy oil, and after him the deaconess 
 shall anoint them, for there is no necessity that the 
 women should be seen of the men." ^ 
 
 This is somewhat minute in detail, and shows the 
 same state of things in the early Church that exists to- 
 day in many parts of the world, and the same neces- 
 sity for care and caution to prevent reproach. Circum- 
 stances are such now sometimes, even where women 
 are not secluded, that " a deacon who is a man cannot 
 be sent on account of the imaginations of the bad." 
 
 This is the case in many of the Eastern countries, 
 where women are now much more secluded than 
 they were then among the Greeks. Our missions 
 are being planted all over those lands, where it is 
 impossible for men to reach the women, and the 
 work is hindered thereby, and the conversion of 
 the world delayed. How slow the modern Church 
 has been to follow the example set in apostolic and 
 primitive times! 
 
 " O bishop, do thou ordain thy fellow-workers, 
 the laborers for life and for righteousness. . . . 
 * Apost. Cons.j Book iii, c. xv. 
 
74 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 Ordain also a deaconess who is faithful and holy for 
 the ministrations toward women."* These early 
 fathers recognized the necessity of ordaining women 
 to give the ministrations of religion to women. They 
 were willing to yield to the custom of tlieir age and 
 send the word of God and the ordinances of the 
 Church to women by women duly qualified and ap- 
 pointed, rather than attempt to drag them forth to 
 be seen of men, where custom and every instinct of 
 their nature made the act repellent. " For there is no 
 necessity that the women should be seen of the men." 
 Under certain circumstances the deaconess was to dis- 
 charge the duties of the deacon when a proper regard 
 for purity of character and reputation would preclude 
 the presence and services of tlie latter. 
 
 After the sacrament of baptism had been admin- 
 istered by the bishop it was ordered, "Let a deacon 
 receive the man and a deaconess the woman, that 
 so the conferring of this inviolable seal may take 
 place with a becoming decency." f " And let the 
 deaconess be diligent in taking care of the women, 
 but both of them (deacon and deaconess) ready to 
 carry messages, to travel about, to minister, and to 
 serve." J "The traditional journey of Phebe to 
 Rome with St. Paul's epistle would thus be strictly 
 within the limits of lier functions." § 
 
 There is one more reference to the duties of 
 
 * Apost. Cons., Book Hi, c. xv. j; Ibid., Book iii, c. xvi. 
 
 X Ibid., Book iii, c. xix. § Ludlow, p. 16. 
 
Deaconesses of the Eakly Ciiukch. 75 
 
 the deaconess in the Constitxdions which de- 
 mands our special attention : " A deaconess does 
 not bless or perform any thing belonging to the 
 office of presbyters or deacons, but only is to keep 
 the doors and to minister to the presbyters in tlie 
 baptizing of women, on account of decency." * From 
 this it appears that the deaconess was not held in 
 such honor and esteem when the last of the above 
 quotations was w^ritten as when the others were 
 penned. This is accounted for by the fact that tlie 
 Constitutions are of unequal antiquity, the eighth 
 look being much later than the others. " There is 
 a complete opposition of tone between chapter xv 
 of Book III, which says that we need a woman 
 deacon for many purposes, and chapter xxviii of Book 
 VIII, which reduces her functions to doorkeeping 
 and ministering at female baptisms. Evidently in the 
 older Constitutions the deaconess's office is far more 
 real and more honorable." f Let it also be observed 
 that the Constitution which reduces the func- 
 tions of the deaconess also reduces the functions of 
 ■the deacon : ^'A deacon does not bless, does not 
 give the blessing, but receives it from the bishop 
 and presbyter. He does not baptize, he does not 
 offer, but when a bishop or presbyter has offered 
 he distributes to the people, not as priest, but as 
 one that ministers to the priests." :j: 
 
 *Book viii, c. xxviii. f Ludlow, p. 21. 
 
 \Apost. Cons., Book viii, c. xxviii. 
 
76 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 This takes from the deacon the power to baptize, 
 but by other writers this is clearly given to him. 
 "Deacons had power to administer the sacrament of 
 baptism. The Council of Eliberis, Canon 77, plainly 
 acknowledges this right." * They assisted " the 
 bishops or presbyters in the celebration of the eu- 
 charist, delivering the elements to the communicants; 
 they also preached, and in the absence of the bishop 
 and presbyters baptized." f And we are not without 
 evidence that deaconesses also performed the same 
 functions. A commentary on the Pauline epistles, 
 falsely ascribed to Jerome, and supposed to have 
 been written in the fifth century, has the following 
 note on Kom. xvi, 1 : "As even now in the East 
 women called deaconesses appear to minister in 
 baptism or in the ministry of the word, since we 
 find women to have taught privately, as Priscilla." :j: 
 From the sixth century onward there are but few 
 notices of deaconesses in the Greek Church, and 
 these scattered at long intervals. Some canons 
 were enacted in relation to the age of ordination. 
 In the seventh century her office is referred to in 
 relation to the baptizing of women. In the elev- 
 enth century it is also named in connection witli 
 the interpretation of Titus ii, 3. Balsamon, patri 
 arch of Antioch, writing toward the end of the 
 twelfth century, treats the office as nearly extinct ; 
 
 * McClintock & Strong. f King's Frim. Ch., p. 70. 
 
 X Ludlow, p. 65. 
 
Deaconesses of the Early Church. 77 
 
 and the manner in which he writes of deaconesses 
 shows that they had been lost in female monachism. 
 " As virgins," he writes, " they were received by the 
 Church and guarded according to the command of 
 the bishop, as consecrated to God, except that they 
 wore the garb of the laity, . . . and at forty years 
 old they received ordination as deaconesses, being 
 found qualified in all respects." * 
 
 We cannot trace the growth of the early Church 
 and the distinctive orders of the clergy without 
 being impressed with the ambitious character of some 
 of those in high places, and witli the fact that efforts 
 were made to deprive the lower clergy of some of 
 the functions of their office, and to give to those 
 above them more exclusive power and authority. 
 Thus the deaconess was deprived of her ministerial 
 functions, and finally, as we shall discover, was dropped 
 out of the Church altogether. 
 
 So it has been in the Church of modern times. 
 When God has laid upon the heart of man any great 
 truth and duty, as he did upon the hearts of Luther 
 and Wesley, and those truths have been promulgated 
 and the Church has been aroused as from the slum- 
 ber of ages, and taken on new life and vigor, she has 
 in spirit and form gone back to the customs of primi- 
 tive times ; and as the work has grown and become 
 older the primitive customs have been ignored, and 
 ambitious men have ruled in the place of Christ. 
 
 * Ludlow, p. 61. 
 6 
 
78 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 CHAPTER YIL 
 
 THE ORDINATION OF DRaCONESSES. 
 
 It seems right and proper that any person called of 
 God to discharge important duties in the government 
 and care of his Church should be set apart to that 
 work by some special religious services, so that the 
 candidate and all the people may be suitably im- 
 pressed with the importance and solemnity of the of- 
 fice with which the person is invested. The mere 
 act of ordination to the work of the Christian minis- 
 try has been given an importance in Church history 
 and religious controversy far beyond its intrinsic 
 value. It has no interest to us " in reference to the 
 dogma of a lineal apostolical succession, and the con- 
 sequences supposed to flow through it as a channel of 
 transmitted grace," * and we discuss it only as a for- 
 mal religious act of induction to an ecclesiastical office 
 and work. 
 
 Christ did indeed ordain or appoint his twelve 
 apostles and the seventy disciples, but, so far as the 
 sacred record shows, without symbolical act or cere- 
 mon3^ The seven deacons mentioned in Acts vi were 
 chosen by the people and ordained by the apostles, by 
 * McOlintock & Strong, art. " Ordination." 
 
The Ordination of Deaconesses. 79 
 
 prayer and tlie la^ang on of hands. " This marked 
 event in the liistory of the Church occurred in imme- 
 diate sequel of the great outpouring of the Holy 
 Ghost at Pentecost, and from the space allotted to it in 
 the Scriptures, as well as from the fact that all the 
 apostles were present, it may now be considered, as it 
 doubtless was during the whole apostolic period, a 
 model ordination for the subsequent Church." ^ So 
 Barnabas and Saul were set apart, under the direction 
 of the Holy Ghost, by prayer and the laying on of 
 hands. Acts xiii, 2, 3. Saul of Tarsus had been 
 preaching tlie Gospel of Christ for ten years before 
 tliis. Both Barnabas and Saul had acted as evangel- 
 ists, and their word had been signally blessed of God. 
 Their ordination did not give them any new power as 
 preachers of the Gospel, but it was a recognition by 
 the Church and an official indorsement of them. 
 They had been commissioned to preach by tlie Holy 
 Ghost, and now by his direction they were commis- 
 sioned to " baptize converts, organize Cliristian con- 
 gregations, and to ordain Christian ministers." 
 
 The act of ordination was significant. " When a 
 Jewisli father invoked a benediction on any of his 
 family he laid his hand on the head of his child ; 
 when a Jew^ish priest devoted an animal in sacrifice 
 he laid his hand on the head of the victim ; and when 
 a Jewish ruler invested another with office he laid his 
 hand on the head of the new functionary." f So men 
 * McClintock & Strong, art. " Ordination." f Ibid. 
 
80 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 and women, in the primitive Churcli, were " sepa- 
 rated " to the special work to which God had called 
 them. This instance illustrates the conditions ob- 
 served in the ordination of the deacons : " (1.) The 
 candidates were men called of the Holy Ghost ; 
 (2.) They were separated unto the work of the Lord 
 by prayer, accompanied with fasting ; (3.) Hands were 
 laid upon them by representative men of the Church, 
 doubtless the elders, among whom no apostle was 
 present, and as yet the office of bishop had not been 
 instituted." * This could not be other than a pres- 
 byterial ordination, but who would question its valid- 
 ity ? This is such an ordination as is defined by Lord 
 King in the following language: "The grant of a 
 peculiar commission and power, which rema^ins indel- 
 ible in the person to whom it is committed, and can 
 never be eradicated or erased out, except the person 
 himself cause it by his heresy, apostasy, or most gross 
 and scandalous impiety." f 
 
 Such an ordination is reasonable, religious, impress- 
 ive, and sanctioned by the Holy Ghost. Let us see 
 what evidence we have that deaconesses were set 
 apart in the same way. "We have seen that they 
 formed a part of the apostolic Church organization,, 
 and though we find no Scripture which definitely 
 says they were set apart by prayer and the imposi- 
 tion of hands we have good reason to believe that 
 
 * McClintock & Strong, art. " Ordination." 
 f Primitive Churchy p. 72. 
 
The Ordination of Deaconesses. 81 
 
 they were thus ordained. We find men-deacons and 
 women-deacons in the same church fillinoj the same 
 ofiice and doing the same work, the one to the male 
 portion and the other to the female portion of the 
 congregation. It is fair to presume that both were 
 inducted to office in the same form. 
 
 A distinction has been made by some writers be- 
 tween the imposition of hands as a ceremonial bene- 
 diction and a real ordination, but in the light of 
 Church history and tlie best scholarship this distinc- 
 tion cannot stand. Bingham, in his Christian An- 
 tiquities, repudiates it. Ludlow contends that the 
 deaconess received a real ordination. The question is 
 certainly decided by the Council of Nice. In one of 
 its canons it distinguishes between such as had. and 
 such as had not been ordained by the imposition of 
 hands, saying : " Those who assume the habit and 
 dignity of the office, never having had the imposition 
 of hands, are to be reckoned only among the laity." ^ 
 So also Dr. Philip Schaff : " The custom of ordain- 
 ing deaconesses is placed beyond dispute." " But the 
 consecration of the deaconess was certainly accompa- 
 nied with the imposition of hands in the presence of 
 the whole clergy." f We can see no reason why this 
 should ever have been questioned or disallowed. It 
 probably never would have been had the . clergy re- 
 tained more of the spirit of the Gospel and less of the 
 
 * Council of Xice, Canon 19, quoted from C. S. Henry. 
 f Schaff, Church History^ vol. ii, p. 261. 
 
82 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 ambition and spirit of the world. The ordination of 
 deaconesses was in accord with the faith of tlie prim- 
 itive Church and the sacred office to which they 
 were called. Men felt that all spiritual work must be 
 done bj the help of the Holy Ghost, that no spiritual 
 victories could be won without his influence, and, as 
 men were set apart by special acts of devotion, why not 
 women ? Was their work less difficult or important? 
 Were they less in need of help than men ? Surely not ! 
 
 In proof that they were ordained, and in illustra- 
 tion of the mode, we will here give the form of 
 prayer used at their ordination. The Apostolical Con- 
 stitutions gives the following directions to the bishop 
 for the ordination of the deaconess. It is assumed to 
 have been written by the apostle Bartholomew. 
 
 " Concerning a deaconess, I, Bartholomew, make 
 this constitution : O bishop, thou shalt lay thy hands 
 upon her in the presence of the presbytery, and of 
 the deacons and deaconesses, and shalt say : O Eter- 
 nal God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, tlie 
 Creator of man and of woman, who didst replenish 
 with the Spirit Miriam, and Deborah, and Anna, 
 and Huldah ; who didst not disdain that thy only 
 begotten Son should be born of a woman ; who also 
 in the tabernacle of the testimony, and in the temple, 
 didst ordain women to be keepers of thy holy gates 
 — do thou now also look down upon this thy servant, 
 who is to be ordained to the office of a deaconess, 
 and grant her thy Holy Spirit, and cleanse her from 
 
The Okdination of Deaconesses. 83 
 
 all filtliiness of the flesh and spirit, that she may 
 wortliilj discharge the work which is committed to 
 her to thy glory, and the praise of thy Christ, with 
 whom glory and adoration be to thee and the Holy 
 Spirit forever. Amen." ^ 
 
 This places beyond all dispute the ordination of 
 women to the order and office of deaconess in the 
 early Church. While the scholarship of the present 
 day does not in any sense accept the above as the 
 work of the apostles, still it must have reflected the 
 customs of the Church at, and prior to, the time 
 when it was written, and, as we have before stated, its 
 date is placed from the second to the fourth century. 
 In addition to what is given above we present the 
 following from an early source of information. Dean 
 Howson says: "In the collection of the ordination 
 services of the Nestorian Christians as published by 
 the younger Assemani, I find a distinct ' Ordo Chi- 
 rotoniee Mulierum Diaconissarum,' parallel for the 
 most part to the similar service for the appointment 
 of deacons. Here, among other suitable prayers, 
 which are quite in harmony with the s]>irit of that 
 which is quoted from the Apostolical Constitutions 
 the following occurs : " 
 
 "Lord God Omnipotent, who hast made all things 
 by the word of thy power, and in thy command bold- 
 est the universe which thou didst create at thy pleas- 
 ure ; who hast taken pleasure likewise in men and 
 * Apost. Cons., Book viii, chaps, xix, xx. 
 
84 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modekn. 
 
 women that tlion slioiiklst give unto tliem tlie gift of 
 the Holy Spirit ; tliou, Lord, even now, through thy 
 pity, choose this thy poor handmaid to the good 
 work of the diaconate, and give unto her grace, that 
 without blemish she may finish before thee this great 
 and sublime ministry, and that she may be guarded 
 without hurt in all works of virtue ; and that she may 
 instruct the assembly of women, and teach purity and 
 just and good works ; and justly to obtain from thee the 
 reward of (her) good works in the great and glorious day 
 of the revelation of thine Only Begotten. Wherefore 
 to thee and to him, and to the Holy Spirit, pertain 
 glory, honor, thanksgiving, and adoration. Amen ! " ^ 
 Dean Howson held to the view that the imposition 
 of hands was a ceremonial benediction. In proof of 
 this, after giving the above prayer with the rubric, 
 he quotes in Latin Assemani's comment on the serv- 
 ices, of which the following is a translation : " Al- 
 though the deaconesses had no sacred rank in the 
 Church, nevertheless, through an inauguration purely 
 ceremonial, they were intended for some pious minis- 
 try among women." f But Assemani as a commen- 
 tator on the practices of the early Church is not en- 
 
 * Deaconesses, Dean Howson, preface, page 15. Dean Howson 
 here gives the Latin form of the prayer which we translate. He 
 quoted from the Codex Liturg. Eccles. Univ. (Rome, 1771). He gives 
 this note: "The bibliographers say that this volume of the work is 
 rare. My extracts are made from a copy in the Cambridge Univer- 
 sity Library, which was formerly Bisliop Van Alildert's." 
 
 f Dean Howson, p. 17. 
 
The Okdination of Deacoxesses. 85 
 
 titled to as much credence as later scholars. He wrote 
 in the eighteenth century, and was not remarkable 
 for accurate or profound scholarship ; and he also 
 wrote in the interest of Eoman Catholicism and the 
 support of hierarchical pretensions. 
 
 Matthew Blastar, a writer of tlie fourteenth cent- 
 ury, has preserved the ceremonies used in the ordi- 
 nation of a deaconess : '' She was presented to the 
 bishop in front of the sanctuary, her neck and slioul- 
 ders covered with a small cloak called ' Marforium.' 
 After a prayer, beginning with the words, ' The grace 
 of God,' she bent her head without bowing her knees, 
 and the bishop then laid his hands on her, pronounc- 
 ing the accustomed prayer." * 
 
 In TertuUian we find the following allusion to or- 
 dained women : " How many men, therefore, and 
 how many women in ecclesiastical orders owe their 
 position to continence who have 23referred to be wed- 
 ded to God ! " t 
 
 Bishop A. C. Coxe says this is a reference '^ to dea- 
 conesses as women in ecclesiastical orders." :j: The 
 Theodosian Code (4:38) fixes the age of their ordina- 
 tion, and provides that if they have children when 
 they enter the diaconate a guardian shall be ap- 
 pointed. The fiftieth canon of the Council of Chal- 
 cedon enacts that '* the deaconess shall not be or- 
 dained before her fortieth year, and this witli the 
 
 * Moreri, quoted by Ludlow, p. 62. f Tert., Exhort. Chadity. c. xiii 
 \ Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. iv, 58. 
 
86 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 utmost deliberation ; but if, receiving the imposition 
 of hands, and remaining some time in the ministry, 
 slie gives herself over to marriage, doing despite to 
 the grace of God, let her be accursed together with 
 her paramour." ''^ 
 
 In A. D. 535 a law was enacted for the govern- 
 ment of the Eastern Church whicli has a " chapter 
 specially devoted to the ordination of deaconesses not 
 under fifty years of age. They are to be neither 
 young nor in the prime of life nor of an age of itself 
 prone to sin, but beyond the middle time of life; 
 either widows of one husband or professed virgins; 
 of a life not only w^ell-famed, but not even suspected. 
 If any should of necessity be ordained before the pi'e- 
 scribed age she is to remain in some ascetery. The 
 deaconess is to live either alone or only with lier 
 parents and her children or her brothers, or otlier- 
 wlse wdth such persons as to w^hom any suspicion of 
 scandal would appear of itself silly and impious, but 
 not with any other relative, or any of those persons 
 called ' beloved.' On her ordination she is to be 
 admonished, and to hear the holy precepts in pres- 
 ence of the other deaconesses already in functions. 
 If she leave the ministry to enter into marriage, or 
 to choose any other mode of life, she is subject to 
 the penalty of death, and her property is to be ap- 
 plied to the use of the church or convent in which 
 she is, the same penalties being incurred by her hus- 
 
 * Ludlow, p. 53. 
 
The Ordination of Deaconesses. 87 
 
 band or seducer, with the exception that his property 
 is to be confiscated for the benefit of the State." ^ 
 
 Tlie evidence that women were ordained to some 
 of the sacred functions of tlie ministry is very abun- 
 dant in the annals of the early Church. These offi- 
 cers were perpetuated and retained so long as the 
 Church observed the truth and precedents transmit- 
 ted by the apostles. E'ot until the priesthood became 
 corrupt and ambitious were they set aside. So long 
 as the Church kept to the work committed to it by 
 Christ, instructing: the io^norant, comfortino- the af- 
 flicted, and seeking to bring lost souls to the fountain 
 of cleansing, the deaconesses were found among its 
 working forces. But we can trace the growth of 
 sacerdotalism, when apostolic precepts were set aside 
 and the commandments of men adopted in their 
 stead ; when superstition gained the ascendency and 
 the spiritual power of the Church was lost in its ever- 
 increasing forms. In evidence of the ordination of 
 deaconesses, and to show the position they held at 
 the end of the fifth century, we give the following : 
 
 " At this period, therefore (first half of the sixth 
 century), the office of deaconess in the Eastern Church 
 has become purely sacerdotal, forming a sort of con- 
 necting link between the secular and the regular 
 clergy. The honor of the office has not departed. 
 There is not, even at this late period of which we are 
 treating, the smallest trace in the authorities of a gen- 
 
 *^Ludlow, p. 56. 
 
88 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 eric difference between the ordination of the deacon- 
 ess and that of the other members of the clergy, the 
 word ordination being strictly rendered in the Greek 
 version by the technical one of %£/.po0£(7ia, laying on 
 of hands. The same terms of 'most reverend' and 
 'venerable' are applied to deaconesses as to tlie 
 bishop and other clergy ; the rules respecting them are 
 comprised in the same ordinances of the civil power, 
 and their rank clearly fixed on a par with that of the 
 deacons and before the sub-deacons and other inferior 
 clergy ; and they are the only class of females who 
 are thus ranked in the clergy, the virgins, widows, 
 nuns, being clearly not included witli them in this 
 respect, although assimilated to them in others. 
 Their functions, as far as they are spoken of, are 
 those 'of coming to the holy ministry, ministering to 
 the adorable ceremonies of baptism, and 'assisting at 
 the other mysteries, which are lawfully celebrated 
 by them in the venerable ministrations ' of the 
 Church." * 
 
 It may be interesting to inquire how these female 
 officers were selected, and the qualifications deemed 
 necessary for the office. As the functions of deacon 
 and deaconess were so much alike, it is reasonable 
 to suppose that the method of selection and the 
 qualifications would be similar. The apostolic re- 
 quirements for the deacon and deaconess were vir- 
 tually the same. " Likewise 7mist the deacons he 
 
 * Ludlow, p. 59. 
 
The Oedina^tion of Deaconesses. 89 
 
 grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, 
 not greedy of filty lucre ; holding the mystery of the 
 faith. in a pure conscience. And let these also first 
 be proved, then let them use the office of a deacon, 
 \>Qmg found blameless. Even so must their wives he 
 grave^ not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things." 
 1 Tim. iii, 8-11. 
 
 These were the directions given by the apostle as to 
 the general qualifications and character of those who 
 were to be selected aB deacons. 
 
 On this passage Dr. D. D. Whedon has the follow- 
 ing comment : 
 
 " Wives — The Greek word may signify either 
 woman or wife. The their is not in the Greek. 
 The question thence arises whether St. Paul means 
 wives of the deacons or deaconesses. The absence of 
 any prescription for the wdves of the elders seems 
 very decisive in favor of the latter." 
 
 The same opinion is expressed by many of the 
 Greek and Latin Church fathers and by many 
 modern commentators. Dr. Adam Clarke thinks it 
 probable that Paul meant deaconesses, and Lange 
 ■understands it of the '^ wives of deacons, who were 
 also deaconesses." 
 
 We give the following as the criticism of an eminent 
 modern scholar on the question in discussion, and to 
 show his high appreciation of the office of deaconess, 
 and what the Church has suffered by its extinction : 
 
 " The error of inserting the article where it is absent 
 
90 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 is less frequent than that of omitting it where it is 
 present, but not less injurious to the sense. Thus, in 
 1 Tim. iii, 11, ywainag cjoavrcjg oeiivag would hardly 
 have been rendered ' even so must their wives be 
 grave,' if the theory of the definite article had been 
 understood ; for our translators would have seen that 
 the reference is to yvvalKag StaKovovg^ ' women-dea- 
 cons ' or ' deaconesses,' and not to the wives of the 
 deacons. 
 
 " The office of deaconess is mentioned only in one 
 other passage in the New Testament (Rom. xvi, 1), 
 and there also it is obliterated in the English version 
 by the substitution of tlie vague expression " w^hich is 
 a servant" for the more definite ovoav dtdfcovov. If 
 the testimony borne in these two passages to a minis- 
 try of w^omen in the apostolic times had not been tlius 
 blotted out of our English Bibles, attention would 
 probably have been directed to the subject at an ear- 
 lier date, and our English Church would not have 
 remained so long maimed in one of her hands." * 
 
 " Let these first be proved " (verse 10). "]^ot by 
 prefixing a ]:>eriod of probation ; but by the scrutiny 
 of the Church and eldership, carefully noting their 
 lives, character, and qualifications, and making them 
 a matter of free discussion, in order to a right decision 
 by vote before ordination." f These servants of the 
 Church, men and women, were selected, examined, 
 
 * J. B. Lightfoot, D.D , Revision of Nno lest, p. 104. 
 f Whedon, in loco. 
 
The Ordination of Deaconesses. 91 
 
 and voted on, accepted or rejected, as the mind of the 
 Church might be in regard to them. Tlie office was 
 not, hke that of healing, prophecy, and tlie gift of 
 tongues, a special gift and calling bj the Holy Ghost 
 without the agency of man, but a selection made by 
 tlie Church of those whom they thought qualified, 
 both by gifts and graces, to fill the position. In the 
 post-apostolic Church the examination included these 
 special features ; namely, age, condition in the world, 
 conversation, and understanding. 
 
 iSome of the Church fathers, applying to the dea- 
 coness the words of Paul which he spoke concerning 
 widows, fixes the age of their ordination at sixty. The 
 fifteenth canon of the Council of Chalcedon enacts 
 that ''the deaconess shall not be ordained before her 
 fortieth year." This was confirmed by several later 
 enactments, and was for many years the age at which 
 she was ordained. 
 
 The diaconate was regarded as a stepping-stone to 
 a higher office or degree in the sacred ministry. It is 
 in this sense that the words of Paul are understood by 
 many : " For they that have used the office of a deacon 
 well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great 
 boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus." 1 Tim. 
 iii, 13. (See Wesley, Wordsworth, and Whedon.) 
 Not that all who served as deacons would be advanced 
 to the presbyterate, but the custom was to select from 
 the most excellent or devoted Christian people the 
 deacons and deaconesses, and some of these, who were 
 
92 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 called of God, were advanced to the higher orders in 
 the Christian ministry. " In the Clementine Consti- 
 tntions are prayers for the deacon in which we read 
 the words : ' Render worthy him who has performed 
 the deaconship to him committed, inflexibly, blame- 
 lessly, nnimpeachably, to be exalted to a higher step^"^ 
 Lord King also shows that this was the connnon rule. 
 Those who in the inferior positions and offices of the 
 Church showed their ability and integrity were exalted 
 to the higher, gradually proceeding through all the 
 others till they came to the supreme office of all."t 
 
 In the early Church a direct call of God was not 
 deemed essential to the office and work of a deacon or 
 deaconess, as we believe it is in the case of those who 
 preach God's word ; yet it would seem most probable 
 that those who served at the altar as the servants of 
 the bishop, w^atched over the flock of God, and read 
 homilies to the congregation in the absence of the su- 
 perior minister would feel impelled by the Holy Ghost 
 to preach the word, as did the original deacons, 
 Stephen and Philip, and thus add to the diaconate the 
 work of an evangelist. There is no doubt but this was 
 the case from the beginning. 
 
 When the deacon or other of the lower ecclesiastics 
 felt this call of God did they make it known ? " Who- 
 soever desired to be admitted into this sacred office 
 (the presbyterate), he first proposed himself to the 
 presbytery of the parish where he dwelt and was to 
 
 * WliedoD, in loco. \ Primitive Church, p. 72. 
 
The Oedination of Deaconesses. 93 
 
 be ordained, desiring their consent to Lis designed 
 intention, praying them to confer upon him those 
 lioly orders which he craved."* If, after due exam- 
 ination, he was found worthy he was elected and or- 
 dained. 
 
 As to the promotion of men-deacons to the presby- 
 terate there is no doubt ; but w^ere any of the women- 
 deacons of the early Church so promoted ? 
 
 Paul says : " The aged women likewise, that they be 
 in behavior as becometh holiness ; not false accusers, 
 not given to much wine, teachers of good things." 
 Titus ii, 3. Some of the best modern critics, both 
 German and English, infer from this the existence of 
 female presbyters. " As the manners of the Greeks 
 did not permit men to have much intercourse with 
 women of character, unless they were their relatives, 
 and as the Asiatics were under still greater restraints, 
 it was proper that an order of female teachers sliould 
 be instituted in the Church for instructing the young 
 of their own sex. These it seems were generally 
 widows, Clement of Alexandria reckoning widows 
 among ecclesiastical persons ; and Grotius tells us tliat 
 these female j)resbyters, or elders, were ordained by 
 imposition of hands till the Council of Laodicea."f 
 
 The passage from Clement is as follows : " Innu- 
 merable commands such as these are written in tlie 
 Holy Bible appertaining to chosen persons, some to 
 presbyters, some to bishops, some to deacons, others 
 
 * King's Primitive Church, p. 73. f Dr. Benson, in loco. 
 
 1 
 
04 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 to widows." * Widows here being named witli pres- 
 byters, bishops, and deacons as chosen persons indi- 
 cates that they held official position to which they 
 were chosen by the Church. 
 
 On the same passage Dean Howson remarks : " In 
 the Epistle to Titus certain ' aged women ' are men- 
 tioned whose qualilications are very much the same 
 as those required elsewhere of presbyters and bishops, 
 especially in regard to their being ' apt to teach.' 
 This circumstance might at first seem of no great 
 moment, but we are inclined to attend to it a little 
 more closely when we notice that the word translated 
 ' ao-ed women ' is not that which elsewhere in the 
 pastoral epistles is rendered 'elder women,' but is 
 precisely one of the terras employed by primitive 
 Greek writers as an official designation of those who 
 did the work of deaconesses. So of the Svidows ' 
 mentioned (1 Tim. v, 9) as placed on a definite 'list' 
 or ' roll,' we observe that their qualifications are re- 
 markably like those required of presbyters. At first 
 sight we might be disposed to think only of widows 
 registered for the receipt of relief. . . . But when 
 we look well at the whole context, when we notice the 
 limitations of age, . . . we seem to see along w^ith the 
 receipt of support from the Church correlatice duties 
 also implied; we seem to discover traces of an order 
 of widow^s, not identical perhaps with the deaconesses, 
 but belonging to a different department of the same 
 
 * Clement, Instructor, Book iii, c. xii. 
 
The Ordination of Deaconesses. 95 
 
 kind of organization." * Professor Ellicott remarks 
 that the ditties of these '^ widows " were probably 
 *' presbjterial ratlier than diaconic." Dean Alford 
 takes the same view, and Dr. Wordsworth closes his 
 note on the passage in the following words : " We 
 may also be permitted to cherish a hope that these 
 apostolic counsels may hereafter bear more abundant 
 fruit than is now the case. The offices of the dea- 
 coness and of the widow are here commended by the 
 Holy Spirit to the reverent regard and affectionate 
 use of the Church. It is much to be regretted that 
 these offices have fallen almost into desuetude by 
 reason of the human corruptions by which the divine 
 counsels of the apostle hav ebeen marred, especially 
 from the imposition of vows of celibacy. The abuses 
 by which these offices have been blemished have en- 
 tailed on the Church a forfeiture of the benefits de- 
 rivable from the offices themselves. But it is the 
 part of the Reformation to separate the abuses of 
 tilings from the things themselves that are abused. 
 And it would be a blessed work of Christian charity 
 to restore the office of widow and deaconess in the 
 Church to their primitive simplicity ; and so to en- 
 gage the affections and sympathies, and to exercise the 
 quiet piety and devout zeal of Christian women, old 
 and yonng, in the service of Christ in a regular and 
 orderly manner, under the guidance of lawful author- 
 ity, and with its commission and benediction, accord- 
 *Dean Howson, p. 57. 
 
96 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 ing to tlie apostolic model prescribed l)y the Holy 
 Ghost."- 
 
 On 1 Tim. v, 9, Yan Oosterzee says : " Such wid- 
 ows, called presbyteresses, seem to have had tlie same 
 relation toward their own sex as the presbyters to- 
 ward the men. . . . True, we find no further trace 
 of such an institution in the apostolic letters ; but 
 this one is quite sufficient, and the oldest Church fa- 
 thers also call it an apostolic tradition." f 
 
 This author thinks the order of deaconesses grew 
 out of the more ancient order of presbyterewses. 
 This, no doubt, is an error, as the great preponder- 
 ance of scholarship and authority places the deacon- 
 ess in the a230Stolic Church side by side with the 
 female presbyter. Dr. Washburn, the translator of 
 Yan Oosterzee, says : " We can easily understand 
 that such a Church widowhood had its official duty 
 and honor ; and as the ranks of Church authority be- 
 came more settled, as the deacon became at last the 
 assistant of the presbyter, so the deaconess, hitherto 
 a general phrase for such ministering women, became 
 an order next to that of the female presbyter." :j: And 
 no doubt some deaconesses, who had proved them- 
 selves worthy, had been promoted to the rank of pres- 
 byteresses. 
 
 Many commentators believe the passage Titus ii, 3, 
 
 has reference to aged women members of the Church, 
 
 * Wordsworth, quoted by Howson, p. 55. 
 
 f Van Oosterzee, Lange, in loco. X Washburn, Lange, in loco. 
 
The Okdixation of Deaconesses. 97 
 
 and not to any special persons holding an official re- 
 lation. Be this as it may, we lind traces of the fe- 
 male presbyters in the canons of the councils and the 
 writings of the Church fathers. The eleventh canon 
 of the Council of Laodicea (A. D. 360 to 370) forbids 
 the appointment of female elders or presbyters, and 
 the forty-fourth canon forbids women entering into the 
 altar. The following is the original and translation of 
 the eleventh canon as given by Ludlow : 
 
 " Uepl Tov ji7] Selv rag Xeyofievag npeafivrldag, fjTOt 
 nponadrjUEvagj tv EHnXfiala fcadtaraGdat, ' That one ought 
 not to establish in the Church the women called npea- 
 (ivTidag, or presidents ' — rendered in the Latin, both 
 by Dionysius Exiguus and the later Helvetus, ' pres- 
 byterge,' 'prsesidentes.' " * 
 
 On this point we give another criticism. "Of 
 particular interest among the decisions of this council 
 is Canon 11, forbidding the employment of women 
 as preachers. Hefele holds that the canon has hardly 
 been properly translated, and that the desire of the 
 council was simply to forbid superior deaconesses in 
 the Church. The difficulty as to the meaning arises 
 from the fact that the canons were written in Greek, 
 and the question hinges on the tneanmg intended for 
 7Tpeu[3i!~L6Eg and fTpoaadriiiEvaiy f 
 
 This canon must have been aimed at a practice 
 then in vogue, that of ordaining women to the pres- 
 byterate. We find also in the canons of the Council 
 
 * Ludlow, p. 224. f McClintock & Strong, art. " Laodicea." 
 
98 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 or Synod of Home, A. D. 720 or 721, anatbeinas 
 pronounced atrainst " whosoever should marry a fe- 
 male presbyter." Here are references to an or- 
 dained officer in the Church at two distinct periods, 
 at least three hundred and lifty years apart. If the 
 eleventh canon of the Council of Laodicea be rightly 
 understood as forbidding the ordination of female 
 presbyters, then it is evident that the canons of 
 councils did not always prohibit the practices 
 against which they were directed. Canon after 
 canon was enacted against the ordination of deacon- 
 esses, and yet for centuries afterward the practice 
 remained. The Council of Orange, Canon 26, " for- 
 bids the ordination of deaconesses in future, and 
 directs that those actually ordained shall receive 
 the benediction together with lay persons." The 
 Council of Epaon, Canon 26, interdicts wholly within 
 its jurisdiction the consecration of " widows who are 
 called deaconesses."" * 
 
 These interdictions did not prevent the ordina,- 
 tion of deaconesses. If forbidden in one place it 
 was allowed in another. In A. D. 441 it was for- 
 bidden by the Council of Orange, in A. D. 517 by 
 the Council of Epaon, but in A. D. 533 the second 
 Council of Orleans enacted the "excommunication 
 of any woman who, having received hitherto the 
 blessing of the diaconate against the interdicts of 
 the canons, shall have married again ; showing that 
 * Ludlow, p. 65. 
 
The Okdixation of Deaconesses. 99 
 
 in spite of previous proliibitioiis the practice of or- 
 daining deaconesses still existed." * We can see no 
 reason why women should not hav^e been ordained 
 to the presbvtei-ate, in spite of the canons forbid- 
 ding it, as was the case with female deacons. The 
 practice was less common, however, and the notices 
 of them are more rare. 
 
 ''While some of the Montanists allowed women 
 to be bishops and presbyters, their, practice was 
 strongly opposed as unscriptural, and Tertullian con- 
 demns the allowing of women to baptize as contrary 
 to the apostolic teaching. Yet it may well be 
 doubted whether this was the earlier view of the 
 Church, before the sacerdotal character of the minis- 
 try had come to be generally recognized." f 
 
 It miglit be proper to inquire as to the motive 
 that prompted the women of the early Church to 
 seek ordination to the work of the sacred ministry. 
 We liave no right to expect a higher order of virtue 
 in women than in men, thongh we believe as a rule 
 they are more devotional in spirit and more self- 
 sacrificing in nature. Unworthy motives, no doubt, 
 actuated some; motives of worldly policy and ambi- 
 tion, stress of circumstances, and domestic infelicity. 
 Others were moved by the Spirit of God to seek 
 ordination, and thus consecrate themselves to God 
 and the Church for the welfare of humanity. 
 Scenes of ignorance and suffering around them ap- 
 * Ludlow, p. 66. f BeimetL's Christ Arch., p. 369. 
 
100 Deacdnesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 pealed to tlieii- benevolent hearts, and a yearning 
 for God would prompt them to seek that nearness 
 to him and endowment of spiritual power which 
 ordination by the imposition of hands was supposed 
 to bring. 
 
 The following, which Ludlow calls the most in- 
 teresting incident to be found in the annals of the 
 Western Church, will illustrate the customs and 
 feeling in regard to deaconesses which prevailed in 
 the sixth century. It occurs in the story of St. 
 Radegund, a Thuringian princess, wife of the Mero- 
 vingian Chlothar I. of JN^eustria. After a long pe- 
 riod of domestic wretchedness by the side of a 
 brutal husband, and after seeing at least her only 
 surviving brother, a hostage at Chlothar's convent, 
 put to death by his orders, the queen fled to St. 
 Medard, Bishop of Noyon. As he was in his 
 church officiating at the altar she approached him 
 crying, " Most holy priest, I must leave the world 
 and change my garments. I entreat thee, most holy 
 priest, do thou consecrate me to the Lord." The 
 bishop hesitated. The Frankish lords and warriors 
 Mdio had followed the queen began to surround 
 them and to cry aloud with threatening gestures, 
 " Beware how thou givest the veil to a woman who 
 is married to the king ! Priest, refrain from robbing 
 the prince of his solemnly wedded queen." The 
 most furious among them, throwing hands upon 
 him, dragged him violently from the altar-steps into 
 
The Ordination of Deaconesses. 101 
 
 tlie nave of the church, while the qneen, affrighted 
 with the tumult, was seeking with her women a 
 refuge in the vestry. But here, collecting herself, 
 she threw a nun's dress over her regal garments, 
 and, thus disguised, proceeded toward the sanctuary 
 where St. Medard was sitting " If thou shouldst 
 delay consecrating me," said she, in a lii-m voice, 
 " and shouldst fear men more than God, thou wilt 
 have to render thy account, and the Shepherd shall 
 require of thee the soul of his sheep." He ceased 
 to hesitate, and of his own authority dissolved 
 Radegnnd's marriage by consecrating her a deacon 
 through the laying on of hands {manu sujjerjposita 
 consecravit diaconam). The Frankish lords and vas- 
 sals, carried away in their turn by the same feelings, 
 durst no more take forcibly back to the royal resi- 
 dence one who in their eyes bare from henceforth the 
 twofold character of a queen and of a woman conse- 
 crated to God's service. 
 
 On this narrative Ludlow has the following reflec- 
 tion : " This points us to a startling fact, which has 
 no parallel in Eastern annals, that ordination to the 
 female diaconate in the West was by this time consid- 
 ered equivalent to divorce."* We may also remark 
 that the Church was a refuge for distressed souls, and 
 inculcated mercy and tenderness in the midst of bar- 
 baric cruelty ; that superstition was mixed with rev- 
 ei-ence for sacred things, artd that the Church was fast 
 * Ludlow, p. 69. This narrative is condensed from Ludlow. 
 
102 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 drifting toward that severe monacliisin which was so 
 largely dev^eloped at a later period. This deaconess 
 subsecpeiitly formed a sort of free convent, where the 
 pleasures of literary society, even with men, were 
 combined with devotional exercises and good works. 
 We would not impugn the motives of tliis queen in 
 seeking ordination to the work of God. While a de- 
 sire to be free from a cruel and ungodly husband was 
 an element in it, her sev^ere trials may have led her to 
 that prayer and devotion that issued in her consecra- 
 tion. 
 
 The operations of the Holy Ghost on the liearts of 
 men and women have in every age been the same, 
 only modified by surrounding circumstances and vary- 
 ing views of Gospel truth. In apostolic times women 
 " prophesied," and some were set apart as deaconesses 
 to serve God in his sanctuary, or teach the ignorant, 
 visit the sick, and comfort those who were in distress. 
 These impulses to Christian activity did not die with 
 them ; they have been felt in every age by godly 
 women, and one of the greatest losses tlie world has 
 ever suffered, and one of the greatest hinderances to 
 its evangelization, has been that these impulses have 
 been restrained and misdirected by men. Unnatural 
 vows and a monastic life have absorbed and made bar- 
 ren of good what would have brought to the world a 
 rich liarvest of blessing. 
 
The Work, etc., of Ancient Deaconesses. 103 
 
 CHAPTER yilL 
 
 thp: work, character, and persecutions of the 
 ancient deaconesses. 
 
 It lias been observed that the deaconess of the ear- 
 liest centuries was a parish deaconess ; that is, she 
 was a part of the local church organization, not living 
 in community like those of the early Middle Ages or 
 those of modern times. As Phebe was attached to a 
 particular church, so others were attached to other 
 churches, and there were more or less of them accord- 
 ino^ to the needs of the cono^reo^ation. Her work 
 would be such as has already been described, per- 
 forming for the female portion what the deacon did 
 for the male portion of the Church membership, espe- 
 cially catechizing and instructing the catechumens, 
 preparing them for baptism and assisting in the cere- 
 mony when the women were baptized. They also 
 assisted in the arrangements for the agapce, or love- 
 feasts. 
 
 They also had special duties in relation to the sick 
 and poor, bearing to them the alms of the charitable 
 and offering the consolations of the Gosj)el of Christ. 
 There is another feature of their pious work which 
 was peculiarly suited to their tender, sympathetic nat- 
 
104 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 ure — the taking special care of tlie suffering martjTS 
 and confessors in prison, who in the iirst centuries 
 were often confined in some loathsome dungeon, un- 
 til the great festivals, when thej were brought out 
 and thrown to the wild beasts in the aniphitheater to 
 be torn in pieces, as a cruel pastime to tens of thou- 
 sands of pagans. The deaconess could find access to 
 them when others could not, and so fulfilled her 
 peaceful and comforting ministry, pre eminentlj^ one 
 of succor and consolation. This part of their work 
 w^as called for from the beginning, as persecution was 
 coeval with the Church. It is likely that these hum- 
 ble officers or servants shielded the more prominent 
 ones in times of danger. Priscilla and Aquila had 
 "laid down their necks" for Paul, and others, 
 no doubt, in those days of. persecution, performed 
 acts of noble heroism in connection with their min- 
 istry. 
 
 The wonderful spread of Christianity in Rome 
 gave rise to the persecution under Nero. Public 
 clamor found in that wicked tyrant a pliant tool to 
 carry out its wishes. Christians were maligned and 
 accused of base crimes, and public execration was loud 
 against them. " To put to silence the rumors against 
 himself," says Tacitus, " Nero laid his own crime on 
 certain persons rendered odious by their heinous 
 offenses, and whom the people called Christians ; on 
 these he inflicted the most cruel punishments." The 
 accusations against them were false. Justin Mai'tyr, 
 
The Work, etc., of Ancient Deaconesses. 105 
 
 in his denial, gives us an idea of what they were. 
 *• Do joii believe," he exclaims, " that we devour men, 
 and that, after our evening meal, we extinguish the 
 lights to cover with darkness a hideous debauch?" 
 " Thej drink the blood of a child," says one, " divide 
 its members among them, make a covenant over this 
 horrid sacrifice, and are pledged to silence by their 
 common participation in crime." * " The pious Chris- 
 tian, as he was desirous to obtain, or to escape, the 
 glory of martyrdom, expected, either with impatience 
 or with terror, the stated returns of the public games 
 and festivals." f 
 
 Persecution after persecution succeeded each other 
 for many generations, and tens of thousands fell vic- 
 tims to the rage and cruelty of pagan rulers and com- 
 munities. The deaconesses would thei-efore find an 
 abundance of opportunity to manifest their love and 
 heroism. The strong attachment to each other shown 
 by the early Christians was impressive and beautiful. 
 No sufferer was forgotten by the Church, but those 
 bound and in prison were remembered as well as 
 those at liberty and in palaces. 
 
 "Persons cast into prison on account of their faith 
 were visited, and supplied with necessary provisions. 
 The unfortunate men who were condemned to the 
 mines, and who were compelled to submit to the 
 cruelty of harsh, unfeeling masters, were not forgotten 
 by the sympathizing Church. The deeper the misery 
 
 * Early Years of Christianity, p. 225. f Gibbon, vol. ii, p. 28. 
 
1U6 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 and the greater tlie peril the more brightly shone the 
 light of charity, and extraordinary care was bestowed 
 npon those whose lot was peculiarly trying. The 
 charities at such times were generous and method- 
 ical." ^ 
 
 It cannot be expected that the deaconesses could 
 escape a share in these persecutions. The ministers, 
 the propagators and defenders of the faith, are gen- 
 erally the first to suffer, and that the most severely. 
 The w^omen were not exempt w^hen Saul persecuted 
 the Church in Jerusalem. He went into every house, 
 " and haling men and women committed them to 
 prison," and extended his inquisitorial investigations 
 to strange cities, to bring all that he could find, ''men 
 and women, bound to Jerusalem." The Roman pagan 
 w^ould not be more lenient than the Jew. 
 
 Gibbon, speaking of the efforts made by the Roman 
 magistrate to elicit from the persecuted Christian a 
 denial of Christianity : says, " Varying his tone, ac- 
 cording to the age, the sex, or the situation of the 
 prisoners, he frequently condescended to set before 
 their eyes any circumstance which could render life 
 more pleasing, or death more terrible ; and to solicit, 
 nay, to entreat them, that they would show some com- 
 passion to themselves, to their families and their 
 friends." f " It is related that pious females, who 
 were prepared to despise death, w^ere sometimes con 
 
 * Bennett, Christ Arch., p. 496. 
 f Decline and Fall, vol. ii, p. 30. 
 
The Work, etc., of Ancient Deaconesses. 107 
 
 demned to a more severe trial, and called upon to de- 
 termine whether they set a higher value on their 
 religion or on their chastity." These were called by 
 the judge who condemned them " impious virgins," 
 who refused to burn incense on the altars of Yen us. 
 This is regarded by Gibbon as the mere fabrication 
 of monks, but Milman says, " The more ancient as 
 well as authentic memorials of the Church relate 
 many examples of the fact of these severe trials, 
 wdiich there is nothing to contradict." * It is also 
 confirmed by Eusebius, who says that, under these cir- 
 cumstances, " the females, also, no less than the men, 
 were strengtliened by the doctrine of the divine 
 word ; so that some endured tlie same trials as the 
 men, and bore away the same prizes of excellence. 
 Some w4ien forced away yielded up their lives rather 
 than submit to the violation of tlieir bodies." f 
 
 All females who thus suffered were not deaconesses. 
 Some w^ere virgins, and may have been of the order 
 of deaconesses. If the ordinary female members of 
 the Christian community suffered, no doubt tlie fe- 
 male ministers did. There is evidence in Pliny's 
 letter to Trajan that this was the case. He was the 
 friend of the emperor, and was appointed President 
 of Bithynia, about A. D. 106, when some who had 
 seen the apostles must have been still living. He 
 found the country so full of Christians, and met with 
 
 * Decline and Fall, vol. ii, p. 30 ; and Milman's note. 
 f Eusebius, Book viii, c. 14. 
 
108 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 so many who were ready to suffer martyrdom, that at 
 length, tired of executions, he wrote to the Emperor 
 Trajan for directions. This letter is so well authenti- 
 cated and so celebrated in Christian historical evidence, 
 giving as it does snch an interesting picture, both of 
 the purity and sufferings of the early Christians, that 
 we feel justified in inserting it entire : 
 
 '•It is my constant custom, sir, to refer myself to 
 you in all matters concerning which I have any doubt. 
 For who can better direct me where I hesitate, or in- 
 struct me where I am ignorant ? I have never been 
 present at any trials of Christians, so that 1 know not 
 well what is the subject-matter of punishment or of 
 inquiry, or what strictness ought to be used in either. 
 'Nor have I been a little perplexed to determine 
 whether any difference ought to be made upon ac- 
 count of ages, or whether the tender and the robust 
 ought to be treated all alike ; whether repentance 
 should entitle to pardon, or whether it shall be of no 
 advantage to him who has once been a Chi'istian to 
 have ceased being such ; whether the name itself, al- 
 though no crimes be detected, or whether only crimes 
 belonging to the name ought to be punished. Con- 
 cerning all these things I am in doubt. 
 
 " In the meantime I have taken this course with 
 all who have been brought before me, and have been 
 accused as Christians. I have put the question to 
 them whether they were Christians. Upon their 
 confessing to me that they were, I repeated the ques- 
 
The Woek, etc., of xIncient Deaconesses. 109 
 
 tioii a second and a third time, threatening also to 
 punisli them with death. Such as still persisted, I 
 ordered to be led away ; for it was no doubt with me, 
 whatever it was they should have confessed, that 
 contumacy and inflexible obstinacy ought to be pun- 
 ished. There were others of the same madness, 
 w^iom, because they are Roman citizens, I have noted 
 down to be sent to the city. 
 
 " In a short time, the crime spreading itself even 
 whilst under persecution, as is usual in such cases, 
 divers sort of people came in my way. An informa- 
 tion was presented to me without mentioning the 
 author, containing the names of many persons, who, 
 upon examination, denied that they were Christians, 
 or had ever been so, who repeated after me an invo- 
 cation of the gods, and with wine and frankincense 
 sacrificed to your image, which, for that purpose, I 
 had caused to be brought and set before them, to- 
 gether with the statues of the deities. Moreover, 
 they reviled the name of Christ ; none of which 
 things, as is said, they who are really Christians can, 
 by any means, be compelled to do ; these, therefore, 
 I thought proper to discharge. 
 
 " Others were named by an informer, who at first 
 confessed themselves Christians, and afterward denied 
 it. The rest said they had been Christians, but had 
 left them, some three years ago, some longer, and 
 one or more above twenty years. They all worshiped 
 your image, and the statues of the gods ; they also re- 
 
110 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 viled Christ. Thej affirmed that the whole of their 
 fault or error lay in this : that thej were accustomed 
 to meet together on a stated day before it was light, 
 and sang among themselves, aUernately, a hymn to 
 Christ as a God (or addressed themselves in a form 
 of prayer to Christ as to some God), and bound them- 
 selves by an oath (sacramento) not to tlie commission 
 of any wickedness, but not to be guilty of theft, or 
 robbery, or adultery ; never to falsify their word, nor 
 to deny a pledge committed to them, when called upon 
 to return it. When these things were performed, it 
 was their custom to separate, and then to come to- 
 gether again to a meal promiscuous and harmless, 
 but which had been forborne since the publication of 
 my edict, by which, according to your commands, I 
 prohibited assemblies. 
 
 " Through this I judged it more necessary to exam- 
 ine, and that by torture, two maid-servants, who were 
 called ministers;* but I have discovered nothing be- 
 sides a bad and excessive superstition. 
 
 *' Suspending, therefore, proceeding, I have recourse 
 to you for advice. Fur it has appeared to me a matter 
 worthy of consideration, especially on account of the 
 great number of persons who are in danger of suffer- 
 ino-. For mnnv of all an^cs and of both sexes also are 
 brought into danger, and will be brought. Nor has 
 
 * The "Ancillrequre ministrce dkehantur ''^ here were, in all proba- 
 bility, SidKovoi. ''Minidra'' is the term applied to Phebe in the 
 Vulgate. 
 
The Woek, etc., of Ancient Deaconesses. Ill 
 
 the contnglon of this superstition spread through cities 
 oiil}^, but through the towns (villages) and open coun- 
 try. It seems that it may be restrained and corrected. 
 It is certain tliat the almost desolated temples begin to 
 be frequented, and the sacred solemnities, after a long 
 intermission, are revived; and that the victims are 
 every- where bought, for which, before, a buyer was 
 very rarely found ; whence it is easy to imagine what 
 a multitude of men might be reclaimed if place were 
 granted for repentance." 
 
 They were examined by torture. If threats and 
 persuasions proved ineffectual, the Koman magistrate 
 often had recourse to violence ; the scourge and the 
 rack were called in to supply the deficiency of argu- 
 ment, and every art of cruelty was employed to sub- 
 due the inflexible spirit of the Christian.*^ Pliny's 
 method was like that of Saul ; he " compelled them to 
 blaspheme." {Prceterea malediGerent Christo.) 
 
 It is not to be supposed that as many women as men 
 suffered in the persecutions. In the account given by 
 Dionysius to Eusebius of the persecution in Alexan- 
 dria he speaks often men and seven women wlio suf- 
 fered martyrdom. Of these he names " that admirable 
 virgin ApoUonia, then in advanced age. . . . She ap- 
 peared at first to shrink a little, but when suffered to 
 go she suddenly sprang into the fire and was con- 
 sumed." Also " Ammonarium, a holy virgin, who 
 was ingeniously tortured for a very long time by the 
 
 * Gibbon, vol. ii, p. 30. 
 
112 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 judge, because she had plainly declared she would 
 utter none of those expressions which he had dictated ; 
 and having made good her promise she was led away. 
 . . . The others were the aged and venerable Mercu- 
 ria ; Dionysia also, who was the mother of many chil- 
 dren, but did not love them more than the Lord. . . . 
 But as to Ammonarium, she, like a chief combatant, 
 received the greatest tortures of all."^ 
 
 We would expect to find some trace of the deacon- 
 ess in the catacombs of Rome, those subterranean 
 places of refuge, of worship, and communion to which 
 the early Christians resorted, and where so many of 
 them were laid to rest to await the resurrection of 
 the just. The consecrated women of the early Church 
 are mentioned by the Church fathers under the names 
 didKovoi, deaconesses, vidicce, widows, or ancillw Dei, 
 handmaids of God. 
 
 " There are several of the early Christian inscriptions 
 illustrative of these various classes of consecrated 
 women, of which the following are examples : OC * 
 TA • YI • AE • MA • TRO • ISTAE • YI • DY • AE • 
 DE • I • — ' To the matron Octavia, a widow of God ;' 
 IIIC QYIESCIT GAYDIOSA CF ANCILLA DEI 
 QYAE YIXIT ANKOS XL ET MEK Y— ' Here 
 rests Gaudiosa, a most distinguished woman, a hand- 
 maid of God, who lived forty years and live months,' 
 (A. D. 447) ; IN HOC SEPYLCHRO REQYIES- 
 CIT PYELLA YIRGO SACRA B • M • ALEX- 
 
 * Euseb., Eccl. RisL, Book vi, c. 41. 
 
The Woek, etc., of Ancient Deaconesses. 113 
 
 ANDRA — ' In this tomb rests a girl, a sacred virgin, 
 Alexandra, well deserving;' HOC EST SEPVL- 
 CRVM SANCTAE LYCIXAE YIRGINIS— ' This 
 is the sepiilcher of the holy virgin Lncina ;' this, how- 
 ever, may not indicate a special class. AESTOXIx\ 
 YIRGO PEREGRINA QYAE YIXIT ANN OS 
 XLI ; ET • DS • YIII (sic)—' Estonia, a traveling 
 virgin, who lived forty-one years and eight days;' she 
 was probably a member of a distant church, received 
 on a letter of recommendation ; FYRIA HELPHIS 
 (sic) YIRGO DEYOTA— ' Furia Elpis, a consecrated 
 virgin.' In the fifth century, this consecration some- 
 times took place at an early age, as the following ex- 
 ample, of date A. D. 401 : PRIE (sic) lYXTYS 
 PAYS ABET (sic) PRAETIOSA AKNORYM 
 PYLLA (sic) YIRGO XII TAXTYM AXCILLA 
 DEI ET CHRISTI— " On the day before (the cal- 
 ends of) June Praetiosa went to her rest, a young 
 maiden of only twelve years of age, a handmaid of 
 God and of Christ."-^ 
 
 The catechumens were learners, as the word signifies, 
 and were recognized as a distinct class, for whose in- 
 struction special provision was made. They were 
 children of believers, born in the Church, and, there- 
 fore, peculiarly under its care, and converts won from 
 lieathenism, who were ignorant of the principles of 
 Christianity, necessary to be learned before they could 
 receive the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's 
 
 * Withrow, Catacombs, p. 528. 
 
Hi Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 Slipper. These converts were lield as probationers. 
 The probationary term was not of uniform duration, 
 though the council of Elvira prescribed two years. 
 The instnuctions, for the most part, consisted of the 
 Holy Scriptures and a formal confession of faith very 
 similar to the Apostles' Creed, and probably that out 
 of- which it grew. But at a very early age the 
 catechumens were required to subscribe to the 
 Apostles' Creed before they were admitted to bap- 
 tism. It is likely that the deaconess of the nine- 
 teenth century, who instructs children and young 
 people, teaches them in the same formula which, from 
 the third and fourth centuries, has expressed the true 
 belief of the Church. It is worthy, being a '• faithful 
 compend of the apostles' doctrines, and comprehends 
 the leading articles of the faith in the triune God and 
 his revelation, from the creation to the life everlasting, 
 in sublime simplicity, in insurpassable brevity, in the 
 most beautiful order and liturgical solemnity." ^^ 
 
 The bishop himself was the chief catechist, and all 
 the inferior clergy were his assistants. Deaconesses 
 and aged women instructed their own sex, and one of 
 them was always present when the female catechumens 
 were examined by the n:iale catechist. 
 
 There is ''a chamber in the Catacomb of St. Agnes, 
 which, it is conjectured, was employed for the instruc- 
 tion of the female catechumens. On either side of 
 the doorway are seats or chairs hewm out of the solid 
 * Schaff's Hcst. Apost. Chuych, p. 568. 
 
The Work, etc., of Ancient Deaconesses. 115 
 
 tufa, wliicli were probably occupied by the catechist and 
 the presiding deaconess. The low stone bench run- 
 nincr around the remainins: walls of the chamber would 
 conveniently accommodate the audientes^ or hearers, 
 as they were called. ... In some chambers, probably 
 for the male catechumens, there is only one tufa chair, 
 no deaconess being present." * 
 
 The labors of tlie deaconess among the sick and poor 
 can hardly be estimated by ns, the customs of the age 
 were so different. In the first centuries provision was 
 not made for the poor and unfortunate as now, and a 
 much larger proportion of the poor fell under the care 
 of the Church. This would enhance the labors of the 
 deaconess. The Apostolical Constitutions specify as 
 one of the duties of the diaconate, male and female, 
 " to seek out cases of distress," and large numbers of 
 the suffering poor were thus provided for, and when 
 collected in communities the " widows " and dea- 
 conesses cared for the female portion and presided 
 over tbem. 
 
 This would call for many deacons and deaconesses 
 where the Church was large and the number of poor 
 considerable. The Constitutions direct that they 
 shall be " in number according to the largeness of the 
 church, that they may minister to the infirm as work- 
 men that are not ashamed. And let tlie deaconess be 
 diligent in taking care of the women. "f 
 
 We must also bear in mind that charity to the 
 *Withrow, Cat., p. 530. \ Apoat Cons., Book iii, c. 19. 
 
116 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 poor, and the care of the sick, were very proniiiieiit 
 forms of piety in the early centuries of the Christian 
 era. It was not uncommon for converts to Christianity 
 of immense wealth to devote a large portion to the 
 poor. Paula, the friend of Jerome, did this, and not 
 only parted with the splendor of her former life, but 
 devoted herself to nursing the miserable and the sick. 
 In many of the churches only seve?i deacons wei-e al- 
 lowed, following the example of the church at Jeru- 
 salem, but the deficiency was made good by adding to 
 the number of subdeacoiis. 
 
 Eusebius, in speaking of the church at Rome, in 
 the middle of the third century, enumerates about a 
 hundred and fifty ministering men of all grades, but 
 says there were " widows with the afflicted and needy 
 more than fifteen hundred, all which the goodness 
 and love of God doth support and nourish."^ We 
 can infer from this that " widows" were in oflicial 
 position, having under them the whole class of suf- 
 ferers. 
 
 We have grounds for a fair estimate of the relative 
 number of deacons and deaconesses in a large congre- 
 gation in early times. Attached to the mother church 
 in Constantinople were one hundred deacons and forty 
 deaconesses, and to a small church in the suburbs six 
 deaconesses. 
 
 Chrysostom, enforcing the duty of benevolence 
 toward the poor, says : " And that thou mayest know 
 
 * Eusebius, Book vi, c. 43, 
 
The Work, etc., of Anciext Deaconesses. 117 
 
 tlie inliumanitj of the others, when the Church is 
 possessed of a revenue of one of the lowest among the 
 wealtliy, and not of the very rich, consider liow many 
 widows it succors every day, liow^ many virgins, for, 
 indeed, the hst of them hath already reached unto tlie 
 number of three thousand. Together with these she 
 succors them that dwell in the prison, the sick in 
 the caravansary, the healthy, those that are absent from 
 their home, those that are maimed in their bodies, tliose 
 tliat wait upon the altar, and, with respect to food and 
 raiment, them that casually con:ie every day ; and her 
 substance is in no respect diminished.""^ 
 
 This was said of the church in Antioch, and gives 
 us an idea of the extent of the benevolent work of 
 the early Christians, and the various channels in 
 which their charities flowed to the poor. The churcli 
 at Antioch must have been a veritable " Kaiserswerth " 
 or " Mildmay " institution, from which issued many 
 streams of healing, support, and comfort for the suf- 
 fering and unfortunate. 
 
 It is thought by some that the deaconess's institution 
 of modern times is really a new departure, but these 
 statements of Eusebius and Clirysostom would seem 
 to indicate otherwise. AYhen the sick, unfortunate, 
 and needy, coupled with those who cared for them, 
 were numbered in one city by thousands, there must 
 have been a public institution of no mean dimensions, 
 and the w^ork done by the Church in those times 
 
 * Chrysostom, Horn. 66. 
 
118 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 stands well in comparison witli what she now accoru- 
 plislies. 
 
 The growing doctrine of the meritoriousness of good 
 works, and the belief that alms-giving ranked with 
 fasting and prayer as a means of salvation, brought 
 immense sums into the treasury of the Church, and 
 hospitals and kindred institutions arose as the result."^ 
 
 It will be readily seen from this that the deacons 
 and deaconesses had a very broad field for their ener- 
 gies, and the Churcli was not lacking in supplies for 
 distribution. Deacons, deaconesses, widows, and vir- 
 gins were all more or less connected with the charita- 
 ble institutions of the Church. 
 
 Chevalier Bnnsen gives a high estimate of the 
 office in question, and attributes to it the twofold aim 
 of temporal and spiritual help : 
 
 " The ofiice of deacon, or helper, implies, in tlie 
 full sense of the word, the attendance on the poor and 
 the sick, to offer spiritual as well as bodily aid ; and, 
 indeed, to supply all common wants was the individ- 
 ual duty of every Christian, and this divine idea of 
 services of charity had so deeply prevaded the mind 
 of the Church that the office of deacon and deaconess 
 grew out of it. The latter were ordinarily widows, 
 and the sisterhood of widows is nothing more than 
 that of deaconesses."f 
 
 * Bennett's Chr. Arch., p. 499. 
 
 f Bunsen's Hippol, iii, 230. There is a difference of opinion among 
 writers as to the identity of widows and deaconesses. 
 
The Wokk, etc., of Ancient Deaconesses. 119 
 
 Of all the writers of the primitive Church, none 
 seem so interested in the order of deaconesses as St. 
 Chrjsostom. Ko less than six appear by name as 
 being on terms of close Christian intimacy with him, 
 some of whom stood by him in his sorrows, when 
 persecuted by his enemies, supported him by their 
 wealth, and even shared his exile. Of one of them, 
 said by some writers to have l)een his aunt, he 
 writes from exile : '' There came also my lady Sab- 
 iniana, the deacon, the same day on which we 
 came there also, broken down indeed and worn out, 
 as being at that age when it is painful to move ; 
 youthful, nevertheless, in mind, and feeling nothing 
 of her sufferings, since she said she was ready to go 
 forth even to Scythia, the rumor prevailing that we 
 were to be taken away tliither. And she is ready, she 
 says, not to return yet at all, but, wherever we may be, 
 there to tarry. She was received by those of the 
 Church with much zeal and good-will." * 
 
 Three letters were also written to " Amprucla the 
 deacon and those with her " on the general subject of 
 consolation under religious persecution. He praises 
 them for their fidelity, courage, and boldness. 
 
 But the most noted of all the deaconesses of the 
 early Church was Olympias, a friend and admirer of 
 Chrysostom. ISTot less than eighteen letters are ad- 
 dressed by him to " My lady the Deaconess {dLaKovog) 
 Olympias, most worthy and beloved of God." She 
 
 * Chrysostom's Letter 13 to Olympias. 
 
120 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 was descended from a good family, in early life 
 was left an orphan and inherited large wealth. 
 
 At an early age she was married, and in less than 
 two years was left a widow. The Emperor Theodo- 
 sius desired to have her marry one of his own kin- 
 dred, but her purpose was to devote herself to the 
 Church, seeking for that reward which is gained by 
 an ascetic life. She is described by Sozomen (Book 
 viii, c. ix) as having been, although a young widow, 
 ordained by JS^ectarius a deacon. Possessing great 
 wealth, she was prodigal in her charities. Drink- 
 ing in the spirit of her times, she developed that 
 form of piety then so prominent, seen in alms- 
 giving and austere practices. Chrysostom reproved 
 her for her lavish and unw^ise bestowments, remind- 
 ing her that, as she had consecrated her wealth to 
 God, she was now only a stewardess of what she pos- 
 sessed. 
 
 When Chrysostom was expelled from the episco- 
 pate he is represented as going into the baptistery and 
 calling " Olympias, who never departed from the 
 Church, together with Pentadia and Procla, the 
 deaconesses," and exhorted them to fidelity to the 
 Church, and prayed them to yield obedience to 
 whomsoever might be his successor. She shared in 
 the persecution that followed the good bishop's ex- 
 pulsion, and was actually arraigned upon the charge 
 of having set fire to the Church of St. Sophia. Her 
 answer to the charge was a reference to the piety of 
 
The Work, etc., of Ancient Deaconesses. 121 
 
 her past life, and the spending of lier vast fortune 
 for the renewing of God's temples. The charge was 
 dismissed for want of witnesses to sustain it. She 
 was then accused of contumacy in refusing the new 
 bishop's communion, and fined in a large sum, but 
 would not yield, and eventually withdrew from Con- 
 stantinople to Cyzicum. 
 
 Chrysostom writes her as follows : 
 
 "For who should tell thy varied, manifold, and 
 many-sided endurance, and what speech should be 
 sufficient for us, what measure for our liistory, if one 
 should enumerate thy sufferings from thy earliest age 
 until now ; those from members of tliy household, 
 those from strangers, those from friends, those from 
 enemies, those from persons connected with tliy blood, 
 those from persons in nowise connected w^ith thee, 
 those from men in power, those from the prosperous, 
 those from the rulers, those from the common peo- 
 ple, those from men reckoned in tlie clergy. . . . But 
 if one should turn also to the other forms of this 
 virtue, and should go through no more tliy sufferings 
 received from others, but those which thou hast con- 
 trived for thyself, what stone, what iron, what ada- 
 mant shall he not find conquered b}^ thee ? For 
 having received a flesh so tender and delicate, and 
 nourished up in all kinds of luxury, thou bast so 
 conquered it by various sufferings that it lies no 
 better than slain, and thou hast brought upon thyself 
 such a swarm of diseases as to confound the physi- 
 
122 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 clan's skill and the power of medicine, . . . and to 
 live in perpetual fellowship with pain." 
 
 Her great liberality to various forms of benevolence 
 is thus alluded to : 
 
 ''Reflect how, from thy first age until the present 
 day, thou hast not ceased to feed Christ when a-hun- 
 gered, to give him drink when thirsty, to clothe him 
 when naked, to take him in when a stranger, to visit 
 him when sick, to go unto him when bound. Coti- 
 sider the sea of thy charity, which thou hast opened, 
 so that by thy great efforts it hath reached the very 
 ends of the earth. For thy house was not only open 
 to all who came, but every-where, by land and sea, 
 many have enjoyed thy liberality, through thy love 
 of strangers. ... Be proud (rpvcpa) and rejoice in 
 the hope of these crowns and these rewards." 
 
 This model deaconess of the fourth century prac- 
 ticed austerities and the ascetic spirit in some of its 
 most revoltinoj forms. And even these were virtues 
 in the eyes of Chrysostom : 
 
 " For I do not only marvel at the unspeakable 
 coarseness of thy attire, surpassing that of the very 
 beggars ; but above all, at the shapelessness, the care- 
 lessness of thy garments, of thy shoes, of thy walk ; 
 all which things are virtue's colors." * 
 
 Palladius, a contemporary, says : '' She abstained 
 from animal food, and went for the most part un- 
 washed." 
 
 * Clirysostom's Lelter to Olj'rapias. 
 
The Wokk, etc., of Ancient Deaconesses. 123 
 
 These quotations are sufficient to show that the 
 diaconate had declined from its original purity and 
 position before the end* of the fourth century, and 
 was being buried beneath the false doctrines and 
 practices that arose in those times. These arose, no 
 doubt, from a misconception of the truth. They were, 
 however, a protest against the sins so prevalent in 
 pagan life : gluttony, wine-drinking, unchastity, os- 
 tentatious vanities, and turbulent mirth. The Church 
 inculcated the opposites of all these, and the spirit 
 that led to them was killed by abstinence, continence, 
 humble dress, the disuse of ornaments, silence, and 
 meditation. In our times this type of piety produces 
 moral aversion, because it is often cruel and inhuman. 
 
 As to the character and work of the early deacon- 
 ess, enough has been said to show the wide extreme 
 between Pliebe, the simple but useful deaconess of 
 tlie church at Cenchrea, and Olympias, the wealthy, 
 pious, but ascetic deaconess of the church of Con- 
 stantinople. 
 
12J: Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE DECLINE AND DISAPPEARANCE OF THE ANCIENT 
 ORDER OP DEACONESSES. 
 
 The accounts given of the ancient order of dea- 
 conesses in the writings of the early Church fathers 
 and historians are not very full, and the record is 
 often silent where we would have it speak. Suffi- 
 cient, however, is said of them, as the preceding 
 pages show, to enable us to trace distinctly their work 
 and influence for more than a thousand years. The 
 records of the early and mediaeval Christian times 
 were not favorable to tiie preservation of minute 
 matters of history. The persecutions to which tliey 
 were subjected in the earlier centuries, the destruc- 
 tive wars tliat devastated the lands wliere Christianity 
 first established itself, and the ignorance of the Mid- 
 dle Ages, have all contributed to destroy the records 
 and limit our knowledge of an order that so long ago 
 became extinct in the organized Church. We gather 
 as much from their enemies as from their friends, and 
 get glimpses of them from measures adopted for 
 their restriction as well as for their support and de- 
 velopment. The following remarks are judicious and 
 pertinent : 
 
 " Of what the female diaconate did. we know little. 
 
Decline of the Ancient Order. 125 
 
 But, knowing so little, it is sufficiently wonderful 
 that w^e should find traces of its existence, both in the 
 East and West, for from nine to twelve centuries — 
 about two thirds, in fact, of the Christian era. This 
 strange, obscure persistency indicates either that it 
 did far more work than is recorded of it, and lived 
 thereby, or that its title to existence was in itself so 
 unquestionable that even its own im potency barely 
 sufficed to extinguish it." ^ 
 
 We may well inquire why or how such an agency 
 for good could perish. It was founded by apostolic 
 order or sanction, was reasonable and natural, and 
 even necessary in order to the highest efficiency of 
 the Christian Church. We must, therefore, look for 
 tlie cause of its decay and disappearance outside of 
 itself. We do not think the cause is hard to find. 
 The ^vorm that pierced tlie root of this fair tree, capa- 
 ble of producing so much fruit to the glory of God, 
 was the false ascetic principle which led to tlie prac- 
 tice of religious celibacy. This was its bane, and 
 under its curse it withered and died. 
 
 Unbelief lies at the root of all sin. This was the 
 cause of the decline and corruption of primitive 
 Christianity. Monachism indicates the despair of 
 the leaders of the Church as to the power of Chris- 
 tianity to lift up and regenerate the world. Hence 
 they sought solitude, thinking to avoid the evils that 
 are in the world by fleeing from them. Monachism 
 
 * Ludlow, p. 72. 
 
126 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 and its vows are a perversion* of nature and religion. 
 " I pray not tliat thou shoiildest take tliem out of the 
 world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the 
 evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of 
 the world. Sanctify them tlirough thy truth: thy 
 word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, 
 even so have I also sent them into the world." 
 John xvii, 15-18. 
 
 Primitive Christianity was eminently social in its 
 character. It consecrated the family life and devel- 
 oped tlie domestic virtues. Under its influence the 
 marriage tie was strengthened, and declared to be 
 *' honorable in all." It purifled the home, destroyed 
 concubinage and polygamy. It constructed the fam- 
 ily according to God's original intent — one. husband 
 for one wife — the best institution to promote happi- 
 ness and rear children in the fear of God. Tliese 
 points were guarded by apostolic injunction, and in 
 the first centuries of the Christian Church woman 
 was regarded as a ^'helpmeet for man," and in so far 
 as the Spirit and teachings of Christ and his apostles 
 prevailed she was accorded a position of usefulness 
 and honor, both in the Church and in the family. 
 
 The existence of the female diaconate is proof of 
 this. Female deacons were not appointed in the 
 Cliurch of Christ because according to the custom of 
 the times women in general were secluded from soci- 
 ety, but just as, in the very nature of the case, woman 
 as well as man has a place in the work of redemp- 
 
Decline of the Ancient Order. 127 
 
 tion by Jesus Christ, so should she liave a place iu 
 the privileges and work of the Church of God. 
 " The scope of the female diaconate in the primitive 
 Church was, as we have seen, to afford a full devel- 
 opment to female energies for religious purposes ; to 
 associate women, as far as possible, in rank and prac- 
 tice with men, while preserving to each sex its dis- 
 tinct sphere of activit}^, . . . yet each acting under 
 the inspiration of that Holy Spirit who was invoked 
 alike over the head of deacon and deaconess at their 
 ordination. True in this was the Church to the laws 
 of man's being, as displayed progressively throughout 
 Holy Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation. By a 
 pre-ordained and eternal marriage, man and woman 
 must be one in order to fulfill the great destinies of 
 humanity. Genesis shows us that it is not good for 
 man to be alone, but tliat woman is made a helpmeet 
 for him. The New Testament discovers to us the 
 deep spiritual ground of this relation by showing us 
 Christ as the Holy Bridegroom of his hallowed bride, 
 the Church. History confirms the lesson from age to 
 age, from country to country, by showing how if you 
 deprive either sex of its free action, of its influence 
 over the other, the result is national sterility, the 
 man a savage, the woman a fool. Restore Eastern 
 women to their rights and the whole Eastei-n world 
 will rise up new-born." ^ 
 
 The Church did not obtain the idea of the greater 
 
 * Ludlow, p. 74. 
 
128 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 sanctity of a life of celibacy from the teachings of 
 our Lord or the apostles. In some instances, no 
 doubt, passages in St. Paul's writings in which, for 
 special reasons, a single life is recommended, were 
 wrested from their original meaning and made to 
 teach what was foreign to the intent of the apostle, 
 but by no fair interpretation can they be made to ap- 
 prove celibacy for men or women consecrated to the 
 service of God. For the first three centuries of the 
 Christian era there was no enforced celibacy known 
 in the Church of Chribt."^ Marriage was regarded as 
 enjoined on bishops, elders, and deacons by the coun- 
 sel of St. Paul. The inscriptions in the catacombs of 
 Eome bear testimony to the marriage of all orders of 
 the clergy. Bisliops, elders, and deacons mourn for 
 departed wives and children. •' VICTOR IN PACE 
 FILIVS EPISCOPI YICTOPJS CIVITATIS 
 VCRENSIVM— 'Victor, in peace, son of Bishop 
 Victor, of the city of the Ucrenses.' Gandentius the 
 presbyter, for liiniself and his wife Severa, a chaste 
 and most holy woman. Observe also the tender rec- 
 ognirion of family ties in the following : ' Once the 
 happy daughter of the presbyter Gabinus, here lies 
 Susanna, joined to her father in peace.' " f These 
 were the centuries when deaconesses were held in 
 high esteem ; when the first six books of the Apos- 
 tolical Constitutions were written, enjoining that the 
 deaconess should be " honored," and have a place in 
 * Bingham, Christ Ant. f Withrow, Catacombs, p. 525, 
 
Decline of the Ancient Oedee. 129 
 
 the Clmrch, and serve the women as the deacon 
 served the men, and should be ordained in a solemn 
 manner by the imposition of hands. In the fourth 
 century the Church adopted the doctrine of devils 
 spoken of by St. Paul as "forbidding to marry." 
 
 The earliest ecclesiastical legislation on the subject 
 was at the Spanish Council of Elvira, A. D. 305, 
 which commanded ecclesiastics who were married to 
 separate from their wives — abstlnere se a conjugihus 
 suis — thus ruthlessly putting asunder those whom 
 God had joined. The Synod of Ancyra, held ten 
 years later, reversed this decree, and the sixth apos- 
 tolic canon says, " Let not a bisliop, a j)riest, or a dea- 
 con cast off his own wife under pretense of piety ; 
 but if he does cast her off let him be suspended. If 
 he go on in it, let him be deprived." 
 
 We can trace the conflict of opinions in the writ- 
 ings of the fathers and the enactments of the coun- 
 cils. Not all at once did this pernicious ascetic prin- 
 ciple prevail, but it steadily gained in prevalence and 
 power. Thus the Council of Neo-Cesarea, held im- 
 mediately after that of Ancyra, enjoined in its first 
 canon " the degradation of priests who marry after 
 ordination" (A. D. 314). So tlie great Council of 
 Nice (x\. D. 325) proposed a canon "enjoining conti- 
 nence upon the married clergy ; " but the aged Bishop 
 Paphnutius warmly opposed the imposition of such a 
 yoke, and prevailed, so that the proposal fell to the 
 ground. " Marriage is the true chastity," exclaimed 
 
130 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 the good old bishop, and in this single sentence uttered 
 a living truth, which, received and held, would have 
 prevented a vast amount of sin and contributed to tlie 
 purity and prosperity of the Church through all the 
 ages. As time advanced, marriage among " religious 
 persons," or those specially designated to any position 
 in the Church, was more and more held in disrepute, 
 until many of the Church fathers and the higher 
 clergy regarded it as a necessary evil, only to be toler- 
 ated for the perpetuation of the race and on account 
 of the infirmity of the weak. 
 
 When these sentiments prevailed it was impossible 
 to maintain the order of deaconess. The presence of 
 the deaconess as an officer in the Church could not be 
 tolerated. The opinions of the fathers conflicted with 
 tlie ordinance of God, and they had found that it was 
 good for man to be alone, although God had declared it 
 otherwise. When the thought was entertained and 
 fully believed that superior sanctity belonged to a single 
 life, and marriage was regarded as a fleshly pollution, 
 it would naturally follow that all aspirants to a holy 
 life must take upon themselves vows of celibacy. 
 The sequence must be the separation of the sexes in 
 monastic institutions. This soon prevailed in the 
 Church. In A. D. 535, by the Justinian code it was 
 ordained in regard to the deaconess, "If she leave 
 the ministry to enter into marriage, or choose any 
 other mode of life, she is subject to the penalty of 
 death, and her property is to be applied to the use 
 
Decline of the Ancient Okdek. 131 
 
 of the Church or convent in which she is; the same 
 penalties being incurred by her husband or seducer, 
 with the exception that his property is to be confis- 
 cated for tlie benefit of the State." ^ 
 
 Entire freedom from monastic vows is a condition 
 of tlie greatest efficiency and purity for both men 
 and women, and where these vows exist tlie familiar 
 mingling of the sexes in the ministrations of relig- 
 ion and Christian activities is well-nigh impossible. 
 " The deaconess should be as free as tlie deacon him- 
 self to leave her home at any time for those minis- 
 trations; she should be in constant communication 
 \vith her brethren of the clergy. But place her un- 
 der a vow of celibacy, she dare no longer foi'get her- 
 self in the abundance of her zeal ; her seeming self- 
 sacrifice is really an enthronement of self; her piety 
 has a personal object, most contrary to active char- 
 ity ; every fellow-man becomes to her a tempter 
 whom she must flee from ; an enemy when near ; if 
 a brother at all, a brother only when afar off, to be 
 loved when present only when most unlovely or 
 least lawful to be loved, in age or loathsome sick- 
 ness, or when morally cut off from her by a like 
 vow with her own ; by special permission, under jeal- 
 ous restrictions, beneath the Damoclean sword of tre- 
 mendous penalties ; but above all, to be loved when 
 absent, impersonally, in the abstract, with that vague 
 humanitarian love so characteristic at once of effete 
 * Ludlow, p. 56. 
 
132 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 piety and effete irreligion. Hence tlie high walls of 
 the nunnery in which, eventually, we find the dea- 
 coness confined ; hence the vanishing away of her 
 ofiice itself into monachism." ^ 
 
 When once the deaconess is relegated to the inte- 
 rior of a nunnery her proper work must cease — the 
 two are incompatible. Her name implies helpful 
 service ; not a service constrained by monastic vows 
 and terrible penalties. The Greek Sidicovog has in- 
 volved in it no idea of slavish servility, but rather 
 refers to an activity allied with regard and desire. 
 '' The true and honorable idea " f wdiich it originally 
 implied has never been lost. 
 
 The disappearance of the order was very gradual, as 
 we find allusions to them at long intervals of time. 
 Dean Howson thinks that their decline arose from 
 several causes ; namely, the general prevalence of in- 
 fant baptism, by which one of their functions disap- 
 peared, sprinkling instead of immersion, the predomi- 
 nance and ambition of the clergy, tlie superstition 
 associated with the idea of ordination, by which the 
 setting apart of women to parallel oflicial duties would 
 become more and more offensive ; but he thinks that 
 the chief stress is to be laid on the progress of con- 
 ventual monasticism. 
 
 The position of woman in the early Church, as il- 
 histrated by the fact that many of the handmaids of 
 the Lord " prophesied," which was the same as is now 
 * Ludlow, p. 74. f Buttmann, Lex. 40. 
 
Decline of the Ancient Order. 133 
 
 called preaching, and by the position of the deaconess, 
 whose office ran parallel to that of the deacon, was 
 more free and more honorable in apostolic times and 
 in the tirst and second centuries than at a later period. 
 When the relio-ious teachimys of the time bes^an to 
 oppress men's consciences with burdens grievous to 
 be borne — when human philosophy became mixed 
 with the principles of the Gospel, and the clergy be- 
 came arrogant and ambitious — then the operations of 
 the Spirit were restrained, the labors of woman were 
 discountenanced, and her presence in the Church as 
 a minister was offensive. At different times, when 
 there has been a revival of primitive religion, the 
 same phenomena have been seen as in apostolic times, 
 and the Spirit of God has been poured out on women, 
 and they have prophesied to the edification of the 
 Church. But as the idea of clerical exclusiveness 
 has prevailed and prelatical views have been enter- 
 tained, primitive simplicity has been lost, and in cor- 
 responding ratio the labors of females Lave been 
 forbidden. 
 
13i Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 DEACONESSES AXD SISTERHOODS FUNDAMENTALLY 
 DIFFERENT. 
 
 The organization of the Christian Church in apos- 
 tohc times was simple, and such officers were ap- 
 pointed as circumstances demanded. There is no 
 evidence tliat Christ gave definite directions in regard 
 to this, but the apostles and others were left to act 
 according to the exigencies of the times. We would, 
 therefore, look for that organization and the appoint- 
 ment of those officers that would seem most natural 
 and best adapted to the end sought. At a very early 
 peri?>d we find the officers designated that have held 
 their name and position through all the centuries, and 
 continue to be known as deacons and presbyters. 
 Acts vi contains the account of the election and ordi- 
 nation of deacons. In Acts xi we read of the elders 
 of the church in Jerusalem, and in Acts xiv, 23, we 
 read of Paul and Barnabas appointing " elders in 
 every church." 
 
 The appointment of deacons was a very natural and 
 reasonable transaction, that class of officers being 
 called for by the development of the work, to relieve 
 the apostles of some of the burdens that had fallen 
 upon them, so that they could more continually give 
 
Sisterhoods Fundamentally Different. 135 
 
 themselves " to prayer and to the ministry of the 
 word." In the same way and for the same reasons 
 the female deacons would be likely to arise, and their 
 appointment would be one of the most natural things 
 that could occur, growing out of the teacliings of 
 Christianity, which is the very spirit of benevolence 
 and love toward the sick, unfortunate, and destitute 
 poor. 
 
 The Gospel was designed to bring comfort to the 
 disconsolate, healing to the afflicted, the light of 
 knowledge and truth to the ignorant, and the glad 
 tidings of salvation to all. The followers of Christ 
 were surrounded by all classes of suffering and desti- 
 tute humanity. The Spirit of Christ in his disciples 
 would prompt them to go out after these and admin- 
 nister to their wants, and especially to care for 
 those ^' who are of the household of faith." '• Dis- 
 tributing to the necessity of saints ; given to hos- 
 pitality. Bless them which persecute you : bless, 
 and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, 
 and weep with them that weep." Rom. xii, 13-15. 
 These teachings of Christ and his holy apostles 
 breathed the spirit of hospitality and benevolence to- 
 ward friend and foe, and would be carried out by the 
 best instrumentalities at hand. 
 
 It lias been shown that the customs of the as^e in 
 which Christianity arose and the countries in which 
 it was first promulgated made female agency not only 
 desirable, but absolutely necessary to the spread of the 
 
136 Deacoxesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 Gospel among women. In the very nature of the case 
 women must be employed in its holy ministries. Tiie 
 service of woman not being forbidden by Christ or 
 his apostles, and nature and circumstances calling for 
 her Christian activities, what could be more consistent 
 than that there should be an order of deaconesses ? 
 
 The particular circumstances that called for their 
 appointment are not recorded in the Holy Scripture, 
 as in the case of the seven deacons, yet we know they 
 existed under apostolic sanction and were closely iden- 
 tified with the apostles in their labors. 
 
 Their w^ork would be very simple. To instruct the 
 ignorant, relieve the suffering, feed the hungry, bear- 
 ino^ to them the alms of the Church. To rescue the 
 degraded, and care for the dying ; to do that for which 
 God had specially endowed them, and for their own sex 
 that which man could not do. 
 
 The first deaconesses were essentially parochial, 
 attached to a particular church, like the other orders 
 of the clergy. " Phebe our sister " was (Sidfcovov) " a 
 servant of the Church which is at Cenchrea." In this 
 respect she was like the deacon or presbyter. Deacon- 
 esses did not live in communities isolated from the 
 world, but moved in an active sphere, and served the 
 Clmrch in instruction and general helpfulness. 
 
 They were chosen from among those wdio had 
 shown themselves faithful and worthy, who answered 
 to the requirements of the apostle : " Grave, not slan- 
 derers, sober, faithful in all things." It is probable 
 
Sisterhoods Fundamentally Different. 137 
 
 that women of soinewliat adv^anced years were usually 
 cliosen, yet it is certain that young unmarried women 
 were sometimes appointed. Piety, discretion, and 
 experience were, in any case, the indispensable pre- 
 requisites, and only those who liad shown themselves 
 faithful in previous trials were admitted.^ In apos- 
 tolic times some were married, some were not ; show- 
 ing that this was not an essential feature. They were 
 w^omen approved of God and the Church, and were 
 solemnly set apart by the imposition of hands for the 
 service in the sanctuary and among those who needed 
 their ministrations. Had the Church retained the 
 simplicity of the Gospel, tlie order of deaconesses, 
 pious, active, and free, would have been retained, and 
 sisterhoods bound by burdensome and unnatural vows 
 would have been unknown. 
 
 But men have surrounded the work of woman in 
 the Church with difficulty and suspicion. Her loving 
 heart has struggled on against great odds. The strug- 
 gle began at an early period, as sacerdotalism gained 
 the ascendency, and her privileges as a minister of 
 Christ began to be restricted. Then under tlie direc- 
 tion of the higher orders of the clergy slie sought in 
 vain in the nunnery the satisfaction and joy which 
 she would have found in free religious activity in the 
 world, guided and encouraged by the Church of God. 
 Let us glance for a moment at the origin of sister- 
 hoods. 
 
 * Bennett, Christ. Arch., p. 368. 
 
138 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 The office and work of the deaconess are reasonable 
 and natural. Sisterlioods in their conventual form, 
 with tlie religious vows of " poverty, chastity, and obe- 
 dience," are not reasonable or consistent, but are con- 
 trary to the highest natural instincts and dictates of 
 reason. They are not demanded by the exigency of 
 the times or the needs of the Church, and are in con- 
 travention of the laws of God. 
 
 These sisterhoods, or associations of women, in the 
 Roman Catholic and some other Churches, devoted to 
 the attainment of ascetic perfection and to works of 
 charity, and bound together by religious vows, have 
 existed from early times, mention being made of them 
 as early as the fifth century. When these began to 
 flourish the order of deaconesses began to decline. 
 They were encouraged and fostered by the clergy, 
 while deaconesses were more and more restricted. 
 Sisterhoods did not grow out of the female diaconate 
 as much as out of the class known as Church virgins. 
 These were a class of fem.ales distinct from the dea- 
 coness. They were not ordained to any special func- 
 tions in the Church service. They are spoken of 
 by St. Paul. Some of the early fathers class the 
 widow and the virgin together as persons wdio have 
 duties to perform in connection with the Church and 
 as entitled to some support from its revenues, apply- 
 ing to both the words of Paul (1 Tim. v, 10), " to be 
 well reported of for good works," " to lodge stran- 
 gers," to " wash the saints' feet." It was this class 
 
Sisterhoods Fundamentally Different. 139 
 
 which in process of tune passed into theorder of nims, 
 and for a long time the deaconess and the nan existed 
 side by side ; but the nuns grew in number and the 
 deaconesses decreased. 
 
 The derivation of the word " nun " seems to show 
 the relation between the virgin and the nun, " Hos- 
 pinian states it to be an Egyptian term denoting vir- 
 gin. It is probably derived from a Coptic or Egyp- 
 tian root. This much is certain, that the term was 
 already used in the time of Jerome."^ 
 
 It is not within our scope to trace the increase or 
 development of these sisterhoods. They have contin- 
 ued almost without restriction from the fifth century, 
 when we find mention made of them at Rome, Milan, 
 and other chief cities of the Roman Empire, as giving 
 their time and riches for tlie relief of suffering poor. 
 At a later period sisterhoods were formed which were 
 not bound by vows of celibacy ; they were in all re- 
 spects comparatively free, as tlie Beguin Sisterhood. 
 They were widows or unmarried women who, witli- 
 Gut renouncing the society of men or the business of 
 life, or vowing poverty, perpetual chastity, or absohite 
 obedience, yet led, at their own homes or in common 
 dwellings, a life of prayer, meditation, and labor. 
 " The sisters received, moreover, young girls, chiefly 
 orphans, to educate, went out to nurse and console the 
 sick, to attend death-beds, to wash and lay out the dead, 
 and were called in to pacify family disputes. In short, 
 
 * McClintock and Strono;, art. "Nun." 
 
140 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 there is perhaps none of the natural diaconal func- 
 tions of women whidi thej did not fulfill"^ But these 
 and all kindred sisterhoods who retained freedom of 
 action were opposed and overcome bj the spirit of 
 Romish monachism that prevailed in the Middle Ages. 
 The more freedom they possessed the more bitter was 
 priestly opposition. 
 
 In the early ages the mode of consecration for 
 canonical virgins was as follows : It was usually 
 performed publicly in the church by the bishop or 
 presbyter. When a virgin had signified to the 
 bishop her desire for the usual consecration, she 
 made a j)nblic profession of her resolution in the 
 church, and the bishop put upon her the accus- 
 tomed habit of sacred virsrins. This chans^e of 
 habit is frequently mentioned in the ancient coun- 
 cils, but in what it consisted is not plain. " A veil 
 and a purple and gold miter are spoken of; but it 
 is said that they did not use them for any sacra- 
 ment or mystery, but only as a badge of distinc- 
 tion, and to signify to whose service they be- 
 longed." t 
 
 Out of this has grown the whole system of sister- 
 hoods, and all the unscriptural ceremonies and doc- 
 trines involved in them. The modern practice of 
 the consecration of nuns, the vows they take, and 
 the whole spirit that prompts tliem are contrary to 
 the spirit of the Gospel. Not that we would ques- 
 
 * Ludlow, p. 118. f McClintock and Strong, art. "Nun." 
 
Sisterhoods Fundamentally Different. 141 
 
 tion the sinceritj^ pietj, or usefulness of many of 
 them, but they are misguided ; and their piety and 
 zeal are developed in a channel that does not yield 
 the richest harvest of good to the world. 
 
 There is a striking contrast between the selection 
 and appointment of the deaconess and the sister or 
 nun. The deaconess is a woman of mature age, 
 liaving a conscious religious experience, has shown 
 herself faithful in all things, feels called of God to 
 the special work, and is selected by the Church and 
 untrammeled by vows, believing that she is serving 
 Christ in the poorest of his people. The following 
 is a statement of good authority in regard to 
 the nun : 
 
 '' Dr. De Sanctis, who for many years occupied a 
 liigli official position at Rome, describes three classes 
 who take the veil: 1. Young girls who become 
 interested in religion, and, blindly following the 
 path of piety, believe the priest's declamations 
 against conjugal love and domestic affection as 
 unholy, and tending to eradicate the love of Christ. 
 2. Those who, failing to captivate the regard of 
 men, are yet conscious of an irresistible need of 
 loving some object, and therefore seek to be loved, 
 as they say, by the Lord Jesus Christ, who is repre- 
 sented as a young man of marvelous beauty and most 
 winning look, with a heart shining with love, and 
 seen transparent in his breast.' 3. Those who, being 
 
 educated from childhood in the nunnery, remain 
 10 
 
142 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 there and become nuns without knowing wliy, and 
 give np with alacrity a world which they have never 
 seen." * 
 
 We think this w^hole system is destructive rather 
 than promotive of real piety. It is based on 
 the false principle of the meritoriousness of good 
 works, and of the^superior sanctity of an unmarried 
 life. It is a vain endeavor to obtain that purity 
 of soul which can only be obtained by faith in 
 the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ. Herein 
 is the great difference between deaconesses and sis- 
 terhoods. It is fundamental ; not so much in the 
 work they do as in the motive that prompts them 
 and the end they seek. 
 
 In tlie Church of England several communities of 
 women devoted to works of charity have been organ- 
 ized in recent times. For the most part they grew 
 out of the Tractarian movement led by Dr. E. B. 
 Pusey, Dr. Newman, and other eminent Anglican 
 divines, some of whom became perverts to the 
 Church of Rome. In these Protestants sisterhoods 
 some of the extravagances of the Ponian ritual and 
 doctrines are discarded, but the principles that govern 
 them are much the same — an exalted opinion of 
 the merit of good works and their subjective influ- 
 ence on the soul of the person who performs them. 
 
 The work of the deaconess is objective rather than 
 subjective. It is a work for Christ in obedience to 
 * Romanism as It Is, p. 336. 
 
Sisterhoods Fundamentally Different. 143 
 
 his command ; the outflow of the benevolence which 
 he has implanted within. An inquiry made of one 
 of the clergymen of the Church of England in re- 
 gard to tlie case in point elicited the following reply : 
 " As to the sisterhoods founded by Dr. Pusey, and 
 the many other sisterhoods in the English Church, 
 they differ very materially from the deaconesses; 
 they are based upon the three ' vows of religion,' 
 poverty, chastity, and obedience. The different or- 
 ders differ in detail of rule, work, etc., but in prin- 
 ciple they are all at one. If I might try to express 
 the difference I think I should say that whereas in 
 the case of deaconesses (that is, the modern type of 
 them derived from Kaiserswerth) the life is adopted 
 as a means to an end — that is, as the best way of 
 carrying out the work — in the case of sisterhoods 
 this is reversed, and the work becomes the means, 
 according to the different vocations, of working out 
 the self-dedication of the vow. People may have 
 different opinions as to which is best ; I merely wish 
 to point out that they are two widely different 
 things." * 
 
 Canon Sumner says : " It is surely a great mistake 
 to suppose that nuns and deaconesses are synony- 
 mous terms. Convents are ostensibly houses for 
 the sheltering of those who think that they can serve 
 God better by retiring from the world for purposes 
 of meditation and prayer. Deaconess institutions 
 
 * Rev. H. P. Denison, Church of England. 
 
14-i Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 are for those women wlio desire in a stated, formal, 
 and authorized manner to be set apart for active 
 work in the Church of God. The two are wide as 
 the poles apart, and I would earnestly deprecate any 
 op430sition to the work of deaconesses from dread 
 of the gradual introduction of the conventual sys- 
 tem." * 
 
 These vows of " poverty, chastity, and obedience," 
 deprive the soul of the highest and purest motive 
 that leads to works of piety and benevolence, which 
 is obedience to tlie commands of Christ for the 
 love we bear to him as our Redeemer and Saviour. 
 They assume that obedience is hard, and that tliese 
 austerities must be practiced as the athlete practices 
 abstemiousness and gymnastics to prepare himself 
 for the severe contest that lies before him. This 
 is a misconception of the truth. This highest mo- 
 tive the deaconess has. She is placed under no vow, 
 is free to act under the impulses of the Spirit of 
 Christ, who reigns in tlie heart. "No vows, no pov- 
 erty, no monastic obedience," says the founder of 
 the Paris Deaconess Institute. "We took as the 
 ground of our efforts not the pretense of salvation 
 by works, but the duty of witnessing by works our 
 love to Him who came down from heaven to save 
 us." Thus Christ is honored, the holy life is the 
 fruit of a living faith in him, and the works of 
 piety and benevolence are the gracious outflow of a 
 * Deaconesses in Church of England^ p. 32. 
 
Sisterhoods Fundamentally Different. 145 
 
 consecrated, holy heart, not the hard task per- 
 formed in fulfillment of a self-imposed vow. The 
 thoughtful reader will see that deaconess institutions 
 base on these principles are apostolic and Protestant. 
 
 The Protestant sisterhoods are regarded by many 
 as having a dangerous leaning towards Romanism. 
 The origin of those in the English Clmrch would 
 suggest this thought. They were founded for the 
 most part, if not entirely, by the High Church 
 ritualists. The devotions prescribed for them will 
 indicate the ritualistic tendency of the order and 
 the ground of danger alluded to by Dean Ilowson 
 in the following quotation : 
 
 '' It is only when there is some impenetrable 
 mystery in a sisterhood that we are inclined to be- 
 come indignant. Wherever there is mystery tliere 
 is suspicion, and to excite even causeless suspicion 
 in controversial times is inexcusable. Moreover, if 
 sisterhoods have their good p'omrs, they certainly 
 have their dangers. The esprit de corps^ unless it 
 is diluted with widely diffused work, may consoli- 
 date itself into conventual stiffness. Even religious 
 ritual may become too exclusively absorbing. The 
 relation of the sisters to the chaplain must be a 
 matter of the most critical importance in regard to 
 the formation of religious faith and character. Su- 
 perstitious notions regarding celibacy may grow up 
 even where there is an express clause in a statute 
 announcing that retirement at any moment is op- 
 
146 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modekn. 
 
 tional. Definitions will not keep every thing safe. 
 Questionable sentiments may become prevalent in a 
 commnnity in spite of rules, and when this is the 
 case questionable doctrine may insensibly associate 
 itself with practices which in themselves are quite 
 innocent." * 
 
 Sisterhoods in England are convents of the 
 English Church, slightly modified nunneries. They 
 are organized primarily for the purpose of forming 
 a religious community wdiere women may find a re- 
 treat from the world and spend much time in re- 
 ligious meditation and prayer; while a deaconess 
 institution is a training place for work in tlie out- 
 side world, wdiere human suffering may call for her 
 services. " The sister is of the sisterhood, the dea- 
 coness is of tlie Church." 
 
 Tlie difference between the sisterhoods and deacon- 
 esses in some of its aspects may tlius be summarized. 
 The deaconess of early times had an official position 
 in the Church to whicli she was ordained by the 
 imposition of hands, and was thus admitted to the 
 ranks of the clergy. The sister formed no part of 
 the clergy, received no imposition of hands, took no 
 part in baptism. The virgin, though special services 
 w^ere held when she received the " habit," was not or- 
 dained. The Apostolical Constitutions says : " A vir- 
 gin is not ordained, for we have no such command 
 from the Lord; for this is a state of voluntary trial, 
 
 *Howsou, p. 139. 
 
SiSTEEHOODS FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT. 14:7 
 
 Tint for the reproach of marriage, but on account of 
 leisure for piety." * 
 
 Tlie deaconess of the early Church was not bound 
 by vows ; only when it w\as declining, and being, by 
 constraint, merged into the sisterhood, were vows re- 
 quired. At first deaconesses w^ere either married or 
 single ; at a later period the Church required that 
 they should be virgins or widows. As the idea 
 of monachism prevailed, the vow of perpetual ceh- 
 bacy was required, and at length, in its decline, 
 death to both parties was the penalty of its violation. 
 Modern deaconesses have no vows, in the monastic 
 sense. 
 
 The sisterhoods of the Komish Cnurch are bound 
 by strong vows ; and fearful anathemas are pro- 
 nounced against any person who shall tempt the nuns 
 to break them. " But if any one shall have dared to 
 attempt this, let him be cursed in his house and out 
 of his house, cursed in the city and in the country, 
 cursed in watching and sleeping, cursed in eating and 
 drinking, cursed in walking and sitting; cursed, be 
 his flesh and bones ; from the sole of his foot to the 
 top of his head let him have no soundness," f etc. 
 Some of the sisterhoods of the English Church also 
 take the three " religious vows." 
 
 The deaconess, as the servant of the Church, seeks 
 by her peculiar vocation to witness her love to Christ 
 
 * Apostolical Constitutions^ Book viii, c. xxiv. 
 f Romanism as It Is, p. 346. 
 
148 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 bj acts of good-will to men, not as self-discipline, but 
 in the spirit of benevolence, for the glory of God and 
 the good of the race. Not from any supposed merit 
 in good works or superior sanctity in a celibate life, 
 but because in this form she thinks she can best 
 honor God and serve her generation. The chief 
 thought of the " sisters " under vows is, the attainment 
 of perfection by w^orking out the self-dedication 
 which by special and solemn covenant they have 
 taken upon themselves. 
 
 The following reasons against vows of celibacy, 
 from a high source, will commend themselves to the 
 thoughtful : 
 
 "I should not have felt at liberty to take any 
 part in the arrangements of any sisterhood of which 
 vows of celibacy formed a part, because, first, I see 
 no warrant for them in the word of God, and it would 
 seem to me that .to encourage persons to make vows 
 for which there is no distinct promise given that they 
 should be able to keep them would be entangling 
 them in a yoke of danger ;. secondly, because it seems 
 to me that our Church has certainly discouraged such 
 vow\s ; and thirdly, because it seems to me really to 
 be of the essence of such a religious life that it should 
 be continued not because in a moment of past fervor 
 a vow w^as made, but because by a continual life of 
 love that life is again and again freely offered to 
 tliat service to wdiich it was originally dedicated. I 
 feel, therefore, that I may venture to say that, instead 
 
Sisterhoods Fundamentally Different. 1^9 
 
 of the perpetual vows representing the higlier, it is 
 the admission of a lower standard." * 
 
 '• Neither should it be supposed that marriage is im- 
 possible for a deaconess, if only that marriage ' is m 
 the Lord^ and if it should be shown to be so clearlj 
 liis way for her that in marrying she will have the ap- 
 proval of her own conscience ; ... in such case the 
 deaconess spirit will have but a different sphere for its 
 exercise, for every real deaconess is a deaconess for 
 life." t 
 
 With this love reio^nins: in the heart the deaconess 
 has the highest motive to prompt her, and tlie con- 
 stant stimulus of a perpetual sacrifice of love and life 
 to God, and, free from vows, she serves him in the 
 joy of perfect freedom. 
 
 * Bishop of Oxford, Church Congress, 1862. 
 \ Deaconesses in Church of England^ p. 40. 
 
150 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE FEMALE DIACONATE AND THE ERROR OF THE SPIR- 
 ITUAL MARRIAGE OF THE INDIVIDUAL WITH CHRIST. 
 
 A DANGEROUS error has come down to us from early 
 times that stands closely connected with the consecra- 
 tion of woman to religious service. We mean that of 
 the spiritual marriage of the individual with Christ 
 as seen in the consecration of the nun ; and very 
 closely allied to this is the error of the soul's marriage 
 with God, which is found in many mystical writers, 
 and is more Protestant than Roman. This could not 
 arise from any intelligent and proper religious conse- 
 cration, but from an ignorant and impure perversion 
 of it. This is believed by some to be only second in 
 unscriptural falsehood, in social danger, to Mariolatry 
 itself. This error, like the w^hole system of female 
 monachism, grew out of the consecration of the 
 Church virgin rather than out of the ordination of 
 the deaconess. But these two are so closely associated 
 in men's thoughts that they are likely to be con- 
 founded; and since it has been suggested in connec- 
 tion with modern deaconesses we give it a brief dis- 
 cussion in these pages. From a very early period 
 some women professed virginity, but did not live in 
 
The Female Diaconate, etc. 151 
 
 communities, neither were they consecrated bj any 
 service or ceremony in the Church. In the third cent- 
 ury the Church gave direct sanction to the vow of 
 virginity, and made regulations for the conduct of 
 those who liad taken it. It was during the same cent- 
 ury tliat celibates began to live in communities, and 
 from that time onward various orders that sprang 
 from them have been in existence. 
 
 In process of time the Church adopted a ritual for 
 the public consecration of the virgin, at first very 
 simple, but later, and at present in the Roman 
 Catholic Church, very complicated and grand. The 
 thought of marriage with Christ finds no support in 
 Scripture only as the whole Church is the bride and 
 Christ the Bridegroom. " The New Testament 
 knows of but one bride — the Church ; of but one 
 marriage to the Bridegroom — the wedding of the 
 Lamb, in respect of which every individual member 
 of the Church, considered apart from the body to 
 which he belongs, is but one of those ' friends of the 
 Bridegroom' (John iii, 29) — those children of the 
 bridechamber (Matt, ix, 15 ; Luke v, 34) — who stand 
 by and hear, and rejoice to hear, the Bridegroom's 
 A^oice, who have a right, with St. Paul, to be jealous 
 over the bride ' with a godly jealousy,' knowing that 
 she is espoused as a chaste virgin to Clirist (2 Cor. 
 xi, 2) ; or, in a lower type, one of those guests of the 
 wedding (Matt, xxii) gathered in from the highways 
 and byways, and who may be cast out for want of a 
 
152 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 wedding garment ; one of those virgins (Matt, xxv), 
 wise or foolisli, who have to await tlie Bridegroom's 
 cominof. When once we feel tliat Clirist beloni^^s 
 really to his Church, and to his Church only, we feel 
 also as a usurpation, as a robbery, no less than as an 
 impossible absurdity, the craving to have him each 
 for ourself alone." ^ Paul said to the Corinthians, 
 '' I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy : for I 
 have espoused you to one husband, that I may pre- 
 sent you as a chaste virgin to Christ." 2 Cor. xi, 2. 
 He was here addressing the Corinthian Church col- 
 lectively, using the marriage relation as a symbol of 
 the sacred bond that exists between Christ and his 
 Church. The Church is the bride, the Lamb's wife. 
 So Horn, vii, 4 : " Ye also are become dead to the 
 law by the body of Christ, that ye should be married 
 to another." In this passage the word married has 
 been changed by the revisers to joined. Here the 
 Church at E-ome collectively is addressed, and, by 
 parity of reasoning, the universal Church. There is 
 not the remotest hint that the individual soul can 
 stand in such a relation to Christ as is implied in the 
 fiofure of marriao^e. 
 
 It is the Church that is the Lamb's bride, and we 
 as members of the visible body of Christ on earth are 
 united to him. " For as we have many members in 
 one body, and all members have not the same office : 
 60 we, hemg many, are one body in Christ, and every 
 
 * Ludlow, p. 80. 
 
The Female Diaconate, etc. 153 
 
 one members one of another." Rom. xii, 4. The 
 tlionglit of the marriage of the individual with 
 Christ has a tendency to cut off the soul from sym- 
 pathy with and interest in the universal Church. It 
 lifts tlie woman above her kind, and puts her in such 
 a relation to Christ, in her own thought, as must 
 conduce to spiritual pride and produce thoughts and 
 aspirations most inimical to purity and spiritual com- 
 munion with God. 
 
 The writings of the Church fathers abound in 
 eulogies of a life of virginity, and often speak of the 
 virgin as espoused to Clirist. So Methodius : " For 
 he may fitly be called the side of the Word, even the 
 sevenfold Spirit of trutli, according to the prophet ; 
 of whom God taking, in the trance of Christ — tliat 
 is, after his incarnation and passion — prepares a heljD- 
 meet for him. I mean the souls which are betrothed 
 and given in marriage to him. . . . For those who 
 are the better, and who embrace the truth more 
 clearlv, beino^ delivered from the evils of the flesh, 
 become, on account of their perfect purification and 
 faith, a Church and helpmeet of Christ, betrothed 
 and given in marriage to him as a virgin, according 
 to the apostle, so that receiving the pure and genuine 
 seed of this doctrine, they may co-operate with hinj, 
 helj:>ing in preaching for the salvation of others." ^ 
 So these virgins, by their peculiar sanctity and their 
 " espousals to Christ," become a Church within a 
 
 * Banquet of Ttn Virgins^ Dis. iii, c. viii. 
 
154 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 ClmrcL, and have peculiar privileges accorJed them 
 on ear til and in heaven. 
 
 " JSTow it is not that the wing of virginity should, 
 by its own nature, be weighted down upon the earth, 
 but that it should soar upward to heaven to a pure 
 atmosphere, and to the life which is akin to that of 
 angels. Whence also they, first of all, after their 
 call and departure hence, who have rightly and faith- 
 fully contended as virgins for Christ, bear away the 
 prize of victory, being crowned by him w^ith the 
 flowers of immortality. For, as soon as their souls 
 have left the world, it is said that the angels meet 
 them with much rejoicing, and conduct them to the 
 very pastures already spoken of, to which also they 
 were longing to come, contemplating them in imag- 
 ination from afar, when, wdiile they were yet dwelling 
 in their bodies, they appeared to them divine." * 
 
 At the close of his work Methodius puts into the 
 mouth of Thekla, the chief virgin, these words : 
 " Leaving marriage and the beds of mortals and my 
 golden home for thee, O King, I have come in unde- 
 filed robes, in order that I might enter with thee 
 within thy happy bridal chamber." And all the 
 other virgins responded in the chorus, " I keep my- 
 self j)ure for thee, O Bridegroom, and holding a 
 lighted torch I go to meet thee ! " f 
 
 We also give one illustration from Clement of 
 Home : " God, who has declared with his mouth, 
 
 ^^ Banquet of Ten Virgins^ Dis. viii, c. 2. \ Ibid., Dis. xi, c. 2. 
 
The Female Diaconate, etc. 155 
 
 and he does not lie, that it is ' better than sons and 
 daughters,' and that he will give to virgins a notable 
 place in the house of God, which is something ' better 
 than sons and daughters,' and better than the place of 
 those who have passed a wedded life in sanctity, and 
 whose *bed has not been defiled.' For God will 
 give to virgins the kingdom of heaven, as to the 
 holy angels, by reason of this great and noble pro- 
 fession." ^ 
 
 All writers, ancient and modern, who wrote in favor 
 of a monastic life, present this subject of the espousal 
 of the virgin to Christ in a fascinating form, represent- 
 ing that vows of virginity win the special favor of 
 God ; that those who adopt them will find a superior 
 place in the Church on earth, and obtain a brighter 
 crown in heaven, and that the virgin's intercourse and 
 communion with Christ is closer and more blessed 
 than that of ordinary mortals. She walks and talks 
 wnth him, and " enters into the happy bridal chamber." 
 Chrysostom, in his description of one who is " a virgin 
 indeed," says, " For when she walks, it is through a 
 a wilderness; if she sits in the church, it is in deepest 
 silence ; her eyes see none of those present, women 
 nor men, but the Bridegroom only, as present and ap- 
 pearing. AYhen she enters again her house, she has 
 conversed with him in her prayers, she has heard his 
 
 * Clement of Rome, Epist i, c. iv. Any who wish to pursue this 
 subject further we refer to Clement of Alexandria and Cyprian for 
 what cannot be transcribed here. 
 
156 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 voice alone in the Scriptures. And when she is in 
 lier home, let her think on tlie longed-for One alone ; 
 let her be a stranger, a sojourner, a wayfarer, let her 
 do all as beconieth one strans^e to all things here below." 
 
 The customs and thought of early times have been 
 perpetuated in the Church of Rome. The tremen- 
 dous upheaval of the Reformation failed to correct the 
 abuses that had found a lodgment in the Church. 
 Protestantism corrected those within her own borders, 
 but went to the other extreme and discarded some 
 things good and worthy. Protestants generally con- 
 demn monasticism, as based upon the error of merit 
 in good works and the supposed holiness of a celibate 
 life. Roman Catholic authorities assert the usefulness 
 of monastic orders and extend special privileges to 
 them. 
 
 In the consecration of the nun we have the " espou- 
 sal of the chaste virgin to Christ " in a simple form, 
 very ancient, but, nevertheless, unscriptural and per- 
 nicious. In the modern form, more complicated, spec- 
 tacular, and fascinating to young and enthusiastic 
 minds, but always erroneous and misleading ; it is 
 very materialistic in all its bearings. The virgin is es- 
 poused to Christ as a woman is espoused to her hus- 
 band. " The habit, veil, and ring of the candidate are 
 carried to tlie altar, and she herself is conducted to 
 the bishop, who, after mass and an anthem (the sub- 
 ject of which is that she ought to have her lamp 
 lighted, for the Bridegroom is coming), pronounces the 
 
The Female Diaconate, etc. 157 
 
 benediction ; then she rises up, and the bishop conse- 
 crates the new habit, sprinkling it with holy water. 
 When the candidate has put on her new habit, she 
 presents herself before the bishop, and says, on her 
 knees, 'Ancilla Christi siim^ etc' (' I am the maid of 
 Christ'); then she receives the veil, and afterw^ard 
 the ring, by which she is married to Christ, and finally 
 the crown of virginity."* 
 
 " The Latin form for the benediction and consecra- 
 tion of virgins occupies twenty-five pages in the Po7i' 
 tificale Eomanum of 1818. The key of the whole is 
 given in these questions which the mitered dignitary 
 presiding puts to them at the beginning of the serv- 
 ice, to be answered afiirmatively : 
 
 *' ' Do you wish to persevere in the purpose of holy 
 virginit}^ ? 
 
 " ' Do you promise that you will preserve your vir- 
 ginity forever ? 
 
 " ' Do you wish to be blessed and consecrated and 
 betrotlied to our Lord Jesus Christ, the son of the Su- 
 preme God?' 
 
 " After various genuflections, and prostrations, and 
 chantings, and prajers, and sprinklings witli holy 
 w^ater, nuns go up two at a time to the bishop, wdio 
 puts the veil upon each nun's head, saying : 
 
 " ^ Receive the sacred veil, by which you may be 
 
 known to have despised the world, and to have truly 
 
 and humbly, with all the strivings of your heart, sub- 
 
 * McClintock and Strong, art. "Xun." 
 11 
 
158 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 jected yourself forever as a bride to Jesus Christ, and 
 may he keep you from all evil and bring you through 
 to eternal life.' 
 
 "After further ehantings and prayer, they go up 
 again in pairs, and the bishop puts a ring on the ring- 
 finger of each nun's right hand, declaring her es- 
 poused to Jesus Christ, upon which the two chant : 
 
 " ' I have been betrothed to him whom angels serve, 
 whose beauty sun and moon admire.' 
 
 " Afterw^ard each nun lias a crown or wreath put on 
 her head by the bishop, with a similar declaration and 
 chanting. Then follow prayers, chanting, and two 
 long nuptial benedictions upon the nuns, who first 
 stand humbly inclined, and tlien kneel. Then the 
 bishop, sitting upon his seat and wearing his miter," 
 pronounces terrible anathemas "by the authority of 
 Almighty God, and of his blessed apostles, Peter 
 and Paul," against any who shall lead off the virgins 
 or religious persons from the divine service to 
 which they have been subjected under the banner of 
 chastity."^ 
 
 This, to Protestant eyes, seems like the sinful min- 
 gling of carnal and spiritual things, an injustice to men 
 and women, a perversion of nature and religion, an 
 insult to Christ, and to the mind enlightened by spir- 
 itual truth, drawn from the word of God, an utter 
 absurdity. 
 
 But this error, presented in the specious form to 
 
 * Romanism as It Is, p. 345. 
 
The Female Diaconate, etc. 159 
 
 wliich the Roman priesthood is accustomed, is at- 
 tracting attention even in Protestant countries where 
 many families intrust their daughters to priests and 
 nuns to be educated. " Face the idea in itself," says 
 Ludlow, "and you will see that the worship of Christ 
 as an individual Bridegroom is, in reality, the worship 
 of him not as the representative of humanity, but as 
 a male human being, capable of spiritual polygamy. 
 Many a time have I sickened over the expressions of 
 Romish writers, speaking of nuns as ' the spouses of 
 Christ.' . . . And I know that this fonl prurient talk 
 is being dinned into the ears of many and many an 
 English girl by Romanists, conscious or unconscious, 
 open or concealed, then most dangerous when they 
 least mean it, and that many a one already has been 
 prevailed upon to leave father and motlier, and friends, 
 and fellow-creatures, and to plunge herself into the 
 depths of a convent in hopes of uniting herself there 
 by the most solemn of marriage vows to a Bridegroom 
 "who will never forsake her." 
 
 The extent to wdiich this is carried in the sister- 
 hoods of the Church of England is scarcely known 
 beyond their own limits. It is not surprising that 
 many, both in the Church and out of it, have serious 
 apprehensions as to whither it will lead. The idea of 
 personal marriage with Christ is fascinating to many 
 unmarried women who have a genius for religious 
 work and ecclesiastical ceremonies. On the tenden- 
 cies of the English sisterhoods a recent writer gives 
 
160 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 the following testimony : " Tlie old pernicious, nnawk- 
 ish notion of ' professing virginity ' and becoming 
 ^brides of Christ' is rife among them. Canon Car- 
 ter, warden of the ' House of Mercy' at Clewer, who 
 has been almost as prominent an advocate of sister- 
 hoods as Dean Howson of deaconesses, warmly de- 
 fends vows as being but the ' superadded outward 
 seals of a tie already knitting the soul in union with 
 its Lord, through the willing choice of the virgin or 
 widowed state for his dear sake.' To depart from 
 such a profession, once made, is deemed a sin. Canon 
 Carter tells of the unspeakable blessing it is to feel 
 ' that among the daughters of the Church of England, 
 in all ranks, there are those who are ready to come 
 forth, surrendering earthly love, home, ease, fortune, 
 freedom, as of old, to cast themselves only on the 
 great spiritual mysteries of our faith, to know only 
 what it is to live in and for Christ, cheered and 
 recompensed beyond all earthly expectations or joys 
 by the sense of the mysterious union into which the 
 heavenly Bridegroom has drawn them, betrothing 
 them by a special seal unto himself.' And it is said 
 that in some sisterhoods ' daughters of the Chnrch of 
 England ' have perpetrated the sacrilegious folly of 
 arraying themselves in bridal attire, their heads 
 adorned with flowing veil and orange blossoms, and of 
 presenting themselves before the altar, there to be 
 wedded with a gold ring to the Saviour of the world ! 
 No wonder that many, even in the English Church, 
 
The Female Diaconate, etc. 161 
 
 turn with pain and disgust from siicli ' religious 
 life ! '" * 
 
 This thought is frequently found in the literature 
 of the High Church party in the Anglican commun- 
 ion. Speaking of the celibate state, one writer says: 
 " Blessed, blessed of their Lord, are they (called by 
 whatever name) wlio abjure things lawful in them- 
 selves, and for the kingdom of heaven's sake forsake 
 home, house, and lands, in order to be witliout care- 
 fulness for the things of this world, and to be more 
 devoted to their Lord in the service of his Cliurch 
 and poor, and to be holy botli in body and soul ; great 
 is their reward now, in this life, and in the world to 
 come. 
 
 " ' A virgin priest the altar best attends, 
 
 Our Lord that state commands not, yet commends.' " f 
 
 It is well known that Methodism arose among 
 High Clmrcli Episcopalians, and this feature of High 
 Church tendency was seen among its founders and 
 promoters. Our early Methodist literature is tinged 
 with it. Wesley says, " I met, in society, the single 
 men, and showed them on how many accounts it was 
 good for tliose who had received that gift from God 
 to remain single for the kingdom of heaven's sake." J 
 For the society that received these teachings Mr. Wes- 
 ley prepared a " covenant " to be renewed every year. 
 
 * Andover Review, 1888, p. 5V9. 
 
 f Wesley and High Churchmen, p. 64. 
 
 \ Journal, viii, p. 92. 
 
1G2 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 It contained the following solemn profession, which 
 was to be said aloud, the people kneeling : 
 
 " And since Thou hast appointed the Lord Jesus 
 Christ the only means of coming unto thee, I do here, 
 upon the bended knees of my soul, accept of him as 
 the only new and living way, . . . and do here sol- 
 emnly join niyself in a marriage covenant to him. O 
 blessed Jesus ! I come to thee, ... a guilty, con- 
 denmed malefactor, unworthy to wash the feet of the 
 servants of my Lord, much more to be solemnly mar- 
 ried to the King of Glory ; but since such is thine 
 unparalleled love, I do here, with all my power, accept 
 thee, and take thee for my Head and Husband, for 
 better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, for all times 
 and conditions, to love, honor, and obey thee before 
 all others, and this to the death," etc. " Amen, so 
 be it ; and the covenant which I have made on earth 
 let it be ratified in heaven." ^ 
 
 We find it also in some of the early Methodist 
 hymns : 
 
 " T have no sharer of my heart 
 To rob my Saviour of a part 
 
 And desecrate the whole ; 
 Only betrothed to Christ am I, 
 To wait his coming from the sky, 
 
 To wed ray happy soul." 
 
 Wesley expressed his sense of the high estate of 
 those who lived a celibate life for the " kingdom of 
 heaven's sake " in the following lines : 
 
 * Wedeij and High Churchmen, p. 66. 
 
The Female Di agon ate, etc. 163 
 
 " Thousands of virgins chaste and clean, 
 From Love's pleasing witchcrafts free, 
 
 Fairer than tlie sons of men, 
 
 CoDsecrate their hearts to Tliee. " * 
 
 The spiritual union existing between the soul of 
 the believer and God through Christ has been mis- 
 construed. In the case of the Church virgin who 
 had resolved on a life of virginity, when she broke 
 her vow and entered the married state it was ac- 
 counted a monstrous sin and crime, and both the 
 Church and State enacted severe measures for its 
 punishment. In modern times the punishment is 
 ecclesiastical, and the anathemas of the Church are 
 pronounced against all involved in it. 
 
 We do not fail to distinguish between the mate- 
 rialistic Komanist error of the marriage of the woman 
 with Christ and the spiritual marriage of the soul 
 with its Lord, so often found in the writings of the 
 mystics in both prose and poetry, but they are kin- 
 dred errors, and must be shunned. This thought is 
 often associated with the most fervid forms of devo- 
 tion, and entertained by the most self-sacrificing and 
 devoted people, but who, carrying the thought to an 
 extreme, have been caught in the snare of " the flesh 
 and the devil." 
 
 Professor F. W. Newman, one of the ablest writers 
 in the English language, thus presents it : 
 
 '' That none can enter into the kingdom of heaven 
 
 * Wesley and High Churchmen^ p. 68. 
 
164 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 witliout becoming a little child^ guileless and simple- 
 minded, is a sentiment long well known. But be- 
 hind and after tins there is a mystery, revealed to 
 but few, which thon, O Reader, must take to heart. 
 Namely, if thy soul is to go on into higher spiritual 
 blessedness, it must become a looman y yes, however 
 manly thou be among men. . . . Spiritual persons 
 have exhausted human relationships in the vain at- 
 tempt to express their full feeling of what God (or 
 Christ) is to them — Father, Brother, Friend, King, 
 Master, Shepherd, Guide, are common titles. . . . 
 But what has been said will show why a still ten- 
 derer tie has ordinarily presented itself to the Chris- 
 tian imagination as a more appropriate metaplior, 
 that of marriage. . . . Those in whom these phe- 
 nomena have been sharply marked, so as to make a 
 new crisis of the life, seem instinctively to compare 
 the process wdiich they thus undergo to a spiritual 
 marriage. 
 
 We have seen the longings of the soul to convert 
 God's transitory visits into an abiding union, and how 
 it is eager above all things to make this union indis- 
 sohtble. On getting a clear perception that it is ask- 
 ing that which he delights to grant, it believes that 
 its prayer is answered. . . . It is therefore very far 
 indeed from a gratuitous phantasy to speak of this as 
 a niarriage of the soul to God. No other metaphor, 
 in fact, w411 express the thing, and it is hard to think 
 that any can have experienced it and not feel the 
 
The Female Diaconate, etc. 165 
 
 suitability of the phrase, thougli (for fear of casting 
 pearls before swine) one must ordinarilj^ avoid any 
 allusion to what is not only a sacred but a momentous 
 transaction." * 
 
 This was written by one who had gone far from the 
 paths of orthodoxy, and whose writings, both brill- 
 iant and profound, have had a baneful influence upon 
 the religious thought of the age. 
 
 These errors, which are closely associated with the 
 formal consecration of women to the service of Christ 
 in his Church, are not necessary outgrowths of it, but 
 perversions of a legitimate religious act. They come 
 from the idea of the superior holiness of an unmar- 
 ried life. As most modern deaconess institutions ad- 
 mit only single women, it can readily be seen that 
 caution is necessary. 
 
 So long as we abide by the holy Scriptures, and 
 retain the simplicity of the Gospel, we are not in 
 danger of the errors above mentioned. Let the dea- 
 coness be separated to the work at lier own wish, and 
 by the concurrent action of the Church ; let her ordi- 
 nation be simple and devout, by the imposition of 
 the hands of the bishop, with solemn prayer for the 
 endowment of the Holy Ghost for the special work 
 to which she is consecrated. She must be as free as 
 the clergy, with no binding vows or any thing that 
 looks like monasticism. While she may regard an 
 unmarried state as conducive to success in her chosen 
 
 * The Soul, p. 54. 
 
166 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 field, she must remember it is in no sense essential 
 to lier purity of character or her eternal salvation. 
 Her life will then be in accord with sound reason, the 
 liighest instincts of human nature, and the benevolence 
 of Christ. 
 
 While the primal object of this life of labor is to 
 benefit the poor and win them to Christ, its subjec- 
 tive influence should not be overlooked. Free inter- 
 course with all classes, as a recognized servant of 
 Christ and minister of his Church, will give the mind 
 a broader scope, and the heart a deeper sympathy. 
 The deaconess will make a still greater advance " when 
 our cynical world shall comprehend that it is not 
 for the gratification of passing vanity, or foolish 
 pleasure, or matrimonial ends, that she extends her 
 hand of generous courtesy to man, but that he may 
 be aided by tlie strength she gives in weakness, 
 encouraged by the smiles she bestows in sympathy, 
 and enlightened by the wisdom she has gained by 
 inspiration." * 
 
 * Beacon Lights, p. 97. 
 
The Deaconesses of Kaiserswerth. 167 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 THE DEACONESSES OF KAISERSWERTH. 
 
 At tlie time of the Reformation the perversion of 
 Christianity was so great, and its forms and methods 
 so corrupt, that a deep prejudice existed against all 
 its institutions. The truth had become so obscured 
 by the traditions of men that it was difficult to sepa- 
 rate the wheat from the chaff. It required great 
 powers of discernment to trace back, through the 
 errors of mediaeval Christianity, those living germs 
 of truth which had been deposited in the primitive 
 Church by Christ and his apostles. They had been 
 overlaid by human accretions that tended only to 
 vanity and ambition in the clergy, and to spiritual 
 darkness among the masses. It was difficult to find 
 the " virgin," the " widow," or the " deaconess " of 
 the apostolic Church in the nun of the Middle 
 Ages. 
 
 Because of the perversion of the original type of 
 deaconess, and the consequent prejudice of the Re- 
 formers, some ancient offices and apostolic methods 
 were not readily separated from the corrupt institu- 
 tions of Romanism, and incorporated in the Church 
 of the Reformation. This was a natural result of 
 
168 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 the agitation and confusion of the times. The pen- 
 dulum having swung so far from the center of truth 
 in the direction of superstition, in its backward sweep 
 passed the hne established by the Holy Scriptures, 
 and reached the other extreme. The Reformers had 
 not yet discovered the germ of the female diaconate 
 beneath the perversions of monasticism. "In every 
 place, instead of a hierarchy seeking its rigliteousness 
 in the works of man, its glory in external pomp, its 
 strength in a material power, the Church of the 
 apostles re-appeared, humble as in primitive times, 
 and, like the ancient Christians, looking for its right- 
 eousness, its glory, and its power solely in the blood 
 of the Lamb and in the word of God." "^ 
 
 Many sporadic efforts were made to revive the 
 diaconate soon after the Reformation, but these stood 
 apart from any general plan and worked under no 
 system. 
 
 The church in Wesel, Germany, employed deacon- 
 esses as early as 1575. The congregation consisted of 
 Protestant refugees from Holland and elsewhere. 
 One of its first acts was to decide that women were 
 to be officially employed by the presbytery among the 
 poor and sick. The word deaconess was systemat- 
 ically nsed, and the formal choice of one and another 
 to fill the position is recorded and their names given. 
 The congregation having, for itself, restored the 
 female diaconate, asked the authorities of the Ke- 
 
 * D'Aubigne, Hist. Eef.^ vol. iv, p. 41. 
 
The Deaconesses of Kaisers werth. 169 
 
 formed Church for approval. The classis decided it 
 should stand until a final decision could be reached, 
 but defered, action until their next meeting. In 1580 
 the same classis decided that, " If this office, which had 
 fallen into disuse and decay in the Church of God, is 
 again to be restored, then it shall be established in the 
 same form and with the same cliaracter belonging to it, 
 as described by the apostle Paul, namely, widows, and 
 not married women, shall be chosen for that purpose." 
 The matter was referred to tlie next provincial synod. 
 Accordingly, in due course, it came before the general 
 synod in Middleberg, in 1581, wliich, unfortunately, 
 decided against it " on account of various incon- 
 veniences which might arise out of it, but in times of 
 pestilence and other sicknesses, when any service is re- 
 quired among sick women wdiich would be indelicate 
 to deacons, they ought to attend to this through their 
 wives, or others whose services it may be proper to 
 engage." The congregation in Wesel continued to 
 employ deaconesses until 1610, when all traces of the 
 institution are lost. The principal cause of its dis- 
 appearance was the failure of authorization by the 
 synod, but Dr. Fliedner assigns also the following 
 reasons (they are four in number): ''The introduc- 
 tion of a system of State relief for the poor in place 
 of the free exertions of tlie Church ; the enactment 
 of a new rule that no one but women of sixty years 
 of age should be chosen ; the custom of very gener- 
 ally employing married women, and, lastly, the near 
 
170 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 approacli of the sad calamities of the Thirty Years' 
 War." 
 
 There is one singular outburst of female activity in 
 the line of religious ministration in connection with 
 the Reformation in Switzerland. "The nuns of the 
 Yale of St. Catherine, in Thurgovia, deserted by their 
 priests, and excited by some noblemen beyond the 
 Rhine, who styled them in their letters 'chivalrous 
 ■women of the house of God,' sang mass themselves, 
 and appointed one of their number preacher to the 
 convent."* 
 
 This brings to mind an incide]it which occurred in 
 Pennsylvania in recent times. A certain Protestant 
 Episcopal Church was without a pastor, and having a 
 lady Sunday-school superintendent who felt the spir- 
 itual needs of tlie children, she thought she could in 
 some sort supply them by reading the Form of Service. 
 She did so, and the parents, hearing of the matter, 
 came to the churcli to enjoy the services of the female 
 ministrant, until it was crowded, and the lady became 
 frightened at the interest she had aroused. She 
 wrote to the bishop of the diocese for advice, and he 
 answered : " Proceed with your services until I call 
 you to order." 
 
 Time, so important an element in all the affairs 
 of men, is not essential to tlie government of God. 
 " One day is with the^ Lord as a thousand years, and 
 a thousand years as one day." The eternal years be- 
 
 *D'Aubigue, Hist. Ref., vol. iv, p. 372. 
 
The Deaconesses of Kaiseeswerth. 171 
 
 long to God and truth. The Reformation ]iad to re-lay 
 the foundations every-where ; the details of the king- 
 dom were to be carried out at a later period. It has 
 taken tlie Church three hundred years to rise hio-h 
 enough above the mists to see the good and eliminate 
 the evil that was in medigeval Christianity. Some 
 wise and godly men saw that there was a lack of organ- 
 ized female talent in the Protestant Church, but were 
 not able to furnish a remedy for the evil. When the 
 order of deaconesses was proposed the people cried 
 '' Popery," and Protestantism has failed to avail itself 
 of the talent of woman and is not as rich in good 
 works as it mio^ht have been. 
 
 The restoration of the ancient order of deaconesses 
 in the nineteenth century claims our attention. It is 
 difficult to decide from whom the first suggestion 
 came. The honoris claimed l)y different authors for 
 different persons. It is probable that like condi- 
 tions of suffering and need produced like impressions 
 on many hearts, ana suggested to each the same 
 remedy. As in the case of Sunday-schools — many 
 efforts were made to establish them, yet none became 
 permanent save those of Robert Raikes — so, the first 
 deaconess institution of modern times that became 
 permanent was that of Pastor Fliedner, of Kaisers- 
 werth, and the honor of the restoration of the order 
 belongs to him. 
 
 In 1820 Pastor Friedrich Kloenne, on the lower 
 Rhine, published a pamphlet On the Eevival of the 
 
172 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 Deaconesses of the Ancient Church in our Ladles'' 
 Societies. This suggestion met with the wannest 
 sympathy in the highest circles of both Church and 
 State. Baron von Stein, in a letter to Amalie Sieve- 
 king, of Hamburg, wrote on this subject : " In visit- 
 ing the institutions of the Sisters of Charity I w^as 
 exceedingly struck by the expression of inward peace, 
 repose, self-denial, and innocent sprightliness of the 
 sisters, and by their kind and benign treatment of the 
 sick intrusted to their care. To such sights a pitiful 
 contrast is offered by the expression of discomfort in 
 young women of the upper and middle classes, not 
 obliged to earn their bread by the work of their hands ; 
 fretted by ungratiiied vanity, mortitied by neglect; un- 
 manned and growing old ; who on account of preten- 
 sions, disregarded in a thousand forms, and on account 
 of their idleness, are conscious of an emptiness and 
 bitterness in their lives which make them unhappy 
 themselves and burdensome to others. The question 
 was natural, Why are there no similar orders to that 
 of the Sisters of Charity in the kindred confessions of 
 Protestants ? In many cities we have endowments for 
 similar institutions ; there is continual evidence of an 
 active spirit in ladies' societies, etc., but such firm, last- 
 ing associations as that of the Sisters of Charity — which 
 includes so much that is excellent — these we lack.""* 
 
 The German nobility, and even royalty, were at 
 different times interested in the restoration of the 
 *F}iebe, The Deaconess, A. Spaeth, D.D., p. 10, 
 
The Deaconesses of Kaisekswerth. 173 
 
 deaconess institution, but notliing practical resulted. 
 The pious Count Adalbert von der Eecke-Yolmerstien 
 began the publication of a periodical in the spring 
 of 1835, The Deaconess^ or Life and Labors of the 
 LLandmaids of the Church in Teaching^ Trainingy 
 and ill Nursing the /Sick. This never went beyond the 
 first number, but its title indicates the intention of its 
 publisher. The count had for many years contem- 
 plated the establishment of a deaconess institution, 
 but never carried it into effect. He prepared a plan 
 which was laid before the Crown-Prince of Prussia, 
 afterward King Frederick William TV., to which the 
 prince replied : " Your ideas upon the revival of the 
 order of deaconesses in our Church have been re- 
 ceived by me with real joy. Such a revival has floated 
 before my own mind for years as an ideal to be longed 
 for; one of the many things our Church really needs 
 and lacks, without which her disfigurement is much 
 like that of a human face in which the nose, for ex- 
 ample, is missing. I agree particularly in the view 
 that the office ought to be avowedly a church office."* 
 
 The order, however, was not revived or established 
 by nobles or princes, but by a humble, pious pastor 
 of a small church in a country town. As his work 
 has lately come into prominence a brief sketch of him 
 will not be out of place. 
 
 Theodore Fliedner, of Kaiserswerth, was born in 
 
 January, 1800, at Eppstein, a village on the fron- 
 
 * Fhebe, The Deaconess, A. Spaeth, D.D., p. 12. 
 12 
 
ITi Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 tiers of Hesse and Nassau, wliere his father was pas- 
 tor of the parish church. He studied at the univer- 
 sities of Giessen and Gottingen and the theological 
 seminary of Herborn ; was licensed to preach at the 
 age of twent}', and the next year became pastor of 
 the small church at Kaiserswertli. His salary was to 
 be one hundred and eighty Prussian dollars, but even 
 this the congregation was unable to pay because of 
 the failure of a manufactory in which a large propor- 
 tion of the population were employed. This failure, 
 and the poverty of the people, constrained the pastor 
 to go upon a collecting tour in the Rhine Province, 
 Holland, and England. " ]N'ever did a man begin 
 to ask for help with a heavier heart, nor with worse 
 success, till a brother pastor at Elberfeld took him 
 home to dinner and told him that the three requi- 
 sites for his work were ' patience, impudence, and a 
 ready tongue;' or, as Dr. Spaetli renders it, 'pa- 
 tience, boldness, and eloquence.' The receipt, to 
 which Fliedner added much prayer and faith, proved 
 so successful that lie was spoken of before his death 
 as the most accomplished beggar ever known in Ger- 
 many. England, America, and many distant regions 
 poured contributions into his treasury, and often his 
 worst necessities were relieved by what seemed al- 
 most miraculous unsolicited gifts, which exactly an- 
 swered the demands upon him."* By this work, 
 which, proved successful in a financial sense, his hori- 
 * McClintock & Strong, Ency., art. "FHedner." 
 
The Deaconesses of Kaisers werth. 175 
 
 zon was widened by an acquaintance with noble un- 
 dertakings of every kind in the interest of the king- 
 dom of God. He learned then of '' a great number 
 of institutions for the care of body and soul ; schools 
 and training institutions ; houses for the poor, for 
 orphans, and the sick; prisons and societies for im- 
 proving the condition of prisoners ; and at the same 
 time noticed how all these institutions owed both 
 their existence and support to a living faith in 
 Christ." * 
 
 This last lesson was one of the most important that 
 Pastor Fliedner could have learned for his great life- 
 work. This will place him by the side of George 
 Miiller, and other worthies of the modern Church 
 whose faith has wrought wonders in the kingdom of 
 God. In his journey through England he became 
 acquainted with Elizabeth Fry, that noble philanthro- 
 pist whose labors for the good of prisoners were only 
 second to those of John Howard. This acquaintance 
 led, after his return to Germany, to the examination 
 of the prisons and prisoners in his own neighbor- 
 hood, which he found in a most wretched condition. 
 Convicts were crowded together in dark, damp, dirty 
 cells or cellars without light or air, and entirely with- 
 out classification. This he remedied by the organiza- 
 tion of the Rhenish-Westphalian Prison Society in 
 1826. " Seeking a matron for the female wards at 
 Dusseldorf, he found his wife, whose parents refused 
 * riiedner's Short History, etc., p. 2. 
 
176 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 to let her take tlie position first offered to her, but 
 approved her acceptance of the joung pastor himself, 
 although the second involved all the duties of the 
 first." 
 
 In his travels in Holland he found an arrangement 
 among the Mennonites which made a deep impression 
 upon his mind. Deaconesses were chosen by the 
 Church officers to whom the care of poor women was 
 given over. "They visit the huts of poverty, distrib- 
 ute clothing given for this purpose, provide places for 
 girls in service, etc. They labor without salary, as 
 deacons do ; they belong to the most respectable fam- 
 ilies of the congregation, and take upon themselves 
 an occupation demanding so many sacrifices with the 
 greatest readiness. This praiseworthy and Christian 
 system might well be instituted by other confessions. 
 The apostolic Church introduced the office of dea- 
 coness, well knowing that masculine attendance could 
 not take the place of their tender womanly feeling 
 and fine feminine tact in alleviating bodily and men- 
 tal trouble, especially among their own sex." ^ 
 
 Fliedner's work among the prisoners brought him 
 face to face with the question of the restoration to 
 virtue of discharged female convicts. He began his 
 deaconess work with one of this class, with a single 
 lady to help him, in a small summer-house, with one 
 table, two beds, and two chairs. This summer-house, 
 wdiich still stands in the parochial minister's garden 
 * Pliedner, quoted by Dr. Spaeth, p. 13. 
 
The Deaconesses of Kaiserswerth. 177 
 
 at Kaiserswerth, is the true parent-house of all the 
 deaconess institutions of Germany.* The man of 
 God who was thus moved by the Spirit to this phil- 
 anthropic work embraced in his faith and love all 
 classes of suffering humanity : the prisoner, the or- 
 phan, tlie destitute, the sick and dying. Few men 
 ever entered upon a work with such small beginnings, 
 that in one life-time issued in such signal success. 
 
 As the work extended he found that he must se- 
 cure help in the line of trained nurses who could care 
 for the sick and dying. The matter was laid before 
 a few friends whom he had interested, and in 1836 the 
 statutes for the deaconess society were drawn up and 
 signed in the house of Count Stolberg in Dusseldorf. 
 The daughter of a physician, Gertrude Eeichard, was 
 the first one who promised to become a deaconess ; 
 the first of a noble line of consecrated women whose 
 names will live and shine bright in the records of 
 the Church and in tlie Book of God w^lien the great 
 names of the world shall have been lost in oblivion. 
 
 " A house, bought on credit for $2,300, was opened 
 on the 13th of October, 1836. It was the largest and 
 finest house in Kaiserswerth, the homestead of one of 
 the chief founders of the evangelical congregation. 
 On the 20th the deaconess entered ; and the first 
 patient of the first evangelical deaconess's house 
 was a Koman Catholic servant maid." f The work 
 had its enemies, as all good things have. The peo- 
 * Howsoii, p. 72. t ^^- Spaeth, p. 14. 
 
178 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 pie of the town opposed it, fearing tlie place would 
 be depopulated by contagious diseases. The Roman 
 Catholic clergy were its bitterest opponents, and pre- 
 dicted its early overthrow, doing what they could 
 to bring to pass their own predictions. A recent 
 German author says : " Theodore Fliedner, having 
 called to a new life the female diaconate of the apos- 
 tolic age, naturally provoked the criticism, and espe- 
 cially the unfavorable predictions, of the timid and 
 apathetic ones. His undertaking was indeed a w^ork 
 of faith which must be disapproved by all those who 
 did not stand fully and entirely with him upon the 
 ground of the Gospel. It was especially from Ro- 
 man Catholic sources that prophecies came of failure 
 and an early end to the enterprise. They were shame- 
 less enough to place Fliedner's endeavors on a parallel 
 with those of the Emperor Julian the Apostate, 
 who, said they, ' from a mere desire to make prose- 
 lytes, and from anger that the Christians alone 
 had charitable institutions, erected hospitals, houses 
 of refuge, and bath-houses on the grandest scale, 
 and endowed them most lavishly. But the root was 
 rotten ; after the death of the emperor all these estab- 
 lishments perished. A like fate we must prophesy for 
 the creations of Mr. Fliedner f But it happened as 
 Ezekiel said of the false prophets of his time, 'they 
 have seen vanity and lying divination.' Ezek. xiii, 6. 
 What these enemies predicted in the year 1818 is em- 
 phatically disproved by a single glance at the pres- 
 
The Deaconesses of Kaiseeswerth. 179 
 
 ent status of our cause. The grain of niustard-seed 
 planted in the parochial garden at Kaiserswerth ]ias 
 grown into a mighty tree, reaching to heaven and 
 extending its branches over the whole earth." ^ 
 
 Notwithstanding all opposition, it prospered 
 greatly, and in January, 1838, the mother-house 
 was able to send out the lirst deaconess to the city 
 hospital in Elberfeld. 
 
 '' For twenty-eight years Fliedner devoted to it 
 his remarkable practical wisdom and indomitable 
 perseverance. He added new buildings, extended 
 his plans of benelicence, undertook long journeys, 
 collected funds, and shaped the whole administration 
 with uncommon insight into human nature, and 
 with deep sympathy for human ills." f Under his 
 management it grew ; it had the impulses of spir- 
 itual life ; the blessing of God was on it, and it 
 possessed adaptation to human needs. " He began 
 his work diffidently, in the place now forever asso- 
 ciated with his name, and which became under his 
 hand the center of an influence approaching that 
 of Wesley himself, wliose power of endurance, faith, 
 and incessant labor Fliedner rivaled." :j; In an al- 
 most incredibly short space of time the work spread 
 to other cities, and deaconess houses were established 
 
 * Die Weibliche Diakonie, by Rev. Thomas Schafer, Stuttgart, 1887, 
 vol. i, p. 227. 
 
 f Mrs. C. M. Mead. Andover Review, 1888, p. 562, 
 \ McClintock and Strong. 
 
180 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 in " Paris, Strasburg, Dresden, Breslau, Koenigsberg, 
 and Stettin. The German hospital in London pro- 
 cured deaconesses as early as 1816. Jerusalem, 
 Bejrout, Smyrna, Constantinople, in the East, and 
 Pittsburg, in our own Western land, received their 
 deaconesses, whom Fliedner installed in the places 
 designated. When he celebrated the twenty-fifth 
 anniversary of Kaiserswerth in 1861 there were al- 
 ready twenty-seven deaconess houses ; and at the 
 time of his death, in 1864, the mother-houses num- 
 bered thirty, with sixteen hundred deaconesses (of 
 whom tour hundred and twenty-five belonged to 
 Kaiserswerth), having more than four hundred differ- 
 ent fields of labor. Meanwhile their number has 
 reached over seven thousand one hundred deacon- 
 esses, in fifteen hundred fields of labor, and the 
 annual income of the deaconess work amounts to 
 about $1,000,000." * This kind of work can only 
 be made efiicient and permanent by the blessing of 
 God, and by placing at its foundation the Gospel of 
 Christ. The patronage of the great and the gifts of 
 the wealthy may be accessories to its success, but 
 only the life that God infuses can carry comfort 
 to the disconsolate or salvation to the sinful. '' The 
 little seed planted by Fliedner contained in itself 
 a heavenly life; therefore has it grown to a 
 mighty tree, stretching its branches over sea and 
 land, and alfording rest to tens of thousands of 
 
 * Dr. Spaeth, p. 15. 
 
The Deaconesses of Kaisers werth. 181 
 
 weary and heavy-laden ones, who seek its shadow. 
 He who looks upon this tree with an attentive, 
 thoughtful heart can only say : ' This is the Lord's 
 doing, it is marvelous in our eyes.' " * 
 
 The founder of the institution was a man of 
 calm, strong character, full of energy and devout, 
 abounding in common sense and fertile in resources ; 
 not easily turned from his purpose, above the folly 
 of running any risks by worthless imitations of 
 Catholicism, or of rejecting what was good because 
 it was called popery. Dr. Fliedner died at Kaisers- 
 werth October 4, 1864, worn out by journeys in 
 Germany, France, Great Britain, and America, which 
 had brought on disease of the lungs. To the very 
 last of his life he continued, in spite of painful weak- 
 ness, to exhort those near him to a religious and 
 earnest life, took keen interest in the details of daily 
 work going on around him, and died a day or two 
 after taking the communion with his whole estab- 
 lishment and family, including two sons, whose en- 
 trance into the Church he specially rejoiced to see. 
 
 The institution at Kaiserswerth now includes, 
 1. The "mother-house" and hospital attached, a dis- 
 pensary, a chapel, the probationers' house, the 
 "house of evening rest" for aged and infirm deacon- 
 esses. 2. A refuge for discharged female convicts. 
 3. Normal schools or training colleges for school-mis- 
 tresses and school-masters, and schools for poor chil- 
 
 *Dr. Spaeth, p. 15. 
 
1S2 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern, 
 
 dren. The fiftieth report gives 2,080 as tlie nuiiiber 
 of teachers who have been fitted at Kaiserswerth, 
 and adds : " This is a great host who have gone to 
 all the regions of the world, to testify by precept 
 and practice that for Ghilclreii, rich and poor^ tJie 
 root out of which all genuine character is produced 
 lies hidden in the Gospel ^ ^' 4. An insane asylum 
 for Protestant women. 5. A home for invalid 
 women of the Protestant faith. All these are util- 
 ized for the training of deaconesses for^ their varied 
 departments of labor, and some of them were 
 founded with this special object in view. We have 
 not space for an enumeration or description of the 
 large number of branch or affiliated houses, or for 
 the numerous institutions that have taken their rise 
 from Kaiserswerth. They are one in spirit and aim, 
 though they may differ in minor details. 
 
 The fundamental features of the institution may 
 be briefly stated. It has for its object the training 
 of Protestant Christian women as deaconesses in the 
 apostolic sense, for the purpose of taking care of the 
 sick, the poor, children, prisoners, released criminals, 
 and all others who need bodily care, spiritual conso- 
 lation, and direction. The deaconess may labor 
 among all classes, irrespective of creed, but may not 
 attempt to make proselytes to the Protestant faith. 
 The two great departments of work are nursing and 
 teaching. 
 
 * Andover Review^ p. 567. 
 
The Deaconesses of Kaiserswerth. 1S3 
 
 The society is under the supervision of a board 
 of directors, one member of which is a practicing 
 physician. Under it the whole work is carried on 
 by the managers ; that is, by the inspector, who is a 
 Protestant clergyman, and the lady superintendent, 
 both of whom are appointed by the board. Under 
 these the mother-house and every branch house has 
 its presiding deaconess, who is called "sister." Thus 
 the whole is divided into a number of independent 
 families, yet all are animated by the same spirit. 
 
 The educational qualitications for those who desire 
 to become deaconesses differ, beins^ much hio-her for 
 those who are to become teachers. But the lovvest 
 standard requires that they be able to read well, 
 write, and have some knowledge of arithmetic. The 
 applicant must be at least eighteen, and usually not 
 above forty years of age. She must express her 
 wish in writing to the directors, and send witli it a 
 certificate of baptism, a short account of her life, 
 composed by herself, a testimonial of good moral 
 character from her pastor, and a medical certificate 
 of good health. She must have the consent of her 
 parents, if living. None but unmarried women or 
 childless widows of the Protestant faith are eligible, 
 and they must be of earnest Christian character. 
 
 Every deaconess must go tlirough a probation of 
 from six to twelve months, and this time can be ex- 
 tended, if it seem desirable, to two or three years. 
 The probationary term is spent in the institution. 
 
184: Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 The probationer is not raised to the position and 
 office of deaconess unless she is elected bj a majority 
 of deaconessos then residing in the house. No vow 
 is taken, but she engages to work for five years, at 
 the end of which period she may or may not renew 
 her engagement. She may return home at any 
 time, or is free to marry. 
 
 In her ministrations she is the assistant of the doc- 
 tor in the bodily needs, and of the clergyman in the 
 spiritual needs of the patient. She performs her 
 services gratuitously, and is provided by the institu- 
 tion with food and clothing and a small sum of money 
 for the purchase of needful articles. They all dress 
 alike, wearing a blue dress and apron and a white cap 
 and collar. They may not accept gifts from patients, 
 but when unable to work, and without means, they 
 are supported by the institution. There is a " House 
 of Evening Rest," where they may retire when no 
 longer able to labor. If gifts are pressed upon thein 
 by grateful patients they are sent to the institution to 
 be placed in the Sisters' Box, the contents of which 
 are used for Christmas presents to the sisters or for 
 journeys to benefit their health. 
 
 Every deaconess retains her own propert}^, and at 
 death it goes to her legal heirs. Slie has free inter- 
 course with her relations, and assumes voluntarily the 
 work assigned her by the " mother-house." In case 
 of infectious diseases she is asked whether she is will- 
 ing to undertake the dangerous Vv'ork. No instance 
 
The Deaconesses of Kaiserswerth. 185 
 
 of refusal has jet been known. No deaconess is sent 
 to a foreign field without her consent and the consent 
 of lier parents.* 
 
 In this great work the founder seems to have been 
 governed by three thoughts : That in establishing the 
 order of deaconesses he was restoring to the Church 
 something which existed in apostolic times ; that the 
 female diaconate is required in these days ; and that, 
 in order to efficiency, the deaconesses must be trained. 
 On these principles he proceeded. While all the 
 freedom is allowed in the institution which an en- 
 lightened Protestant mind would deem essential to 
 right and happiness, it must not be imagined that 
 there is any laxity in discipline or g(>vernment. 
 Thougli there are no vows, obedience to the heads of 
 departments is strictly required. 
 
 The deaconesses are systematically trained for their 
 work. Of their spiritual or religious training Dean 
 Ilowson, who visited the institution and investigated 
 for himself, thus speaks : " ' In the case, for instance, 
 of grievous sickness,' Dr. Fliedner said to us, ' How, 
 unless she is instructed and prepared, can the deacon- 
 ess administer at night those spiritual drops which 
 are often worth more than a wdiole sermon ? ' Though 
 there are beautiful liturgical elements in the public 
 services of the community, the prayers used by the 
 sisters with those among whom the}^ minister are ex- 
 temporaneous ; and for these prayers they are taught 
 * Condensed from Mrs. C. M. Mead, and other sources. 
 
186 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modeen. 
 
 that tliej must prepare themselves, in order that the 
 words may be suitable to each special case. Hence tlie 
 importance of the early years of residence, involving, 
 as they do, both a training of the character througli 
 methodical habits and opportunities of devotion, and 
 a training of the mind by a methodical course of re- 
 ligious teaching." ^^ 
 
 Besides the ordinary specified times of devotion, 
 tliey have a " quiet half hour," wlien all who are 
 able to do so meet in the chapel for meditation and 
 prayer together but in silence. They have system- 
 atic Bible study. The Bible is classitied and arranged 
 according to the order of the ecclesiastical year, and 
 according to the spiritual needs of various kinds 
 of characters. The close and discriminating study 
 of the Bible is a distinguishing characteristic of 
 the institution. There are three Bible-classes for 
 the deaconesses held on week-days and one on 
 Sunday. 
 
 '^ They are taught not only to know the Bible them- 
 selves, but to teach it to others. "What text, or what 
 hymn, would you repeat to a person in such or such 
 a state of mind ? What passage will comfort in sucli 
 a bodily condition? What Scripture will be suitable 
 in this or that time of joy? of trial? of spiritual 
 need ? By such questions as these the sisters are 
 taught to administer spiritual truth." f 
 
 On two evenings of the week there are prayer- 
 * Deaconesses, etc., p. 79. f Andover Eevieiv, 1888, p. 565. 
 
The Deaconesses of KAisERswEian. 187 
 
 meetings, and there are other occasional opportunities 
 for especial religious instruction. 
 
 The discipline, mutual prayer, and study of the 
 word result in a remarkable esprit de corjJS among 
 the members of the community where v^er scattered. 
 " We have no vows," said Dr. Fliedner, '' and I will 
 have no vows ; but a bond of union we must have ; 
 and the best bond is the word of God." This is 
 realized in the Bible Manual, which is used by the 
 Kaiserswerth Sisters as their common " daily food " 
 all over the world. " And our second bond," said he, 
 '' is singing." Kaiserswerth has its own Book of Sa- 
 cred Song to aid in binding together those whose fields 
 of labor are widely separated. This makes a strong 
 bond of union between sympathetic Christian hearts. 
 Beading the same precious promises, singing the same 
 hymns of praise, meeting each other at the throne of 
 grace, often at the same hour, and engaged in the 
 same work for one Master, even Christ, forms a bond 
 not easily broken. 
 
 We have taken the institution at Kaiserswerth as 
 representative. That is the general type of all others, 
 as it is the parent institution. Tliere are many others 
 on the Continent, but it will not be necessary to no- 
 tice them in detail, as in principle and practice and 
 in the end sought they are one, though they differ in 
 detail of arrangement and management. 
 
 There is one fact in regard to the institution at 
 Strasburg which is worthy of notice. In the Kaisers- 
 
ISS Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 wei'tli establishment, and others, chaplains are ap- 
 pointed by the Church or government and have the 
 general oversight and control. At Strasburg the 
 committee is a more prominent feature of the 
 system, and the lady at the head of the deacon- 
 esses, not the chaplain, has the command of the ex- 
 ecutive. Many of the deaconesses belong to the 
 higher ranks in life. This arrangement, we believe, 
 will commend itself to the American reader as 
 best adapted to the thought and tendency of our 
 times. 
 
 The ordination of the deaconess at Kaiserswerth 
 and Strasburg takes place in the chapel of the in- 
 stitution, and by the imposition of hands, with this 
 difference : that in the latter the two eldest sisters 
 take ^art in this act. What led to this practice 
 we do not know, but the matter was discussed at a 
 conference held at Kaiserswerth some years ago, and 
 it was given as the opinion of the conference that 
 it was without precedent in Scripture or the early 
 Church. 
 
 Having given, as far as can be ascertained, the form 
 for the ordination of a deaconess in the ancient 
 Church, it may be of interest to give one as used in 
 modern times. Kaiserswerth ha vine: sent forth more 
 deaconesses than any other institution, we have select- 
 ed the form used there, which is a fair type of those 
 used in other churches, and which, in part, were taken 
 from it : 
 
The Deaconesses of Kaisekswerth. 189 
 Service for the Ordination of Deaconesses, 
 
 AS USED AT KaISERSWERTH, PRUSSIA. 
 
 HYMN. 
 
 0, glorious Prince of Life, defend 
 Thy poor house here on earth ; extend 
 To it thy sliieldiiig care, aud deign 
 That here be never done in vain 
 The smallest work of love ; and fill 
 Each soul with strength to do thy will. 
 
 And 0, let Marj-'s spirit blest 
 
 Alike on every Sister rest, 
 
 That they in hope, through grief and pain, 
 
 May bear thy yoke and count it gain; 
 
 And if oppressive it should be. 
 
 Say to their hearts, "Come, follow Me; 
 
 For I am with thee — I am He 
 "Who bore the Cross on Calvary." 
 Then with fresh courage we'll arise, 
 Pursue our journey to the skies, 
 Fight for the home we have in view, 
 And, following thee, our foes subdue. 
 
 As thou thyself, in days gone by, 
 Supported uncomplainingly, 
 In silence and in gentleness, 
 And in a spirit full of peace. 
 For us the yoke of love — impart. 
 We pray thee, Lord, to every heart, 
 
 That peace which worketh full of love 
 And wearies not: grant this, to prove 
 That thou art in us and that we 
 Even on earth are still with thee. 
 Lord, our Saviour and Defense, 
 We seek no earthly recompense. 
 13 
 
190 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 Bui be our home thy mercy-seat, 
 And we shall tread with willing feet 
 Our pathway here, and, striving still 
 Our lowly duties to fulfill, 
 Stand waiting for that harvest bright 
 Reserved for those who walk in ligliL. 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 We are to-day assembled in the presence of our Lord 
 to celebrate a holy solemnity, to make a solemn but 
 joyful covenant. In order fully to understand the 
 deep meaning of this ceremony, let us imagine our- 
 selves standing amongst the first members of the 
 Church of Christ at Jei'usalem — that model of all 
 Christian churches upon earth — just founded by the 
 apostles, walking in the fear of the Lord and filled 
 with the consolation of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Here, in this newly planted garden of the Lord, 
 when the number of the disciples was multiplied, were 
 felt those wants and weaknesses which exist everj'- 
 where on earth. There were widows and orphans, 
 poor and sick members, who required daily assistance, 
 but whose needs were overlooked for want of regular 
 care. Then the twelve called together the multitude 
 of the disciples and commanded them to choose out 
 seven men of good report, full of the Holy Ghost and 
 of wisdom, to assist the widows and orphans, to take 
 care of the sick and poor, as servants of the Church, 
 or deacons. They then prayed, and laid their 
 hands on them, and ordained them to the office of 
 deacons. 
 
The Deaconesses of Kaiserswerth. 191 
 
 Not long after, the Church in like manner ap- 
 pointed female assistants to provide for the wants of 
 the sick and the poor, as servants of the Church, or 
 deaconesses. The apostle speaks with praise of 
 Phebe as of one in the service of the Corinthian 
 clmrch, wlio had been a succorer of manj^, and of 
 himself also. Rom. xvi, 1. 
 
 These deaconesses labored after the apostolic times 
 for many centuries profitably in the Church of Christ. 
 Their charity embraced the poor, the sick, prisoners, 
 and children ; and in the fourth century forty were 
 active in the church at Constantinople. 
 
 To-day these seven women before us desire to be ap- 
 pointed to a similar work of love in the service of the 
 Church as those forty — as Phebe in Cenchrea, as the 
 seven deacons in Jerusalem. They are of good re- 
 port, as those deacons ; they have prayed for the Holy 
 Spirit and the wisdom from above (Acts vi, 3) ; they 
 hold the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience 
 (1 Tim. iii, 9) ; for, feeling their own impurity and sin- 
 fulness, they have turned with penitence to the Sav- 
 iour of sinners, and he has made known to them the 
 covenant of grace and purified their hearts by faith. 
 They have also been proved, as St. Paul required of 
 the deacons (1 Tim. iii, 10) ; they have gone through 
 a long period of probation, that we mighfc see whether 
 they were skillful and unblamable in the service of the 
 sick and poor (1 Tim. iii, 10) ; they have, under the 
 direction of the superior and the physician, exercised 
 
192 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 themselves in tlie bodily care of the sick and poor, 
 whose servants tliey are to be ; and under the direction 
 of the clergyman learned to satisfy the spiritual wants 
 of those under their care, as far as is consistent with 
 their office. AVlienever they could they have relieved 
 the afflicted and miserable, and have diligently fol- 
 lowed every good work. 1 Tim. v, 10. 
 
 Having been found worthy to fulfill the duties of 
 deaconess, we will to day, in the name of the Holy 
 Trinity, admit them to this office. 
 
 But it is fitting, my dear sisters, that here, in the 
 presence of God and this congregation, the duties to 
 which you are about to devote yourselves should again 
 be laid before you. 
 
 You are to be servants of the Church of God, as 
 deaconesses, especially as ministers of her sick and 
 poor, but also, if need be, of prisoners and destitute 
 children ; it will therefore be your duty, according as 
 you shall be specially directed, to serve in a threefold 
 capacity, as 
 
 1. Servants of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 2. Servants of the sick and poor for Jesus' sake. 
 
 3. Servants one to another. 
 
 First, as servants of the Lord Jesus. You are not 
 only bound, as every Christian, to live to the honor 
 of God, but you have also made it the special object 
 of your life to serve him with all your powers in the 
 sick and weak members of his body. You are 
 therefore so much the more bound to die to all the 
 
The Deacoi^esses of Kaisekswerth. 193 
 
 pleasures, lienors, riches, and joys of the world ; to 
 seek your joy in this service of love through grati- 
 tude to Him who took upon him the form of a serv- 
 ant and suffered death for you, even the death of the 
 cross. 
 
 You are not to seek for abundant earthly reward 
 in this service : if you have food and raiment you 
 must be therewith content. 
 
 You must not seek honor from man ; you must go 
 forth unto Jesus, bearing his reproach. 
 
 You must not seek earthly pleasure and ease ; you 
 must deny yourselves, and take up your cross daily 
 and follow him. 
 
 What an honor is yours ! You are to minister to 
 him whom it is the highest honor of the holy angels 
 to serve — the King of kings and Lord of lords — to 
 serve him as his handmaid, to wait upon him in his 
 members. 
 
 As Mary of Bethany had always before her eyes 
 the one thing needful, and therefore rejoiced to sit at 
 Jesus's feet, but was also ready, when it was permitted 
 her, to wait upon and to anoint him, as she did not 
 shrink from expense, trouble, or the derision of men, 
 so must you always desire, on the one hand, to hear 
 Jesus, and on the other to serve him with a love which 
 " beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all 
 things, endureth all things." Then will his glorious 
 promises be yours. He will say to you, " I was naked 
 and ye clothed me ; I was sick and ye visited me ; I 
 
19i Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 was in prison and ye came unto me." " Wlioso re- 
 ceiveth a little cliild in my name receivetli me." 
 " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the king- 
 dom prepared for you from the foundation of the 
 world." St. Matt, xxv, 36, 34. 
 
 Secondly, as servants of the sick and poor, for 
 Jesus's sake. As St. Paul made himself servant unto 
 all that he might gain the more, so must you be 
 especially servants of the sick and poor, not to obtam 
 praise from them, but out of love and submission to 
 the Lord, whose representatives you are. 
 
 Therefore you must not serve them with such in- 
 dulgence as might strengthen their perverse will, but 
 always with the holy zeal of parental affection, striv- 
 ino^ to win their souls for the Lord. 
 
 Thirdly, as servants one to another. It is your 
 duty, my sisters, when several of you are working to- 
 gether, to show that love which leads us in lowliness 
 of mind to esteem others better than ourselves. 
 Phil, ii, 3. Whosoever will be great among you, 
 let her be the servant of all. If you are one by a 
 living faith in our common Lord and Saviour, you 
 are more nearly related to one another than if you 
 were united by the closest ties of blood. You are 
 acknowledged daughters by the great High-priest, 
 who says to you : " By this shall all men know that 
 ye are my disciples, if ye love another." St. John 
 xiii, 35. 
 
 As such Christian servants, it is your duty, 
 
The Deaconesses of Kaiserswertii. 195 
 
 Finally, witli childlike obedience to respect the au- 
 thority of the superiors of the deaconess institution, , 
 who are over you in the Lord, and labor among you 
 with parental love. 
 
 In the presence of God and this congregation, I 
 now demand of you, Are you determined faithfully 
 to fulfill these duties belonging to the office of a 
 deaconess, in the fear of the Lord, according to his 
 huly word ? 
 
 ^Answer, Yes. 
 
 May Jesus Christ, the Chief Shepherd and Bishop 
 of your souls, seal your profession and vow with his 
 Yea and Au^en, and own you forever as his. Amen. 
 
 Draw near, and give me and the superior your 
 hands in conlirmation of your promise. 
 
 ^ IT?) eel down."^ 
 
 The triune God, God the Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost, bless you, a!id make you faithful unto death, 
 and give unto you the crown of everlasting life. 
 Amen. 
 
 Let us who are here assembled, and desire for these 
 deaconesses salvation and blessing, pra}^ for them. 
 " O come, let ns worship and fall down, and kneel 
 before the Lord our Maker." 
 
 Tf The congregation Jcneel. 
 
 * The deaconesses are ordaiDed with imposition of hands. 
 
196 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 Father of mercy, who hath led these thy servants 
 to thy Son, so that they have given themselves up 
 to him for his own possession, and desire to serve 
 him with all the powers of their body and soul in ad- 
 ministering to the sick and poor; we humbly be- 
 seech thee, be merciful unto them and direct their 
 hearts into thy love, and into the patient waiting for 
 Christ, that they may live and work in thee and J*e- 
 joice in tliy favor always. 
 
 O Lord Jesus, thou merciful High-priest, who hast 
 purchased these souls with thy blood, thine they are; 
 they have devoted themselves to thy service. En- 
 lighten them with the bright beams of thy truth, 
 strengthen the weak by thy power, and give them an 
 abundant measure of thy meekness and humility, 
 that they may acknowledge themselves unprofitable 
 servants before thee, and desire to be and do nothing 
 of themselves, but only to the honor of thy glorious 
 name. 
 
 O God the Holy Ghost, thou Spirit of peace, replen- 
 ish tliem with thy peace, that they, as thy messen- 
 gers, may bring peace to the homes and families of 
 the sick, and the circle of sisters ; grant that they 
 may be ever adorned " with the ornament of a meek 
 and quiet spirit," and may be so governed by the 
 spirit of obedience toward all their superiors, feel- 
 ing that in performing their commands they are 
 obeying thee. Heb. xiii, 17; 1 St. Pet. ii. 13; 1 Cor. 
 xiv, 34. 
 
The Deaconesses of Kaiseeswektii. 197 
 
 Grant them to know, O triune God, that they serve 
 thee, and not man. Pour out thy peace upon them 
 like a river. Isa. xlviii, 18. Let thy free Spirit sus- 
 tain them, that they may always feel tliat it is good 
 for them to be in thy service, and that godliness hath 
 the promise of the life that now is and of that which 
 is to come. 
 
 And when duty calls them afar off, go thou with 
 them, as thou didst with Jacob. Keep them by thine 
 angels in all their ways, lest at any time they dash 
 their feet against a stone ; lead them with thy fa- 
 therly hand, guard them by thy watchful eye, that 
 when they walk through the dark valley they may 
 not fear, and in the hour of death clothe them with 
 the white garments of thy righteousness (Rev. iii, 5), 
 and give them palms of victory in their hands (Rev. 
 vii, 9), and grant unto them the crown of life. Rev. 
 ii, 10. Amen, Amen. 
 
 Hymn II. 
 
 BEFORE THE CELEBRATJOX OF THE HOLY COMMUNION'. 
 
 Lord, let them of those five be found 
 Who, when they hear the joyful sound 
 
 Of thy return, shall bear 
 Their shining lamps, and on that morn 
 To greet thy second advent's dawn 
 
 With joyful hearts prepare. 
 
 Lord, we make our prayer to thee, 
 That failh, and hope, and charity 
 May all their hearts inspire. 
 
198 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 thou, of every light most bright, 
 Before whom darkness turns to hght, 
 Quicken each good desire. 
 
 Preserve their souls in faithfulness, 
 Come quickly, heal, renew, and bless. 
 
 Grant that each hour may be 
 So counted, blessed Lord, as thine, 
 That some good deed in each may shine, 
 
 Each day be given to thee. 
 
 Exhortation. 
 
 Ye have now entered as servants of Christ into his 
 vineyard ; to jou is intrnsted the joyful duty of min- 
 istering to your Saviour in his sick and weak mem- 
 bers. Arise, then, arise, my sisters, gird yourselves 
 as the wise virgins for his service. Behold, the Bride- 
 groom Cometh ; go ye out to meet him, with your 
 lamps in your hands. ' He standeth at the door, and 
 knocketh ; in the form, indeed, of a servant, in the 
 sick and miserable around you. Open then unto him 
 (Rev. iii, 19), feed him in the hungry, clothe him in 
 the naked (St. Matt, xxv, 40), receive him in his little 
 ones (St. Matt, xviii, 5), visit him in the prisoners, 
 bind up liis wounds in the sick, and accompany him 
 in the dead to his last resting-place. 
 
 Yours is a blessed office, but also beset with difficul- 
 ties. How soon will the hands become weary and the 
 knees feeble. Isa. xxxv, 3. Yet, thanks be to God, 
 ye know the Bridegroom of your souls when he comes 
 to you in other form than that of a servant ; ye know 
 
The Deaconesses of Kaisersweeth. 199 
 
 him as the Lord of Glory, who anoints Avitli tlie oil 
 of gladness of his Holy Spirit. Therefore have ye 
 desired this feast of mercy. Ye say, I have need to 
 be fed of thee, and comest thou to me ? 
 
 And lo, he is here, the King of Glory, and saith, 
 " Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, 
 and I will refresh you." Then he, the Bridegroom, 
 standeth in glorious majesty. He desires to adorn 
 you with his wedding garment — to give you himself, 
 and all his divine power, in the communion of his 
 body and blood ; and ye have well done that ye are 
 come. All things are ready. Open, then, your hands, 
 your mouth, your heart, and receive of his fullness, 
 grace for grace. St. John i, 16. Yea, taste and see 
 how gracious the Lord is. Blessed is the man that 
 trustetli in him. 
 
 During the administration is sung: 
 
 O Christ, thou Lamb of God, who takest away the 
 sins of the world : have mercy upon us. O Christ, 
 thou Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the 
 world : have mercy upon us. O Christ, thou Lamb 
 of God, who takest away the sins of the world : grant 
 us thy peace. Amen. 
 
 The Thanksgiving. 
 
 CONCLUDING HYMN. 
 
 Source of all bliss and joy divine, 
 My deepest love, Lord, is thine. 
 To feed, to clothe, to solace thee, 
 Saviour, this is granted me. 
 
200 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modekn. 
 
 When in true thankful love we bear 
 The poor man's burden, grief and care, 
 These words to us are sent from thee, 
 Come, ye blessed, unto me. 
 
 All those who little children love, 
 "Whose tender Iiearts with pity move 
 For ev'ry sufferer here below, 
 For the lone captives in their woe ; 
 
 Those who behold the p-^or's sad tears, 
 And still their weeping and their fears. 
 To them a bright reward thou'lt be, 
 A shield, a guard, a panoply. 
 
 With heavenly fire then fill each heart 
 Jesus, and to us impart 
 Still more of love, until it be 
 Our highest, chief felicit3^ 
 On earth to minister to thee. 
 
 Then the blessing is snng : 
 
 The grace of onr Lord Jesns Clirist and the love of 
 onr God, and the fellowshijD of the Holy Ghost, be 
 with ns all. Amen. ^ 
 
 * This ordination service is taken from Sisterhoods and Deaconesses, 
 by Rev. H. C. Potler, D.D. 
 
Deaconesses in England. 201 
 
 CHAFTEK XIII. 
 
 ' DEACONESSES IN ENGLAND. 
 
 Among the earliest efforts made for the restoration 
 of the order of deaconesses, after the Keformation, 
 were those of the Puritans of England. We get some 
 glimpses of the subject in the history of those times. 
 The learned divine, Thomas Cartwright, in a contro- 
 versy with Archbishop Whitgift, contends that in 
 the early Church there were " two kinds of deacons," 
 some of whom had charge of the "poor strangers, 
 and the poor who were sick." And " those," he says, 
 " St. Paul calleth in one place (Rom. xvi, 1) deacon- 
 esses^ and in another place (1 Tim. v, 10) ' widows.' " 
 On these passages he offers this comment : " As there 
 are poor which are sick in every church, I do not 
 see how a better and more convenient order can 
 be devised for the attendance of them, on their sick- 
 ness and other infirmities, than this which St. Paul 
 appointeth." 
 
 We need not be surprised at finding these early al- 
 lusions to the female diaconate among the English 
 Puritans. They were closely allied in thought and 
 principle to the Protestants of the Low Countries, 
 and many from England sought refuge among them. 
 
202 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 The congregation in Wesel, on the Lower Ehine, em- 
 ployed deaconesses as a part of the regular Church 
 organization, from 1575 to 1610. In the same year, 
 1575, as appears by the following extract from the 
 *' Conclusions " drawn up by Cartwright and Travers, 
 this regulation was passed by an assembly of sixty 
 ministers of the Eastern Counties of England, and re- 
 mitted for their direction to their several parishes : 
 " Touching deacons of both sorts, namely, wen and 
 women, the Church shall be admonished what is re- 
 quired by the apostle; and that they are not to 
 choose men of custom or course for their riches, but 
 for their faith, zeal, and integrity; and that the 
 Church is to pray in the meantime to be so directed 
 that they may choose them that are meet. Let the 
 names of those who are thus chosen be published the 
 next Lord's day, and after that, their duties to the 
 Church, and the Church's duty toward them ; then 
 let them be received into their office w^ith the general 
 prayers of the whole Church." * This was an attempt 
 to revive the diaconate in a scriptural form, deacons 
 of both serfs, men and women. After admonition by 
 those in authority, of the kind of person required by 
 the apostle (1 Tim. iii) ; after prayer for the direction 
 of the Holy Ghost, the Church w^as to choose them 
 tliat were meet (Acts vi), and these were to be in- 
 ducted into office with the prayers of the entire con- 
 gregation. 
 
 * NeaFs Hist of the Puritans^ vol. i, c. vi. 
 
Deaconesses in England. 203 
 
 The Puritans carried their ideas into Holland, 
 whither thej were driven by persecution, having by 
 the Reformation escaped the intolerance of Home 
 only to fall under that of the Chnrch of England in 
 the time of Henry the Eighth and Queen Elizabeth. 
 "We have the following description of the Church of 
 the English Puritans in Amsterdam in a work by 
 Governor Bradford, entitled, A Dialogue or the Sum 
 of a Conference hetiveen Some Young Men^ Born in 
 Nexo England^ and Sundry Ancient Men, that Came 
 out of Holland and Old England: * 
 
 " Young 3fen. But before we end this matter we 
 desire yon would say something of those two Churches 
 that were so long in exile, of whose guides w^e have 
 already heard. 
 
 " Ancient Men. At Amsterdam, before their divis- 
 ion and breach, they were about three hundred commu- 
 nicants, and they had for their pastor and teacher those 
 two eminent men before named (Smith and Robin- 
 son), and in our time fonr grave men for ruling elders, 
 and three able and godly men for deacons, one ancient 
 widow for a deaconess who did them much service 
 for many years, thongh she was sixty years of age 
 when chosen. She honored her place, and was an or- 
 nament to the congregation. She usually sat in a 
 convenient place in the congregation, with a little 
 birchen rod in her hand, and kept little children in 
 great awe from disturbing the congregation. She 
 
 * Written in 1648. 
 
204: Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 did frequently visit tlie sick and weak, especially 
 women, and as there was need called out maids and 
 young women to watcli and do them other helps as 
 their necessity did require ; and if they were poor 
 she would gather relief for them of those who were 
 able, or acquaint the deacons, and she was obeyed as 
 a mother in Israel and an officer of Christ." ^ 
 
 All efforts made to restore the order of deaconesses 
 prior to the nineteenth century, though accomplishing 
 some good, gave it no permanency. Prejudices against 
 female ordination or appointment to specific religious 
 functions were too strong, and the supposed resem- 
 blance of the female diaconate to the institutions of 
 popery prevented its establishment. We must not 
 suppose that the Church did none of the work which 
 deaconesses were assigned to do. ]^o century of the 
 Christian era ever did so much to mitigate human 
 suffering or elevate mankind as the past century, 
 l^either must we suppose that individual Protestant 
 women have not made themselves felt in the distinc- 
 tive fields generally allotted to deaconesses. They 
 have done much, but without organization or recog- 
 nition by the Church. The Christian impulse has 
 sent them forth to comfort the afflicted, teach the ig- 
 norant, and raise the fallen. 
 
 Elizabeth Fry, whose name will never be forgotten, 
 was a deaconess indeed, in spirit and labor, recog- 
 nized by Christ and the world. She bore not the 
 
 * Young's Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers, p. 455. 
 
Deaconesses in England. 205 
 
 name, but to tlie poor, the suffering, the prisoner, she 
 performed the offices. The earlj deaconesses visited 
 the prisoners, and preached to them the word of life. 
 So did Elizabeth Fry. She was pre-eminently the 
 prisoners friend, a noble, godly woman, a Christian 
 philiintliropist, an honor to her sex, and a benefactor 
 to her race. The poet might have said of her as 
 truthfully as of Howard : 
 
 " The spirits of the just, 
 When first arrayed in Virtue's purest robe 
 They saw Am, Howard, traversing the globe, 
 Mistook a mortal for an angel guest, ' 
 
 And asked what seraph foot the earth impressed. 
 Onward he moves ; disease and death retire, 
 And murmuring demons hate him and admire." 
 
 Mary Fletcher among tlie Methodists, and Hannah 
 More among the Episcopalians, were pioneers in house- 
 to-house visitation, in the establishment of schools for 
 the education of the lower classes, and in imparting 
 relimous knowledo^e. This is kindred work to that 
 done by deaconesses, though the title was not worn 
 by them. 
 
 Germany was indebted to England for the initial 
 
 impulse given Fliedner's work through Mrs. Fry, 
 
 whose labors among female convicts revealed to the 
 
 German pastor the needs of his own countrywomen 
 
 of the same class, and suggested the possibility of 
 
 reforming the characters of many, and lessening the 
 
 sorrows of all. She has paid her indebtedness with 
 
 large interest by giving back to England the train- 
 14 
 
206 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 ing, experience, and principles of her institutions, in 
 the persons of Florence IS'ightingale and Agnes 
 Jones, whose names will add luster to England's phi- 
 lantliropy as long as her history is know^n. 
 
 From childhood Florence Nightingale had known 
 something of Fliedner's work, by one of his reports 
 which had by chance fallen into her hands. Grand 
 results are often born of trivial circumstances — inci- 
 dents insignificant in themselves, but behind which is 
 a providence guided by Infinite Wisdom. From that 
 time she longed to fit herself for a nurse. In 1851 
 she went to Kaiserswerth for the first time. She 
 twice became an inmate of the institution, and hav- 
 ing received its training went forth upon her benefi- 
 cent career. She brought to her work great nobility 
 of character, social influence, intellectual ability, a 
 genius for organization and execution of plans, and a 
 heart in full sympathy with liuman suffering. At 
 the time of the Crimean War, with a small band of 
 nurses, she went to Turkey and the Crimea, and 
 effected a reformation in the sanitary condition of the 
 British army. She worked with a devotion, endur- 
 ance and success, that won the admiration of the 
 Christian world. In connection with reports on the 
 sanitary condition of the army in India, she contrib- 
 uted some of the most remarkable and valuable pub- 
 lic papers ever written. Her actual work among the 
 sick is but a small part of what she has done. The 
 influence of her example, her voice, and pen, in 
 
Deaconesses in England. 207 
 
 arousing the English people, cannot be overestimated. 
 The noble work which she inaugurated is still going 
 on, in the institute for training, sustenance, and pro- 
 tection of nurses and hospital attendants, raised to 
 testify a nation's gratitude and obligation to her per- 
 severing industry and untiring energy. 
 
 In this connection we mention one more of En- 
 gland's reiined and wealthy daughters, wlio obtained 
 her training at Kaiserswerth, then returned home to 
 perform such labors, and wield such an influence, as 
 have made her name imuiortal; and finally, to lay 
 down lier life for the welfare of others. Slie died a 
 martyr to lier zeal in the cause of suffering human- 
 ity. We have reference to Agnes Jones, whom Flor- 
 ence Nightingale has styled "the pioneer of work- 
 house nursing." She was a devoted young lady of 
 Christ-like spirit, whose chief joy was in mitigating 
 the sorrows and miseries of the poor. 
 
 A few lines from her journal will show the spirit 
 with which she sought the deaconess institution. 
 " When, this time two years ago, I left Kaiserswerth 
 my wish and prayer were that I might sometime 
 return there to be fitted and trained for active work 
 in my Master's service. How often since have that 
 wish and prayer been breathed ! " 
 
 Her prayer was answered. She returned and la- 
 bored side by side with other deaconesses, doing the 
 most menial offices. She afterward spent one year in 
 a hospital under the direction of Miss Nightingale to 
 
208 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 prepare herself to take charge of the nurses in the 
 Liverpool workhouse. 
 
 Three years were passed in this position, winning 
 the love of the poor sufferers, who spoke of her as 
 " the lady ; " leading many of them to Christ. Then 
 the Master- called her from labor to reward. An 
 infectious fever, contracted in the discharge of duty, 
 was the messenger he sent. A nurse bending over 
 her, as the final scene w'as drawing to a close, witness- 
 ing her sufferings, said, " Yon w^ill soon be with 
 Jesus" '' I shall be better there," she answered ; and 
 with the words her soul went home to eternal felicity. 
 
 The labors of these two women taught the English 
 people the necessity and importance of special train- 
 ing for that kind of work, and their devotion was an 
 inspiration. The deaconess w^ork received a new 
 impetus. This could not be otherwise when those 
 engaged in it "recorded the death of one of their 
 bravest and best, and turned their 'in memoriam' 
 into a battle-cry to call more laborers into the vine- 
 yard, closing their notice of her life wnth the appeal : 
 
 " ' The Son of God goes forth to war ; 
 Who follows in his train ? ' 
 
 O daughters of God, are there so few to answer?" * 
 Much of this labor is done in England by the vari- 
 ous sisterhoods that have some connection with the 
 Anglican Church ; many of them are presided over 
 by clergymen, and are under the supervision of the 
 
 * Una and her Paupers. 
 
Deaconesses in England. 209 
 
 bishop within whose diocese they are located. Their 
 exact relation to the Church is not defined, and is a 
 matter of controversy among themselves. The first 
 of these was founded in 1847, by Dr. Pusey, at Park 
 Village, Kegent's Park, and was formed of a small 
 body of women desirous of living together under 
 religious rule. The next was formed by Miss Lydia 
 Sellon at Plymouth. This institution became notori- 
 ous for its Romish practices, and called forth many 
 severe criticisms by its absurd and cruel penances. 
 There is no doubt but impulses of piety and charity 
 led to its foundation, and many acts of devotion and 
 self-sacrifice to the cause of God and humanity charac- 
 terized the " sisters." But in a very short time the 
 whole spirit and tendency of the institution were Pom- 
 ish. The outward symbols and practices were of such 
 character as to justify the criticisms passed upon it. 
 
 In England the terms " sister " and " deaconess " 
 are not quite synonymous, as they are in Protestant 
 countries on the Continent. The Protestant " sisters " 
 of England are never called '^ deaconesses " although 
 the converse is sometimes true. The term deaconess 
 is never applied but to those who render spiritual as 
 well as temporal aid. 
 
 To show briefly the attitude of these sisterhoods 
 toward the Church, and their positive tendency to 
 Pomanism, we quote a paragraph from a recent 
 writer : " Of English sisterhoods Perry's History 
 of the English Church says : ' There are now (1886) 
 
210 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modeen. 
 
 twenty-four sisterhoods of religions communities, 
 njost of them with many branches for carrying on 
 religious work.' They do many deeds of beneficence, 
 yet they are looked upon with distrust by numbers 
 even in the Anglican Church itself. And this can- 
 not cause surprise when it is known that penance, 
 confession, and the taking of the three vows are not 
 only allowed, but also advocated by many, if not most 
 of them. ... It was a healthy Christian spirit 
 which prompted Agnes Jones to say : ' I have no 
 sympathy with the High Church party, and so 
 should not enter a sisterhood even were I free . . . 
 from home ties.' And again, when Miss Nightingale 
 urged her to take a year's training in a London hos- 
 pital, she wrote, in regard to going, to one of two 
 which had been suggested : ' If ever I contemplated 
 the first ... it was at an end when I found I must 
 become a sister to do so.' " ^ 
 
 It is a significant fact that the sisterhoods are far 
 more popular in England than the deaconess institu- 
 tions, and this shows the tendencies of the Church 
 toward the principles and practices of Romanism. The 
 sisterhood itself is sought, and not the work that can 
 be accomplished by the organization. " The sister- 
 hood exists primarily for the sake of forming a relig- 
 ious connnunity, but deaconesses live together for the 
 sake of the work itself, attracted to deaconess homes 
 by the want which in most populous towns is calling 
 
 * Andover Review, 1888, p. 580. 
 
Deaconksses in England. 211 
 
 londlj for assistance, and with the view of being 
 trained therein for spiritual and temporal usefuhiess 
 among tlie poor." * 
 
 The Rev. H. P. Denison, nephew and curate of 
 Archdeacon Denison, says, in a letter to Mr. James 
 Ponsford, of Ciieddar, England : " Among us the dea- 
 coness form of life has never been a very great suc- 
 cess. Many of the bishops have tried to give it life, 
 and there are now deaconess institutions on the Kai- 
 serswerth model, but they are comparatively few and 
 insignificant. On the other hand, the sisterhoods are 
 become a thoroughly established institution and flour- 
 ish and increase." f With this we leave the sister- 
 hoods, as outside the scope of our work and funda- 
 mentally different in character from deaconesses. 
 
 The first deaconess institution in England was that 
 formed in 1861 in North London, and now called the 
 London Diocesan Deaconess Institution. It was 
 founded upon the Kaiserswerth model, and adopted a 
 modification of its dress. It put itself in connection 
 with the parent institution, and was looked upon as 
 the London mother-house. It was also represented 
 at the conferences, applied to them for information 
 on important points of detail, and was presided over 
 for some time by one who had seen and known the 
 work at Kaiserswerth. But since its early history the 
 opinions and spirit of its leaders have changed, and 
 Kaiserswerth is not now recognized as possessing a 
 * Anglican deaconesses. f Used bj permission. 
 
212 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 true scrij3tiiral diacouate. Prelatical assumptions have 
 taken the phice of Christian fraternity, and the organi- 
 zation from which the London deaconess institution 
 caught its first entliusiasm is ignored. 
 
 The female diaconate has been revived at Kaisers- 
 werth ; from that source and center the work has 
 spread, and what there is of it in the world to-day has 
 come from the institution planted by Fliedner, as 
 mucli as modern Sunday-schools have come from the 
 work of Robert Raikes. But some English church- 
 men deny the claim of Kaiserswerth to a true diaco- 
 nate ; German deaconesses are not in the " succession," 
 those of Eno^land are. 
 
 "In 1861, after being held in abeyance for one 
 thousand years, the ancient order was at last ' revived ' 
 in the person of Catherine Elizabeth Ferard, invested 
 duly with the office of deaconess by BishojD Tait of 
 London."'^ Poor Pastor Fliedner! After having 
 established an institution in Prussia that has sent its 
 branches to all parts of the world, its deaconesses be- 
 ing numbered by thousands, its work the admiration 
 of mankind, is lost sight of, or remembered only to 
 be aspersed. In the convocation of 1862, one speaker 
 said, " The title of deaconess has been dragged in the 
 mud ; it has been assumed by women, as at Kaisers- 
 werth and Sti'asburg and in other places, who repudi- 
 ate the Catholic system of orders." 'Now the title 
 has been taken out of " the mud," and the order, 
 
 * Hook's Church Dictionary. 
 
Deaconesses in England. 213 
 
 after being in abeyance for "one thousand years," 
 has been " revived " by the imposition of hands, in 
 the ordination of a deaconess by Bisliop Tait of Lon- 
 don, afterward Archbishop of Canterbury. This is 
 an assumption dislionorable to tlie English hierarchy, 
 and offensive to the greater part of intelligent Chris- 
 tendom. FHedner's name, connected witli the order 
 of deaconesses and its revival in modern times, will 
 shine brightly when that of Bishop Tait is lost in ob- 
 livion. 
 
 It is but just, however, to say that these views are 
 not held by all English Church people. The work of 
 Pastor Fliedner is acknowledged and appreciated by 
 many. Such views as tliose quoted above were not 
 held by Dean Howson and his co-workers in reviving 
 the ancient female diaconate. In a work now before 
 us, entitled Deaconesses in the Church of England^ 
 written by a deaconess and having a prefatory note from 
 the Archbishop of Canterbury, is this acknowledg- 
 ment : " It was not until about forty-three years ago, 
 at which time Pastor FHedner commenced, in a very 
 small way at first, the now^ noble institution at Kaisers- 
 werth, that any attempt was made to restore the old 
 apostolic order of deaconesses." 
 
 Some advocates of deaconess institutions in England 
 were able to rise above party considerations and plead 
 for them for their own sake, and for the sake of the 
 field of usefulness they would offer for the thousands 
 of English Christian women who fail to enter the 
 
21^ Deaconesses, Anciext and Modern. 
 
 Lord's vineyard " because no man hath hired them." 
 What a responsibiHtj rests on those men of whom ic 
 can be said, " Ye entered not in yourselves, and them 
 that were entering in ye hindered," and on those who 
 fail to open the door where multitudes stand waiting 
 to enter for consecration and labor. 
 
 At a diocesan conference held at Winchester, Can- 
 on Sumner read a paper, in which he said : " I am 
 perfectly aware — no one more so — by practical per- 
 sonal experience, that from the many thousand par- 
 sonages and squires' houses throughout the length and 
 breadth of the land a band of ministering servants 
 of the Lord daily go forth on their holy mission of 
 love. I desire in no way to disparage their services 
 nor to supersede them ; but there are women who 
 have no special domestic ties to prevent their self- 
 dedication ; there are some who desire to give them- 
 selves up more wholly to the work than it is possible 
 to do amidst the various details of ordinary home life, 
 and it is for these that I plead, that they may find a 
 recognized place of work, and may become under 
 episcopal supervision a part of the authorized spirit- 
 ual machinery of the diocese. Can we not, on such 
 a question as this, rise above party ? It is no party 
 question. Institutions which have found advocates 
 in Fliedner, Arnold, Howson, Pennefather, need cer- 
 tainly not be suspected of necessarily leading to Rome. 
 Why may not we meet on the one common gi'ound 
 of Church principles, and strive, as far as we can, at 
 
Deaconesses in England. 215 
 
 any rate in the diocese in which through God's provi- 
 dence our own lot in life is cast, to restore to its riglit- 
 f al position the authorized ministry of deaconesses in 
 the Church of England ? " 
 
 The official Year-Book of the Church of Eno^land 
 for the year 1888 gives a list of eight deaconess insti- 
 tutions which are diocesan organizations, having the 
 sanction of the bishops, and under clerical supervis- 
 ion. The following are the dioceses to which they 
 belong, and the post-towns where they are located : 
 
 Dl. CESE3. 
 
 Post-towns. 
 
 Canterbury. 
 
 Maidstone. 
 
 Chester. 
 
 Chester. 
 
 Ely. 
 
 Bedford. 
 
 London. 
 
 Loudon. 
 
 Salisbury, 
 
 Salisbury. 
 
 Winchester. 
 
 Farnhara. 
 
 Rochester. 
 
 Clapham Park. 
 
 These institutions are doing much good, but are 
 not as prosperous as is desired. They are brought in 
 contrast with the sisterhoods which are fostered by 
 the High Cliurch party, and, having none of the at- 
 tractions of doctrine or ceremony wliicli are supposed 
 to draw candidates, are left without the encourage- 
 ment which they deserve. Cut off from the institu- 
 tions of the Continent by Anglican exclusiveness tliey 
 have lost the enthusiasm essential to success. 
 
 There are other institutions in England more lib- 
 eral in organization, having a broader sweep of vision, 
 untrammeled by any restricted views of apostolic 
 
216 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 succession, who have only the glory of God and the 
 good of men in view, and who welcome light from 
 all sources, recognizing the good in all. Such is the 
 institution at Mildma}^ more prosperous than any 
 kindred institution in England. 
 
 The Rev. William Peimefather, a pastor in the 
 English Church, instituted conferences of Christian 
 workers in a truly catholic spirit, " to bring into 
 closer social communion the members of various 
 Churches, as children of the same Father, animated 
 by the same life, and heirs together of the same 
 glory." * His views in regard to the employment of 
 women in religious work are set forth by him in a 
 letter to Eev. H. C. Potter, D.D., of :N^ew York : 
 
 *' The subject of wotnan's work in the Lord's vine- 
 yard has for many years occupied my thouglits, and 
 we have had for upward of eleven years (written in 
 1871) a home, into which we have received ladies of 
 whose piety and earnest zeal we have been assured. 
 . . . I do not think the importance of employing 
 pious and intelligent women in direct work for our 
 Lord and Master can be overestimated. It is evi- 
 dent that in our Lord's life-time such ministered unto 
 him, and that in the very early days of Christianity 
 their labors tended to the furtherance of the Gospel. 
 All false religions tend to degrade woman. The 
 Gospel of God's grace raises her to her original posi- 
 tion as a real help to the other sex. God sends man 
 
 * Life and Letters of Rev. W. Pennefather, p. 305. 
 
Deaconesses in England. 217 
 
 and woman out into his vineyard, hand in hand, to 
 labor in the blessed work of binding up the broken 
 in heart, and it seems to me that it requires the 
 strength of the one and tlie skillfulness of the other 
 to effect the work. In our divine Master (the per- 
 fect One) there Avere united the perfections of the 
 one and the other." * 
 
 The Mikhnay work was organized by Eev. W. Pen- 
 nefather at Barnet in 1860 upon a very modest scale. 
 In 1861 it was transferred to Mild may when he be- 
 came pastor in that place. It is cliaracterized by 
 great freedom and simplicity, and while in its general 
 spirit it follows the Kaiserswerth model, in its details 
 it has marked elasticity and adaptation to the work to 
 which the deaconesses have addressed themselves. 
 
 The Mild may institution comprises at present (1888) 
 three main departments : a deaconess house, a nursing 
 house, and a training house for home and foreign 
 missionaries. The deaconess house will claim our 
 chief attention. It will be impossible to give in the 
 space that can be devoted to this institution any 
 thing more than a bare outline of the work that 
 is there done, and yet to omit all detail would pre- 
 vent giving such information as we desire our readers 
 to have. 
 
 The Central Deaconess House and the Conference 
 Hall form one large building. The latter will seat an 
 audience of two thousand five hundred people, and is 
 * Sisterhoods and Deaconesses, by H. C. Potter, D.D., p. 89. 
 
218 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 used for the large conferences of Christian workers 
 so often convened. The Central Deaconess House 
 is the busy hive whence so many laborers issue, for 
 woman in this case " goetli forth to work until the 
 evening," or ratlier until the night, as very much of 
 the deaconess work among the poor must be done in 
 the evening. 
 
 As a rule every deaconess is expected to come 
 from her post of labor to the comparatively pure air 
 of Mildmay to sleep, for the morning and evening 
 meal, and also for luncheon, if within reach. While 
 great simplicity is observed, both of dress and accom- 
 modation, there is a studied brightness in the furnish- 
 ing and decoration of their rooms. Tlie deaconesses' 
 sitting-room is an immense apartment, with windows 
 along one side, hung with curtains. Easy chairs, 
 sofas, small tables, pictures, illuminations, and flowers 
 abound ; every thing that can give an air of lionie 
 comfort to eyes wearied with squalor and misery. 
 Below this is a room known as *' No. 6," where all 
 house meetings are held. The dining-room is in the 
 basement. There are also many other rooms in that 
 department that are constantly in use : the invalid 
 kitchen, a sort of meat and soup dispensary for the 
 poor ; the orphan school-room ; the Dorcas room, 
 where some of the deaconesses are employed in cut- 
 ting out clothing or superintending the aged widows' 
 sewing-class. These widows receive pay for their work, 
 while the clothing they make is given to the poor. 
 
Deaconesses in England. 219 
 
 'NeiiY at hand is the flower mission room, in charge 
 of a deaconess, where about two tlioiisand bunches 
 of flowers are made up every week, in summer time. 
 Each is adorned with a bright-colored text, then taken 
 to the hospitals and workhouse infirmaries. In tlie 
 winter months all these rooms are crowded, three 
 evenings in tlie week, with men's night-schools, which 
 have no rivals in England. The number of names 
 on the books exceeds twelve hundred. These are 
 taught bj deaconesses. The Bible is read on two 
 evenings, a scriptural address is given on the other, 
 and the schools always close with singing and prayer. 
 A circulating library is also attached. The night- 
 school exerts a great influence for good. Many of 
 the men pass from it to tlie Sunday Bible classes. 
 There are Bible classes for men, women, and chil- 
 dren, for ladies, for young men, for girls of different 
 ages and ranks, and for servants. Many of these are 
 conducted by deaconesses. 
 
 So far, as to the Central Deaconess House, it 
 should be added that, in addition, there are a large 
 number of probationers and embryo deaconesses yet 
 under training. '' Fresh candidates applying for ad- 
 mission to the deaconess work, and judged in any 
 degree suitable by Mrs. Pennefather, in point of 
 health, gifts, etc., are sent for one month ' on trial ' 
 to the Probation House. At the month's end, if ac- 
 cepted, the elder candidates are received into the 
 Center House, while the younger ones are drafted on 
 
220 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 to the Training Home. Here they remain for a 
 year, eighteen months, or two years, as may seem de- 
 sirable, being trained in the practical knowledge of 
 all branches of domestic manao^ement — cookinsr, 
 laundry work, book-keeping, cutting out clothing, etc. 
 When the period, long or short, of training has ex- 
 pired, the w^orkers are passed on to the Center House 
 at Mildmay, or to the South Deaconess House at 
 Brixton, and at once take their place in the ranks, 
 commencing work at one or otlier of the outlying 
 missions." 
 
 Thus far w^e have spoken of the mission deacon- 
 esses; but there are also one hundred "Nursing Sis- 
 ters," nurses and probationers who have a Nursing 
 House presided over by a lady superintendent of their 
 own. Comparatively few of these are off duty and at 
 home at any one time. In addition to a great deal of 
 private nursing all over the kingdom and on the Con- 
 tinent, there is an infirmary at Doncaster, a medical 
 station at Malta, and a medical mission and hospital 
 at Jaffa, all nursed by Mildmay " sisters," as well as 
 a hospital at Bethnal Green, and the cottage hospital 
 at Mildmay. In connection with these is a convales- 
 cent home at Brighton, a home for invalid ladies, an 
 infirmary on Newington Green, and an orphanage 
 and servants' registry and home. 
 
 Most that has been said is in regard to the work 
 grouped around the Center House at Mildmay Park, 
 but the greater part of the deaconess work is done 
 
Deaconesses in England. 221 
 
 in the outlying districts, among the suffering poor in 
 the crowded parts of " outcast London." There are 
 twenty-one of these districts now worked by the dea- 
 conesses. Many instances of conversion occur under 
 their labors in the hospitals, in the schools, and at the 
 homes of the people. One man at the hospital, who 
 has emigrated, was an avowed infidel when he became 
 a patient. After some time he observed to the nurse 
 that, whether the things he heard of were true or not, 
 she at any rate must believe them or she would not 
 do the work she did. He was a very thoughtful and 
 intelligent man, and though when he first came he 
 would not even take a Bible in his hands, and turned 
 his back on others who were at prayer, he now began 
 to read the once hated book for himself. Even be- 
 fore he left the hospital the change in him was so 
 great as to be apparent to every one, and while in the 
 convalescent home at Barnet he entered into the in- 
 ward life and peace which he had formerly despised. 
 This instance is one of thousands. At the mission 
 houses in the outlying districts all sorts of meetings 
 are held. We give a list of those at Bethnal Green 
 as a fair sample of all, though the rules are flexible 
 and can be adapted to the wants of the people : 
 On Sunday there is a morning Bible-class, an after- 
 noon school, and an evening evangelistic service ; on 
 Monday afternoon, a mothers' meeting, and at night 
 a temperance meeting ; on Tuesday evening a class 
 for little boys, and a sewing class for girls under four- 
 
222 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modeen. 
 
 teen ; on Wednesday afternoon a women's reading 
 class, and at night a Bible class ; on Tliursda}^ classes 
 for little girls and for girls over fourteen. Classes 
 for men and social evenings for yontlis take place 
 every niglit except Monday and Saturday. Children's 
 services are also held, attended, on an average, by one 
 hundi-ed girls and about seventy boys. Twice a week 
 thronged "dinners" prove the need which the poor 
 little wanderers of the streets have for warmth and 
 food. The average attendance at the girls' sewing- 
 class is about thirty, and includes some of the rough- 
 est gii'ls in the neighborhood, attracted, perhaps, by 
 the sound of music, or a present of flowers, or the 
 prospect of a summer treat. 
 
 It is almost impossible to tabulate or give a sum- 
 mary of the work done. At the meetings held in 
 1887 by the deaconesses, an average of more than 
 nine thousand each week attended in the winter, 
 somewhat less in summer. The flower mission sent 
 out to infirmaries, hospitals, and to the sick and poor 
 37,125 of its bright tokens of sympathy and kindness, 
 each accompanied by some message from God's word. 
 In very many cases we know that these have been 
 followed by his blessing ; and we trust that eternity 
 will unfold countless other instances, undreamed of 
 now, of sad hearts comforted, and dying eyes turned 
 to a Saviour by these sweet silent messengers. 
 
 One deaconess, who lives at the Nursing House and 
 works permanently among the sick and poor of the 
 
Deaconesses in England. 223 
 
 district, made seventeen hundred visits during the year. 
 In the medical department of the institution the fig- 
 ures represent more than 9,000 attendances at the 
 medical mission, and about 15,000 visits by doctors 
 and deaconesses to the sick in their own homes. 
 
 Two other medical missions were opened in 1888, 
 and have already been attended by large numbers of 
 patients. Thirty-six girls are in the orphanage ; the 
 home and registry has given temporary shelter to 
 two hundred and sixty. One thousand tw^o hundred 
 and sixty-seven applicants, ranging from governesses 
 and matrons down to little maids-of-all-woi'k, have 
 been placed in situations, and ninety others provided 
 with temporary employment. In the ''Haven," the 
 little refuge in the borough where the rescue work 
 is chiefly carried on, two hundred and five girls and 
 women have been received during the period under 
 review ; some requiring only temporary shelter, ad- 
 vice, and assistance, but by far the larger number be- 
 ing cases of real "rescue" from a life of shame. 
 Some of these have been sent to other homes, some 
 I'estored to friends, placed in situations, or sent abroad ; 
 and all lovingly directed to a Saviour whom, we trust, 
 many of them have sought and found. 
 
 The above is condensed from two small tracts, 
 Mildmay Deaconesses and their Work, and ^ Retro- 
 spect of Mildmay Work during the year 1887. A 
 spirit of devotion to Christ and his work breathes 
 through tlie whole, and impresses one that the Spirit 
 
224 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 that moves the Mildmay Mission is the spirit of 
 heaven. The last-named tract, which is officially pub- 
 lislied, closes with the following paragraph : 
 
 " It may be that in the pressure of our busy life 
 at Mildmay we have sometimes seemed lacking in 
 the grace of gratitude ; but we rejoice to know that 
 our Kins: overlooks nothino^ that is done for him. 
 We have it on his own authority that even a cup 
 of cold water given for his sake shall in no wise 
 lose its reward ; and to him we commend all w^ho 
 have made us the channels of their service to his 
 poor. From him comes both the power and the will 
 to give ; through him alone is any gift acceptable or 
 any work successful ; to him all praise is due. ' For 
 of him, and through him, and to him are all things, 
 to whom be glory forever. Amen.' " 
 
 The deaconesses at Mildmay are bound by no vows ; 
 one great advantage of the institution is its perfect 
 freedom. You can be an inmate as long or as short 
 a time as you please. Some ladies, whose home ties 
 prevent their giving much time to out-door labor, go 
 to the deaconess home for the sake of devoting a 
 month or two each year to systematic work for 
 Christ ; but others, who have nothing to hinder, make 
 it their life-work. They are bound by no rule save 
 that of punctuality. When they first come to the 
 home they are told that they are trusted to occupy 
 their time to the best advantage, and the trust is not 
 abused. 
 
Deaconesses in England.* -225 
 
 The Mildmay institutions are not sectarian, but 
 deeply religious in character; their founder was a 
 clergyman of the Church of England, attached to the 
 Low Church party, and the style of thought prevail- 
 ing in that party predominates, to some extent, at 
 Mildmay, considerable prominence being given to the 
 second advent of our Lord, and the higher life of 
 the believer. But Mr. James E. Mathieson, the pres- 
 ent treasurer and superintendent, also the lady at the 
 liead of the deaconess house, and some of the dea- 
 conesses, are Presbyterians. 
 
 " The deaconess institution in England which is at 
 present in close connection w^ith those on the Conti- 
 nent is the one established in 1867 by Dr. Michael 
 Laseron, at Tottenham, North London. It is unsec- 
 tarian, but has been, from its commencement, chiefly 
 supported by Non-conformists, the late Mr. Samuel 
 Morley and his sons and his brother, Mr. John Morley, 
 the treasurer of the institution, having been among 
 its generous donors. Dr. and Mrs. Laseron were led, 
 after the death of their only child, to open, in 1856, 
 a ragged school for children of both sexes, and later 
 an orphan home for poor girls. The orphan home 
 has been managed by methods similar to those em- 
 ployed by Mr. George Miiller in carrying on his 
 orphanage in Bristol. The work, like most benevo- 
 lent operations, grew on their hands. A servant-girls' 
 training home was added, and various evening schools. 
 
 At length, as request was often made that older girls 
 15 
 
226 Deacon KSSEs, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 from tlie home miglit assist as nurses in the care 
 of the sick, Dr. Laseron, who is liim.self a German, 
 determined to open a deaconess house and hospital 
 after tlie model of Kaiserawertli. One of the sisters 
 from the ' Bethanien ' house, in Berlin, was the first 
 deaconess, and a sister from Kaiserswerth the first 
 superintendent. There are at present sixty-three dea- 
 conesses, and there are affiliated stations at hospitals 
 at Dublin, Cork, Sunderland, and Scarborough. The 
 regulations of the institution are in the main similar 
 to those of Kaiserswerth, althouo^h they are, in some 
 respects, rather less free. The deaconesses at the 
 mother-house, Tottenham, carry on, besides their work 
 in the hospital and dispensar^^ mission work among 
 workiug girls, working-men, and policemen; they have 
 also an evening school for men, a motliers' meeting, 
 and various other benevolent operations."* 
 
 We give the following as the principles and rules 
 by which most of the deaconess institutions of the 
 Chnrcli of England are governed, and as a condensed 
 statement of the mature thought of the best minds in 
 the Anglican communion upon this subject. These 
 "general principles" and "proposed rules" were 
 drawn up and concurred in at a conference in Eng- 
 land by the archbishop and bishops whose signatures 
 are appended, and communicated to the Church at 
 large by the Very Reverend Dr. How^son, the Dean 
 of Chester. 
 
 * Andover Etview, 1888. 
 
Deaconesses in England. 227 
 
 I. General Pkinciples. 
 
 {a.) Definition of a deaconess. 
 
 A deaconess is a woman set apart by a bishop, 
 under that title, for service in tlie Church. 
 
 ih.) Rdation of a deaconess to a hishoj). 
 
 (1.) 1^0 deaconess or deaconess institution sliall 
 officially accept or resign work in a diocese without 
 the express authority of the bishop of that diocese, 
 which authority may at any time be withdrawn. 
 
 (2.) A deaconess shall be at liberty to resign her 
 commission as deaconess, or may be deprived of it 
 by the bishop of the diocese in which she is working. 
 
 {c.) Relation of a deaconess to an incumbent. 
 
 No deaconess shall officially accept work in a parish 
 (except it be in some non-parochial position, as in a 
 hospital or the like) without the express authority of 
 the incumbent of that parish, which authority may at 
 any time be withdrawn. 
 
 {d^ Relation of a deaconess to a deaconess insti- 
 tution. 
 
 In all matters not connected witli the parochial or 
 other system under which she is summoned to work, a 
 deaconess may, if belonging to a deaconess institution, 
 act in harmony with the general rules of such institu- 
 tion. 
 
 11. EuLEs Suggested. 
 
 (a) Probation. 
 
 It is essential that none be admitted without careful 
 previous preparation, both technical and religious. 
 
228 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 (Ij.) Dress. 
 
 A deaco!iess sliould wear a dress which is at once 
 simple and distinctive. 
 {c.) Rdlgioiis Ttnowledge. 
 
 It is essential to the efficiency of a deaconess that 
 she should maintain her habit of prayer and medita- 
 tion, and aim at continual progress in religious knowl- 
 edge. 
 
 (<f .) Designation and signature. 
 It is desirable that a deaconess should not drop the 
 use of her surname ; and with this end in view it is 
 suggested that her official designation should be ^^Dea- 
 coness A. -S.," (Christian and surname), and her offi- 
 cial signature should be "^. ^., Deaconess?'' 
 
 P. S. — It is desirable that each deaconess institu- 
 tion should have a body of associates attached to it, 
 for the purpose of general counsel and co-operation. 
 Signed by the archbishops and eighteen bishops. 
 A. C. Cantuar. G. a. Lichfield. 
 
 W. Ebor. C. Lincoln. 
 
 J. London. J. F. Oxon. 
 
 S. WiNTON. W. C. Peterborough. 
 
 J. C. Bangor. T. L. Kochester. 
 
 A. C. Bath andAYells. G. Sarum. 
 Harvey Carlisle. H. D, Chichester. 
 
 W. Chester. E. H. Ely. 
 
 C. J. Gloucester and C. St. David's. 
 Bristol. F. Exon. 
 
 J. Hereford. 
 
Deaconesses in England. 229 
 
 The Wesleyans of England are also turning their 
 attention to this form of work, especially in connec- 
 tion with the London West Central Mission. This 
 is under the joint superintendency of two prominent 
 ministers, Rev^ Hugh Price Hughes and Rev. Mark 
 Guy Pearse, members of the English Wesleyan Confer- 
 ence. As to the orie^in of the mission Mr. Huo-hes 
 says : " We realized that we were partly responsible 
 for the existing sin and misery of London, and that 
 we must do our share in the great work which de- 
 mands the united devotion of all the Churches." 
 
 After investigation it was found that Methodism 
 had done less for the West End than for any other 
 spot in England or her colonies. " We discovered 
 four hundred thousand persons, among whom we 
 were doing nothing. . . . The west center of London 
 is the most important sphere of Christian work in the 
 British Empire, and therefore in the world. . . . This 
 quarter of London embraces both houses of Parlia- 
 ment, the clubs, and the immensely influential classes 
 who are significantly called ' society.' Above all, 
 this part of London is the great center of pleasure. 
 It is the Yanity Fair of the civilized w^orld, compet- 
 ing even w^ith Paris in its elaborate, costly, and ar- 
 tistic provisions for all the lusts of the flesh." * 
 
 The mission is organized on a catholic basis, and 
 enjoys the co-operation of members of all Christian 
 Churches. One of its institutions is the " Katherine 
 
 ^ First Annual Report, 1888. 
 
230 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 House," and a part of its working force are tlie 
 twelve '' Sisters of tlie People," who reside there. 
 Of this the report says : " Katherine House, the 
 residence of the Sisters of the People, was opened 
 early in November, 1887, and from that day the 
 work of the sisters dates its commencement. Three 
 sisters came into residence at once, and after Christ- 
 mas more joined us, till, by the end of February, our 
 number was complete, twelve being all that we can 
 accommodate at present." 
 
 The work of the sisters is constantly increasing and 
 developing. Their plan of work is similar to that of 
 the Mildmay Mission deaconesses. Each sister has a 
 district allotted to her in the slums of that part of 
 the city, which she visits regularly and systematically. 
 They render to the sick and poor such help as they 
 can for their physical needs, and give spiritual in- 
 struction which in many instances has led them to 
 Christ and a reformed life. They conduct a " read- 
 ing class for women " and a " mothers' meeting." 
 They have also " The Sheen Society," the object of 
 which is to make and collect garments for distribu- 
 tion among the poor living in the districts visited by 
 the sisters. The society is worked by means of local 
 secretaries, who induce as many members as possible 
 to join them and collect and send off the garments 
 every quarter. Each member sends in every three 
 months one garment, either new or an old one re- 
 paired. 
 
Deaconesses in England. 231 
 
 There is also an inquiry room, specially under the 
 direction of the sisters, where women come for relig- 
 ious instruction. The first step with many of them 
 is to sign the total abstinence pledge, and many in- 
 stances are recorded of rescue and conversion. There 
 is also a "Girls' Club," for " the wild, rough girls who 
 abound in the neighborhood of Soho." 
 
 The first evening twenty-five girls became mem- 
 bers, and the room soon became so full that no new 
 members could be admitted. It is open every even- 
 ing but Saturday, from eight to ten o'clock, and is 
 always closed with singing and prayer. " The wild, 
 rongh girls" of Soho are not so easily tamed as the 
 sisters could w^ish, and sometimes make much trouble, 
 as the following instance shows : 
 
 " One evening, about nine o'clock, three or four 
 rather large, coarse girls came into the club, showing 
 at once by their manner of entrance and bearing that 
 they were not bent on any good. Yery soon they 
 began to dance, not in the most refined and modest 
 manner. Now dancing is against our rules, and is 
 never allowed, so the sister in charge called upon 
 them instantly to stop. They did so for the moment, 
 but began again as soon as her back was turned. She 
 again spoke to them, and the same conduct w^as re- 
 peated three or four times. She then saw that disci- 
 pline must be maintained, and ordered those girls to 
 leave the club. They refused flatly to do so ; and 
 when other sisters came forw^ard to assist in conduct- 
 
232 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modekn. 
 
 ing them from the room thej lay down on tlie floor 
 full length, while some of the other girls flung them- 
 selves upon them, so as to prevent their removal. 
 The sisters tlien gave orders that every girl should 
 leave the club. Some of the more orderly ones set a 
 good example by going out quietly, but the rebellious 
 faction held out. Nevertheless they were led or car- 
 ried out one by one by the sisters and placed outside 
 the door. We had got the ringleader out, as we 
 fondly imagined, when, lo and behold ! she shot in 
 head-foremost, meteor-like, through a window near 
 the ground at the other end of the room. However, 
 her removal was again efiected, and the room was at 
 last cleared. The sisters alone remained — heated, but 
 triumphant." 
 
 The most gratifying part of the story is that in a 
 short time the rebels returned very quietly and meekly 
 to beg the sisters' pardon. They were excluded from 
 the room for the remainder of the week, and were 
 summoned to appear before the head sister, Mrs. 
 Hughes, for a serious reprimand. They obeyed the 
 summons of their own free will, received the lecture 
 in lamb-like meekness, with expressions of penitence, 
 and were again restored to favor and confidence. 
 
 Tliese lady workers have taken the name of " sis- 
 ter," instead of " deaconess," as perhaps better known 
 to the people and more popular, but it will be seen 
 that tlieir work is the same as that pursued by the mis- 
 sion deaconesses. They are known as Sister Huldah, 
 
Deaconesses in England. 233 
 
 Sister Clara, etc. Thej have adopted a dress grace- 
 ful and uniform. A heavy drab veil falling from 
 tlie back of the bonnet and a ribbon bow of the 
 same color at the neck are the marked features. 
 These twelve " sisters " live together in Katherine 
 House ; all are ladies in the English sense, and sup- 
 port themselves wholly, receiving no pay for their 
 services. 
 
 There is also at Halifax, England, an institution 
 kindred at least to that of the deaconesses. It is a 
 training-school for female evangelists. It is under 
 the auspices of Mr. Clegg, a Wesleyan Methodist, 
 but lias no connection with the Conference. Some 
 of the ladies in this school are visitors and some are 
 evangelists, in the now commonly accepted sense of 
 the word. They go where they are invited to hold 
 services in churches, and preach much as evangelists 
 do in this country. The institution is in its infancy, 
 and is being scrutinized as an experiment. It some- 
 what resembles the Missionary Training-School in 
 Chicao^o. 
 
23 i: Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 DEACONESSES IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 Lutheran Church. 
 
 The first mention that we find of the order of 
 deaconesses in the United States is in connection 
 with the Lutheran Church, and comes from Kaisers- 
 werth. 
 
 In Fliedner's annual report, January 1, ISttT, he 
 says: "We liave been urgently requested to send 
 deaconesses from here to !Nortli America, to a prom- 
 inent city of the United States, to take charge 
 of a hospital and organize a mother house for tlie 
 training of deaconesses. The American clergyman 
 who personally made this request laid the matter 
 upon our conscience with such urgency that we 
 could not but promise to send out a number of sisters 
 as soon as it should be possible." 
 
 Two years elapsed before it was found possible to 
 fulfill this promise. In the report of 1848 the mat- 
 ter Is again alluded to in the following language : 
 " We had expected to send out deaconesses to ]N"orth 
 America this spring, but thus far we have been un- 
 able to do it." In January, 1849, tlie announcement 
 is made: " God willing, in tlie course of this summer 
 four deaconesses w^ill start for Pittsburg, North 
 
Deaconesses in the United States. 235 
 
 America, to assist in the organization of a motlier- 
 lionse there/' 
 
 In 1850 Pastor Fliedner again reports : " In North 
 America, thus far, no deaconesses were to be found, 
 but a great number of Roman Catholic Sisters of 
 Mercy. Now the Rev. Dr. Passavant, an Englisli 
 Lutheran pastor in Pittsburg, Pa., has established a 
 hospital since we promised him to send out deacon- 
 esses for the nursing of the sick and the training of 
 American probationers. In the month of June, 
 1849, the inspector (Fliedner himself) had the pleas- 
 nre of accompanying four sisters in their journey to 
 Pittsburg. Abont the middle of July tliej took 
 cliarge of the newly established hospital, and imme- 
 diately afterward they received tlie first American 
 probationer." * 
 
 As this is tlie first deaconess home on this conti- 
 nent, a brief account of it is in place. Its establishment 
 was due to the labors of the Rev. W. A. Passavant, 
 D.D., the pastor of the Engh'sh Lutheran Clinrch in 
 Pittsburg. At first a honse in Alleghany City was 
 rented for the purpose of a home and hospital, bnt 
 was not used to any great extent. A property in 
 Pittsburg which had been used as a female sen:iinary 
 was bought for $5,500 for a hospital and deacoTiess 
 institution. Rev. Dr. Fliedner and the four deacon- 
 esses having arrived from Germany, Sunday, July 
 17, 1849, was appointed as the time to dedicate the 
 
 * Pheie the Deaconess, Rev. Dr. Spaeth, p. 20. 
 
236 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 place to the holy purposes for which it had been pur- 
 chased. Dr. Fliedner gave an address in German, 
 explaining the design of the institution as an infirin- 
 arj for the sick and a mother-house for the training 
 of Christian deaconesses for hospitals, asylums, and 
 congregations in other parts of the United States. 
 
 The establishment of the institution made some 
 impression at the time, but nothing commensurate 
 with its importance. The Lutheran Synod was dis- 
 posed to hold the work on probation, and was afraid 
 to fully indorse it. It said : " This ministerium 
 awaits with deep interest the result of the work 
 made in behalf of the institution of Protestant dea- 
 conesses at Pittsburg." ^ 
 
 The work of the deaconesses was highly appre- 
 ciated by the intelligent citizens, and constant appli- 
 cation was made for their services by directors of 
 hospitals, magistrates, and private individuals. Many 
 of the ignorant classes felt aggrieved at the presence 
 of the hospital, saj'ing tliat contagious diseases would 
 be brought, to the injury of tlie city. In cases where 
 deaconesses were sent to nurse in private families it 
 brought large donations to the institution. The 
 greatest difficulty encountered was in finding women 
 willing to enter as probationers, perhaps not so 
 nj^uch through lack of piety or zeal as from prejudice 
 and want of faith in the utility of the institution it- 
 self. An addition to the little band was made May 
 *Fhebe the Deaconess, Rev. Dr. Spaeth, p. 20. 
 
Deaconesses in the United States. 237 
 
 28, 1850, by the consecration of a native American 
 sister, Louise Marthens, the first woman ever formally 
 ordained to the merciful, Christ-like v^^ork of a dea- 
 coness on this continent. The exercises connected 
 with her reception took place in the English Lutheran 
 church. On the occasion a sermon was preached, 
 founded on Rom. xvi, 1. 
 
 " The sermon being ended, the candidate ap- 
 proached the altar, and after professing anew her 
 Christian faith according to the articles of the Apos- 
 tles' Creed, answered the following questions in the 
 affirmative, with a distinct and courageous voice : 
 Have you, of your OAvn free choice, moved thereto 
 by the love of Jesus Christ, and without the persua- 
 sion of others, chosen this service upon which you 
 are about to enter? Are you resolved, by the help 
 of God, faithfully to perform the duties of this of- 
 fice, in his fear and according to his holy word ? " * 
 
 The assembled synod and congregation then joy- 
 fully united with the newly received sister in 
 singing the appropriate and beautiful hymn of 
 Charles Wesley (No. 470 of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Hymnal) : 
 
 " If so poor a worm as I 
 
 May to thy great glory live, 
 All my actions sanctify, 
 
 All my words and thoughts receive ; 
 Claim me for thy service; claim 
 All I have, and all I am. 
 
 * Phehe the Deaconess^ Rev. Dr. Spaeth, p. 25. 
 16 
 
238 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 " Take my soul and body's powers ; 
 
 Take my memory, mind, and will; 
 All my goods, and all my hours; 
 
 All I know, and all I feel ; 
 All I think, or speak, or do ; 
 Take my heart, but make it new. 
 
 " Now, God, thine own I am ; 
 
 Now I give thee back thine own ; 
 Freedom, friends, and health, and fame, 
 
 Consecrate to tliee alone; 
 Thine I live, thrice happy I; 
 Happier still if thine I die." 
 
 It is gratifying to note that this first American 
 deaconess was a faithful and efficient lal)orer. Of 
 her later life we know notlii ng ; perhaps in some 
 quiet retreat she is spending the evening of life 
 awaiting in hope the coming of lier Lord, or, per- 
 haps, has already heard the summons, "It is enough ; 
 come up higher." She was the first of wliat will 
 be, no doubt, a long line of noble, self-sacrificing 
 women, wliose lives will I'eflect the glory of tlieir 
 Lord, and who, having won " many to righteousness, 
 shall shine as the stars for ever and ever." 
 
 Another deaconess was sent from Kaisers werth in 
 1851, and three German immigrants entered as proba- 
 tioners. At the present time Dr. Passavant has an 
 orphanage in Rochester, Pa., where the one remain- 
 ing deaconess of the original four from Kaiserswerth 
 still resides. He has an infirmary in Pittsburg, Pa., 
 a hospital and deaconess home in Milwaukee, Wis., 
 the Emergency hospital in Chicago, and a hospital in 
 
Deaconesses in the United States. 239 
 
 Jacksonville, 111. He has accomplished much good, 
 but has not had the success deserved. The work has 
 not expanded, and no complete organization, after the 
 German type, has been attained. 
 
 Another deaconess institution, of later origin but 
 greater promise, in connection with the Lutheran 
 Church is located in Philadelphia, Pa. This is also 
 an off-shoot of the Kaiserswerth Institution. The 
 first efforts toward securing the deaconesses were 
 made by Mr. J. D. Lankenau and the German con- 
 sul, Mr. Charles H. Myer. Their services were de- 
 sired in the German hospital. Deaconesses arrived 
 from the mother house in June, 1884, and took 
 charge of the work in that institution. 
 
 A mother house has since been built and a board 
 incorporated, consisting of nine gentlemen, to take 
 charge of the administration and furtherance of this 
 important interest. The motlier house, which is 
 known as the " Mary J. Drexel Home," stands on 
 the grounds of the hospital. It is a magnificent 
 building of yellow brick and marble which cost a 
 half million dollars, probably one of the finest build- 
 ings ever consecrated as a deaconess home. It has 
 every modern improvement adapted to its purposes 
 wdiich science could suggest or money procure. It is 
 large and substantial, beautiful in architectural de- 
 sign, and will be a lasting monument to the munifi- 
 cence of its founder. A part of the building will be 
 occupied as a hospital for women and children. It 
 
240 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 has a beautiful cliapel where divine Avorship is daily 
 celebrated. It is under the spiritual direction of the 
 rector, Rev. A. Cordes, whose rectory stands within 
 the inclosure. This clergyman came from Germany, 
 w^here he had served as an assistant rector in a sim- 
 ilar institution. A part of his work is the instruction 
 of the deaconesses in the religious and technical duties 
 of their calling. 
 
 The rules of the institution are the same as those 
 at Kaiserswerth, including the requirements for ad- 
 mission, and the dress worn. Unmarried women, or 
 widows withont children, of a pious mind, unblem- 
 ished reputation and good health, not under sixteen 
 nor above forty years of age, are received as proba- 
 tioners. Having served one year or more, faithfully, 
 the probationer is received and consecrated a full 
 deaconess on nomination of the superior deaconess 
 and tlie vote of the board. 
 
 The deaconess does not receive wages for her serv- 
 ices, but the mother house provides for all her neces- 
 sities, including a regular sum for pocket money, 
 enough to cover all her little personal expenses. If 
 she becomes sick or disabled in the practice of her 
 calling, she is cared for by the mother house as long 
 as she lives. 
 
 The institution forms one family, the individual 
 members of which are in duty bound to live to- 
 getlier in harmony, endeavoring to keep the unity 
 of tlie spirit in the bond of peace, and to avoid 
 
Deaconesses m the United States. 241 
 
 every thing that can hinder the prosperity of the sis- 
 terhood. 
 
 The superior has the direct oversight of all deacon- 
 esses and probationers. All must follow her orders 
 conscientiously. She must especially superintend 
 tlie preparation and training of probationers, and 
 when they are considered ready for it she must pro- 
 pose them for the deaconess office. 
 
 At the present time (1889) there are about twelve 
 deaconesses and twenty probationers, but as yet only 
 two are native Americans. On January 13, 1889, 
 the first consecration of deaconesses occurred in the 
 beautiful chapel of the home. Catherine Bossert, 
 Lena Rieger, and Marie Sowa were the candidates. 
 Religious services were conducted by the rector, 
 assisted by Rev. Dr. Spaeth. Each candidate received 
 the regular cap and a silver cross, as she entered the 
 chapel, and all were consecrated to the office and 
 work of the diaconate by the laying on of hands in 
 the presence of a large congregation, including the 
 president and members of the board. The founding 
 and endowment of the institution have been accom- 
 plished by the liberality of Mr. J. D. Lankenau; 
 much is also due to the indefatigable labors of Rev. 
 A. Spaeth, D. D., who has seen his hopes realized in 
 its establishment."^ 
 
 * See Phebe the Deaconess, by Rev. A. Spaeth, D.D. 
 
242 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modekn. 
 
 The Pkotestant Episcopal Chukch.* 
 
 The next movement in the order of time Avas by 
 the Protestant Episcopal Church. This step was 
 taken in connection with St. Andrew's parish in the 
 city of Baltimore, under the ministry of Kev. Horace 
 Stringfellow, in 1855, with the sanction and approval 
 of the bishop of the diocese. Two ladies gave them- 
 selves to the work of ministering to the poor. A 
 house was soon secured and opened under the name 
 of St. Andrew's Infirmary, and the work rapidly grew. 
 The number increased to four resident deaconesses 
 and four associate sisters. The following extract from 
 an early report shows the aims and work of the insti- 
 tution : 
 
 " The deaconesses look to no organization of per- 
 sons to furnish the pecuniary aid required by the de- 
 mands of their position. Their first efforts have been 
 for the destitute sick. Out of the house they minister 
 daily to the suffering and destitute wherever found ; 
 some only requiring temporary medical aid and nurs- 
 ing; others, wOiom God has chastened with more con- 
 tinuous suffering, requiring in their penury and 
 desolation constant care and continuous ministration." 
 
 In addition they have two schools, one for vagrant 
 children and one for the children of the Church who 
 may be committed to them. A beautiful and impres- 
 sive form for setting apart a deaconess is used, and 
 
 * See Potter, Sisterhoods and Deaconesses, and tlie Church Cyclopoidia. 
 
DeACOX ESSES IN THE ITxiTED StATES. 24:3 
 
 rules of discipline and forms of devotion are provided 
 in keeping with the doctrines and usages of the Church. 
 
 These rules differing somewhat from others, we ex- 
 tract the following : 
 
 The members are divided into three classes : (1.) 
 The United Deaconesses ; (2.) Probationers ; (3.) The 
 Associate Deaconesses. Tlie United Deaconesses are 
 those who, having passed through tlieir probationary 
 terms and contemplating a permanent continuance in 
 the order, are admitted, upon application to the bish- 
 op, by a unanimous election of the United Deacon- 
 esses. They reside in the parental house, unless, 
 being called by Providence to some other sphere of 
 duty, they depart with the full sanction of the bishop 
 and of the order ; they then retain their allegiance 
 to the society, are subject to its rule, report their 
 work, and must be ready to be recalled. All must 
 hold themselves in readiness to go to any field the 
 bishop may send them. The government is vested in 
 the first deaconess, who is nominated by the bishop 
 and elected by the United Deaconesses. Each lady 
 is furnished Avith $100 per annum for personal ex- 
 penses and private charities, while in active service 
 and during sickness and age she is provided for by 
 the society. All are forbidden to receive compensa- 
 tion, and are at liberty to retire six months after 
 resignation has been given to the bishop. 
 
 There was also an oro^anization of deaconesses 
 effected in Mobile, Ala., in the year 1S6J:, by the 
 
24:4: Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 bishop of tliat diocese. Originally it consisted of 
 *' three godly women," who associated themselves 
 under the bishop's direction and supervision for what- 
 ever labor might be assigned them. Their first w^ork 
 was an orphanage and boarding-school, and was de- 
 signed eventually to include an infirmary, widows' 
 house, and reformatory asylum. The bishop is the 
 rector and head of the institution. 
 
 There is a form of service for the reception of a 
 probationer and also for the reception of a deaconess. 
 The whole is deeply devotional and after the usual 
 forms of the Episcopal Church. We here give a 
 brief form of prayer, selected from among others, as 
 indicative of the woi'k which the deaconess is ex- 
 pected to do and the spirit in which it ought to be 
 done : 
 
 " O Almighty and everlasting God, who dost vouch- 
 safe to accept and bless the services of those who serve 
 thee with a willing mind, grant, we beseech thee, to 
 this thy handmaiden such willingness of heart, such 
 humility and quietness of spirit, such sure trust and 
 confidence in thy love and favor, such simplicity and 
 sincerity in the denial of self, and such patient endur- 
 ance of privation, hardship, thanklessness, and re- 
 proach in the service of the poor and the little ones of 
 thy flock as may obtain thy merciful acceptance and 
 overflowing blessing, through the alone merits of 
 Jesus Christ, thine only Son, our Lord and Saviour. 
 Amen." 
 
Deaconesses in the United States. 245 
 
 An exhortation is addressed to the candidates in 
 which tliej are reminded of the " dignity and honor 
 of their holy calling " as co-workers with God in his 
 work of mercy and benevolence to our fallen race, 
 and that they "are joined in companionship with the 
 blessed angels, whose employment and delight it is to 
 minister unto the heirs of salvation." To live in an 
 abiding sense of their holy calling, and cultivate in an 
 especial manner the habit of devotion. That they 
 should look upon the office and work from the height 
 of eternity, and not estimate it by the judgment of 
 the world, but by that of God who has declared, " He 
 that winneth souls is wise." They are reminded 
 that they will have great need to daily consider 
 him — Christ — as their great exemplar, and following 
 him in his labor of love they should also follow him 
 in his patience. The failure of the world rightly to 
 appreciate the labors of the deaconess is thus alluded 
 to : " The secret of your strength will be that you 
 look not to the world — which cannot fully take in the 
 tenor of your mission, not even to those for whom 
 you labor, for they cannot comprehend your work 
 of disinterested love — but to the blessed Jesus, from 
 whom you receive the Spirit to work in your call- 
 ing, whose example you must follow and whose cross 
 you bear." 
 
 The Bishop Potter Memorial House, located in 
 Philadelphia, in connection with the Episcopal Hospi- 
 tal, is a noble institution. It is not a deaconess home, 
 
246 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 tliongli organized to carry on the distinctive work of 
 deaconesses. 
 
 A probation of six months or a year is required of 
 those who enter. At the end of that period, if tlie 
 candidate is adjudged worthy, her special line of duty 
 is determined. The services of the members are 
 gratuitous. Tliey have their board and lodging free 
 of expense, when necessary ; but, as the house is sup- 
 ported by free-will offerings, each member is ex- 
 pected to contribute according to her ability ; if 
 she can afford it, the full amount of the cost of lier 
 board, especially during the term of probation. All 
 members fare alike, and work to tlie extent of their 
 ability in designated spheres. The house is not in- 
 tended as an asylum for the homeless or world-weary, 
 but as a household of fresh, loving hearts, strong in 
 all their powers to 
 
 " Serve the Lord with gladness." 
 
 The work is divided into three departments : 
 Nursing, mission work, and parisli schools. The term 
 of engagement for full members is not less than one 
 nor more than three years, at the expiration of which 
 term it may be renewed if desired. 
 
 This is in every sense a deaconess home, as to its 
 aims and work, without the distinctive title or dress. 
 The work is for the sick and destitute, the iecnorant 
 and degraded. It has accomplished much for the 
 bodies and souls of men. No distinctive badire is 
 
Deaconesses in the United States. 247 
 
 worn. Much attention is paid to the spiritual in- 
 struction of the people and many souls have been led 
 to Christ by the instrumentality of the members. 
 
 The work and organization of deaconesses in the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church received a new impetus 
 in 1871. In 1869 the Board of Missions appointed 
 a committee to report at the next annual meeting 
 ^' on the subject of organized services of women as a 
 most important feature of missionary work." This 
 committee presented an able report which embodied 
 the " General Principles" recommended by the En- 
 glish bisliops, and a series of resolutions. The report 
 w^as accepted imd the resolutions were adopted. They 
 recommended the " ens>:raf tinsr " of such orc^anizations 
 of women upon the already existing missionary organ- 
 izations of the Church. A committee was appointed 
 to consider the propriety of o|)ening institutions for 
 the training of deaconesses. The interest manifested 
 in this report and the zeal with which the work was 
 taken up were indicative of large accomplishments in 
 the near future, but which, we think, has scarcely 
 been realized in fact. 
 
 Tlie words of Dr. Potter indicate a correct appre- 
 ciation of the spirit of our country and times. ''Let 
 it only be distinctly kept in view that the American 
 Church has recognized and accepted such organiza- 
 tions as agencies for a higher and more unreserved 
 type of Christian activity, and not as refuges for a 
 merely contemplative pietism — as enrolling women to 
 
248 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 be true yoke fellows, not recluses ; workers, not 
 dreamers — and it can hardly matter greatly by what 
 name they are known or under wdiat particular form 
 of commission they labor." * 
 
 Under the impulse given by the above named report, 
 a deaconess association connected with the Diocese of 
 Long Island, was organized by Bishop Littlejohn in 
 1872. He says: "Sunday, February 11, in St. 
 Mary's Church, Brooklyn, I publicly admitted six 
 godly and well-tried women to the office of deacon- 
 ess ; and on the evening of the 15th of March, in 
 Emanuel Church, Brooklyn, one; in all seven." The 
 rules by which this order is governed are for the most 
 part found in the "General Principles "f above men- 
 tioned. As to the efficiency and acceptability of their 
 work the following testimony is borne : "The parish 
 clergy who have welcomed them to their side as fel- 
 low-workers among the poor, the fallen, and the suf- 
 fering of every name, bear grateful testimony to the 
 value of their unobtrusive, obedient, and systematic 
 service." 
 
 There is a " form of admitting deaconesses to their 
 office." It is concise, appropriate, and beautiful. It 
 differs somewhat from the others named, and is dis- 
 tinguished by two things. The bishop takes the dea- 
 coness by the right hand and pronounces this blessing 
 upon her : 
 
 "God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy 
 
 * Sisterhoods and Deaconesses, p. 13. f See page 227. 
 
Deaconesses in the United States. 249 
 
 Ghost bless, preserve, and sanctify thee ; and so fill 
 tliee with all faith, wisdom, charity, and humility that 
 thou mayest serve before him to the glory of his 
 great name and the benefit of his holy Church, and 
 in the end attain to everlasting life through the 
 merits and mediation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ. Amen. 
 
 ''I admit thee, dearly beloved, to the office of dea- 
 coness, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." Also, at the close 
 of the service, the bishop uses the prayer designated 
 to be used at the ordination of a deaconess in the 
 Apostolical Con stitutions.^ 
 
 The following hymn is also used : 
 
 Hymn. 
 
 " How blessed, from the bonds of care 
 
 And earthly fetters free, 
 In singleness of heart and aim 
 
 Thy servants. Lord, to be! 
 The hardest toil to undertake, 
 
 With joj at thy command, 
 The meanest office to receive 
 
 With meekness at thy hand I 
 
 " With willing heart and longing eyes 
 
 To watch before thy gate, 
 Ready to run the weary race, 
 
 To bear the heavy weight ; 
 No voice of thunder to expect, 
 
 But follow calm and still, 
 For love can easily divine 
 
 The One Beloved's will. 
 
 * See page 83. 
 
250 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 "Thus may we serve tliee, gracious LordI 
 
 Thus ever thine alone ; 
 Our souls and bodies given to thee, 
 
 The purcliase thou hast won. 
 Through evil or through good report, 
 
 Still keeping by thy side, 
 By life or death in this poor flesh 
 
 Let Christ be magnified ! 
 
 " How happily the working days 
 
 In this dear service fly ! 
 How rapidly the closing hour, 
 
 The time of rest, draws nigh ! 
 When all the faithful gather home, 
 
 A joyful companj' ; 
 And every-where the Master is 
 
 Shall his own servants be." 
 
 In addition to the places named, the order is also 
 working in Louisiana, and associate members are 
 laboring in many other dioceses. 
 
 It will be observed that the "setting apart" of 
 women to the office of deaconess in the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church is not an "ordination by the impo- 
 sition of hands," bnt simply a designation to the work 
 assigned her by prayer and appropriate religious cere- 
 mony. 
 
 According to testimony introduced in a previous 
 chapter. Bishop Tait, of London, "duly invested" 
 Catherine Elizabeth Ferard with the " office of dea- 
 coness." That office having been " canonically con- 
 ferred," we suppose she was ordained by the imposi- 
 tion of hands. 
 
 In the form of service for the reception of a proba- 
 
Deaconesses in the United States. 251 
 
 tioner, as used in the Diocese of Alabama, we find 
 great liberty accorded to women in conducting relig- 
 ious service. The rubric says, " Should the rector be 
 absent upon the admission of a probationer, let the 
 chief deaconess take his place and ask the questions, 
 and use the prayers as above written." This, as we 
 believe, eminently proper in itself, is not often allowed 
 either in episcopal or non-episcopal churches. We 
 have seen that in Strasbarg the chief ('eaconess takes 
 part in the ordination of a deaconess by the laying on 
 of hands, with the rector ; but the Kaisers werth Con- 
 ference decided that such an act was an unwarranted 
 innovation. The cases are not parallel, but they illus- 
 trate each other. 
 
 In treating of the deaconess institutions in the Prot- 
 estant Episcopal Church it is proper to bear in mind 
 that they are no part of the Church itself, but are 
 associations that have grown up within it, under the 
 fostering care of the bishops who have seen fit to or- 
 ganize and appoint them within their own dioceses. 
 They are not enjoined or forbidden by the canons, 
 and their establishment is, therefore, optional with 
 those interested. The order has been tentatively em- 
 ployed with excellent results ; but its relation to the 
 Church has never been fully defined. It is within 
 the bishop's power to institute it and have it as a 
 recognized association in his diocese ; but an effort 
 has been made to obtain for it a wilder recoo^nition. 
 
 In 1880 a canon presented by the bishop of Massa- 
 
252 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modebn. 
 
 cliusetts was accepted by a large majority in tlie House 
 of Bishops; but, owing to the late date of the session 
 when it was sent to the Lower House, there was no 
 time to consider it, and the subject, owing to the press 
 of other business, was not considered at the conven- 
 tion of 1^83. But this proposed canon may be given 
 as the deliberate opinion of a majority of the bishops, 
 and is the latest utterance on the subject with which 
 w^e are acquainted. 
 
 " Resolved^ The House of Deputies concurring, 
 that the following canon be enacted, to be entitled 
 Canon vi of Title iii, ' Of Organized Religious Soci- 
 eties within the Church : ' . . . 
 
 " 1. Women of devout character and approved fit- 
 ness may be set apart by any bishop of this Church 
 for the work of a deaconess, according to such form as 
 may be authorized by the House of Bishops, or, in 
 default thereof, by such form as may be set forth by 
 the bishop of the diocese. 
 
 '' 2. The duties of a deaconess are declared to be 
 the care of our Lord's poor and sick, the education 
 of the young, the religious instruction of the neg- 
 lected, the reclaiming of the fallen, and other works 
 of Christian charity. 
 
 " 3. No woman shall be set apart for the w^ork of a 
 deaconess until she be twenty-five years of age, 
 unless the bishop, for special reasons, shall determine 
 otherwise, but in no case shall the age be less than 
 twenty-one years. The bishop shall also satisfy himself 
 
Deaconesses in the United States. 253 
 
 that the candidate has had an adequate preparation 
 for the work, both technical and rehgious, which 
 preparation shall have covered the period of at least 
 one year." 
 
 We omit articles numbered 4, 5, 6, respectively, as 
 not of general interest. 
 
 Number 7 provides that "the constitution and 
 rules for the government of any institution for the 
 training of deaconesses, or of any community in 
 which deaconesses are associated, must have the sanc- 
 tion, in writing, of the bishop of the diocese in whicli 
 such institution or connnunity exists. All formula- 
 ries of common worship used in such institution or 
 community must liave the like sanction, and shall be 
 in liarmony with the usage of this Church, and like 
 the principles of the Book of Common Prayer." ^ 
 
 The German Reformed Church. 
 
 In 1866 an effort was made to revive the order of 
 deaconesses in the German Reformed Church in the 
 United States. 
 
 ^'The Hon. J. Dixon Roman, of Hagerstown, Mary- 
 land, gave to the congregation of that city $5,000, 
 and with it sent a proposition to the consistory that, 
 according to his wish, three ladies of the congregation 
 should be chosen and ordained to the order of dea- 
 conesses in the congregation, with absohite control of 
 the income of said fund for the purposes and duties 
 * Church Oydopcbdia, art. " Deaconess." 
 
25-i Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 as practiced in the early Clmrcli. This, witli the ac- 
 tion of the Lebanon classis, which, in 1867, requested 
 the synod to take into consideration tlie propriety of 
 restoring the apostolic office of deaconess, brought 
 the question before the highest judicatory of the 
 Church." * 
 
 The question has not been disposed of up to this 
 time (1889). It has been agitated at diUerent synods. 
 A paper on the subject was read before the synod in 
 1880, and a proposition was made to amend the con^ 
 stitution of the Church, establishing the otfice of dea- 
 coness, but it w^as voted down, the synod not consid- 
 ering such action called for at that juncture. The 
 matter was commended to the favorable consideration 
 of the consistories, but no action has been taken at 
 any subsequent synod and the office is not recognized 
 as within the constitution of the Church. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church. 
 
 This laro^e and influential communion is feelins" the 
 impulse given to the work of deaconesses throughout 
 the Protestant world. But up to this time little has 
 been done toward the establishment and developnient 
 of any organization for the training of women for 
 specific work in the Church. Individual pastors and 
 local churches have taken action, but they are isolated 
 cases. 
 
 At the Pan-Presbyterian Council held in Philadel- 
 
 * McClintock and Strong, art. " Deaconess." 
 
Deaconesses in the United States. 255 
 
 phia in 1880, Fritz Fliedner, son of Dr. Fliedner, 
 of Kaiserswerth, was present as a member. Through 
 his influence, the German Presbyterian church on 
 Corinthian Avenue, February 7, 1881, by a unanimous 
 vote placed the sick of the congregation under the 
 care of five deaconesses, whom they elected and ap- 
 pointed. That arrangement still exists, and gives 
 great satisfaction. 
 
 A class has been fornied by the pastor to be trained 
 in cliurch work, and from this suitable persons are 
 selected to fill the office when vacancies occur. 
 
 In California some Presbyterian churches have 
 elected ladies for a certain term to take charge of the 
 sick and poor, and, though not ordained as deaconesses, 
 they are invested with the duties and responsibilities 
 of that office. 
 
 The subject of deaconesses was brought before tlie 
 Pan-Presbyterian Council held in London, in 1887, 
 and received favorable notice and commendation. Dr. 
 Charteris, of Edinburgh, was chairman of the commit- 
 tee to whom the matter was referred. He has since 
 written upon the subject, in the Preshyterian Re- 
 view of April, 1888 : " It appears, therefore, that 
 the time has fully come for the organization of 
 women's work by the churches on some definite prin- 
 ciple. We suggest {rt) that in every congregation 
 experienced Christian women should be organized for 
 ministering to the wants of the sick and the poor, and 
 for guiding the inexperienced of their own sex. After 
 
256 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 a certain time of service such experienced women 
 should be enrolled by the Kirk Session as those who 
 have purchased a good degree by their self-denying 
 labors. We suggest {h) that, under the sanction of 
 the presbytery of the bounds, trained women-workers 
 should be enrolled as deaconesses. The training entit- 
 ling a woman to this honor and designation may have 
 been acquired in her own sphere, and under the eye 
 of the rulers of her own congregation, or — whether 
 wholly or partially — in some training institution. . . . 
 There are in Presbyterian, as in other Churches, 
 women who would gladly devote their lives to Chris- 
 tian work, and would welcome the offer of a home in 
 which they could live, near which they could usually 
 work, and from which they could go to any place, 
 near or distant, where they might be wanted for a 
 longer or shorter time. 
 
 " It is not contemplated that any one would be 
 bound or pledged to continue in such work any longer 
 than her continued free will prompts her. Any one 
 could at any time retire." * 
 
 At the close of his article Dr. Charteris makes the 
 following points, which are elaborated and sustained : 
 
 " We submit that such a scheme is, 1. Scriptural. 
 2. It is practical. 3. It is, therefore, within the sphere 
 of the church's duty. 4. Though new, it is not revo- 
 lutionary or novel." 
 
 The foregoing indicates something practical in the 
 
 * Presbyterian Beview, 1888, p. 290. 
 
Deaconesses in the United States. 257 
 
 near future by the Presbyterian Church, which is 
 strong and rich in material — wealth, and good works — 
 and though eminently conservative is alert and aggres- 
 sive. But this Church, like all others, waits for some 
 development among the people before it provides for 
 the restoration of this form of Christian labor in its 
 organic law. The spirit of God moves on individual 
 hearts rather than on corpoi'ate bodies, and only after 
 an idea has assumed some tangible sliape and grown 
 up within the Church does she recognize it, and give 
 it a name and a place and bid it Godspeed. 
 
 There is at present, in tlie book of government of 
 the Presbyterian Church, no autliorization of dea- 
 conesses as officers of the church. They cannot, 
 therefore, be elected and ordained in the same way 
 that a deacon or elder is, but they can be appointed 
 just as a superintendent of a Sunday-school or a lady 
 missionary is appointed. The Philadelphia Presby- 
 tery took action in 1887 looking wuth favor upon the 
 appointment of deaconesses in this sense, making the 
 deaconess an officer of the local congregation like the 
 Sunday-school superintendent, and also overtured the 
 assembly to consider the subject of making deacon- 
 esses officers in the church by action of the assemblies 
 and presbyteries. 
 
258 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modeen. 
 
 CHAPTER XY. 
 
 DEACONESSES IN THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 
 It will be readily conceded that no branch of the 
 Church universal has ever given to women more en- 
 couragement or greater liberty in religious labor 
 tlian Methodism. This was a striking characteristic 
 of tlie revival in the eighteentli century, and there 
 have come down to us the names of many eminent 
 women whose characters reflected the image of Christ, 
 whose zeal and devotion glowed with intensity, and 
 whose spirit breathed universal love. That revival 
 rekindled the fires that had been quenched or suffered 
 to burn low on the altars of Protestantism. It sent 
 the Church back to primitive doctrines and usages, it 
 was a baptism of the Holy Ghost on the hearts of 
 men and women, and under its power they proclaimed 
 the glad tidings of salvation. 
 
 In the economy of Methodism women are admitted 
 to various offices, and encouraged to labor in building 
 up the kingdom of God. They are frequently ap- 
 pointed class-leaders ; and probationers and Church 
 members are committed to them for spiritual over- 
 sight and direction. As the leader stands related to 
 her class, the functions of the office are spiritual. We 
 
In the Methodist Episcopal Chcech. 259 
 do Hot claim that female class-leaders are deaconesses. 
 
 but a part of their work is analogous to that of the dea- 
 coness. The Book of Discipline shows tliis : " It is the 
 duty of the leader to see each person in his class once a 
 week at least, in order (1) to inquire how their souls 
 prosper; (2) to advise, reprove, comfort, and exhort 
 as occasion may require; (3) to receive what they are 
 willing to give toward the relief of the . . . poor, 
 ... to inform the minister of any that are sick." 
 Though these prescribed duties may bear but slight 
 resemblance to the duties of the modern deaconess, 
 they resemble to a greater degree the daties of the 
 deaconess of the early Church, who had charge of the 
 poor and instructed the catechumens. 
 
 In the early days of Methodism Mr. Wesley found 
 the sick so numerous that the class-leaders and stew 
 ards were not able to visit them as often as the cir- 
 cumstances deuianded ; he therefore laid the matter 
 before the societies and asked for help from any wdio 
 w^ere willing to assist, A large number offered them- 
 selves for this service. 
 
 Wesley says, " I chose six and forty of them whom 
 I judged to be of the most tender, loving spirit, di- 
 vided the town into twenty-three parts, and desired 
 two of them to visit the sick in each division. 
 
 " It is the business of a visitor of the sick to see 
 every sick person in his district thrice a week. To 
 inquire into tlie state of their souls and to advise them 
 as occasion may require. To inquire into their dis- 
 
260 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 orders and procure advice for tliem, to relieve them 
 if tliej are in want. To do any thing for them which 
 he (or she) can do. Upon reflection I saw how ex- 
 actly in this also we had copied after the primitive 
 Church, What are the ancient deacons ? What was 
 Phoebe, the deaconess, but a visitor of the sick ? " 
 
 Methodism is well adapted to call into exercise the 
 varied talents of its female members. Its organiza- 
 tion is peculiar. It divides its membership into 
 classes, meeting at least once a week, at which time 
 it is the privilege of each member to give some state- 
 ment of religious experience, and the duty of the 
 leader to ''advise, reprove, comfort, or exhort as oc- 
 casion may recjuire." This contributes to the devel- 
 opment of talent by inducing thoughtful self-exam- 
 ination and exhortation for the edification of others. 
 The love-feast, for which the ancient deaconess made 
 preparation, is perpetuated in Methodism, and is a re- 
 lio:ious service in which the talent of all is exercised 
 to edification in holy song, fervent prayer, and joyful 
 Christian testimony. 
 
 This system has developed the talent of woman to 
 a greater degree than the legislators of the Church 
 have been willing to recognize or provide for in its 
 organic law. They have been slow in perception and 
 conservative in action. In tliis to a certain extent 
 they may be justified ; it is not easy to correct mis- 
 takes or take away privileges once granted. But the 
 general trend of the Church is upward and onward to 
 
In the Methodist Episcopal Chuech. 2G1 
 
 a just equality for male and female in all educational 
 and ecclesiastical matters. 
 
 The women of tlie Cliurcli iu general, and of Amer- 
 ican Methodism in particular, have been struggling 
 for years to obtain a proper recognition of their talent, 
 and an adequate field for their energies. Not in the 
 sense that they have been oppressed, but in that they 
 have felt conscious of a mighty power for usefulness 
 in the kingdom of God, if the way could be opened 
 and they could obtain authority to act. On this point, 
 however, the Church has been conservative from 
 long usage ; its traditions for ages have been against 
 the public labors of women as a part of the clergy 
 or as having any specific churchly duties or functions 
 to which they should be appointed by ecclesiastical 
 authority. 
 
 From earliest ages woman has been placed under 
 great political disabilities, and the same regulation 
 that prevails in regard to the political franchise has 
 been carried into the Church, and its corporate power 
 has been restricted to " male members," while two- 
 thirds of the communicants, the piety, the intelli- 
 gence, and the zeal that keeps the altar fires burning, 
 belong to the other sex. Christianity has benefited 
 woman immensely, but only a part of its truth has as 
 yet been recognized and applied. But the day. is 
 dawning wdien, as in apostolic times, no special ac- 
 count will be made of male or female any more than 
 of Jew or Greek, bond or free. 
 
2G2 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 The AVonian's Foreign Missionary Society, one of 
 the grandest organizations known in the Metliodist 
 Episcopal Church, is a crystallization of that power 
 so long felt and ever seeking manifestation in out- 
 ward form. The women w^ere impelled forward by the 
 love they bore to Christ and his cause, and entered 
 the field to glean after the reapers, but are gathering 
 and binding some of the heaviest sheaves. 
 
 The Womans' Christian Temperance Union, in- 
 cluding all denominations, is another embodiment of 
 the same power. It was born of the Christian zeal 
 of woman. The pent-up agonies of the soul found 
 vent in tears and prayers, and her faith and hope 
 crystallized in that organization which now directs 
 the energies of thousands of women in many lines of 
 usefulness in all parts of the world. 
 
 The revival of the ancient order of deaconesses is 
 a movement of kindred character. It received its 
 initial impulse from the labors of a woman whose in- 
 terpretation of the Holy Scriptures impelled her to 
 break through the conventionalities of -modern so- 
 ciety, to visit the prisoners, and proclaim the word 
 of God.* The Methodist Episcopal Church, like all 
 others, waited until God moved upon the hearts of 
 some of his people to call into existence something 
 of. tliis order before it opened the w\ay by ecclesias- 
 tical law. 
 
 The lirst effort tow^ard the establishment of deacon- 
 * Elizabeth Fry. 
 
In the Methodist Episcopal Church. 263 
 
 esses in the Methodist Episcopal Church was in con- 
 nection with its German mission. This was natural. 
 The deaconess institution flourishes on German soil, 
 and this form of Christian effort being so largely in 
 use by all Protestant bodies in Germany Methodism 
 could not do well witliout it. The Kaiserswerth 
 deaconess being seen in all the large cities would be 
 a constant stimulus. 
 
 The work commenced in 1873, under the direction 
 of the Rev. C. Weiss, with two Sisters. The number 
 has now increased to nearly one hundred, and homes 
 have been established in Frankfort, Berlin, Hara- 
 buro:, Zurich, and St. Gall. In the institution in 
 Frankfort last year two hundred and forty-six 
 patients were nursed. An earnest effort is also made 
 for the rescue of fallen women, and for the comfort 
 and reformation of prisoners. A course of instruc- 
 tion, both religious and technical, is given to the 
 deaconess. Additional buildings have recently been 
 secured in Frankfort and Hamburg to accommodate 
 the increasing work. The institution has so far com- 
 mended itself to the city and government authorities 
 as to secure for the deaconesses the free use of gov- 
 ernment and street railroads. They are respected 
 and loved for their works' sake, and their lives of 
 sacrifice and service among the poor win souls for 
 the Saviour, whose Spirit prompts them, and whose 
 cause they serve. 
 
 This work in our German mission prompted the 
 
264 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 lionie Church to efforts in the same direction. It 
 lias often been remarked that, at the inception of any 
 great movement which the Church seems to de- 
 mand, the thouglit is laid on the hearts of God's peo- 
 ple in different places at the same time ; at lengtli it 
 takes root in some mind and heart, and assumes defi- 
 nite form. 
 
 Mrs. Lucy Rider Meyer, of Chicago, will be honored 
 as the first person who gave this work practical shape 
 in the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United 
 States. We believe it is destined to be of such ujag- 
 nitude as will forever render her name distinguished 
 in the annals of Methodism. Mrs. Meyer is the 
 principal of Tlie Chicago Training School for City, 
 Home, and Foreign Missions. 
 
 The object of this school is thus stated : 
 
 " This institution was established to increase the 
 number and efficiency of evangelistic workers, in 
 both home and foreign fields, and to utilize the un- 
 directed or misdirected energies of Christian women 
 in active religious work. Its specific objects are : 
 
 " 1. To give to any one who desires it, whether in- 
 tending to enter the missionary field or not, a broad, 
 basal knowledge of th^ word of God. 
 
 " 2. To afford a thorough drill in methods of 
 teaching. 
 
 " 3. To give general information concerning mis- 
 sionary fields, including statistics and a knowledge of 
 the habits, customs, and religions of the people. 
 
In the Metfiodist Episcopal Church. 265 
 
 " 4. To afford an opportunity for courses of lect- 
 ures on elementary medicine and nursing. 
 
 "5. To give practical training in the missionary 
 work of our large city, by industrial schools and house- 
 to-house visitation among the neglected classes. 
 
 ^' 6. To furnish a true home under Christian and 
 missionary influences for our students, and to give 
 practical training in domestic work and management, 
 under the care of a competent matron. 
 
 *' 7. To test those offering themselves for home or 
 foreign missionary fields, both as to physical strength, 
 mental fitness, and consecrated purposes. 
 
 " 8. To aid churches and pastors in the present 
 great emergency in city missionary work." 
 
 This institution is kindred in character and work to 
 a deaconess home, and it is no wonder that one grew 
 out of the other. The first direct effort at deacon- 
 esses' work in connection with the above school was in 
 the summer of 1887. Under the direction of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Meyer an average of eight consecrated women 
 remained in the city of Chicago during the intense 
 heat of the summer months, working without salary 
 among the needy poor and sick. 
 
 " During these three summer months 2,751 re- 
 ligious calls were made, many sick and destitute 
 were found and cared for, and in 468 homes the 
 Bible was read and prayer offered. Moreover, many 
 children w^ere led to the Sunday-school, many more 
 were taught there, and some of them were led to 
 
266 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 accept Christ as their personal Saviour. The whole 
 expense of the work during these three months was 
 $360 35, and the receipts were $366 90, leaving a 
 balance of $6 Ij5 in the Treasury. Every dollar of 
 this was given voluntarily." 
 
 The scenes of suffering and destitution discovered 
 by these visitations in the homes of tlie poor, excited 
 the ladies to a renewed effort in the same direction, 
 and to a determination, if possible, to continue and 
 enlarge the work. The first annual report makes the 
 following statement : 
 
 " As the fall came on and the school building was 
 filled with students, the executive committee were 
 forced to face the question. Whether the deaconess 
 work should be abandoned, or larger financial respon- 
 sibility incurred. The great and almost unoccupied 
 field before sucli workers, the lack of other organiza- 
 tion for city mission work, and especially the signifi- 
 cant fact that women were found — both graduates 
 from the school and others — willing to devote their 
 time to the work without salary — these all appealed 
 so loudly to the committee that they voted to con- 
 tinue the work ' so long as God should incline the 
 hearts of his people to support it.' A flat was 
 rented, furniture donated, and the work w\^s there 
 carried on during the winter of 1887-88 under the 
 wise matronship of Miss Isabella Thoburn, tempo- 
 rarily home from India. 
 
 " May 1, 1888, the rented house was given up, 
 
In THE Methodist Episcopal Chuech. 267 
 
 and the deaconesses are accommodated again during 
 the school vacation in the convenient Training 
 School building. But a decided step has now been 
 taken to give them a permanent home. The build- 
 ing next door to the Training School has been 
 purcliased for them, and, while not yet paid for, a 
 beginning lias been made in that direction. One 
 lady gave, entirely unsolicited, nearly five thousand 
 dollars, and in the morning mail the very day these 
 lines are being penned, a five hundred dollar check, 
 from another lady, was modestly inclosed in a plain 
 white envelope. This gift also was entirely unsolic- 
 ited. With such tokens of good fi'om the Lord may 
 we not confidently expect ' all we need ? ' " 
 
 The dates above given show that this institution is 
 in its infancy, but its foundations have been laid in 
 faith and prayer ; and its earnest appeals are elicit- 
 ing such responses from the Church as indicate a 
 grand future, and great usefulness. 
 
 The annual expenditure for each deaconess en- 
 gaged in the work is about $250 ; and an effort is 
 being made to secure supporting patrons who will 
 put a substitute into the field. This will certainly 
 commend itself to the pious and afilnent. In the 
 nation's crisis substitutes took the place of men who 
 could not enter the ranks ; they did good service in 
 the country's hour of need ; so in this moral conflict 
 the wealthy women of the Church should, and doubt- 
 less will, furnish the means to send those sisters into 
 
268 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 the field who have no domestic ties to bind them to 
 home and family. 
 
 " The members in the home are divided into two 
 classes for their work : those who are being sent out 
 as nurses among the sick, and those who do visiting 
 and teaching, conducting mothers' and children's 
 meetings. For these services the workers receive 
 only their board and expenses, some even paying 
 their board or expenses, or both." Such is the origin 
 of the first deaconess home connected with the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church in the United States. 
 
 Tlie need of these Christian workers was sorely 
 felt in our foreign missions. The want was sup- 
 plied in our German work. The matter had long 
 rested upon the mind of Dr. J. M. Thoburn, now 
 Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in India. 
 He had seen the necessity of increasing the force of 
 female workers and of enlarging their sphere in 
 evangelistic work in connection with missions in 
 India. 
 
 In 1888 the Church was ready for an onward 
 movement, and for a recognition of the deaconess as 
 a church official, and one of its working forces. At 
 the General Conference, held in New York, May, 
 1888, the subject, with all papers relating thereto, 
 was referred to the Committee on Missions, of 
 wdiom Dr. Thoburn w^as chairman. The committee 
 reported the following, which was adopted, and is 
 now the law of the Church : 
 
In the Methodist Episcopal Chukch. 260 
 
 " Deaconesses. 
 
 " 1. The duties of the deaconesses are to minister 
 to the poor, visit the sick, pray with the dying, care 
 for the orphan, seek the wandering, comfort the sor- 
 rowing, save the sinning, and relinquishing wholly all 
 other pursuits, devote themselves, in a general w^ay, 
 to such forms of Christian labor as may be suited to 
 their abilities. 
 
 " 2. 1^0 vow shall be exacted from any deaconess, 
 and any one of their number shall be at liberty to 
 relinquish her position as a deaconess at any time. 
 
 " 3. In every Annual Conference within which 
 deaconesses may be employed, a Conference board of 
 nine members, at least three of whom shall be 
 w^omen, shall be appointed by the Conference to ex- 
 ercise a general control of the interests of this form 
 of work. 
 
 ''4. This board shall be empowered to issue cer- 
 tificates to duly qualified persons, authorizing tliem 
 to perform the duties of deaconesses in connection 
 with the Church, provided that no person shall re- 
 ceive such certificate until she shall have serv^ed a 
 probation of two years of continuous service, and 
 shall be over twenty -five years of age. 
 
 "5. Ko person shall be licensed by the Board of 
 Deaconesses except on the recommendation of a 
 Quarterly Conference, and said Board of Deacon- 
 esses shall be appointed by the Annual Conference 
 18 
 
270 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 for such term of service as the Annual Conference 
 shall decide, and said board shall report both the 
 names and work of such deaconesses annuallj', and 
 tlie approval of the Annual Conference shall be nec- 
 essary for the continuance of any deaconess in her 
 work. 
 
 " 6. When working singh^ each deaconess shall be 
 under the direction of the pastor of the church with 
 which she is connected. When associated together in 
 a home, all the members of the home shall be subordi- 
 nate to and directed by the superintendent placed in 
 
 ^^^^S^' " J. M. Thoburn, Chairman. 
 
 " A. B. Leonard, Secretary.''^ 
 
 This was incorporated in the Book of Discipline, 
 and must for four years remain the law under which 
 the Church will act. 
 
 It will be observed that the deaconess, like all 
 officers in the Methodist Episcopal Church having 
 ministerial functions, originates in the Quarterly 
 Conference, and it must be in this body that the 
 religious qualiHcations of the applicant will be ad- 
 judged. 
 
 In other Churches the applicant must bring 
 among other testimonials a certificate of baptism 
 and a certificate from her pastor. It must not be 
 supposed that the Methodist Episcopal Church is 
 less cautious than others about the religious attain- 
 ments of candidates for the office because the law 
 
In the Methodist Episcopal Church. 271 
 
 does not specify any moral standard. " 'No person 
 sliall be licensed by the Board of Deaconesses except 
 on the recommendation of a Quarterly Conference." 
 This body consists of every officer of the local cluirch, 
 and is presided over by the presiding elder, who is a 
 member of the bishop's cabinet or council. This 
 body, following the analogy furnished by the licensing 
 of local preachers, will inquire into '' the gifts, grace, 
 and usefulness'- of such candidate, and the way will 
 be rigidly barred against all who cannot furnish sat- 
 isfactory evidence of a good, clear, religious experi- 
 ence and a pure moral life. 
 
 The law may not be all that is necessary for the 
 proper development of the institution, but time and 
 experience will suggest what is best, and the law can 
 be changed from time to time to meet the demands 
 of the work. The great thing is to have the order rec- 
 ognized as a part of the organized Church. However 
 defective the law may be, the germ of something great 
 is in it. The details of dress and pay and educational 
 qualifications were wisely left to the local boards and 
 for future consideration. 
 
 The first paragraph on " the duties of the dea- 
 coness" recognized the line of work to which she has 
 been assigned in all the ages. A ministry to the poor, 
 the sick, the orphan, the wandering, the sorrowing, 
 and the sinning. She will not supersede nor take 
 the place of other Christian women in these lines of 
 labor: thousands have rendered most valuable service, 
 
272 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 and thousands more will follow in this consecration 
 to Christ and his representatives ; but she will be 
 distinguished from them in that slie will relinquish 
 " wholly all other pursuits," and devote herself '' in a 
 general way to such forms of Christian labor as may 
 be suited to her abilities." 
 
 The second paragraph forbids the exaction of vows. 
 This is in accordance with the best view of Christian 
 truth and propriety. It is Protestant in principle, 
 and in keeping with the freedom of the days in which 
 we live. 
 
 The other paragraphs define the relation of the 
 deaconess to the Church and the method of selection 
 and appointment, and are more liable to change as 
 the organization is perfected and the work of the 
 order developed. 
 
 As the Deaconess Home in connection with the 
 Chicago Training School for Home and Foreign Mis- 
 sions was in successful operation before the enactment 
 of the law by the General Conference, it was natural 
 that the Rock River Conference, within whose bounds 
 it is located, should take the initiative under the law. 
 This they did. At the conference held October, 1888, 
 a " Conference board of nine members " was appointed 
 ^' to exercise a general control of the interests of this 
 form of work." Several other Conferences, including 
 Philadelphia, have followed the example. Deaconess 
 homes are now being established in 'New York, 
 Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and other great centers of 
 
In the Methodist Episcopal Chttrch. 273 
 
 population, east and west, of wliicli it is now too early 
 to speak in detail. The Elizabetli Gamble Deaconess 
 Home lias been founded in Cincinnati by Mr. Gamble 
 as a monnioent to the memory of his sainted wife, 
 whose name it bears. It is under the superintend- 
 ence of Miss Isabella Thoburn, for many years a suc- 
 cessful missionary in India. On account of the wide- 
 spread interest and the inauguration of a number of 
 deaconess homes, a conference was called of all who 
 were practically interested in the work, for the pur- 
 pose of promoting uniformity in methods of proced- 
 ure in the incorporation of the institutions, courses of 
 stud}^, dress, etc. They met in Chicago, December 20 
 and 21, 1888, when the following plan was adopted 
 and recommended to all similar institutions : 
 
 I. Deaconess Homes. 
 
 1. That, wlierever practicable, every deaconess 
 home be incorporated. 
 
 2. That the form of constitution adopted embody 
 the following provisions : 
 
 a. The corporate or other name of this institution 
 is the Deaconess Home of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church. 
 
 5. The object for which this institution is estab- 
 lished is to promote the work of deaconesses as recog- 
 nized by the Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church ; to provide homes for them ; to give neces- 
 sary support and instruction to them ; and, as far as 
 
274: Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 practicable, to provide for siicli forms of Cliristian 
 charity as may be developed in the prosecution of 
 their work. 
 
 c. If incorporated, the number of trustees of this 
 institution sliall be not less than nine nor more than 
 thirteen, at least two thirds of whom shall be mem- 
 bers in good standing in the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, and of whom not less than five shall consti- 
 tute a quorum. 
 
 d. The mode of election and perpetuation of trus- 
 tees to be in conformity with State law. 
 
 3. That, in addition to such other meetings as may 
 be jointly held, the trustees, or conti'oUing board, of 
 each deaconess home annually meet with the Board of 
 Deaconesses of the Conference within the bounds of 
 which it is located, at wliicli time a full report of the 
 work of the home for the year preceding shall be 
 presented. 
 
 4. That no change of the general policy or manage- 
 ment of a deaconess liome be made without the con- 
 sent of at least two thirds of the Board of Deaconesses 
 of the Conference within the bounds of which it is lo- 
 cated. 
 
 II. Conditions of Admission. 
 
 A. Age, etc. 
 
 1. That all applicants be received on three months' 
 trial, more or less, at the option of the trustees or 
 managers, during which time they are to receive their 
 board, if desired. 
 
Ik the Methodist Episcopal Chukch. 275 
 
 2. After serving satisfactorily on trial tliej may be 
 admitted, if of sufficient age, as probationers, or if less 
 than twenty-tliree years of age as members, of the 
 home, provided they be not deemed eligible to proba- 
 tion for the office of deaconess until twenty-three 
 years of age ; and provided, further, that it be their 
 intention to ultimately seek entrance into the office 
 of deaconess. 
 
 3. That none be admitted as candidates who are 
 more than forty years of age, except by unanimous 
 consent of the trustees or managers. 
 
 4. That those admitted into a deaconess home con- 
 sent to observe the established rules and regulations 
 and abide by the decision of the superintendent, 
 cheerfully giving all their time to the work assigned 
 them as visitors and nurses or to the prescribed prep- 
 aration for work. 
 
 B. Dress. 
 
 That a simple uniform be worn, sufficient for pro- 
 tection and recognition in their work, and that the 
 same uniform be adopted by all deaconess homes. 
 
 C. Support. 
 
 1. That approved applicants may be admitted as 
 members of the home on one of the following condi- 
 tions : 
 
 a. That they pay their board and expenses. 
 
 h. Tliat they pay their expenses only. 
 
 G. That they pay neither their board nor ex- 
 penses. 
 
276 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 2. That candidates under the hast condition be enti- 
 tled to comfortable maintenance and clothina: durino: 
 their connection with the home, in conformity with 
 its regulations. 
 
 3. That no salaries be paid, but the work of the 
 deaconesses be on the basis of self-sacrifice "for 
 Jesus' sake." 
 
 4. That none solicit money unless duly author- 
 ized. 
 
 5. That all donations and money received, where 
 service is rendered, be paid into the treasury of the 
 home, to be applied toward its expenses. 
 
 In the absence of any specification by the Disci- 
 pline, as to the standard of preparation required, we 
 recommend the following : 
 
 III. Course of Study and Plan for Training. 
 
 1. That the two years of "continuous service" re- 
 quired by the Discipline be spent in careful training 
 whenever possible, in a training-school, or such liter- 
 ary institution as shall make provision for the course 
 of study recommended, residence being, so far as pos- 
 sible, in a deaconess home ; or, in case of such as are 
 making special preparation for becoming trained 
 nurses, in a hospital. 
 
 2. For both classes the first year's training 
 si 1 all be mainly theoretical, and the second year's 
 practical. 
 
 3. Subjects for study and reading; 
 
In the Mf:thodist Episcopal Church. 277 
 
 First Year. 
 
 a. Bj those not preparing to become trained nurses : 
 
 (1.) English Bible, book by book. 
 
 (2.) The Discipline. 
 
 (3.) Catechism No. 3. 
 
 (4.) Theological Compend. — Binney. 
 
 (6.) Smaller History of the Bible. — Smith, 
 
 (6.) Life of Qlirhi.— Stalker. 
 
 (7.) Bible Geography. — Hudlut. 
 
 (8.) Church History. — Hurst. 
 
 (9.) Compendium of Metliodism. — Porter. 
 
 h. To be studied by those preparing to become 
 trained nurses : 
 
 (1.) The English Bible, book by book. 
 
 (2.) The Discipline. 
 
 (3.) Catechism No. 3. 
 
 (4.) Physiology. — Hutchinson. 
 
 (5.) Clara Week's Nursing Manual. 
 
 (6.) New Haven Nursing Manual. 
 
 And the theoretical instruction prescribed by the 
 faculty of any standard training-school for nurses, to- 
 gether with such practical work in the hospital wards, 
 under the superintending nurse, as does not seriously 
 conflict with the course of study. 
 
 c. Eecom mended to be read : 
 
 (1.) The Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation.— 
 Walker. 
 
 (2.) How to Study the Bible.— J/oo%. 
 
278 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 (3.) Life of Elizabeth Fry. 
 
 (4.) The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life. — 
 Smith. 
 
 (5.) Una and Her Paupers. 
 
 Second Year. 
 
 a. With the practical work of this year the fol- 
 lowing course of reading to be pursued by both 
 classes : 
 
 (1.) Life of Christ. — Geihie. 
 
 (2.) Life of John Wesley. — Watson. 
 
 (3.) Life of Sister Dora. 
 
 (4.) Woman and Temperance. — Frances E. Wil- 
 lard. 
 
 (5.) Women of Methodism. 
 
 (6.) Outlines of the AVorld's History. — Swinton. 
 
 (7.) School History of the United States. — Bid- 
 jpath. 
 
 (8.) How we Live ; or, The Human Body, and How 
 to Take Care of It. 
 
 (9.) Quiz Compend. on Obstetrics. — Landls. (For 
 nurses only.) 
 
 h. Recommended to be read : 
 
 (1.) Ages before Moses. — Gibson. 
 
 (2.) The Mosaic Age. — Gibson. 
 
 (3.) Life of Paul. — Conybeare and Howson. 
 
 (4.) Butler's Analogy. 
 
 4. Candidates preparing for work among foreign- 
 speaking people, at home or abroad, are recommended 
 
In the Methodist Episcopal Church. 279 
 
 to make preparation in the language, etc., of those 
 among whom thej expect to labor. 
 
 5. That no license be issued by any Conference 
 Board of Deaconesses until a satisfactory written exam- 
 ination has been passed in all the subjects of study, and 
 also in the rudiments of a common-school education. 
 . 6. That the certificate of a regular physician to the 
 good health of the candidates be also required as a 
 condition for license. 
 
 7. That the recommendation of a Quarterly Confer- 
 ence be required before one be deemed a deaconess 
 probationer, and that in all cases a certificate from a 
 Quarterly Conference as to two years' continuous serv- 
 ice be required before license be granted to a deaconess. 
 
 While recognizing the importance of developing 
 training-schools at several important points, where 
 there may be exceptional advantages for such pur- 
 poses, it is earnestly recommended that training-schools 
 be not indiscriminately multiplied. 
 
 The Chicago Training School for City, Home, and 
 Foreign Missions being in successful operation, and 
 the curriculum essentially covering that recommended 
 for deaconesses, we earnestly recommend that, pend- 
 ing the establishment of other similar schools, appli- 
 cants for deaconesses' license take the first year's train- 
 ing at the Chicago Training School. 
 
 Chas. R. Nokth, Chairman, 
 
 New York city. 
 
 J. Shelly Meyee, Secretary, Chicago, III. 
 
280 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 This conference we regard as a very important 
 step connected with the general movement, and its 
 results will be sufficient to guide in the establishment 
 of homes and the development of the deaconess work 
 "until the next General Conference. 
 
 There are some features in the above plan which 
 are worthy of remark : 
 
 Deaconess Homes. 
 The object for which this institution is established 
 is to promote the work of deaconesses as recog- 
 nized by the Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church. This work is clearly defined in the first 
 paragraph of the law;* also, "to provide homes for 
 them." In every large city where a home is es- 
 tablished, that home will be the center whence all 
 the deaconesses will go, and to which they will re- 
 turn from the nursing, teaching, or mission work in 
 which they are severally engaged. Experience has 
 shown that greater progress in knowledge and work 
 is made by the deaconesses thus associated than when 
 they are separated and working alone. In large cities, 
 where many churches are located, the parish deacon- 
 ess assigned to a single church can devote herself to 
 one congregation and have her home in the institu- 
 tion. Even where this cannot be the case, if sent to 
 some distant station she will retain her afifection and 
 interest in the institution where she was trained and 
 * Discipline, ^ 207. 
 
In the Methodist Episcopal Church. 281 
 
 where her first associations in the diaconate were 
 formed. The esprit de corps will be maintained, and, 
 wherever sent to labor, the deaconesses will be a band 
 of sisters bound bj mutual ties. The corporate feel- 
 ing will be strong though the members be scattered. 
 "The emblem of the dove with the olive branch, which 
 is a familiar wood-cut on the printed papers of Kai- 
 serswerth, is suggestive not only of the character and 
 mission of those who are sent forth, but of the home 
 to which all of them belong," and to which thej gladly 
 return. 
 
 A wide field for the philanthropy of the Church is 
 suggested in the plan when it declares the object of 
 the home to be, as far as practicable, " to provide for 
 such forms of Cliristian charity as may be developed 
 in the prosecution of their work." 
 
 Around the deaconess institutions of Germany and 
 England various forms of charitable work have been 
 organized, such as hospitals, schools, orphanages, 
 homes for the aged, etc. These serve more than one 
 object. They are benevolent and Christian in their 
 purpose, offering relief to the poor and suffering, and 
 are training-places for probationers and deaconesses, 
 who there learn by practice the art of ministering to 
 the sick in body and mind. 
 
 Does it not seem providential that in Methodism 
 the deaconess movement and the establishment of 
 hospitals and orplianages are coeval ? In the future, 
 no doubt, the one will be closely related to the other. 
 
282 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 The deaconess home seems to be the necessary com- 
 plement to the hospital. 
 
 The care and support of the indigent sick and the 
 healing of the maladies that afflict mankind is a work 
 that pecnliarly belongs to the Church of Christ. A 
 careful reading of the Bible will show how closely 
 the work of the promised Messiah, the man Christ 
 Jesus, was connected with the alleviation of physical 
 misery, as well as bringing salvation to the lost. 
 That he should thus appear was distinctly foretold 
 by Isaiah, " Surely he hath borne our griefs, and 
 carried our sorrows." The word translated "griefs" 
 signifies bodily disease and sickness. This prophecy 
 was literally fulfilled by Christ : " And Jesus went 
 about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and 
 preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and healing all 
 manner of sickness and all manner of disease among 
 the people" — teaching, preaching, healing. 
 
 The physical evils that cluster about humanity 
 presented to the Redeemer of mankind a marvelous 
 theater for the display of the remedial power of the 
 Son of God, and for the display of his greater power 
 and benevolence in the forgiveness of their sins. 
 During the w^liole of his earthly ministry the Saviour 
 appeared before the people in the twofold character 
 of the great Physician and the great Redeemer. If 
 the Church hears and obeys his great commission : 
 " Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to 
 every creature," she may count among the signs fol- 
 
In the Methodist Episcopal Chukch. 283 
 
 lowing, " Thej shall lay hands on the sick, and they 
 shall recover" — not in the line of the miraculous, 
 but in the line of charitable deeds, which are more 
 beneficent. 
 
 In this, as in every thing else, tlie Churcli has 
 failed to do her whole duty ; but from the days of 
 Christ until now we may trace the Church's path 
 among the nations by her healing virtues, and the 
 light, health, and life that have sprung up in her 
 course. The words of Christ have brought healing to 
 the soul, and charities instituted by the Church have 
 done much to alleviate the sorrows of mankind. 
 
 Hospitals for the sick, the aged, the helpless, and 
 the poor are really outgrowths of Christianity. They 
 do not exist to any appreciable extent where the 
 Gospel is not known, and they did not exist before 
 the days of Christ. " The hospital is the monument 
 erected by the Church to the memory of her Lord's 
 stretching forth his hand to heal. Even more than 
 places of worship this was the characteristic mark of 
 a Christianized society. The temple at Jerusalem 
 had been standing for ages. The synagogues were 
 of ancient date. The pagans worshiped in groves 
 and high places. The Greeks and Romans piled 
 their magnificent architecture to the gods. Men 
 were familiar with what answered to churches ; but 
 asylums for the wretched, hospitals for the sick were 
 yet unknown in the world ; they were the product of 
 the Christian Church." 
 
2Si Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 Were we able to trace tlie history of this class of 
 institutions, we would find that most of them orig- 
 inated in the piety and benevolence of some indi- 
 vidual or Church who wished to honor God and 
 bless mankind, and they have been supported in 
 perpetuity by the liberality of the followers of 
 Christ. 
 
 In all countries many of them are designated by 
 names that indicate the close relation they bear to 
 the Church of Clirist : "Hotel Dieu," or God's 
 Hospital, Christ's Hospital, The Hospital of the 
 Holy Ghost, The Hospital of the Holy Trinity. 
 More frequently the names of the evangelists and 
 saints are applied to them. 
 
 These institutions have not arisen as the result of 
 any positive command of Christ, but from the princi- 
 ples of his Gospel and the force of his example. 
 The spirit of love and self-sacrifice lay at the founda- 
 tion of Christ's work, and these must permeate the 
 organic body which is the representative of Christ 
 on earth. The fatherhood of God and the brother- 
 hood of man, as taught by Christ, lead us to care for 
 the poor and the unfortunate, because we recognize 
 in them the relationship to God and to ourselves. 
 The full measure of the Gospel's work for man is 
 not done when the mind is instructed and the heart 
 regenerated. It does not expend its full force in 
 preaching and teaching. As all suffering is the 
 outgrowth of sin, so love, which lies at the base of 
 
In the Methodist Episcopal Chuech. 2S5 
 
 redemption, will suggest healing agencies for the body 
 as well as salvation for the soul. 
 
 The sick and unfortunate are largely provided for 
 by the State ; but, considering all the wants of man, 
 this cannot well be done by the State in purely secu- 
 lar institutions. There is a department in this work 
 which the Church alone can till. It is common to 
 seek for bodily healing, religious instruction, and 
 consolation at the same time. The mind is often 
 prepared for spiritual truth by affliction. 
 
 " The best fruit loads the broken bough; 
 And in the wounds our sufferings plow 
 Immortal Love sows sovereign seed." 
 
 This demand for religious instruction arid consola- 
 tion cannot well be met by the State; the genius of 
 our goverment forbids it. If met in any sense it 
 would not be as thorough, earnest, or consistent as 
 that furnished by any branch of the Church of 
 Christ. This at least indicates the propriety of hos- 
 pitals for the dependent classes furnished by and un- 
 der the control of the Christian denominations. 
 
 We think it is high time that the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church should enter more largely upon this 
 branch of Christian work and philanthropy. Our 
 benevolent societies and our evangelistic labor are 
 indications of our liberality and zeal. May our hos- 
 pitals soon be located in every large city, and become 
 representative of the Church's philanthropy, centers 
 of medical knowledge and surgical skill, and the source 
 
286 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 of healing and spiritual comfort to tens of tliousands 
 of the unfortunate among mankind ! 
 
 At no very distant day we hope to see hospi- 
 tals, orplianages, and homes for the aged under the 
 care of deaconesses ; godly women who have been 
 tried and found faithful, who have been instructed 
 and therefore competent to take care of the body, 
 inform the mind, and feed the moral nature with 
 religious truth, leading the soul to God through 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Course of Study and Plan for Training. 
 
 The course of study and reading indicates a deter- 
 mination to place this office and work on a more than 
 ordinary intellectual and educational basis. It is suf- 
 ficiently scriptural and denominational to satisfy the 
 most ardent Methodist. It is cause for congratulation 
 that from the outset the deaconess institutions are to 
 be training-schools for Christian workers. Too much 
 stress cannot be laid on the importance of training. 
 Those who have had the longest acquaintance with 
 this work regard this feature as of the highest impor- 
 tance. This thought lay at the foundation of the 
 German work. "Two ideas seem to have presided 
 over all the working life of Dr. Fliedner : first, that 
 2i female 'Diakonie' is required by the Church of 
 modern times; and, secondly, that this 'Diakonie' 
 to be efficient must be trained." 
 
 This training, to be of real value, must be system- 
 
In the Methodist Episcopal Church. 287 
 
 atic, and of a tlireefold character — intellectualj prac- 
 tical, and religious. 
 
 The intellectnal will include the theoretical. The 
 practical will be obtained in actual work in the schools, 
 hospitals, orphanages, and in the homes of poverty 
 and sickness, and at the bedside of the dying. 
 
 Close attention must be paid to the training of the 
 deaconess in religious work. Not only should she be 
 deeply pious, having a good experience of divine 
 truth, but she must know how to impart religious 
 truth to others. Fliedner said : " How, unless she is 
 instructed, can the deaconess administer at night those 
 spiritual drops which are often worth more than a 
 whole sermon?" The deaconess must be trained by 
 methodical habits of study and devotion for religions 
 teaching, and be able to apply the word of God to the 
 hearts of those to whom she ministers according to 
 the needs of the patient or penitent. She must be 
 able, under favorable and unfavorable circumstances, 
 to offer audible prayer, and if she can sing the songs 
 of Zion, and by sacred melody move the hearts of 
 those whom she tries to save, it will be a great gain. 
 
 The rules of some institutions, prescribing very 
 minutely the hours of prayer, meditation, and other 
 forms of devotion, seem too mechanical and ascetic ; 
 yet the Iiabit of devotimi must be cultivated, and the 
 ^'home" must be the place where the deaconess can 
 be replenished and in every sense equipped for the 
 field of labor. It must be her •' Tabor," where she 
 
288 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 holds converse with God and gathers new glory and 
 strength for the conflict with nnbehef, disease, and all 
 the forms of sin. 
 
 It must be a retreat where devotion predominates, 
 love rules, and Christ is supreme ; the council cham- 
 ber where victories are recounted and new plans laid, 
 and where the joyful soul shall stimulate the despond- 
 ent, and each shall help all, and all shall promote the 
 interest of the one family and the glory of the one 
 Master. 
 
 Dress. 
 
 "That a simple uniform be worn sufficient for pro- 
 tection and recognition in their work, and that the 
 same uniform be adopted by all deaconess homes." 
 There were persons present in the Conference when 
 this recommendation was adopted who had given this 
 subject more than a passing thought, and we may re- 
 gard this as the best judgment of all. It certainly 
 coincides with that of those who have had much to do 
 with the deaconess work, and follows the practice of 
 almost every deaconess institution with which we are 
 acquainted. Some think it a trivial matter, others 
 condemn it ; we think it important. 
 
 If the dress is not uniform in its main features, it 
 must be left to the taste and discretion of each indi- 
 vidual. Nothing differs more widely than taste in 
 dress. The religious work of the order is likely to be 
 marred without this uniformit3^ Some will engage 
 in it wh© are poor and others who are rich ; if left to 
 
In the Methodist Episcopal Church. 289 
 
 individual taste in dress, one will be richly and the 
 other poorly clad. Some will appear in plain and 
 simple style, and others in bright colors and fashion- 
 able attire. Eich and costly dress at tlie bedside of 
 the hospital patient and in the homes of the destitute 
 is incongruous. All deaconesses, whatever tlieir for- 
 mer position, wliile employed in the work, are on a 
 social level. Uniformity in dress in a large institu- 
 tion is a matter of great practical economy. 
 
 A conference held at Kaiserswertli '• pronounced 
 imanimonsly for a distinctive dress, and summed up 
 its advantages thus: It made the sisters known at 
 once alike to their charge and the public, inspired 
 confidence in them as servants of the Church and of 
 Christian charity, protected them from the rudeness 
 of the mob, rendered them less subject to vanity, 
 and less disturbed by changes of fashion, besides sav- 
 ing much expenditure." It is added, however, that 
 the dress ouglit to be as simple and as little peculiar 
 as possible, and in harmony with the directions of 
 St. Paul and St. Peter. 1 Tim. ii, 9, 10 ; 1 Pet. iii, 3. 
 It was once suggested to Fliedner by the king of 
 Prussia that the deaconesses should wear a silver 
 cross, but lie opposed it as being suggestiv^e of a 
 '' shibboleth of Romanism ;" but the deaconesses of 
 the Lutheran Church in the United States have adopted 
 the silver cross. This will not commend itself to the 
 deaconesses of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 Some German critics of Fliedner's work objected 
 19 
 
290 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 to tlie distinctive dress as inclining toward the Church 
 of Eome; but in answer to them Schaefer quotes 
 from Martin Lnther, who advised certain ordej's to 
 i-etain their dress after they had embraced the doc- 
 trines of tlie Reformation. " Your garb and other 
 laudable usages do not harm the Gospel, to the con- 
 trary, they aid it in its fight against the unbridled 
 minds which now^adays know only how to pull down, 
 but not to rebuild again." * 
 
 Of the present advantages of the distinctive dress 
 the same writer observes : "By their 23ecnliar dress 
 the sisters escape the tyranny and frivolity of 
 fasliion. Their dress is cheap, as they obtain the 
 material first at wholesale prices from the manu- 
 factory ; it is eminently practical, for in every detail 
 the prime consideration has been kept in view to 
 enable the sisters to work. The dress of a deacon- 
 ess is a constant reminder of the dignity of her call- 
 ing ; it is also a protection, for in this attire the 
 sister will remain unmolested at all times and in all 
 places where it would be impossible for other women 
 not to be molested. Her dress is the passport 
 which rarely speaks in vain. The sister is always 
 seen in her costume, even when watching at night. 
 She is forbidden to appear in neglige. The three 
 different grades of probationer, novice, and deaconess 
 are expressed by the dress." f 
 
 The distinctive dress of the Methodist deaconess 
 
 * Die Wiehliche Diakonie, vol. i, p. 22'7. f Ibid., vol. iii, p. 88. 
 
In the Methodist Episcopal Church. 291 
 
 should differ from that now worn by other deacon- 
 esses and the use of it should be optional with her 
 when not working or journeying in the interest of 
 the order. 
 
 The call for deaconesses is probably greater in 
 our foreio-n mission fields than in our home cities and 
 churches. Great as is the suffering in cities in 
 Christian lands where numerous churches and other 
 Christian institutions are planted, it is nmch greater 
 in heathen cities, where degradation and vice prevail 
 w^itliout the ameliorating influences of the Gospel of 
 Christ. Especially are deaconesses a necessity for 
 Christian evangelization in the Orient, wliere women 
 are more jealously secluded than they were among 
 ancient Greeks or Romans. . 
 
 At the General Conference of 1888 the Bengal 
 Annual Conference, through Dr. J. M. Thoburn, 
 presented memorials praying for the recognition of 
 the order of deaconesses. The difficulties connected 
 with aduiinistering the sacraments to the converted 
 women of India have long been seriously felt. So 
 long accustomed to seclusion they instinctively shrink 
 from the touch of man, even in Christian baptism. 
 
 The early Church fathers felt the necessity of 
 havino; the deaconess assist in the administration of 
 this rite for the sake of decency ; but they were not 
 as much needed then as now in our foreign missions. 
 The cause of Christ would be much advanced if 
 deaconesses should be ordained to administer this 
 
292 Deaconesses, xIncient and Modern. 
 
 sacrament to their own sex. This was contemplated 
 in the memorial of the Bengal Conference.* " Dr. 
 J. T. Gracey, long a missionary in India, says that 
 thousands of women might have been baptized had 
 the sisters, who alone were admitted to the zenanas, 
 and who led these women to Christ, been permitted 
 to perform the service." f Other j^rominent mission- 
 aries, men and women, have expressed substantially 
 the views of Dr. Gracey. 
 
 To meet this want, so far as the law of the Church 
 will permit, Bishop J. M. Thoburn has put his thought 
 into practical form, and has established in the city 
 of Calcutta the first deaconess home in India. For 
 this purpose he took with him four American ladies, 
 who are under the direction of himself and wife, 
 Mrs. Anna Thoburn, M.D. We believe this to be 
 the nucleus of what will become one of the grandest 
 evangelistic agencies that India has ever seen. 
 
 There is also a deaconess home established, and 
 partially endowed, in Muttra, within the boundaries 
 of the Korth India Conference of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Cliurch, and now in charge of our vet- 
 eran missionary. Miss Fannie J. Sparkes, who has 
 had the training of many native females in the 
 Orphanage in Bareilly, which was in her charge for 
 twelve or fifteen years. When these homes are es- 
 tablished in all our mission fields the native women 
 
 * General Conference Journal, 1888, p. 100. 
 f Woman in the Pulpit, p. 81. 
 
In the Methodist Episcopal Chuech. 293 
 
 can be trained in Christian work, and can do much 
 for the redemption of tlieir own sex in their native 
 land. History shows that this has always been God's 
 order. A tribe, nation, or race must be evangelized, 
 and the institutions of Christianity perpetuated, 
 chiefly by the agency of members of that race. 
 Others may plant and supervise, but the work must 
 ultimately devolve on native agencies. 
 
 In any field where women are not employed as 
 agents for the dissemination of truth, women are not 
 reached ; the mission is shorn of half its strength, 
 and the work is retarded. 
 
 In treating of deaconesses in connection with the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, it is w^orthy of re- 
 mark that it is the first branch of the Church of 
 Christ in modern times that has incorporated the 
 deaconess work as an integral part of its organization 
 and made the deaconess an otiicer of the Church by 
 its organic law. The various Protestant communions 
 have been very slow in providing for the office of the 
 female diaconate in their constitutions. 
 
 The recognition of the deaconess as an ecclesias- 
 tical oflScer by the law of the State churches of 
 the Fatherland is a diflficult and delicate matter, as 
 tlie German churches have no free corpoi'ate organ- 
 ization. But the prominent leaders and Churchmen 
 have shown their highest appreciation and approba- 
 tion of the work, and have co-operated in its estab- 
 lishment and extension. The General Council of 
 
29i Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 the American Lutheran Church and the synod of 
 Pennsylvania have recognized the deaconess work, 
 but have made no provision for it in the constitution 
 or in the Book of Worship. 
 
 The Protestant Episcopal Church has not in- 
 corporated it. The deaconess is unknown in its 
 canons, and although as a Christian worker she is 
 employed and encouraged, and is inducted to office 
 by solemn and impressive forms, these are not found 
 in the Book of Common Prayer. The Church of 
 England has encouraged the movement and has 
 eiirht deaconess establishments connected with the 
 dioceses within which they are located. The deacon- 
 ess has been consecrated by the imposition of hands 
 by the episcopacy, but she is not recognized in the 
 canons, and her relation to the Church is so donbtful 
 as to be a matter of controv^ersy among Churclimen. 
 
 But under the impulse given to this work by the 
 example and wonderful success of Kaisers werth 
 these institutions have grown up under the wing of 
 almost all denominations, and the Churcli has been a 
 foster-mother to them. They are hers by adoption, 
 not by natural birth. Nearly all communions are 
 reachino^ after a closer union with them. The 
 Church of England is striving after a more general 
 organization, but all her efforts in the past are de- 
 tached and form no part of a complete system. 
 
 The great English institution at Mild may and 
 others like it are the outgrowth of the faith of a few 
 
In the Methodist Episcopal Chuuch. 295 
 
 brave sonls wlio have trusted in God and moved for- 
 ward. The officers as such are not i-esponsible to 
 any Churcli, and no Cliurch is responsible for them, 
 though clergymen and bishops may heartily sympa- 
 thize. The English and German institutions are only 
 responsible to those who combine to maintain them. 
 
 The step taken by the Methodist Episcopal Church 
 is therefore one of very great importance, and will 
 reflect great honor upon her. It is not a small tiling 
 to be the first Church in Protestantism to make the 
 organization of woman's work a branch of the gen- 
 eral organization of the Church, under the control of 
 her several judicatories. It indicates the readiness of 
 Methodism to adopt any measure that proves its 
 adaptation to the wants of the times, and it reveals 
 the elasticity of the system which can incorporate 
 and assimilate a working force so extensive as this 
 promises to be. 
 
 The future will more than realize the flight of 
 fancy of one of its advocates. " It seems to me, 
 when I look forward and think about the great army 
 of consecrated workers that God will raise up, as if I 
 could hear the tread of angels' feet on all the streets 
 of our great cities. I believe that God is about to 
 raise up an army of women workers, such as you 
 know nothing about ; such as I myself have never 
 dreamed of. There is no form of Church work 
 these women will not do. All they ask is to give 
 them the right of control and proper recognition ; 
 
296 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 and, take my word for it, God's blessing will be 
 upon the action, and you will live to see the day 
 when the hope which I have expressed will be more 
 than realized." * 
 
 At the present time, when the work is but just be- 
 gun and is not known to the Church beyond a limited 
 circle, the demand for deaconesses is so large it cannot 
 be met. Congregations in the great cities are ready 
 to adopt and provide for the movement and are call- 
 ing for these trained laborers to send them forth to 
 bring the suffering and sinful to the sheltering arms 
 of Christ. " Lift up your eyes, and look on the iields : 
 for they are white already to the harvest." 
 
 * Dr. Tliobuni, Debate in General Conference, 1888. 
 
Conclusion. 297 
 
 CHAPTER XVL 
 
 COXCLUSIOK 
 
 The varied developments of civilization create new 
 conditions and wants. As these are felt efforts are 
 made to supply them. 'New industries are called 
 into existence, and the "lost arts" are revived, or 
 new applications made of old ones. This is no more 
 true of secular than of moral and religious things. 
 
 A great change has taken place within a half cent- 
 ury in the relative proportions of population in city 
 and country, and in their relation to religious truth 
 and instruction. The new forms of religious labor 
 and philanthropy to which the nineteenth century 
 has given birth have scarcely kept pace with the 
 wants of the people. The tendency of the age is to 
 bring vast masses of people together in cities, and 
 this increases both poverty and crime. The tene- 
 ment houses become crowded, disease is engendered, 
 and the physical and moral condition of the people 
 become lamentable in the extreme. The more dense 
 the population the greater the suffering, degradation, 
 and vice. 
 
 Philadelphia does not compare with New York, 
 and London is worse than either. It is so bad that 
 even the bare statement of facts without colorincr or 
 
298 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 fancy does violence to all modesty and propriety. 
 To every thoughtful mind this is a matter of serious 
 reflection. As fast as our population increases we 
 are tending to the same state of tilings. 
 
 " During the half century preceding 1880 popula- 
 tion in the cities increased more than four times as 
 rapidly as that of the village and country. In the 
 year 1800 there were only six cities in the United 
 States which had a population of eight thousand or 
 more. In 1880 there w^ere two hundred and eighty- 
 six." ^ 
 
 There is another fact closely related to this w^hich 
 should be borne in mind ; at the same time that tliere 
 is a great influx of the working classes to our cities 
 there is a very considerable efflux of the rich and 
 cultured to our suburban towns for family residences. 
 This is constantly increasing as our manufacturers 
 gj'ow rich and the w^orking classes grow poor. 
 Churches lose their wealthy, intelligent, paying mem- 
 bers, and after a few years of struggle the congrega- 
 tion disbands, the edifice is sold for business purposes, 
 the wealthy find more congenial surroundings, and 
 the poor are left in their poverty with fewer moral 
 influences around them and in greater spiritual des- 
 titution than ever. There is but little more affinity 
 or aflSliation between the average rich manufacturer 
 and his operatives than there is between him and the 
 machines that make his wares. They are left in 
 
 * Josiah Strong. D.D., Our Country, p. 120. 
 
Conclusion. 299 
 
 courts and alleys to seethe and fester in moral cor- 
 ruption and sin with scarcely a hand extended to save 
 them, apparently forsaken by the Church, if not by 
 God and man. 
 
 We have alluded to the above facts simply to show- 
 that there is more work for Christian women to do 
 now than in any previous period in the history of the 
 Church. If the physical miseries of the poor are 
 ever to be ameliorated, and their moral maladies 
 healed ; if there ever come to them the sympathy 
 born of Christian principle, and the counsel that 
 springs from Christian intelligence, they must be 
 carried to them by those impelled by the love of 
 God. If their homes are ever lit up by Gospel truth 
 it must be sent by Christian philanthropy and borne 
 by Christian women. Men cannot do it if they 
 would, the proprieties of life forbid it. 
 
 They cannot enter the dwellings of the sick and 
 poor, renovate the house, instruct the children, and 
 nurse the wnfe and mother. It is gentle care and 
 tact, the instinctive good sense and the love of Chris- 
 tian women that are most w^anted to brighten the 
 homes and correct the habits of the degraded part of 
 our population. 
 
 Those who have given the matter much thought 
 know that these demands cannot be met by personal 
 labor and benevolence without organization. The 
 stream of beneficence and work must be as steady 
 and unceasing as the stream of poverty and degrada- 
 
300 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 tion. We know of nothing at present that meets 
 the demand. Societies to aid the poor in temporal 
 things, organizations to furnish fuel and food to the 
 cold and hungry are generally unsympathetic. They 
 do not feed the soul, or fan the dying embers of 
 hope, or direct the penitent to the fountain of cleans- 
 ing. All this the deaconess will do. She can be the 
 almoner of the Church's liberality to the destitute. 
 She will, more than any other officer of the Church, 
 literally feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the 
 sick and those in prison, and offer the balm of Gospel 
 grace to the penitent and broken-hearted. 
 
 The need of woman's work as an organized force 
 was never felt as now. Her power for the subduing 
 of moral evil, the amelioration of suffering, and the 
 successful prosecution of moral reforms was never so 
 generally conceded. Her adaptation to religious work 
 is recognized and her admission to ecclesiastical office 
 is called for in every branch of the Church of Christ 
 She is adapted to do that kind of work which the 
 Church has largely failed to do, and failed because 
 she refused to employ woman as one of her cliief 
 agencies. The Church has tried to fulHll her mission 
 of good to the world with her left hand paralyzed, 
 and has been unable to effect a straightforward pas- 
 sage to her desired haven, as a man who attempts to 
 cross a stream M-ith but a single oar to his boat. 
 
 Woman has already demonstrated her ability to 
 grapple with all difficulties in every sphere that has 
 
Conclusion. 301 
 
 been opened to her, and has overcome them. She 
 has shown her wisdom and power in formulating 
 great plans and in executing them. She is no mere 
 weakling that must be held in tutelage, guided and 
 restrained lest she do some unwomanly thing that 
 shall cast a shadow upon her honor or fame. Give 
 her a fair opportunity to do her share of social and 
 and relii^rious work and means of instruction to do it 
 well. 
 
 There are thousands of women in every branch of 
 the Christian Church, with latent powers for good 
 that are immeasurable, w^aiting for some trumpet 
 voice to call and a guiding hand to organize, and when 
 these come they will go forth to make the desert blos- 
 som like the rose. 
 
 Dr. T. M. Eddy said : '' O for woman's full power 
 in the Church ! Woman, God's evangel at home and 
 elsewdiere ; woman telling, with wifely love and sis- 
 terly tenderness and motherly sanctity, how the lost 
 may be found, the wanderer saved ! Woman reach- 
 ing out her hands to save those that are toppling 
 down to hell ! O woman, will you comprehend your 
 power ? When I see women following fashion blindly ; 
 wdien I see her throwing away her influence ; when I 
 see her sanction of irreligious social life ; when I see 
 reckless prodigality instead of self-denying thrift, my 
 soul cries out in strong desire for the entire consecra- 
 tion of the women of the Church to the work of God 
 
 and the elevation of the race. O for w^o man's full 
 20 
 
302 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 power on the broad field of Christian achieve- 
 ment ! " 
 
 The Roman Catholic Church, from the earliest 
 ages, has utilized the talent and devotion of woman 
 for Clmrcli aggrandizement. This she is doing at the 
 present day, not only in Spain and Italy, where Ro- 
 manism is supreme, but in the United States, where it 
 stands exposed to public scrutiny and must rely upon 
 its practical worth alone for support, as that worth is 
 estimated by its adherents. The immense establish- 
 ments built up in this country are standing monu- 
 ments to the vitality of the Romish diaconal mon- 
 achism in the female sex. Catholicism owes much of 
 its growth, wealth, and powder in this land to this in- 
 strumentality of the "sisters." Their acts of self-sac- 
 rifice, Iheir devotion and kindness to the poor, often 
 commend them to Protestants, w^ho cannot but admire 
 the Spirit of Christ in them though marred by the 
 spirit of the propagandist. 
 
 A Metliodist preacher in a western city, in his pas- 
 toral visitations, found a Sister of Charity in a Prot- 
 estant home wliere the wife and mother lay dying. 
 She nursed tlie woman, kept tlie children clean, swept 
 or mopped tlie floor, and performed other menial but 
 kindly offices for the distressed family. When the 
 Methodist pastor baptized tlie dying w^oman, the Cath- 
 olic sister held the bowl of water ; and after tlie 
 mother died and the family were broken up she took 
 the children to an orphanage which was waiting to 
 
Conclusion. 3U3 
 
 receive them. *' This," says the preacher, *' was right; 
 she liad earned them. This is applied Cliristianitj." 
 
 Why sliould not Methodism use this miglity arm of 
 power to the fullest extent to accomplish good for 
 man and for proper Church aggrandizement? Meth- 
 odism is often represented as the counterpart of 
 Romanism in the efficiency and completeness of its 
 organization. We glory in our system as a grand 
 piece of ecclesiastical machinery for the evangeliza- 
 tion of the world, while we need not affirm, because 
 it is known to all intelligent persons, that there is 
 no prelatical assumption and nothing that binds the 
 consciences of men. 
 
 Professor Goldwin Smith once said to the w:iter: 
 *'I regard the Methodist Episcopal Church as the 
 only oifset to Roman Catholicism in the United States, 
 and the only ecclesiastical organization that can cope 
 with it in its contest for the masses." The path to 
 the largest success in the evangelization of the people 
 is in the oro^anization of women as an ecclesiastical 
 force in conjunction with our present system. Let 
 not Methodism be driven from the work by the cry 
 of " popery ! " already heard from those who are not 
 informed as to the nature and design of the deaconess 
 movement. 
 
 The Anglican communion, both in England and in 
 the United States, manifests the same interest in the 
 organized work of woman. She is regarded as an 
 important agent in the application of Christian doo- 
 
SOtt Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 trine to tlie conditions of society among the masses, 
 and also as a religious propagandist. We here ad- 
 duce a few testimonies from eminent divines of tliat 
 Church : " The light recently thrown upon the script- 
 ural authority for, and primitive antiquity of, the office 
 of deaconess will surely demonstrate that the revival 
 of that office is indispensable to the fullest and most 
 efficient development of the Church's working pow- 
 ers. . . . Let it be clearly and distinctly proclaimed 
 that the cause of the Master is waiting for woman's 
 help." * 
 
 ^' I believe women to be indirectly most valuable 
 agents in evangelizing the sinful and ignorant at home 
 and abroad." f 
 
 " That women are intended by Christ to work in 
 his Church directly for him appears to me perfectly 
 clear, from the life of our Lord in his own ministry 
 and from the words of the Epistles. ... I conclude, 
 therefore, that no branch of the Church is perfectly 
 fulfilling the apostolic precept and example which is 
 not making provision for the due employment of 
 women's work. ... I say that all the works to which 
 such women are devoted are the works of evangelists ; 
 that is, whether the work be teaching children, it is 
 not solely or principally the ordinary work of instruc- 
 tion, but the revealing Christ to the child ; or labor- 
 ing among the poor, it is not chiefly for their relief ; 
 or among the sick, it is not chiefly as hospital sisters 
 
 * Rev. Henry C. Potter, D.D. f Bishop of London. 
 
Conclusion. 305 
 
 for the relief of the body ; or with tlie fallen, as the 
 attendants at lock hospitals, merely to heal the body 
 and mend the morals ; but in each case to reveal 
 Christ to the poor, the sick, and the fallen.'- * 
 
 " I believe that many a man is won by the gentle- 
 ness and practical unquestioning faith of our deacon- 
 esses and sisters, who would simply turn a deaf ear 
 to a clergyman ; and many a woman, callous to ordi- 
 nary influences, may be gradually restored to femi- 
 nine softness and humility by frequent intercourse 
 with them." f 
 
 Testimonies of like character can be found from 
 prominent ministers in all Churches. We give one 
 from an eminent Presbyterian divine of Scotland : 
 " It is not a little strange that we are familiar with 
 venerable and still active disputes on the position and 
 duties of men appointed to the eldership, as defined 
 in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus, but have been 
 long in obeying the commands of the apostle in the 
 same epistles to enroll and organize the women ' who 
 labor in the Gospel.' The Acts of the Apostles tell 
 of the spiritual endowment and blessed work of 
 women." ;{: 
 
 The women of Methodism are in no sense behind 
 other denominations in Christian zeal and devotion, 
 intellectual qualifications, or a genius for religious 
 labor. The history of the denomination proves this, 
 
 * Bishop of Winchester. f ^^v. B. Compton, Sec. Dea. Inst. 
 
 t Dr. Ciiarleris, Fresh. Rev. 
 
306 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 and shows that its success as an evangelizing power 
 is largely due to the zeal and piety of its female mem- 
 bers. They have, in a positive experience of the sal- 
 vation of Christ, the best incentive to works of charity 
 and piety. Obtaining by simple faith the pardon of 
 sin, the regeneration and sanctification of the soul, 
 they have found in the love which this creates the 
 highest motive to a consecrated life. Love inspired 
 by the Holy Ghost is the strongest impelling power 
 to acts of devotion and self-sacrifice. 
 
 There is a beauty and Christliness in the consecra- 
 tion of women to the service of the poor and sufPer- 
 ins: that connnend it to our hearts as the clearest 
 reflection of the Spirit of Christ. The highest enco- 
 mium pronounced on the Saviour is, " He went about 
 doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of 
 the devil, for God was w^ith him." There was in 
 Christ's ministry a gracious mingling of physical and 
 moral healing wonderfully adapted to the condition 
 of man. '' Thy sins be forgiven thee, arise, take up 
 thy bed, and walk ! " 
 
 It is precisely this kind of work which the Church 
 seeks to do by the ministry of deaconesses. Always 
 excluding from our thought the miraculous, the dea- 
 coness will administer healing to the body, instruc- 
 tion to the mind, and comfort to the soul. This 
 last thought must always be first in mind. She is 
 always and every-where a minister of Jesus Christ 
 seeking to win lost souls. The Bible is her text-book 
 
Conclusion. 307 
 
 in wliich she lias been specially instructed, and from 
 which she can bring things, new and old, adapted to 
 every case. 
 
 The duties of the modern deaconess are not pre- 
 cisely those of the ancient ; it is not essential that 
 they should be. Times and circumstances differ. 
 Technical training was probably unknown in the early 
 Church. But the modern deaconess, to be efficient, 
 must be trained. Skilled labor in every department 
 in life is most in demand. If God calls men or 
 women to a special work, he calls them to a special 
 preparation for it wliere the facilities are at hand to 
 secure it. 
 
 The deaconess home is tlie training-school, and 
 its chief value lies in the facilities it offers to pre- 
 pare women for work among the suffering and sinful. 
 It is the drill-ground for the soldier of Christ chafing 
 for the battle. 
 
 The foundation of this training for the duties of 
 the diaconate lies in woman's own nature, implanted 
 by the Creator's own hand, who has made her " the 
 best of nurses, the gentlest of alms-givers, the tender- 
 est of educators for the young of both sexes, and the 
 great trainer and moral reformer of her own." 
 
 Our cities call loudly for this kind of work in pri- 
 vate families and public institutions. Hospitals, or- 
 phanages, poor-houses, arid prisons call for Christian 
 womanly sympathy and help, and it is within the 
 power of the Church to furnish it by the ministry of 
 
308 Deaconesses, x\ncient and Modern. 
 
 deaconesses. For centuries Christian women have 
 been standing idle in the market-place. The gates of 
 the vineyard are now opening. O woman, enter, and 
 gather the vintage for God ! 
 
 All the associations of Christian women in Protest- 
 antism since the Reformation scarcely touch the field 
 that is to be filled by the deaconess. They have fur- 
 nished an opportunity for ladies to employ a few 
 leisure hours in the service of the Church, but the 
 deaconess gives herself wholly to the work. Being 
 called of God and the Church, she finds her reward 
 in a consciousness of labor done for Jesus' sake. 
 
 Nursing is an important feature in the work of the 
 modern deaconess. Immense hospitals were founded 
 in the Middle Ages but failed in efficiency for lack of 
 skill in management. Even as late as the last century 
 in the Hotel Dieu, Paris, " the dying, the dead, and 
 the convalescent might be seen here and there on one 
 and the same couch, separated only by a low board. . . . 
 
 " The hospital-nurses in ancient times consisted 
 altogether of persons appointed by the Church, or of 
 volunteers. Throughout the Middle Ages the nurs- 
 ing of the sick was chiefly in the hands of certain 
 societies and orders, like the Knights of St. John, the 
 Teutonic order, the Lazarists, and later on, the Sisters 
 of Mercy. After the Peformation, in Protestant 
 countries, the care of the sick in hospitals was mostly 
 given to paid nurses, the patients faring worse and 
 worse under this arrangement, though the standard 
 
Conclusion. 309 
 
 maintained at tlie present time for nurses is much 
 higher than formerly, both with regard to their tech- 
 nical abihty and to their moral character." * 
 
 " In his short history of the origin of the Kaisers- 
 werth institutions Fliedner writes (page 9) : ' The 
 poor sick have long been on my heart. How often 
 have I seen them badly nursed, spiritually neglected, 
 fading away in their unhealthy chambers like the 
 leaves of autumn. For a great many cities, even 
 with a large population, were without hospitals ! 
 And even where hospitals were found — and I had 
 seen a great many on my journeys in Holland, lira- 
 bant, England, Scotland, and our own Germany — I 
 often found gates and corriders shining with marble, 
 but the care of the suffering bodies was, nevertheless, 
 most miserable. The physicians complained bitterly 
 of the hirelings by day, the hirelings at night ; of 
 intoxication and immorality among male and female 
 nurses. Even in Edinburgh, celebrated as it is for 
 its piety and devotion to good works and its charita- 
 ble institutions, the physicians made such complaint 
 as late as the year 1853. And what shall I say of 
 the spiritual provision for the sick ? This was ut- 
 terly neglected. Hospital preachers were scarcely 
 known in most places, and hospital cliapels still less. 
 While in the Netherlands evangelical hospitals had 
 and still have the beautiful name " God's Houses " 
 (Godshuizen), to indicate that the inmates had their 
 
 * Phehe the Deaconess, p. 1 7, 
 
810 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 special visitation from God, who meant to draw them 
 to himself, and chapels and pastors were regularly 
 connected with them, this spiritual care had almost 
 entirely ceased in many parts of the Protestant 
 Church.' " ^ 
 
 A better state of things now exists, largely by the 
 efforts of Fliedner and those trained by him, but 
 there is still room for improvement. The deaconess, 
 trained technically and religiously, will take the place 
 of the immoral and incompetent. She will be a mes- 
 senger of God to fullill the mission of Christ to the 
 sick poor. "The lepers are cleansed, . . . and the 
 poor have the Gospel preached unto them." 
 
 We have seen the deaconess in the German hos- 
 pital in Philadelphia in neat blue dress and white 
 collar and cap, with cheerful face shining with love 
 to God and man, gliding noiselessly through the 
 wards, nursing the sick, or whispering words of com- 
 fort to the dying, at once the skilled and able assist- 
 ant of the physician and chaplain. We hope soon to 
 see all institutions of this kind that are under the 
 control of the Church in the hands of the order of 
 deaconesses. 
 
 There is a large field of usefulness for the parish 
 deaconess, and in this capacity she will be more like 
 the deaconess of the early Church than in any other. 
 That there is an urgent need for this class of laborers, 
 especially in our cities, none can deny. The pastor 
 
 * Phebe the Deaconess^ p. 18. 
 
Conclusion. 311 
 
 of any large church where the population is dense 
 and poor has been deeply convinced of this, and has 
 longed a thousand times for some pious woman wlio, 
 under the authority of the Church, would devote 
 herself wholly to religious work. He has a thousand 
 calls upon his time which could be better answered 
 by a devoted deaconess than by himself. Yisitations 
 upon the sick, finding out the poor and needy, bring- 
 ing children to the Sabbath-school, going after those 
 who have wandered from the fold of Christ, instruct- 
 ing the ignorant, teaching the children in catechetical 
 classes, leading them to the Saviour, or largely pre- 
 paring them for intelligent church membership. In 
 the course of a year many families in the congrega- 
 tion may be in distress, and would welcome the pres- 
 ence of the deaconess, and receive her counsel with 
 profound gratitude. 
 
 We adopt the following as a picture of city life 
 with which every city pastor is familiar, and with the 
 sentiments of which we entirely agree : 
 
 " There is a house, perhaps in regular connection 
 with the congregation, where the mother is laid upon 
 a sick bed. Early in the morning the house-father 
 has to go to his work, may be with a breakfast hastily 
 prepared by himself. The children hang around all 
 day, unwashed, uncombed. It is impossible to hire 
 a regular sick nurse. It would swallow up the wages 
 of a whole week, and even then it would often be 
 doubtful whether the person secured is reliable in 
 
312 Deaconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 lier character. Then, in the evening, the weary- 
 father returns from his work ; he finds himself un- 
 comfortable all around ; no home, wliere he could take 
 a rest and gather new strength for the work of to- 
 morrow. But let the parish-sister enter such a house 
 and have her svvaj in it for a few hours — what a 
 pleasant change ! The beds are made, the children 
 properly washed and dressed, the rooms aired, the 
 supper prepared, and by the time the house-father 
 returns in the evening it is as if an angel of God 
 had been under his roof with his hallowing influ- 
 ence. It seems to me that our congregations in this 
 country are especially in need of this kind of labor 
 and assistance. And we might have it to-day if we 
 would only stretch out our hands and grasp the 
 opportunity." "^ 
 
 Incidents illustrative of this kind of work sufficient 
 to fill many volumes could be gathered, though the 
 movement be only in its infancy. The diary of a 
 deaconess would furnish much interesting matter to 
 any who wish to know ''the simple annals of the 
 poor." 
 
 The following is from a former parishioner of the 
 writer, but now employed in the deaconess work : 
 
 " House to house visitation is certainly the best 
 way of reaching the unsaved, and woman can enter 
 the home and do a work that no others can do. 
 Ministers are often debarred an entrance wliere we 
 
 * Fhebe the Deaconess, p. 32. 
 
Conclusion. 313 
 
 are welcomed. I called upon a sick woman and 
 urged upon her the necessity of repentance and sal- 
 vation by Christ. My word was not well received. 
 I asked if I should send her a minister. She said, 
 ' No ; I am not that far gone yet.' I called again 
 and found her very humble and repentant. She 
 asked my pardon for the manner in which she 
 treated me at my former visit. I pointed her to 
 Christ, and while I spoke and prayed the burden 
 rolled away from her heart, and she rejoiced in God 
 her Saviour. I brought my pastor to her a few days 
 later, and he baptized her, and in a few hours she 
 passed into eternity. I have always found much of 
 this kind of work to do for the Master, and have 
 been blessed' by him as I have sat by the dying or 
 prepared them for their last resting-place, or, with 
 help placed in my^liands for the purpose, have pro- 
 vided for their temporal wants when in distress. 
 
 " Many hearts have been made happier as I have 
 gone from garret to cellar, or visited those whose only 
 home on earth was a little room in an old stable. I 
 have been followed from house to house by Catholic 
 women to hear the prayer 1 offered. I have read the 
 Bible to them when sick and dying, and then- faces 
 have beamed with joy as they heard the sweet mes- 
 sage of God. As we go through our district we find 
 people in every degree of want and suffering. Our 
 work is to cheer them in every way possible and 
 better their condition. This we do by sending a 
 
314- Dp:aconesses, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 physician, free of charge, getting medicines or food, 
 or sending them to the hospitaL We see more suf- 
 fering and sadness in one week than most people see 
 in a life-time.""^ 
 
 The Labors of these women often lead to the estab- 
 lishment of Sabbath-schools, and even churches, in a 
 way that indicates the special favor of God. 
 
 In the city of Chicago a Methodist church, then 
 under the pastorate of Dr. W. C. Willing, employed 
 a Bible-reader, which is but another name for dea- 
 coness, to visit from house to house and do missionary 
 work. One Sabbath morning, wnth Bible in hand, 
 she started out to look up recruits for church and 
 Sunday-school. In her travels she was watched by a 
 young Bohemian who followed her into the church. 
 The young man stayed to the after-meeting, was soon 
 converted, united with the church, was licensed to 
 preach, and in a few months Dr. Willing organized 
 one hundred members into the first Bohemian Meth- 
 odist church in America. The providential begin- 
 ning was the faithful work of tliat devoted young 
 woman who had consecrated her life to the service of 
 God. 
 
 We hope the Church will see its duty to "help 
 those women " who labor w^th us " in the Gospel," 
 by investing them with the sanctions enjoyed in the 
 early Church, setting them apart by prayer and the 
 imposition of hands, invoking the endowments of the 
 * Miss Ida B. Simpson, Pliiladelphia. 
 
Conclusion. 315 
 
 Holy Ghost, and throwing around them the sanctities 
 of a formal consecration ; thus sending tliem forth 
 with the advantages of ecclesiastical and divine au- 
 thority. This is according to the traditions and prac- 
 tices of primitive Christianity, consonant with the 
 principles of Protestantism and Methodism. A sol- 
 emn induction to office and investiture with religious 
 responsibility lead to deep humility and holy aspira- 
 tions. 
 
 " They the loyal-hearted women are 
 
 "Wlio nobly love the noblest, yet have grace 
 
 For needy suffering souls in lowest places." 
 
 THE END. 
 
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