“How much virtue and ability, how much holiness and purity I found in her,” said Jerome of Marcella, “I am afraid to say, lest I may exceed the bounds of men's belief.” Marcella was born in Rome in 325 to Albina, a noblewoman noted for her piety and learning. When Marcella was a child, her mother invited Athanasius of Alexandria to sojourn in her home during his exile. At his feet, Marcella studied the lives of the holy monastics of the Thebaid, …