WOMEN OF THE CHURCH

The real beginning of the history of the active religious life is the story of the ecclesial women of the early Church,"" writes the author, and thus states her purpose in this book: to study the orders of Widows, Deaconesses, and Virgins which were active in the primitive Church under the aspect of their spiritual ancestorship of later religious orders, and indeed of actively Christian women of all times. Though the book is, by definition, a historical study of a particular situation at a given time and place, the author's basic intention is to review the purpose of modern religious life in the light of early Christian thought. That she manages to do so effectively is a credit to her practical scholarship and to her ability to discard non-essential considerations in favor of what is truly pertinent. For all of her talent, however--both historical and literary--Women of the Church is one of those very ""special"" books.