Marcella

Marcella ST., is the name of two saints in the Romish Church. (1) One of these was a Roman widow, the intimate friend of Paula and of Eustochius, and a pupil of the noted Church father Jerome, who said of her that we could judge of her merits by her noble disciples. Marcella was a Christian, and deeply learned in the Scriptures. She was greatly opposed to the errors of Origen, who mingled the dogmas of Oriental philosophy with the truths of Christianity. On difficult passages of Scripture she consulted Jerome; but she herself was consulted from all parts as a great theologian, and her answers were always dictated by prudence and humility. She died A. D. 409, soon after Rome was taken by the Goths, from the effects of the assault and abuse of the troops of Alaric. She is commemorated January 31. (2) The second, a martyr of the Church in Alexandria, flourished in the days of the emperor Severus. She is commemorated June 28.