In early Christian inscriptions the title ancilla Dei is often given to a deceased woman. From the meaning attached to this term in the Middle Ages it has sometimes been assumed, without sufficient proof, that the persons so qualified in the first age of Christianity were consecrated virgins. The inscriptions containing this formula are of two classes: one, in which it is merely stated that a given person was ancilla Dei ; the other, from which it is clear that this title was sometimes given to persons who certainly were not religious. It is with the latter class that we are concerned. The former class is the more numerous, but one of the latter is quite explicit. This informs us that a certain monument was erected by a husband to his wife, whom he styles Dei ancilla -- "(Laur)entius Rufine coniugi Dei anci(llae) . . ." ( De Rossi, Roma Sott., III, p. 11, n. 4). In a Roman inscription of the first quarter of the sixth century a certain Guttes is referred to as ancilla Dei , and it is further stated that she was nonnes -- "in presence of the nun Guttes, a handmaid of God " (sub presentiâ nonnes Guttes, ancille Dei). This reference proves that even in the sixth century, ancilla Dei is a title not peculiar to religious; the author regarded it as necessary to state explicitly that she was nonnes (Cabrol, Dict. d'arch. chrét, 1902). From the pontificate of St. Gregory the Great (590 - 604), however, only nuns, as a rule, were qualified by this title: "ancillas Dei quas vos graecâ linguâ monastrias dicitis" (Greg. M. Ep., vi, 23).

The Catholic Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history. This easy-to-search online version was originally printed in fifteen hardcopy volumes.

Designed to present its readers with the full body of Catholic teaching, the Encyclopedia contains not only precise statements of what the Church has defined, but also an impartial record of different views of acknowledged authority on all disputed questions, national, political or factional. In the determination of the truth the most recent and acknowledged scientific methods are employed, and the results of the latest research in theology, philosophy, history, apologetics, archaeology, and other sciences are given careful consideration.

No one who is interested in human history, past and present, can ignore the Catholic Church, either as an institution which has been the central figure in the civilized world for nearly two thousand years, decisively affecting its destinies, religious, literary, scientific, social and political, or as an existing power whose influence and activity extend to every part of the globe. In the past century the Church has grown both extensively and intensively among English-speaking peoples. Their living interests demand that they should have the means of informing themselves about this vast institution, which, whether they are Catholics or not, affects their fortunes and their destiny.

Copyright © Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company New York, NY. Volume 1: 1907; Volume 2: 1907; Volume 3: 1908; Volume 4: 1908; Volume 5: 1909; Volume 6: 1909; Volume 7: 1910; Volume 8: 1910; Volume 9: 1910; Volume 10: 1911; Volume 11: - 1911; Volume 12: - 1911; Volume 13: - 1912; Volume 14: 1912; Volume 15: 1912

Catholic Online Catholic Encyclopedia Digital version Compiled and Copyright © Catholic Online