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The Church Fathers · c. 381
The Life of Macrina
Gregory of Nyssa · c. 335–c. 395
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What it is
A brother's account of his elder sister, who refused marriage, turned the family estate into a community, taught her brothers theology, and died in poverty by choice.
Why it lasted
The earliest biography of a Christian woman written as a serious spiritual life rather than a martyrdom.
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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