Page:A short history of nursing - Lavinia L Dock (1920).djvu/61

45 Christianity and Care of the Sick 45 and charitable undertakings of the church. Visit- ing nursing arose then, if never before, as dis- tinguished from the mere visiting of the sick, for the care of the sick rapidly became the special work of women, and the spirit of community service was intensified by every condition under which the Christian brotherhood lived. In that early period of the first couple of cen- turies the deaconess may have been single, married, or widowed. She was chosen, or accepted, by the higher clergy and ordained by the bishop. She might wear her ordinary garb, live in her own home, and retain her own property. It is easy to see what ample scope these free, favourable conditions gave to women whose superior abilities and in- herited wealth enabled them to realize their plans for nursing and giving friendly aid. Such women organized groups of deaconesses and sent them far and wide over the parishes of the Eastern church and up over the west as far as Gaul and Ireland. Many of the distinguished women of that time, widows and daughters of Roman officials, of gentle breeding, culture, and wealth, entered the dea- coness sisterhood in order to direct the work. The highest point of the movement was shown in Constantinople under the bishopric of Chrysostom, about 398 to 407 A.D. A staff of some forty dea-