Letters

² I call Jesus and his saints, yes and the particular angel who was the guardian and the companion of this admirable woman to bear witness that these are no words of adulation and flattery but sworn testimony every one of them borne to her character. They are, indeed, inadequate to the virtues of one whose praises are sung by the whole world, who is admired by bishops, regretted by bands of virgins, and wept for by crowds of monks and poor. Would you know all her virtues, reader, in short? She has left those dependent on her poor, but not so poor as she was herself. In dealing thus with her relatives and the men and women of her small household— her brothers and sisters rather than her servants— she has done nothing strange; for she has left her daughter Eustochium— a virgin consecrated to Christ for whose comfort this sketch is made— far from her noble family and rich only in faith and grace.