Asella

Saint Asella

Saint Asella (c. 334–c. 406), also known by the variations Osella and Ocella, was a Roman virgin and hermit revered for her profound asceticism and devotion. She was a close friend and disciple of the esteemed Church Father Saint Jerome, who frequently referenced her in his writings, holding her up as an exemplary figure.

Life and Asceticism

Born into a noble and affluent Roman Christian family, Asella's spiritual journey began at the tender age of ten. An encounter with Saint Athanasius during his visit to Rome profoundly inspired her to dedicate her life to the service of Christ. Despite her parents' initial reluctance to allow her to adopt the austere habits of ascetics, a determined Asella secretly sold a gold necklace to fund a garment of consecration, which she revealed to her parents at age twelve, signifying her commitment to a life of religious devotion.

From that point forward, Asella embraced a life of strict silence and seclusion. She resided in a small cell, sleeping directly on the ground or a stone, and dedicating her prayer life to a hard, unyielding surface. Her fasting was rigorous and year-round, with a diet of bread, salt, and water, often extending to multiple days without food and particularly severe during Lent. She maintained a life of self-imposed isolation, venturing out of her cell only to visit the churches of the martyrs, often seeking to remain unseen, and rarely interacting even with her own sister.

Claude Fleury, a historian, noted that Asella never spoke to any man. Agnes Dunbar, a hagiographer, stated that her days were spent working with her hands and singing psalms. Despite the severity of her lifestyle, Jerome observed that her health remained robust, describing her as having a "sound body and even sounder soul," and finding a "monkish cell in the midst of a busy Rome." Fleury further characterized her life as "simple and regular, and in the midst of Rome led a life of perfect solitude."

Relationships and Later Life

Saint Jerome utilized Asella as a significant example and role model for young women, widows, and virgins, referring to her as a "flower of the Lord." When Jerome departed Rome for the East in August 385, he wrote to Asella from Ostia, seeking to address calumnies leveled against him, particularly concerning his close association with Paula and Eustochium. In 405, the bishop and historian Palladius of Galatia visited Rome and met Asella, then seventy years old. He described her as "the gentlest of women" and reported that she was overseeing a community of nuns. Asella died around 406, and her feast day is observed on December 6th.