9/6/14
Jas 1:27
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to
visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained
from the world.
As political freedom increased, so did Christian activity.
The poor were fed and given free burial. Orphans and widows were protected and
provided for. Elderly men and women, prisoners, sick slaves and other outcasts,
especially the leprous, were cared for. These acts of generosity and compassion
impressed many Roman writers and philosophers.
In AD 369, St Basil of Caesarea founded a 300 bed hospital.
This was the first large-scale hospital for the seriously ill and disabled. It
cared for victims of the plague. There were hospices for the poor and aged
isolation units, wards for travelers who were sick and a leprosy house. It was
the first of many built by the Christian Church.
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