Perpetua of Hippo

Perpetua of Hippo (died around 423) was an abbess of the late Roman Empire, the daughter of Saint Monica and Patricius and the younger sister of Saint Augustine of Hippo. Neither Augustine nor Possidius gives her name; the Bollandists hold that the name Perpetua comes from holy tradition. She married and was widowed, then devoted herself to a celibate life and became head of a community of virgins consecrated to God at Hippo. Possidius in his Life of Augustine calls her "superior of the handmaids until her death". Yet neither she nor any other woman was allowed to live in Augustine's monastery: he said that his sister, who lived a holy life, would be above evil suspicion, but would have to bring in female servants who might be a temptation. Among the nuns were also the daughters of their brother Navigius.

Her death is placed around 423, the year in which Augustine sent the community letter 211, rebuking the nuns for their bad conduct after the appointment of Felicitas, her successor. The letter, which warns above all against pride, lies at the origin of the so-⁠called Rule of Saint Augustine for nuns. A saint of the undivided Church, venerated in the West; our sources give no day of commemoration.