Olympias received great fame and was associated with St. John Chrysostom, who was impressed by her love for God and her generosity in giving with dedication and humility. He gave her special attention and relied on her in service such that all of Constantinople realized her important role. And when the archbishop was exiled, she was severely persecuted, but she received comforting letters from her suffering father. St. Gregory of Nyssa gave her his commentary on the Song of Songs, to provide him with feedback.
1142 Origen, In Iudic . Hom 9.1. 1143
St. Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians 55:3–6 (ANF 1:19ff).
The historian Palladius also mentions the influence Amma Melania the Elder had on him and he greatly praised her in his book The Lausiac History.1144 She had great love for celibacy, monasticism, asceticism, and research. He says of her: “Being very learned and loving literature she turned night into day by perusing every writing of the ancient commentators, including 3,000,000 (lines) of Origen and 2,500,000 (lines) of Gregory, Stephen, Pierius, Basil, and other standard writers. Nor did she read them once only and casually, but she laboriously went through each book seven or eight times. Wherefore also she was enabled to be freed from knowledge falsely so called and to fly on wings, thanks to the grace of these books; elevated by kindly hopes she made herself a spiritual bird and journeyed to Christ.”1145
The life of deaconess Olympias was full of love as she opened her heart to the poor in a way that surprised many people. It was said in her praise, “Empress Eudoxia hears the words of praise and honor from all over the world. As for Olympias, she hears the sighs and prayers of the whole world.”
She was loved by the people and honored by the Patriarch. Palladius1146 tells us that Nectarius of Constantinople used to consult her regarding many affairs of the Church, despite her young age. He summed up her life by saying, “She dispersed all her goods and gave to the poor. She engaged in no mean combats for truth’s sake, instructed many women, addressed priests reverently, and honored bishops; she was accounted worthy to be a confessor for truth’s sake. The inhabitants of Constantinople reckon her life among the confessors, for she died thus and went away to the Lord in the midst of her struggles for God’s honor.”1147