In the Church they were considered the first witnesses of Christ among the Gentiles, and they were venerated as the august sisters of the prophets of Israel.

The _Dies Irae_ mentions one of them in the same breath with King David himself.

By what pious frauds their fame for prophecy was established, we cannot tell any more than Jean Gerson or Gerard Machet.

With the doctors of the fifteenth century we must look upon these virgins as speaking the word of truth to the nations, who venerated but did not understand them.

Such was the ancient tradition of the Christian Church.