Sentence:  He was instructed and assisted by Agape, an honourable woman, in carrying on the secret mysteries ; and she was the mother of the <WSD>Agapetae</WSD>, or love-feasters ; whose rites became by degrees so very scandalous, that St. Jerome tells Oceanus "you are exposed to the teeth of detractors, unless you dismiss the assemblies of the <WSD>Agapetae</WSD>." 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Women of the early Christian church who cohabited in a state of "spiritual love" with clergy or laymen who had vowed chastity.