Today
we remember and give thanks for Dorcas, Lydia, and Phoebe, Faithful Women. These women were exemplary Christians who
demonstrated their faith by their material support of the Church. Dorcas (also
known as Tabitha) was well-known and much loved for her acts of charity in the
city of Joppa, especially for her making clothes for the poor. When Dorcas died
suddenly, the members of her congregation sent to the neighboring city of Lydia
for the Apostle Peter, who came and raised her from the dead (Acts 9:36–41).
Lydia was a woman of Thyatira, who worked at Philippi selling a famous purple
dye that was so much in demand in the ancient world. She was also a “worshiper
of God” at the local synagogue. When the Apostle Paul encountered her in prayer
among other proselyte women, his preaching of the Word brought Lydia to faith
in Christ. She and her friends thus became the nucleus of the Christian
community in Philippi (16:13–15, 40). Phoebe was another faithful woman
associated with the Apostle Paul. She was a deaconess from Cenchrae (the port
of Corinth) whom Paul sent to the church in Rome with his Epistle to the
Romans. In it he writes of her support for the work of the early Church (Rom
16:1).
Collect
of the Day:
Almighty God, You stirred to compassion the
hearts of Your dear servants Dorcas, Lydia, and Phoebe to uphold and sustain
Your Church by their devoted and charitable deeds. Give us the same will to love You, open our
eyes to see You in the least ones, and
strengthen our hands to serve You in others, for the sake of Your Son,
Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and
reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
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