Dorcas
Christian denominations that venerate saints | |
---|---|
Feast | 27 January 25 October |
Dorcas (
She is celebrated as a saint by the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, and some Protestant denominations.[6][7]
Name
Both her Jewish name,
The Greek verb used in Acts 9:36 is διερμηνεύω, transliterated diermēneuō, which means "to interpret fully, to explain", and in this passage it is rendered "is by interpretation", which in context leads to the literal meaning: "Tabitha, meaning Dorcas" (i.e. 'gazelle').[11][12]
Position in her community
It is unclear whether Dorcas was herself poor or a widow.[5] Acts describes her as beloved in the specifically Christian community at Joppa, and by implication prominent in it.[5][9] This might also be indicated by the fact that Peter took the trouble to come to her from a neighbouring city, when requested by the community members.
Although widowhood has been associated with poverty and dependence in the early modern Western mind, that was not necessarily the case for Dorcas. The Bible describes a variety of widows, both poor and rich, powerful and dependent. Under Roman law in this era, when a woman's father died, she would become legally independent and would conventionally inherit an equal share of his property along with her siblings. She controlled this property herself even if married. If her husband died, she would also recover her dowry, which would have been controlled, and possibly managed or invested, by her husband during their marriage. Thus a woman could actually become wealthier when her husband died.[13] If Dorcas was a wealthy benefactress on the model of Mary Magdalene, then she nevertheless humbly sewed the clothes herself rather than simply buying them.
Death and burial sites
According to the New Testament, Tabitha died in Joppa, at the house of Simon the tanner. The house where she reportedly died and was resurrected by Saint Peter can still be visited in Tel Aviv-Jaffa. When she allegedly died a second time, she was buried in what are now the gardens of an Orthodox Church in Jaffa, where her tomb can still be visited.[14][15]
In Christian tradition
Basil of Caesarea refers to Dorcas as an example in his Morals (rule 74): "That a widow who enjoys sufficiently robust health should spend her life in works of zeal and solicitude, keeping in mind the words of the Apostle and the example of Dorcas."[16] She is also commemorated in poems by Robert Herrick ("The Widows' Tears: Or, Dirge of Dorcas") and George MacDonald ("Dorcas").
Feast
The Catholic Church commemorates St Tabitha on October 25,[7] the same date as the Eastern Church.[6] Dorcas societies, which provide clothing to the poor, are named after her.[9]
The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Saint Tabitha the Widow, raised from the dead by the Apostle Peter, on October 25.[17]
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America holds a joint commemoration for Dorcas with Lydia and Pheobe on January 27,[18] immediately after the male missionaries remembered after the feast of St. Paul's Conversion, but the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) commemorates these three faithful women on October 25.[6][19]
In 2022, Dorcas was officially added to the
In art
Depictions of Dorcas in art can be found as early as the fourth century, and her raising is often included in Medieval and Renaissance illustrations of the life of Saint Peter.[21][22]
Dorcas's acts of charity are a common subject of
The Lady chapel of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, has a window of Dorcas with the legend: "Dorcas this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds". Christ Church, St. Joseph, Missouri, depicts her holding a blue cloth in a prominent nave window (1885) on the south side. Grace and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia, has her in a window made in Germany around 1890.[23]
Dorcas and Cornelius are represented on the stained glass windows above the altar in the Emmanuel Anglican Church in Lawson, New South Wales. In the church of St. Lawrence, Weston under Penyard, Herefordshire, she is depicted with St. Paul in a pair of stained glass windows dedicated to the memory of Edward Burdett Hawkshaw, the Rector from 1854 to 1912, and his wife, Catherine (a photograph nearby in the church shows that his likeness is the face given to St. Paul, while Dorcas has the face of Mrs. Hawkshaw).
Dorcas is referenced in Gene Wolfe's "The Book of the New Sun", through a character who shares her name.
See also
- Dorcas society, name used for philanthropic societies inspired by biblical Tabitha/Dorcas
- Sabil Abu Nabbut, Muslim fountain at Jaffa (c. 1815), pointed out to Western travellers as standing at the burial site of Tabitha/Dorcas
References
- ^ ISBN 9780310492351. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
- ISBN 0310244927.
- ISBN 978-1441200266.
- ISBN 0805402055.
- ^ ISBN 0802845010.
- ^ ISBN 9780800621285.
- ^ ISBN 0879735392.
- ^ "Strong's Concordance: Dorkas". Retrieved 2019-05-11 – via biblehub.com.
Original Word: Δορκάς. Definition: "gazelle" (an animal with large bright eyes), Dorcas, a Christian woman. Usage: Dorcas, the Greek name of Tabitha.
- ^ ISBN 0310281512.
- ISBN 0761471944.
- ISBN 9781418585853. Retrieved 31 August 2021. One volume combining W. E. Vine's An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (1940), and Nelson's Expository Dictionary of the Old Testament (1980) edited by M. Unger and W. White, Jr.
- ^ diermēneuō at BibleTools.org, citing Thayer's Greek Lexicon: "named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas"; and Strong's #1329: diermēneuō = 1) to unfold the meaning of what is said, explain, expound, 2) to translate into one' s native language. Accessed 31 August 2021.
- ^ "Widows in the New Testament Period | Bible Interp".
- ^ "Saint Tabitha Russian Orthodox Church". Danny The Digger. 2021-04-18. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
- PEQ article [1].
- ISBN 0813211093.
- ^ "Commemoration of St. Tabitha the Widow". Orthodox Church of America. Archived from the original on 10 October 2018. Retrieved 7 Oct 2018.
- ^ North American Lutheran Church, Lydia, Dorcas, and Phoebe; Helpers of the Apostles (January 27), accessed 26 April 2024
- ISBN 9780758625052.
- ^ "General Convention Virtual Binder". www.vbinder.net. Archived from the original on 2022-09-13. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
- ISBN 0313293295.
- ISBN 0313293295.
- ^ "Grace & Holy Trinity Church: The Dorcas Window". Retrieved 2013-10-27.
External links
Media related to Dorcas at Wikimedia Commons