Episcopa Theodora

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The mother of Pope Paschal I, the Lady Theodora". Present detail of the mosaic.
Saint Pudentiana. Flanking above is the Agnus Dei, with reindeers and wolves.[1]

Episcopa Theodora is the Greek inscription on a 9th-century Christian mosaic in the Chapel of Bishop Zeno of Verona located within the Church of Saint Praxedis the Martyr in Rome.

The honorific title refers to the Lady Theodora, the historical mother of

sanctity
.

Theodora as bishop

The lettering "EPISCOPA" has been interpreted by some to mean "bishop" and therefore that Theodora was a bishop.

Apostolic Age
.

Since married bishops were more common in

Great Schism of 1054), the title Episcopa may refer to the wife or widow of a bishop, as well as the mother of any bishop, such as that of Pope Paschal I. Therefore, the title Episcopa is said to have been used for the Lady Theodora for her esteemed position as the mother of the Pope as well as her own piety; a holy woman who practiced great austerity and religiosity, and not as an ordained bishop.[5] However, other scholars have pointed out that her husband, Bonusus, who was not a bishop, "was not identified as episcopus on account of his son" and they argue that "Theodora cannot have been called episcopa merely because she was a bishop's wife or mother."[6]

Epigraphy

An extant dedicatory marble inscription in the basilica identifies Theodora as the mother of Pope Paschal.

The dedication, which includes the description of the transfer of the relics of Saint Zeno after whom the chapel containing the image is named, has the following inscription:

"And at the entrance of the basilica on the right hand side where the body of his most kind mother Lady Bishop Theodora rests, the aforementioned bishop (Pope Paschal I) interred the bodies of the venerable Zeno and others…"[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Women". Archived from the original on 2007-08-19. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
  2. ISBN 0-06-068661-8
    . Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  3. ^ "The Question About 1 Timothy 3" (PDF). abc-usa.org. American Baptist Churches USA. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  4. ISSN 0011-1953
    .
  5. ^ "Episcopa Theodora". EWTN.com. 2005. Archived from the original on 2016-03-06.
  6. ISSN 0017-1417
    .
  7. ^ 'Et in ipso ingressu basilicae manu dextra ubi utique benignissimae suae genitricis scilicet domnae Theodorae Episcopae corpus quiescit condidit iam dictus praesul corpora venerabilium haec Zenonis et aliorum quorum....' Orazio Marucchi, "Christian Epigraphy," trans. J. Armine Willis, Cambridge: 1912, p. 458. See also Gillian Mackie, 'The Zeno Chapel: A Prayer for Salvation,' in "Papers of the British School at Rome," 57 (1989), pp. 172-199.
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