Phoebe: Name Day and Patron Saint

St Phoebe served the church at Cenchreae, the harbour town of Corinth, in the first years of the Christian faith. All that is known of her comes from the close of the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, where he writes: “I commend unto you Phoebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: that ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you.” He adds that she has been a helper, or patron, of many, and of himself as well. It is the only place in the New Testament where a woman is given both of these titles. Phoebe was probably the one who carried Paul’s letter to the Christians of Rome, and the Church honours her as the deaconess who brought the Apostle’s words to the capital of the empire. The early writers understood her title in different ways: Origen saw in it a ministry of women in the Church, while St John Chrysostom took it as a title of honour, and some think she served women in particular, preparing them for Baptism and teaching them. In every reading she is remembered for faithful service and generous help to others. The Church keeps her feast on 3 September (16 September on the Old Calendar). Her hymn calls her one taught by the faith and asks her to pray to Christ for the enlightenment of our souls.

What the faithful pray for

• the enlightenment of our souls
• those who serve in the Church and care for others
• a generous and hospitable heart
• those who carry the word of God to others