By Lambros Skontzos
One of the most beloved female figures mentioned in the New Testament is Saint Lydia of Philippi in Macedonia, who is in fact regarded as the first Christian woman of Europe and, of course, the first Greek Christian woman.
We receive information about her exclusively from the sacred book of the Acts of the Apostles (chapter 16). The Apostle Paul, together with his co-workers Timothy, Silas, and Luke, during his second missionary journey in the spring of 50 A.D., while he was in Troas, saw an important vision: a Macedonian man who said to him: “Come over into Macedonia and help us” (Acts 16:9). The great Apostle considered this vision as a command from God to cross into Europe in order to preach the gospel of salvation.
Without wasting time, he boarded a ship together with his co-workers and arrived at the harbor of Neapolis, present-day Kavala. By way of the Via Egnatia they reached Philippi, a very important Roman city which enjoyed special privileges from imperial Rome. It was built in a strategic location in the midst of a rich region. After the Battle of Philippi (42 B.C.) it was transformed into a Roman colony and populated by Roman veteran soldiers; it bore the privileged name “Colonia Iulia Augusta Philippensis” and was governed by magistrates, possessing administrative and economic autonomy.
The author of the book of Acts, the Evangelist Luke, informs us that Paul and his co-workers moved about the great city and preached in various places, addressing themselves chiefly to the Jews. In Philippi there was an important Jewish community. The Jews were accustomed to pray on the banks of the river Zygaktis, which flowed outside the walls of the city.
It is well known that Paul customarily addressed himself first and preached to the Jews of the Diaspora in every city, because among them there existed the foundation of monotheism and the expectation of the Messiah. The converted Jews, as a rule, became the first members of the local Church, unlike the pagans, who, because of their delusion and arrogance, found it difficult to accept the Christian faith. Therefore he chose to preach in that place where the Jews of Philippi prayed on the Sabbaths. During one of his sermons on the riverbank he encountered a group of Jewish women to whom he preached the new faith, the promise of the Prophets concerning the person of the Messiah. The God-fearing women listened attentively and reverently to the words of the unknown Jew. Among them was also an important and well-known woman of the city, the merchant Lydia, who was captivated by Paul’s preaching and was among the first who believed and attached herself to him.
Lydia came from the city of Thyateira in Asia Minor and was originally a pagan. It appears, however, that although she lived in a pagan environment, in a pagan family, and experienced the horror of pagan irrationality and superstition, the ancient pagan religion did not satisfy her, which, it should be said, at that time was in great decline and decay. It was not easy for her to worship “gods” and “goddesses” who were immoral, who reveled among themselves and “committed” unspeakable crimes. This noble woman sought a more spiritual religion, which she found in Judaism.
She became acquainted with Jews of the city and embraced their religion. Knowing the Law and the Prophets, there was kindled within her a thirst for the search for the Messiah Who was expected to redeem the human race. She therefore became a convert to the Jewish religion and belonged to the category of “those who worshiped God.”
She was occupied with the trade of purple cloth, which evidently had made her wealthy. It should be noted that the trade in purple in those years was profitable, because it was purchased by the rich and constituted a sign of aristocratic status. Yet her commercial occupations did not stand as an obstacle to her deep religiosity. She did not neglect to fulfill the religious duties prescribed by the Jewish religion. On the Sabbaths she went together with the rest of the Jewish community to the place where the women prayed, in order to pray to the God of the Hebrews.
One Sabbath, therefore, as we mentioned previously, she heard Paul’s preaching and was enthralled by his unprecedented teaching. Cultivated and intellectually searching as she was, she understood that the fervent preacher was bringing a new hopeful and saving message to desperate and troubled humanity.
Paul’s reference to the coming of the Messiah in the person of Christ filled her with indescribable joy, because the prophecies of the Old Testament, which she read eagerly and heard in the Synagogue, had been fulfilled. She believed immediately and asked the Apostle to baptize her. He baptized her in the clear waters of the river Zygaktis. The Evangelist Luke relates the incident as follows: “And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple from the city of Thyateira, one who worshiped God, listened, whose heart the Lord opened to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.’ And she constrained us” (Acts 16:14–15).
With tears in her eyes and a heart throbbing with heavenly emotion and exultation, she invited Paul and his co-workers into her house, where she asked that the members of her household also be baptized. Afterwards she set before them a rich meal and Abrahamic hospitality. Paul celebrated in her blessed home also the Divine Eucharist, which completed her entrance and that of her household into the Church and their union with Christ. Her house was deemed worthy to become the first Church of Greece and of Europe; her mansion sheltered the young Church of Philippi.
Tradition has not preserved details from her later life, which we may suppose was a life of holiness and devotion to the young Church of Philippi. Saint Lydia was evidently one of the distinguished members of the Church. She may even have been ordained a deaconess, as was customary in the ancient Church. It appears that she reposed early, from the fact that she is not mentioned in Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians, which he sent around 61 A.D. from Rome, where he was awaiting trial.
She was proclaimed a saint relatively recently, and her memory was appointed to be celebrated on May 20. She is honored as Equal-to-the-Apostles, and at the place where she received Holy Baptism an open-air Baptistery was built. In present-day Kavala a magnificent church and baptistery have been built, which have become an important pilgrimage center, and the beautiful Thracian city has become synonymous with Saint Lydia.
The saving vision of the Apostle Paul in Troas, to pass over into Macedonia, into the European continent, was crowned with success in Philippi through the conversion of Saint Lydia and also of the jailer and his family (Acts 16:33). This blessed woman is considered, as we mentioned above, the first Greek and European woman who became a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. The holy women of the New Testament and generally of the ancient Church together with the men constitute the pillars upon which the Church of Christ was built.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
She became acquainted with Jews of the city and embraced their religion. Knowing the Law and the Prophets, there was kindled within her a thirst for the search for the Messiah Who was expected to redeem the human race. She therefore became a convert to the Jewish religion and belonged to the category of “those who worshiped God.”
She was occupied with the trade of purple cloth, which evidently had made her wealthy. It should be noted that the trade in purple in those years was profitable, because it was purchased by the rich and constituted a sign of aristocratic status. Yet her commercial occupations did not stand as an obstacle to her deep religiosity. She did not neglect to fulfill the religious duties prescribed by the Jewish religion. On the Sabbaths she went together with the rest of the Jewish community to the place where the women prayed, in order to pray to the God of the Hebrews.
One Sabbath, therefore, as we mentioned previously, she heard Paul’s preaching and was enthralled by his unprecedented teaching. Cultivated and intellectually searching as she was, she understood that the fervent preacher was bringing a new hopeful and saving message to desperate and troubled humanity.
Paul’s reference to the coming of the Messiah in the person of Christ filled her with indescribable joy, because the prophecies of the Old Testament, which she read eagerly and heard in the Synagogue, had been fulfilled. She believed immediately and asked the Apostle to baptize her. He baptized her in the clear waters of the river Zygaktis. The Evangelist Luke relates the incident as follows: “And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple from the city of Thyateira, one who worshiped God, listened, whose heart the Lord opened to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.’ And she constrained us” (Acts 16:14–15).
With tears in her eyes and a heart throbbing with heavenly emotion and exultation, she invited Paul and his co-workers into her house, where she asked that the members of her household also be baptized. Afterwards she set before them a rich meal and Abrahamic hospitality. Paul celebrated in her blessed home also the Divine Eucharist, which completed her entrance and that of her household into the Church and their union with Christ. Her house was deemed worthy to become the first Church of Greece and of Europe; her mansion sheltered the young Church of Philippi.
Tradition has not preserved details from her later life, which we may suppose was a life of holiness and devotion to the young Church of Philippi. Saint Lydia was evidently one of the distinguished members of the Church. She may even have been ordained a deaconess, as was customary in the ancient Church. It appears that she reposed early, from the fact that she is not mentioned in Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians, which he sent around 61 A.D. from Rome, where he was awaiting trial.
She was proclaimed a saint relatively recently, and her memory was appointed to be celebrated on May 20. She is honored as Equal-to-the-Apostles, and at the place where she received Holy Baptism an open-air Baptistery was built. In present-day Kavala a magnificent church and baptistery have been built, which have become an important pilgrimage center, and the beautiful Thracian city has become synonymous with Saint Lydia.
The saving vision of the Apostle Paul in Troas, to pass over into Macedonia, into the European continent, was crowned with success in Philippi through the conversion of Saint Lydia and also of the jailer and his family (Acts 16:33). This blessed woman is considered, as we mentioned above, the first Greek and European woman who became a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. The holy women of the New Testament and generally of the ancient Church together with the men constitute the pillars upon which the Church of Christ was built.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
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