Dorcas

Dorcas, whose Aramaic name Tabitha means "gazelle" (Greek Dorcas), was an early disciple of Jesus living in the busy port city of Joppa on the Mediterranean coast. In the Acts of the Apostles she alone among women is expressly called a "disciple" (mathētria). She was known throughout the Christian community for her good works and acts of mercy, above all for sewing tunics and cloaks with her own hands for the poor and for widows.

When she fell ill and died, the believers washed her body and laid it in an upper room. Hearing that Peter was nearby in Lydda, they sent two men urgently to beg him to come without delay. Peter came at once. The widows stood beside him weeping and showing the clothes Dorcas had made for them—living proof of her charity. Peter put them all outside, knelt down, and prayed. Then turning to the body he said, "Tabitha, arise." She opened her eyes, sat up, and he gave her his hand and raised her to her feet. Calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. The miracle became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.

Scripture places her death and raising in the house associated with Simon the tanner; tradition later pointed to sites in Jaffa connected with her memory and burial. Early Fathers held her up as a pattern: Basil of Caesarea urged healthy widows to spend their lives in works of zeal after the example of Dorcas. Her name inspired later "Dorcas societies" that clothe the poor. She is honored as a saint in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church (often on October 25 as Saint Tabitha the Widow raised by Peter), and among Anglicans and other Christians who keep her memory.

May Saint Dorcas intercede for us, and let us practice today her quiet, hands-on mercy toward the poor.