In the ancient, vibrant city of Joppa that is now Tel Aviv, a man once boarded a ship that led him to the belly of a whale, fleeing the presence of God. Centuries later, a woman lived in Joppa who instead was known for her faithful generosity: St. Tabitha the Merciful.
It is likely, out of all the saints on the calendar, that Tabitha is one you recognize. Also known as Dorcas, her name in both Aramaic and Greek means “deer” or “gazelle.” This name gives us an image of a woman lively, graceful, and nimble - matching the account in Acts of being “occupied with good deeds” and skilled at arts such as weaving and sewing (9:36-41). Tabitha was also one of the few women in Acts named as a “disciple.” After falling ill and dying, to the great grief of her community, Peter was sent for and raised her back to life. This great miracle caused much joy as well as much talk as news of the miracle spread from this great port city throughout the region. However, as we meditate further on her life, we are struck by two particular aspects today.
The first is, as mentioned above, the invisible thread that ties the story of Jonah to her own. We can guess that she likely grew up hearing the stories of a man who boarded a ship in her own city, only to end up in the belly of a great fish. His symbolic death and resurrection, “the sign of Jonah,” came to fruition in the Christ she chose to follow. We wonder: did she think of this as she faced her own death, and later witnessed her own miraculous resurrection? What did it feel like to walk through the cycle of first-century Holy Week and Pascha afterwards? Did she feel that she, too, had passed through the belly of some great and menacing beast, only to arise unharmed?
The second image we are left with as we read of St. Tabitha’s life is the line from Acts 9:39: “All the widows stood around [Peter], crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.” This beautiful testimony - the testimony of a community - tells us more about St. Tabitha than any lists of good deeds, however impressive. Their grief, the fibers of relationship and beauty that she wove and which was rent by the gaping hole of her loss, shows the real accomplishment of her life.
St. Tabitha is now considered the patron saint of seamstresses and fiber arts, but we imagine her with a special gleam in her eye for all weaving - the creators of beauties large and small, those who deftly stitch their live into the lives of their communities, navigating the dance of over-under-over-under - the give and take and millions of small mercies we extend to one another in love.
We celebrate St. Tabitha’s feast day on October 25th.
Holy St. Tabitha the Merciful, pray for us!
Apolytikion in the First Tone
With the flow of the many-streamed river of almsgiving thou didst water the dry earth of the needy and shower alms on the widows and poor; thou didst shine forth with the light of thy works and wast radiant with grace, O Tabitha. Glory to Christ Who loves thee; glory to Christ Who has blessed thee; glory to Christ Whom thou didst follow as a true disciple and a spotless lamb.
Kontakion in the Second Tone
Thou didst serve the Savior in holiness by thy God-fearing works and deeds, and wast a model of love as His disciple. O Tabitha, we praise thy memory.
Hymn in the First Tone
Today the Faith of Christ is confirmed by Peter, and the faithful who behold the great wonder which hath been wrought in Joppa join chorus in gladness and glorify with psalms the Son of God, the Bestower of life. The preeminent apostle speaketh, and she who had died riseth from the grave. Her doth He Who hath cast down death give to the Christ, that the people may adorn themselves in emulation of her virtues. Wherefore come, ye Christians, let us bear our supplications to the saint: O blessed and loving Tabitha, bear thou our sighs unto the all-holy Trinity, and pray thou with boldness, that we may be children of the preeternal Light, may be counted worthy of the mercy of God, and may abide in love divine; and that peace may reign throughout all the world.
Hymn in the Fourth Tone
The people of Joppa were filled with awe, and the angels of God marvelled, when he who healed Eneas called forth from the dead her who was called Dorcas, who was wholly adorned with lovingkindness, for whom the poor widows cried aloud. And now, O blessed Tabitha, hearken to our prayers which are offered unto thee, and beg thou the Bestower of all good things that He grant mercy and compassions unto His faithful, that, blessing thee, we may cry aloud: Rejoice, O thou who teachest us the virtues!
DAY TWO: HYMN OF PRAISE: Saint Tabitha
By St. Nikolai Velimirovich
Tabitha died, not that she might no longer live,
But that the world might be astonished
at the miracle which came to pass.
Beside her deathbed Peter humbly knelt,
And uttered fervent prayer unto the Lord.
She was resurrected in body! And the unbelievers heard
How the Lord hearkened to the apostle's prayer
And returned the living soul to the dead body.
And Peter turned the unbelievers to the Faith.
O wondrous miracle, of a kind unknown in the world!
By the name of Christ, death was conquered.
Death was conquered, and life rejoices.
The young Tabitha rejoices in life;
And, more than in her own life,
She rejoices that she served as a wonder to the unbelieving world.
She was resurrected in body! The unbelievers heard,
And their own souls were raised from the dead.
O great Peter, servant of Christ,
Pray to our Savior for us;
Resurrect our souls, buried in the mud-
You, who revived Tabitha by the power of God.
Icons:
Icons will sometimes show St. Tabitha holding a bowl of colored yarn, or a parchment that reads “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”