St. Olympias: Ordained Woman Deacon -- Feast Day December 17

Deacon Olympias

Today, December 17, is the feast of a 4th-century deaconess, St. Olympias. She was a friend and supporter of St. John Chrysostom, and of St. Gregory Nazianzus, who wrote the epithalamion for her wedding. After her husband's death, Olympias was ordained a deaconess. She established a community near Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) in what is today known as Istanbul. After Chrysostom was banished, Olympias was accused of arson in Hagia Sophia. Despite a lack of evidence, she was found guilty. Her community was disbanded and she was exiled. She died at Nicomedia c. 410.

St. Olympias is commemorated in countless ancient icons and at the Vatican in the form of travertine sculpture on the Colonnade at St. Peter's Basilica (#11 on the right.)

Gary Macy's book, The Hidden History of Women's Ordination: Female Clergy in the Medieval West, and Kyriaki Karidoyanes Fitzgerald's book, Women Deacons in the Orthodox Church: Called to Holiness and Ministry provide information about women’s ministry in the early Church. This is an era of Church history that has been diminished, suppressed, and nearly forgotten.

Deacon Olympias is one of 140 saints commemorated in St. Peter’s Square where a travertine sculpture of her stands on the Colonnades. Her’s is the 11th statue on the north side.

Restoration of the ordained women’s diaconate was recently considered at the Vatican’s Synod on the Amazon. From the final document, we know that the question has been tabled for further study:

"103. In the many consultations carried out in the Amazon, the fundamental role of religious and lay women in the Church of the Amazon and its communities was recognized and emphasized, given the wealth of services they provide. In a large number of these consultations, the permanent diaconate for women was requested. This made it an important theme during the Synod. The Study Commission on the Diaconate of Women which Pope Francis created in 2016 has already arrived as a Commission at partial findings regarding the reality of the diaconate of women in the early centuries of the Church and its implications for today. We would therefore like to share our experiences and reflections with the Commission and we await its results."

Tens of thousands of women served as fully ordained deacons in Catholic parishes during ten long centuries. Some of them ministered in Italy and Gaul, but the vast majority lived and worked in Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine and Egypt. At that time the Orthodox East was still part of the Catholic Church. Learn more about them through the work of our member group, Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research here: The Ancient Deaconesses — Women Who Were Ordained Deacons

Women’s Ordination Worldwide’s position paper on restoration of the ordained women’s diaconate is here: WOW Supports Restoration of the Ordained Women’s Diaconate

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Akathist Hymn to Saint Olympias

Kontakion 1

God of the prophets and apostles, God of the desert fathers and mothers, God of all the saints and martyrs: bless us as we work and pray in Your holy presence and in emulation of the honorable deaconess of the Church, Saint Olympias.  She dedicated all her resources and talents to the service of the Holy Church, enduring ingratitude and harassment for the sake of Jesus Christ.  She, who was unfairly blamed for the sins of others, is given proper recognition today by all who say:

Rejoice, Saint Olympias, noble deaconess of the Holy Church.
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-Therese Koturbash, Women’s Ordination Worldwide Communications Team
Therese Koturbash, BA, LLB, GDCL served as Canadian Delegate to Women’s Ordination Worldwide from 2008 to 2013. For all five of those years, she was elected member of WOW's four person International Leadership Circle. She has also been the National Coordinator of Canada's Catholic Network for Women's Equality. Today, Therese serves on WOW’s Communications Team and is a volunteer with WOW member group, Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research. Her paid work is as a family attorney.