PHEBE (Φώβη "Radiant"). - A woman commended by St. Paul to the Romans (Rom. 16:1-2) on three counts: 1) as "our sister," that is, as a Christian, converted from paganism; this seems to follow from her name, which is that of a pagan deity; 2) as "deaconess [v.] διάκονος" of the Church that is in Cenchreae (v.); 3) as "patron (προστάτης) of many and also of myself."
This is the only passage in the New Testament in which the term διάκονος, used in the feminine, seems to indicate an ecclesiastical office. The Vulgate renders it generically as "quae est in ministerio"; the Ambrosiaster better: "ministra." She must have been a well-to-do elderly lady, perhaps a widow, who attended with great diligence to the office entrusted to her by the Church. From the subscriptions of many Greek, Latin, Syriac and Coptic codices it appears that P. was the bearer of the Epistle to the Romans (v.). The Roman Martyrology commemorates her on September 3.
De, Ambroggi Pietro. “Phoebe (ΦΏΒΩΙ «Raggiante»).” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. IX, col. 1316. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1952. https://azioneromana.com/article/phoebe-phoboi-raggiante.
MLA
De, Ambroggi Pietro. “Phoebe (ΦΏΒΩΙ «Raggiante»).” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. IX, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1952, col. 1316. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/phoebe-phoboi-raggiante.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec9_phoebe_phoboi_raggiante,
author = {De, Ambroggi Pietro},
title = {Phoebe (ΦΏΒΩΙ «Raggiante»)},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {IX},
pages = {1316},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1952},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/phoebe-phoboi-raggiante}
}
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