St. Lydia assisted St. Paul in building up the first century Church; today, local faithful see devotion as a model for supporting priests
DETROIT — Parishes in the Archdiocese of Detroit have the option to celebrate the Feast of St. Lydia on May 20 instead of the primary feast day, the optional memorial of St. Bernardine of Siena.
But who is St. Lydia? What is the local connection to this saint? And why is the Archdiocese of Detroit making resources available to celebrate her on the Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter?
“St. Lydia was Paul’s first European convert and played a key role in supporting Paul’s ministry,” Kathleen McCann, a parishioner at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Plymouth, told Detroit Catholic. “Many people haven’t really paid attention to her; indeed, she’s only mentioned in three verses of Scripture, all in Acts of the Apostles. But she’s commonly understood to have been super pivotal in the support of St. Paul and unleashing the Gospel throughout Europe.”
St. Lydia was a businesswoman who sold purple dye, an expensive commodity at the time. When she encountered St. Paul after fleeing Philippi, she converted and used her financial means to support the early Church.
Several years ago, McCann and a few other pilgrims from southeast Michigan went on a pilgrimage through Greece and Turkey, following in the footsteps of St. Paul with then-Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron.
Archbishop Vigneron celebrated Mass at the Zygaktis River, where St. Lydia was baptized (in modern-day Greece), McCann recalled.
“We took this beautiful icon of Lydia to the place where she was baptized, and it was an incredibly beautiful experience and very moving,” McCann said. “There were many of us on that pilgrimage, and we all had this deep affinity for Lydia. The archbishop encouraged us in that devotion, suggesting that if we were interested in celebrating her, he’d be happy to help.”
McCann and her fellow pilgrims set out circulating a petition in the Archdiocese of Detroit, asking Rome to make St. Lydia the primary saint celebrated on the liturgical calendar for May 20.
St. Lydia used her talents and treasures to support the early Church, just as countless others have used their time, talent and treasure to support the priests of the Archdiocese of Detroit, McCann said.
“We have a lot of faithful in the Archdiocese of Detroit who love our Church and love our priests and want to do whatever they can to support them, particularly in these challenging years that we’ve been going through,” McCann said.
As the Archdiocese of Detroit turned its focus to evangelization following Synod 16, McCann and others saw in St. Lydia a perfect model for today's faithful.
Although the group collected more than 1,000 signatures to elevate St. Lydia's feast on May 20 on the local liturgical calendar, it wasn't enough to convince Rome the necessary cult of devotion to the saint existed.
However, Rome did encourage the group to promote the saint, allowing for the option to celebrate her feast day as the primary saint in the liturgy, since she is listed in the Roman Martyrology. It also allowed a similar option for the feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, on June 27.
“The Church subsequently has established a particular liturgical calendar for the archdiocese that now includes SS. Joachim and Anne (July 26), with St. Anne as the patroness of our archdiocese, the memorial of Blessed Solanus Casey (July 30), along with St. Lydia and Our Mother of Perpetual Help, as optional feast memorials,” McCann said.
The Archdiocese of Detroit has prepared materials for parishes to celebrate the memorial of St. Lydia, including the readings for the day and prayer cards.
McCann hopes that as more parishes elect to celebrate the optional memorial, they will learn more about St. Lydia and follow her example.
“Even though she walked the earth two millennia ago, you can imagine the similarities in her life to some of us,” McCann said. “When you read through Scripture, how her heart was opened, she paid attention to what her shepherds taught, and she heard the call to support the priests and provide hospitality and encouragement. She aided them with her time, business acumen and treasure.
“There are lots of examples of how we can be good stewards of our gifts and very supportive of our priests and our ministry through Lydia,” McCann added. “And looking at her, the likelihood of her being an evangelist as well — some posit she had had the first domestic church in Europe — there are so many lessons we can take from her as we build up the Church in Detroit.”
