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Olympias the Deaconess
c. 368 – c. 408 · b. Constantinople
DeaconLayman
Quick facts
- Born
- c. 368, Constantinople
- Died
- c. 408, Nicomedia
- Region
- east
- Era
- post nicene
- Significance
- Notable(2/4)
- Also known as
- Olympias of Constantinople · St Olympias
Highlights
- Main contribution
- Wealthy Constantinopolitan noblewoman who, widowed young, refused remarriage and was ordained a deaconess (the Roles enum lacks 'deaconess'; she is recorded as deaconess of the Great Church...
- Primary source
- John Chrysostom, Epistulae ad Olympiadem
Wealthy Constantinopolitan noblewoman who, widowed young, refused remarriage and was ordained a deaconess (the Roles enum lacks 'deaconess'; she is recorded as deaconess of the Great Church) by Patriarch Nectarius. She founded a community of consecrated women adjacent to Hagia Sophia and used her fortune to support clergy, hospitals, and the poor. A close friend and supporter of John Chrysostom, she shared his exile after 404; his seventeen surviving Letters to Olympias are an important pastoral and theological correspondence.
Recommended reading near Olympias the Deaconess
A cover-visible starting point chosen from the curated reading path, either by this figure or by their era.
Chain to Jesus
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Common questions
- Who was Olympias the Deaconess?
- Olympias the Deaconess (368–408) — Wealthy Constantinopolitan noblewoman who, widowed young, refused remarriage and was ordained a deaconess (the Roles enum lacks 'deaconess'; she is recorded as deaconess of the Great Church) by Patriarch Nectarius. She founded a community of consecrated women adjacent to Hagia Sophia and used her fortune to support clergy, hospitals, and the poor. A close friend and supporter of John Chrysostom, she shared his exile after 404; his seventeen surviving Letters to Olympias are an important pastoral and theological correspondence.
- Who did Olympias the Deaconess correspond with?
- John Chrysostom.
Sources for biography
- John Chrysostom, Epistulae ad Olympiadem primary
- Vita Olympiadis (anonymous) primary
- Palladius, Dialogus de Vita Iohannis Chrysostomi primary
- ODCC s.v. Olympias, St secondary
documented connections(1)
- corresponded John ChrysostomSeventeen letters from Chrysostom to Olympias survive, written largely from his exile.John Chrysostom, Epistulae ad Olympiadem · Palladius, Dialogus de Vita Iohannis Chrysostomi 16-17