I am researching St. Domnika and other deaconess saints for my dissertation. While there are many unknowns about this ancient office, we can see the church's theology in their lives and ministries.
Someday, I would love to paint icons of many of these saints. In the meantime, I created this illustration featuring fourteen deaconesses commemorated as saints in the Orthodox Church. I put the most famous saints in the center, Phoebe and Olympia. They span from the first through tenth centuries, from Gaul and Rome, to Constantinople and Cappadocia, and to Syria and Alexandria. At least 10 of them were likely ordained with either with the prayers in the Apostolic Constitutions, or with the Byzantine rite for the ordination of deaconesses. There are three martyrs, two bishops' wives, many teachers and abbesses, and all ascetics.
You can grab the coloring page to print. I also uploaded the design to my Zazzle, where I printed stickers and a mug for myself - and you can get some too. :)
Front Row: St. Radegunde, St. Irene Chrysovalantou, St. Justina, St. Phoebe, St. Olympia, St. Platonida, St. Susanna, St. Tatiana; Back Row: St. Domnika, St. Theosebia, St. Nonna, St. Poplia, St. Xenia, St. Apollonia
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