To honor and uplift the witness of St. Phoebe here at the University of Dayton, we celebrated evening vespers on June 13, 2023 in her honor. A lay woman led vespers, and a woman offered a reflection for the community on Romans 16 during our time of prayer. Several icons of St. Phoebe were displayed throughout campus and prayer cards were available alongside the icons for people to take and pray with throughout the weeks leading up to our celebration.

Although this was a small gathering, those in attendance were so grateful to pray together and to uplift the ministry of women in our community. It was especially meaningful to hear a woman break open the scriptures for us. This is just the beginning of raising awareness on our campus of the witness and ministry of St. Phoebe, and the witness of women in our community. Together, we are just beginning our journey of rethinking women’s participation in the Church.