today we commemorate a widowed princess

[kassia]

St. Kentigerna, Hermitess of Loch Lomond

Does anyone out there find these as amusing as I do? I may one day write my own material about them, rather than just copying others', but right now I'm just gathering material. I think they're fascinating from a feminist perspective: as real women, whose lives got channeled through a patriarchal remembrance, and as characters, whose stories have had meaning to both men and women, over a wide variety of times and cultural contexts. (remembering Mary Daly)

Citing the writings of women (e.g. Proba) is an attempt to document the paucity of orthodox women theologians. I know of maybe a dozen, and half of those are living.

naamah, have you seen any women writing (or scribing) in syriac?
Does anyone know of resources from the "Nestorian" and "monophysite" churches regarding women saints and theologians?

Comments

[naamah.livejournal.com]

There's....not a lot. The Life of Febronia at least claims to have been written by a sister at Febronia's convent. It's in Holy Women of the Syrian Orient, which is a good collection if you haven't read it already. I can't think of much else? At least not that's published. I've personally wondered if there might not be more, because whatever exists would probably be in convents, and most of the people who went around scouring monasteries for manuscripts were men, with access to male monasteries. And of course they were interested in the more "important" authors. But I would love to have a look in some Syriac convent archives, even if it's "just" writings by some of the sisters rather than manuscripts of famous theologians...

I read a book recently that you might enjoy, called The Sisters of Sinai. It's about Agnes and Margaret Smith, two sisters who were scholars of Syriac and other Eastern Christian languages in the 19th/early 20th century. They traveled all over the Middle East and translated a whole lot of stuff back in the day when respectable women just didn't do that sort of thing! Of course, they were Presbyterians, not Orthodox. But it's still a fascinating chapter in Western scholarship of Eastern Christianity, and the very important role that these two women played in it.

[elbren]

Yes! I enjoyed them both, but I was surprised Ms. Soskice didn't mention Mrs. Margoliouth anywhere, seeing as she managed to name-drop about every other interesting contemporary. I wonder whether Mrs. Smith Lewis consulted her, seeing as she was recognized by Saeki et al. for her Syriac expertise.

I'd love to know what even just Saidnaya has!

[naamah.livejournal.com]

I confess that The Sisters of Sinai totally made me fall in love with J. Rendel Harris...! Too bad he's dead, like all the men I seem to crush on....

[naamah.livejournal.com]

By the way, I realized that I have no idea what your educational background is or what you're doing now, but if you aren't in graduate school, you clearly should be, just based on your monthly reading lists! :)

And the world needs more Syriac scholars, especially women!

[elbren]

I met Prof. S.P. Brock at a seminar once. (He signed my dual-language St. Ephrem!) He asked where I studied. I replied "the armchair". He approved.