PHEBE,
A deaconess of the port of Corinth called Cenchrea. St. Paul had a particular esteem for her, and Theodoret thinks he lodged at her house while at Corinth. She brought to Rome the epistle he wrote to the Romans, wherein she is so highly commended.
In this epistle, the apostle names, with warm approval, the faith and works of a number of women who appear to have been devoted, and important servants of the church at Rome. Priscilia, Mary, Junia, Tryphena and Tryphosa, Persia, Julia, the sister of Nereas and the mother of Rufus, whom the apostle calls "mine;" a touching tribute to the virtues of this Christian woman. There was no man among the Christian converts ever saluted by Paul with the title of father; and that he found a woman worthy of the tender, holy title of mother, shows how highly, in his estimation, ranked the piety of the gentle sex. The important trust reposed in Phebe proves, also, the efficient help he derived from woman's ministry in the cause of Christ. See Romans, chap. xvi. A.D. 60.