Woman Of The Week Listing

Hermina Nedelescu is our Woman of the Week, nominated because she is working to bring neuroscience into dialogue with theology. You see her here in her lab, along with an image of the brain neurons that she is looking at in that microscope. We asked her to tell you about herself:

“Today, I am a research scientist studying the neurobiological basis of brain functions and maladaptive behavior relevant to human psychopathology at the Scripps Research Institute. Below, I provide a brief description of the path I followed to get here. Later on, I describe a second parallel path that connects neuroscience with theology.   

Our Woman of the Week is Dorothea Love, a long-time administrator at her parish, and an intrepid and devoted volunteer for many organizations. You see her here in the scaffolding looking at the newly-painted Pantocrator. We asked her to tell you how she became a servant of Christ in the Church:

“My life in the Orthodox Church began with my infant baptism, but I remember, ‘For You possess my heart, Oh Lord; You took hold of me from my mother’s womb’ (Psalm 138:13).

Bindu Mathai is our Woman of the Week, nominated for the way she inhabits a vital and unsung role in her parish. She's also a make-up artist and one of the parish's founding members. You see her here with members of her church community. We asked her to tell you how she became like a "big sister" in her church: 

Our first Woman of the Week of the Paschal season is Lilyan Andrews, nominated for her work as a priest’s wife, mother, engineer, blogger, and--most recently--life coach, and for the way she writes to younger women about the struggles we’ve all faced and continue to face as we hold strong to our faith and values in an ever-changing world. We asked her to tell you about herself:

For our final Woman of the Week before Pascha, we thought we'd delve into history and celebrate the nun Kassiani. Her name is synonymous with one of the best known hymns sung during Holy Week. She was acknowledged even in her own day as one of the great hymnographers. She was also known as an important critic of iconoclasts, and an outspoken one: "I hate silence when it is time to speak.” You can learn more about her life and works here.

Here is one translation of her deeply affecting Holy Week hymn about the woman who wiped Jesus's feet with her hair: