St Martha, Friend of Jesus. The sister of Mary and Lazarus of Bethany. Honoured for her confession of faith in the Lord in which she beseeched him to restore life to her dead brother (John 11:27). Noted too for her hospitality to Jesus and her concern for the details of service to guests.

Martha is the patron saint of active, practical women, perhaps unfairly contrasted with her more laid back and “contemplative” sister Mary. Both were sisters of Lazarus of Bethany. But Martha is also the woman of faith, who said: “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into the world” (Jn 11:27).

In Aramaic the name Martha means “the lady, the mistress”, the feminine counterpart of “the master”. In the incident described by Luke 10:38-42, Martha is introduced as the woman who “welcomed Jesus into her house”. So hospitality is her paramount virtue. This probably accounts for her cult as the patron saint of food professionals, butlers, hotel-keepers and home-makers and why she is often depicted in art with a ladle, a broom or a set of keys as her symbol.

When Lazarus had died and was buried, it is Martha who goes out to meet Jesus when he was coming to their house and accosts him (Jn 11:21-22): “If you had been here my brother would not have died, but I know that even now whatever you ask of God, he will grant you”. And when questioned by Jesus, she shows she is a woman of faith: “I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, the one who was to come into this world.”

Recognizing their welcome of and witness to Christ, Pope Francis has approved changing the liturgical feast of St. Martha to include her sister and brother, Mary and Lazarus, on the church’s universal calendar of feast days.

The names of Mary and Lazarus will be added to the July 29 feast on the General Roman Calendar, the universal schedule of holy days and feast days for the Latin rite of the Catholic Church.