"Purple cloth"

[Brigid]

Is she a saint , by any chance? Saint Lydia. I know it is  a common Catholic name in India.

In some places it appears she was a Saint, however there is also a martyr from the second cent. with the same name. Oh, I goofed because I didn't add Acts 16:15.

And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying: If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.

[Shin]

Well, the Seraphim are the highest choir of angels.. they are the closest angels to God and worship Him and experience the fires of His love by nature most closely.. (not accounting for any perhaps changes of position due to other graces) and are most notable for the fires of their love of God.. ...

So they are the royalty of royalty of the angels..

Purple is used in the veil around the tabernacle..

Mary is often equated with the tabernacle itself.. then Christ within..

In the year that king Ozias died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and elevated: and his train filled the temple. Upon it stood the seraphims: the one had six wings, and the other had six wings: with two they covered his face, and with two they covered his feet, and with two they hew. And they cried one to another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts, all the earth is full of his glory. And the lintels of the doors were moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

And I said: Woe is me, because I have held my peace; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people that hath unclean lips, and I have seen with my eyes the King the Lord of hosts.

And one of the seraphims flew to me, and in his hand was a live coal, which he had taken with the tongs off the altar.  And he touched my mouth, and said: Behold this hath touched thy lips, and thy iniquities shall be taken away, and thy sin shall be cleansed. And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: Whom shall I send? and who shall go for us? And I said: Lo, here am I, send me. And he said: Go, and thou shalt say to this people: Hearing, hear, and understand not: and see the vision, and know it not. Blind the heart of this people, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes: lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted and I heal them.

Isaias 6:1-10

Lydia I have just read some commentary on saying was St. Paul's first convert to Christianity in Europe. And that since Paul and his companions stayed and prayed at her house, it could even be considered the first Christian church in Europe.

'Therefore, my dearly beloved brethren, and most desired, my joy and my crown; so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.'

Philippians 4:1

4:1

The Philippians are St. Paul's joy and crown.

Lydia's name is in reference to a place, I have read, so it's difficult to pursue any particular meaning to her name beyond as far as I can tell - that which normally is what helps uncover more of the meaning of many passages in scripture.

Hmm I see her listen in the Patron Saints' Index as 'Saint Lydia Purpuraria' (meaning purple seller) 

[Shin]

You know one thing I get out of all of this is that praying to St. Lydia is a good idea, perhaps she especially wants to be our friend! Especially you Brigid! 

[Brigid]

Lydia I have just read some commentary on saying was St. Paul's first convert to Christianity in Europe. And that since Paul and his companions stayed and prayed at her house, it could even be considered the first Christian church in Europe.

That wouldn't explain though why He mentions her profession. He does mention the Apostles jobs and that of St. Paul, but not any laymen that I can think of.

You know one thing I get out of all of this is that praying to St. Lydia is a good idea, perhaps she especially wants to be our friend!  Especially you Brigid! 

You know, you may be right there!

[Shin]

You know, usually it's 'Paul of Tarsus' or 'Augustine of Hippo' or some such thing, in other words the place you come from is your last name, or added to your name.

But for Lydia, the place she comes from -is- her name, effacing her completely in many ways..

Perhaps that very effacement is itself the meaning.

Though that could well be a little too easy and simple an answer for me not knowing any deeper meaning to the name.

Still.. her first name meaning is simply a place, rather than anything else.. and what else we are told is 'purple seller'.

She's associated with the first church.. royalty seller.. you might go very far with that analogy.. 

[Shin]

You know now I'm thinking of how violets are a symbol for widows.

'A true widow is, in the Church, as a little March violet shedding around an exquisite perfume by the fragrance of her devotion, and almost always hidden under the ample leaves of her lowliness, and by her subdued colouring showing her spirit of mortification. She seeks untrodden and solitary places, not wishing to be disturbed by the conversation of worldlings, the better to preserve the freshness of her heart amidst all the glare with which earthly desires of honours, wealth, and even love may surround her.
"Blessed shall she be," says the Apostle, "if she so remain." (i Cor. vii. 40).

St. Francis de Sales

'Flores apparuerunt in terra nostra. . . Fulcite me floribus.
(The flowers appear on the earth. . . stay me up with flowers. Sg 2:5-12)

In the garden of the Church, Mary gathers three flowers and places them into your hands: the white lily, the red rose, the pale violet. The lily is the symbol of purity of conscience of life. The rose represents that burning love which purifies, perfects and elevates the heart to God. The violet is the emblem of the evangelical mortification which keeps us canditus, et rubicundus ("fresh, and ruddy" Sg 5:10) according to the desire of the Beloved of our heart et pascitur inter lilia. ("who pastures his flock among the lilies" Sg 2:16, Sg 6:2) The picture of the lily draws you away from the world. The image of the rose unites you with the heart of Jesus. Finally, the violet makes you partakers of the fruits of the Cross of Jesus. May the most holy Virgin who presents you with these flowers, find them still in your hands in your last agony as a pledge for entrance into the home to which only the pure lovers of Jesus Crucified are admitted.'

St. Gaspar del Bufalo

'The hermitage is a paradise of delight where the fragrant scents of the virtues are breathed forth like sweet sap or glowing spice-flowers. There the roses of charity blaze in crimson flame and the lilies of purity shine in snowy beauty, and with them the humble violets whom no winds assault because they are content with lowly places; there the myrrh of perfect penance perfumes the air and the incense of constant prayer rises unceasingly.

But why should I call to mind these in particular? For the lovely buds of all the holy virtues glow there many-coloured and graces flourish in an undying greenness beyond the power of words to describe. O hermitage! delight of holy souls, unfailing in your inner sweetness.'

St. Peter Damian

There's a good deal more about violets in 'Mystical Flora'.

[Patricia]

Finally, the violet makes you partakers of the fruits of the Cross of Jesus. May the most holy Virgin who presents you with these flowers, find them still in your hands in your last agony as a pledge for entrance into the home to which only the pure lovers of Jesus Crucified are admitted.'

May it be so!    Many have begun to ask me why I am not dating or getting married but they don't understand when I tell them I don't want to. I have a Spouse who is ever-faithful, keeps His promises, sustains me and provides for me. What more could I want?  But I pray I stay faithful too. 

[CyrilSebastian]

Lydia's husband is not mentioned. However, she was a householder. Might she have been a widow?