Saint Lidia commemorated as early European Christian convert

Saint Lidia was a wealthy merchant of purple dye from the ancient city of Tiatira, located in what is today western Turkey. She and her family moved to Philippi, a Roman colony in present‑day Greece, where they encountered the Apostle Paul during his missionary journey.

According to the Acts of the Apostles, Paul baptized Lidia and her household; she then offered her home as a meeting place for the early Christian community. Her conversion is noted as the first recorded Christian baptism of a European family.