Pontius Pilate's wife

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Pontius Pilate's wife is unnamed in the New Testament (Matth. 27:19), but alternative Christian traditions gave her the name (Saint) Procula, Procla, Prokla, Perpetua or Claudia Procula. Sometimes combinations in the vein of Claudia Procles are also used.

1 Biblical references
2 Saint
3 Letters of Procula
4 Literature and movies
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Biblical references

Of the Four Evangelists, only Matthew mentions Pilate's wife once. According to the Gospel of Matthew 27:19, she sent a message to her husband asking him not to condemn Jesus Christ to death: ‘While Pilate was sitting in the judgement hall, his wife sent him a message: “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, because in a dream last night, I suffered much on account of him”’.

The name Claudia only appears in 2 Timothy 4:21. ‘Eubulus, Pudens, Linus and Claudia send their greetings, and so all the other Christians’.

[edit] Saint

Procula is recognized as a saint in the Eastern tradition, because she warned her husband from a dream she had, not to condemn Jesus to death. In Greek Orthodox Church, she is celebrated on 27 October. She is known in the Orthodox Church as Saint Procula, Procla or Prokla.

The Coptic Orthodox Church, celebrates Pilate and Procula together on 25 June. The Ethiopian Church canonized Pilate as a saint in the sixth century because he absolved himself from guilt in the crucifixion.

A Greek Orthodox icon of Procula can be seen at http://www.stlukeorthodox.com/html/saints/october/27th.cfm

[edit] Letters of Procula

Letters survive purporting to be written by Procula, and relating to her time living in Judea. These manuscripts were found in a Belgian monastery in Bruges and placed within the Vatican archives. An American literary scholar, Catherine van Dyke, was the first person to translate the letters into English. They were first published in Pictorial Review Magazine, April 1929.

[edit] Literature and movies

Based on the biblical reference of her dream, there has been a play written. This dream is also made reference in the 1953 Easter movie The Robe.

In the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Pilate's wife is not mentioned, but her dream is given to Pilate himself, which makes him uneasy and confused during the trial scene.

The 1961 movie King of Kings, Procula (known in the movie as ‘Claudia’) is played by Viveca Lindfors. Lindfors portrays her as a devoted wife, who is a well spoken and intelligent woman.

In the 2004 movie The Passion of the Christ she is known as Claudia Procles (played by Claudia Gerini). In this film she is placed in a pivotal and compassionate role.

Pilate's Wife: A Novel of the Roman Empire (Hardcover, October 2006) by Antoinette May is a fictional account of the life of Claudia Procula.