Dorcas was a disciple of Joppa found in the Book of Acts (at 9:36-42) of the Bible. She was a dressmaker, who made clothes for the poor in her village. When she died, the people of the village called upon Saint Peter who is said to have raised her from the dead. "Dorcas" is a female name of Greek origins, (the Aramaic cognate is "Tabitha"), meaning "gazelle". Recursively, there is a type of gazelle today called the dorcas gazelle. She is commemorated with Lydia of Thyatira and Phoebe on January 27 in the Calendar of Saints of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and on October 25 in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod.
