De sancta Pelagia
The Vanity of the World and the Bishop's Tears
Bishop Nonnus is moved to profound compunction by the sight of the worldly vanity of Pelagia, a wealthy and beautiful woman of Antioch.
Pelagia was the foremost woman of the city of Antioch, full of wealth and possessions, beautiful in body, and ambitious and vain in her way of life. Impure in heart and body, she once paraded through the city with such ostentation that you could see nothing on her but gold. Silver and precious stones were all that caught the eye, and wherever she went, she filled the air with the scent of various perfumes. She was preceded and followed by a large crowd of girls and boys, all dressed in splendid clothing. A certain holy father, Bishop Nonnus of Heliopolis—now called Damieta—saw her and began to weep bitterly, because she had a greater desire to please the world than he had to please God. He fell face down on the pavement, striking the ground with his face and watering it with his tears, saying, 'Most high God, forgive me a sinner, because the adornment of a harlot for a single day has surpassed the diligence of my whole life.' 'Lord, do not let the adornment of a single harlot put me to shame before your tremendous majesty; she adorned herself with the greatest effort for earthly things, while I have intended to please you, the immortal Lord, and have failed through my own negligence.' He said to those with him, 'In truth I tell you, God will bring her forward against us in judgment, because she adorns herself so solicitously to please earthly lovers, while we neglect to please our heavenly Spouse.' While he was saying these and similar things, he suddenly fell asleep and it seemed to him that a black and exceedingly foul-smelling dove was flying around him as he celebrated Mass.
The Conversion of Pelagia
Pelagia seeks out the bishop, confesses her sins, and is baptized, sparking the fury of the devil.
When he had ordered the catechumens to leave, the dove disappeared; but after the Mass, it returned, was dipped by the bishop himself into a vessel of water, and emerged clean and white, flying so high that it could no longer be seen. Waking up, she happened to be present at church when he was preaching, and she was so filled with compunction that she sent him a letter by a messenger, saying: 'To the holy bishop, disciple of Christ, from Pelagia, disciple of the devil. If you are truly proven to be a disciple of Christ—who, as I have heard, came down from heaven for the sake of sinners—please deign to receive me, a sinner, but one who is repentant.' He sent word back to her: 'I ask that you don't test my humility, for I am a sinful man; but if you truly desire to be saved, you won't be able to see me alone, but you will see me among others.' When she came to him in the presence of many people, she grabbed his feet and, weeping bitterly, began to say: 'I am Pelagia, a sea of iniquity overflowing with the waves of my sins; I am an abyss of perdition, a whirlpool and a snare for souls. I have deceived many who were deceived, and now I shudder at all of it.' Then the bishop questioned her, 'What is your name?' She replied, 'I am called Pelagia from birth, but because of the vanity of my clothing, they call me Margarita.' Then the bishop received her kindly, assigned her a salutary penance, instructed her diligently in the fear of God, and regenerated her through holy Baptism. But the devil was there, crying out, 'Oh, the violence I suffer from this decrepit old man!'
Renunciation and Spiritual Warfare
The devil attempts to reclaim Pelagia, but she firmly rejects his temptations and distributes her wealth to the poor.
“Oh, the violence!” “Oh, wretched old age!” “Cursed be the day you were born to oppose me, and cursed be the day you took away my greatest hope.” Furthermore, one night while Pelagia was sleeping, the devil came to her, woke her up, and said, “Lady Margarita, what harm have I ever done to you?” “Didn't I adorn you with every kind of wealth and glory?” “Please, tell me how I have offended you, and I'll make it right for you immediately.” “I only beg you not to abandon me, so that I don't become a disgrace to the Christians.” But she made the sign of the cross and breathed on the devil, and he vanished immediately; on the third day, she prepared and gathered everything she owned and gave it to the poor.
The Hidden Life and Holy Death
Pelagia lives in seclusion as a hermit on the Mount of Olives until her death, when her true identity is revealed to the bishop.
A few days later, without anyone knowing, Pelagia slipped away at night and arrived at the Mount of Olives, where she took on the habit of a hermit, settled into a small cell, and served God with great abstinence. She was held in high regard by everyone and was called Brother Pelagius. Later, a deacon serving the aforementioned bishop arrived in Jerusalem to visit the holy sites, and the bishop told him that after he finished, he should look for a monk named Pelagius and visit him, as he was a true servant of God. When he had done this, he was immediately recognized by her, but he did not recognize her at all because of her extreme emaciation. Pelagia asked him, "Do you have a bishop?" He replied, "Yes, Father." She said, "Let him pray to the Lord for me, for he is truly an apostle of Christ." He left, but returned to her cell on the third day; when he knocked at the door and no one answered, he opened the window and found that she was dead. When the runner brought this news to the bishop, the bishop, the clergy, and all the monks gathered to hold the funeral rites for such a holy man. But when they brought the body out of the cell, they discovered it was a woman; filled with wonder, they gave thanks to God and buried the holy body with honor. She died on October 8, around the year of our Lord 460.
Read the original Latin
Pelagia prima feminarum Antiochiae civitatis rebus et divitiis plena, corpore pulcherrima, habitu ambitiosa et vana!) , animo et corpore impudica quadam vice per civitatem cum ambitione maxima transibat, ita ut nihil super eam nisi aurum. et argentum et pretiosi lapides viderentur, ita ut, quocunque iret, aérem diversorum aromatum odore repleret. Quam praecedebat et sequebatur multitudo maxima puellarum et puerorum, qui et ipsi praeclaris erant induti vestimentis. Quam quidam sanctus pater nomineVeronus episcopus Heliopoleos, quae nuneDamieta vocatur, videns amarissime flere coepit ex eo, quod majorem enram habebat placere mundo, quam ipse haberet, placere Deo, procidensque super pavimentum faciem suam cum terra percutiebat et ipsam terram lacrymis rigans dicebat: altissime Deus,'ignosce mihi peccatori, quia unius diei meretricis ornatus totius vitae meae industriam superavit. Ne me, domine, confundat unius meretricis ornatus ante conspectum tremendae majestatis tuae; illa pro terrenis summo se studio decoravit, ego tibi immortali domino placere proposui et per meam negligentiam non implevi. Dixitque his, qui secum erant: in veritate dico vobis, quia Deus hanc contra nos in judicio producturus est, quoniam haec tam sollicite se depingit, ut terrenis amatoribus placeat, et nos coelesti sponso placere negligimus. Dum haec et similia diceret, subito obdormivit visumque est sibi, quod quaedam columba nigra et foetida nimis circa eum celebrantem missam volaret.
Qui dum catechumenos abscedere praecepisset, columba disparuit et post missam rediens et ab ipso episcopo in vase quodam aquae mersa munda et candida exiens tam alte volavit, quod videri non potuit. Evigilans igitur, dum quadam vice ad ecclesiam procedens praedicaret et Pelagia praesens esset, adeo compuncta est, quod ei litteras per nuntium misit dicens: sancto episcopo discipulo Christi Pelagia discipnla dyaboli; si vere Christi discipulus comprobaris, qui, ut audivi, pro peccatoribus de coelo descendit, me peccatricem, sed poenitentem suscipere digneris. Cui ille remisit: rogo, ut humilitatem meam non tentes, quia homo peccator sum, sed si vere salvari desideras, solum me videre non poteris, sed inter alios me videbis. Cumque ad eum coram pluribus advenisset, pedes ejus apprehendit et amarissime flens dicere coepit: ego sum Pelagia pelagus iniquitatis exundans fluclibus peccatorum, ego sum perditionis abyssus, ego vorago et laqueus animarum, multos deceptos decepi, quae nune euncta perhorrui. Tunc episcopus interrogavit eam dicens: quod tibi nomen est? Cui illa: a nativitate Pelagia vocor, sed propter vestimentorum pompam me Margaritam appellant. Tunc episcopus clementer eam suscipiens poenitentiam ei salutarem injunxit et in Dei timore diligenter instruxit et sacro baptismate regeneravit. Dyabolus autem ibidem clamabat dicens: o violentia, quam patior ab hoc sene decrepito!
O violentia! O senectus mala! Maledictus dies, ín quo contrarius natus es mihique spem meam maximam abstulisti. "Quadam insuper nocte, cum Pelagia dormiret, dyabolus ad eam venit et eam excitans dixit sibi: domina Margarita, quid unquam tibi male feci? Numquid non omnibus divitiis et gloria te ornavi? Quaeso dic mihi, in quo te contristavi, et protinus tibi satisfaciam. Tantum obsecro, ne me deseras, ne opprobrium christianis efficiar. Ipsa autem se signavit et in dyabolum insufflavit et statim evanuit, Die tertio omnia, quae habebat, praeparavit et congregavit et pauperibus tribuit.
Post aliquot autem dies cunctis ignorantibus Pelagia inde noctu aufugit et in monte oliveti devenit, ubi habitum eremitae accipiens in parva cella ibidem se collocavit et Deo in multa abstinentia servivit. Maximae autem famae ab omnibus habebatur et frater Pelagius dicebatur. Post hoc quidam dyaconus supradicti episcopi Hierosolimam causa visitandi loca sancta advenit, Cui dixit episcopus, ut post sanctorum locorum visitationem quaereret quendam monachum nomine Pcelagium et ipsum visitaret, cum verus 43 Dei servus esset. Quod cum ille fecisset, mox ab illa cognitus nequaquam ipsam propter nimiam maciem cognovit. Cui dixit Pelagia: habes episcopum? Et ille: imo domine. Et illa: oret pro me ad dominum, quia vere apostolus Christi est. Recedens autem inde die tertia ad cellam ejus rediit, sed cum ad ostium percussisset et nullus ei aperuisset, fenestram aperuit et mortuum eum invenit ac vidit.
Currensque cam hoc episcopo nuntiasset, episcopus et clerus omnesque monachi convenerunt, ut tam sancto viro exsequias celebrarent, cumque de cella corpus ejus extraxissent, repererunt, quod mulier esset, et plurimum admirantes Deo gratias reddiderunt et sanctum corpus honorifice sepelierunt. Obiit antem VIII, die intrante Octobri circa annos domini COCLXXXX.
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