De sancta Margarita
The Flight from the World
Margaret rejects the vanity of a noble marriage to pursue a life of hidden devotion in a monastery.
Margaret, known as Pelagius, was a beautiful, wealthy, and noble virgin. Her parents guarded her so carefully and raised her with such excellent character and purity that she refused to be seen by men at all. Eventually, a noble young man asked for her hand in marriage. With her parents' consent, they prepared everything for the wedding with immense displays of wealth and luxury. When the wedding day arrived and the young men and women, along with all the nobility, were celebrating the festivities with joy before the bridal chamber already prepared, the virgin—inspired by God—considered how the loss of her virginity was being compared to such ruinous applause. Prostrate on the ground, she weighed the glory of her virginity against the burdens of marriage with such inner resolve that she rejected all the joys of this life as if they were refuse. Therefore, she avoided her husband's company that night, commended herself to God at midnight, cut her hair, and fled secretly in men's clothing. Traveling far away to a monastery, she called herself Brother Pelagius, was received by the abbot, and was diligently instructed.
The Trial of False Accusation
Despite her holy service, Margaret is falsely accused of adultery and endures exile with patient thanksgiving.
She conducted herself so holily and religiously that, when the provider for the nuns died, she was appointed to the monastery of virgins by the counsel of the elders and the command of the abbot, even though she was reluctant. While she was providing for them continuously and blamelessly with food for both body and soul, the devil, envious of her, tried to hinder her progress by casting a crime in her path. He led one virgin at the gates into adultery. When her pregnancy could no longer be hidden, such shame and grief overwhelmed all the virgins and monks of both monasteries that Pelagius alone—as their familiar and superior—was condemned by everyone without a trial or examination. She was driven out in disgrace and shut away in a cave in the rocks, where a very harsh monk was assigned to provide her with nothing but barley bread and water. Once this was done, the monks left and Pelagius was left there alone. But he endured everything patiently and was never troubled; instead, he always gave thanks to God and kept himself strong by reflecting on the examples of the saints.
The Revelation of Truth
Upon her death, Margaret reveals her true identity, vindicating her innocence and leading the community to repentance.
Finally, when he knew his end was near, he sent a letter to the abbot and the monks saying: "I was born of a noble family and was known in the world as Margaret. To cross the sea of temptations, I took the name Pelagius. I am a man not by any deceitful lie, as I have shown by my actions; I have gained virtue out of crime and have done penance as an innocent person. Now I ask that the holy sisters bury the one whom the men did not know was a woman, and let this be the atonement of the living and the revelation of the dying, so that the women may recognize the virgin whom the slanderers judged to be an adulterer." When the monks and the nuns heard this, they ran to the cave, where Pelagius was recognized by the women as a woman and an intact virgin, and she was buried with honor in the convent of the virgins, with everyone doing penance.
Read the original Latin
Margarita dicta Pelagius virgo pulcherrima, dives et nobilis, tanta fuit parentum sollicitudine custodita et optimis moribus instructa tantaque pudicitiae honestate vigebat, quod ab hominibus videri modis omnibus, renuebat. Denique a quodam adolescente nobili in conjugium quaeritur et utriusque parentis assensu cuncta nuptiis necessaria cum immensa divitiarum et deliciarum gloria praeparantur. Cum ergo nuptiarum dies advenisset et juvenes et puellae et cuncta simul nobilitas ante thalamum jam paratum nuptiarum festa cum gaudio celebrarent, virgo Deo inspirante considerans damnum virginitatis tam damnosis plausibus comparari, prostrata in terram cum lacrymis gloriam virginitatis et nuptiarum molestias tanta in corde suo compensatione libravit, quod omnia hujus vitae gaudia quasi stercora respuebat. Unde nocte illa a viri consortio abstinens, media nocte Deo se recommendans tonsis crinibus in virili habitu clam aufugit. Longe autem ad quoddam monasterium veniens et fratrem Pelagium se appellans ab abbate receptus est et diligenter instructus. Qui tam sancte ac religiose se habuit, quod defuncto sanctimonialium provisore de seniorum consilio et abbatis imperio licet invitus monasterio virginum est praelatus. Dum ergo iis non solum corporum, sed etiam animarum pabula continue et inculpabiliter ministraret, dyabolus ei invidens studuit, qualiter prosperum ejus cursum objectu criminis impediret. Nam unam virginem, quae prae foribus erat, in adulterium traxit et tumescente utero cum jam celari non posset, tantus pudor et dolor omnes virgines et monachos ntriusque monasterii consternavit, quod solus Pelagius utpote earum familiaris atque praepositus sine judicio et examinatione ab omnibus condemnaretur, qui foras cum ignominia pellitur et in quodam rupis specu recluditur, sibique monachopum severissimus deputatur, qui sibi panem hordeaceum et aquam tenuissime ministraret.
Quibus gestis monachi recesserunt et solum ibi Pelagium reliquerunt. At ille omnia patienter sustinens in nullo turbatus fuit, sed gratias semper Deo referens per sanctorum exempla se continue confortabat. Tandem cum finem suum adesse cognovisset, abbati et monachis per litteras sic mandavit: nobili orta genere Margarita in saeculo dicta fui, quae, ut pelagus tentationum transirem, Pelagius mihi nomen imposui; vir sum non pro deceptione mentita, quod factis ostendi; de crimine virtutem obtinui, poenitentiam egi innocens, et jam quaeso, ut, quam viri feminam nescierunt, sanctae sorores sepeliant et sit expiatio viventis, ostensio morientis, ut feminae virginem recognoscant, quam calumniatores adulterum judicabant. , His auditis monachis et sanctimonialibus ad speluncam currentibus Pelagius a feminis femina, virgo intacta cognoscitur et cunctis poenitentiam agentibus in: monasterio virginum honorifice sepelitur).
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