Margito

Venerable Margito, called Pelagia after her baptism, was an actress, mime and dancer famed in Antioch, in the time of Saint John Chrysostom. The Orthodox Church commemorates her on 8 October, under the name of Venerable Pelagia.

She was a very beautiful mime, known throughout the Empire. The name Margito was not her true name but her stage name, gained from the many pearl ornaments she wore, gifts from admirers. John Chrysostom reports that Bishop Nonnus succeeded in bringing her to Christianity and baptizing her with the name Pelagia, which was her real name.

Because of the many temptations she met, Margito left the theatre and shut herself in a men's monastery in Jerusalem, passing as a man under the name Pelagius. After three years she died, and only after her death was it discovered that she was a woman.

The Church numbered her among the saints, as Saint Pelagia.