Pelagia the Penitent

The venerable Pelagia, the Penitent of Antioch, was a woman who passed from a worldly life to repentance and lived as a hermit on the Mount of Olives, in the fifth century. She is commemorated on 8 October by the old calendar, that is, 21 October by the new.

Her former life

Pelagia was born in Antioch of Syria and was of unusual beauty. Before believing in Christ she led a light and worldly life, as a dancer and actress, and was called Margarita, that is, “Pearl”. Her life was written by the deacon James of Heliopolis, who says he was a witness of the events.

Repentance

Once the bishops of Syria gathered at a council in Antioch. Among them was Nonnus, bishop of Heliopolis, whom the others asked, as the eldest, to preach. When they came out of the church, Margarita passed by them, in procession, in proud and unrestrained dress. The bishops turned their eyes away, but Nonnus looked at her and said, rebuking his brothers and himself, that she took more care of her body than they of their souls. In the evening he prayed to God for her salvation. The following Sunday Margarita came to the service, and Nonnus’s sermon on hell and the goodness of paradise moved her to repentance. She sought out Nonnus, wrote to him that she was a sinner and asked for the mercy of God, who came into the world not for the righteous but to save sinners. Nonnus answered that God knew her and would receive her. She confessed her sins and was baptized, with her birth name, Pelagia, with the deaconess Romana as her godmother. The devil came to complain, but was driven off by the sign of the Holy Cross. On the third day Pelagia gave all her property to Nonnus, who distributed it to the widows, orphans and poor of the city, and she freed her slaves.

Her hermit life

One night she left in secret, dressed in Nonnus’s clothes, for Jerusalem, and shut herself in a cell on the Mount of Olives, in the guise of a eunuch monk, with the name Pelagius. She lived there some years, in fasting, prayer and vigil, and passed away around the year 457, her body no longer recognizable because of the severity of her asceticism. At the burial it was found that the renowned hermit was a woman. The fathers tried to keep it secret, but the news spread, and her relics drew pilgrims from Jericho and the Jordan valley. According to tradition she was buried in her cell.