Saint Pelagia of Antioch

There are two completely different stories about Pelagia, and there may well have been two women. The first is that of the virgin and martyr of Antioch, remembered by John Chrysostom and by Ambrose: a fifteen-year-old girl who, when the soldiers came to take her, threw herself from the roof of her house so as not to fall into their hands. Ambrose speaks of her with great respect, and it was a delicate case to handle, because the Church condemned suicide. The second is that of Pelagia the Penitent: an actress and courtesan of Antioch, very rich and famous, who according to the story converted after happening to hear a sermon by Bishop Nonnus. She gave everything away to the poor, left for Jerusalem and lived the rest of her life as a hermit on the Mount of Olives, disguised as a man, under the name Pelagius: only at her death was it discovered that she was a woman. This second story is very similar to that of Saint Thaïs, and it could be a variant of the same tale — it’s a kind of narrative that recurs often in the monastic literature of the East. The name Pelagia was common in those regions, and there are at least two other saints of the same name, in Tarsus and in Nicopolis. If your name is Pelagia, today is your name day.