 |
 |
|
 |
On
fasting
|
 |
 |
 |
|
Venerable Pelagia 10/21/2013
Saint Pelagia was a repentant harlot. She was born as a pagan in Antioch. God granted her a great gift of physical beauty, which she employed to the perdition of her soul and the souls of others. Her sinful ways and unchaste pleasures made her a great fortune. One day, as she was passing by the Church of the Holy Martyr Justinian, at the time when the Bishop Nonnus was preaching, she heard his words for the last Judgement and the everlasting punishment of sinners. These words distressed her so greatly that she suddenly changed, finding herself repulsive. She became frightened of God, repented for her sins and fell down to her knees begging Saint Nonnus to baptize her. "Have mercy on me, the sinful woman, and baptize me and teach me to repent; I am a sea of transgressions, an abyss of perdition, a net and instrument of the devil." With these words the repentant in tears begged the hierarch of Christ. And he baptized her. At her Baptism, Romana, the deaconess of the church, was her godmother and afterwards as her spiritual mother, she strengthened Pelagius faith. But, Pelagia could not stop at Baptism. Under the burden of her countless sins and pangs of conscience, she decided to live in ascesis. Her wealth made in sin, she distributed to the poor, and in secret headed to Jerusalem, where, under a male name, as a monk Pelagius, she withdrew in a cell on the Mount of Olives and began a severe ascetic struggle in fasting, prayer and vigilance. After three years, Jacob, the deacon of Saint Nonnus, visited her and she was still alive, but when he visited her again in a few days, he found her dead body and buried it honourably. Saint Pelagia fell asleep in the Lord around 461. Thus, this former sinful woman with repentance and zeal found mercy in God and, her sins having been forgiven, became a holy woman. Her purified and holy soul was found worthy of the Heavenly Kingdom.
