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St Athanasius the Great of Alexandria
St Athanasius the Great of Alexandria

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Holy Martyr Pelagia     10/21/2013

A virgin of a noble birth, from Antioch. In the reign of the Emperor Numerian, the Governor of Antioch sent soldiers to bring Pelagia before the tribunal, for she was a renowned Christian. The soldiers surrounded her house and called the holy virgin to come out of the door. She came out and when she heard that they had come to take her to the tribunal, she put on a smiling face, and asked them to wait for her a minute or two to prepare herself. Then she made her way to the top of the house, raised her hands to heaven and prayed to God to take her soul and not to allow her virginity to be defiled. And God accepted her soul, while her body fell dead in front of the soldiers. "Her death", Saint John Chrysostom would write, "came to pass not as a natural fall, but at Lord's command", and continues:" Thus, this chaste and from every gold purer body, lied on the ground, surrounded by angels, honoured by Archangels in the presence of Christ Himself".