Venerable Pelagia of Antioch in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church (1 of 2)

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. Venerable Pelagia lived during the reign of Emperor Numerian and was from the city of Antioch. She lived among the orchestras and theaters of the time and was a prostitute, gathering a great deal of money from this wicked occupation. But when she was catechized in the Christian faith by Bishop Nonnus, who was a holy man, and earnestly repented, she was baptized and cast aside everything connected with her former sinful life as rubbish. Then she put on garments made of hair and, presenting herself as a man, secretly went to the Mount of Olives, where she enclosed herself in a cell, living out the rest of her life there in a manner pleasing to God. In this cell she reposed in the Lord.

2. Venerable Pelagia belongs to that company of people about whom the Lord, addressing the Pharisees, had said: “The tax collectors and the prostitutes go before you into the Kingdom of Heaven.” These are people who, although they do not have a good name socially, unlike the Pharisees, for example, who were considered the best Jews and therefore the closest to God, are distinguished by their good disposition and good intention, and who, for this reason, as soon as the call comes from God, immediately respond and follow God. The Lord spoke the Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee, as well as the Parable of the Prodigal Son, concerning such people, in order to show that what ultimately counts before God is awareness of one’s sinfulness, the “God, be propitious to me, the sinner,” and not an image of a person’s self-justification, perhaps because of some of his good deeds, which brings nothing upon him from God except condemnation.

Venerable Pelagia of Antioch in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church (2 of 2)

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

“She who was once ensnared by the serpent was revealed as a snare for him, restraining his dominion and trampling upon his cunning, by the power of God” (Ode 6).

The first part of the life of the Venerable Pelagia is well known: she lived in licentiousness, steeped in sins. And this was because of her ignorance of the true God, which causes a person to walk as one blind, making choices in which the only one who rejoices is the wicked devil. Just as the Apostle Paul says as early as the first chapter of his Letter to the Romans (1:24ff.): “God gave them up” (those who are ignorant of God) “to their vile desires and allowed them to dishonor their own bodies. For they exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and they revered and worshiped creation instead of the Creator.” “She was ensnared by the devil,” the Hymnographer of her service also observes.

But what happened? Because there was ignorance and she was a well-intentioned person, God therefore brought her into an encounter with Saint Nonnus, the Bishop of Antioch where Pelagia also lived. He catechized her in the Orthodox faith, and she was converted and earnestly repented, with the result that she was baptized in the name of the Lord and began a way of life that even the greatest ascetics, and even the Holy Angels, would have envied! A new Venerable Mary of Egypt! Now enclosed, wearing rough garments like Saint John the Forerunner, she remained until the end of her life on the Mount of Olives, in a cave, truly attaining great heights of holiness.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: October 8

The Month of October

Day 8

39. To Orthodox Women on How Christian Women Should Regard Their Female Friends Who Love to Dress Elegantly

(From the Life of the Venerable Pelagia)

Toward your female friends who are accustomed to dressing richly and elegantly, you, Christian women, for the most part do not conduct yourselves as you should. Usually, you look upon them either with condemnation or with envy. And, of course, neither the one nor the other can be praised, for both are sins before God, and both deprive those among you who envy and condemn of peace of soul. You must therefore look upon your elegantly dressed friends differently. You must look upon them not with condemnation and envy, but with such a disposition of soul that you may not only remain free from sin, but also learn good lessons for yourselves from women who adorn themselves elegantly and, through this, benefit your souls. “How can this be?” you will surely say. What lessons can we learn from women who dress themselves up? How can we derive benefit for our souls through them? Listen, Christian women; we hope that, by the example we intend to present below, we shall give you convincing answers to your questions.

October: Day 8: Teaching 2: Venerable Pelagia of Antioch

 

October: Day 8: Teaching 2:
Venerable Pelagia of Antioch
 
(The Last Judgment)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. On the feast day of Saint Pelagia, celebrated today in Church hymns and readings, who was once a great sinner then sincerely repented and died a righteous woman, thanks to the fact that she once listened to the teaching of the Holy Bishop Nonnus about the future judgment, it is most fitting to offer to your attention, my beloved listeners, a sermon by Saint Ephraim the Syrian on the Last Judgment. Perhaps, with the help of God's grace, it will awaken holy feelings in some listeners and at least somewhat shake off our carelessness about the salvation of our souls.

II. "My Christ-loving brethren!" thus begins our Venerable and God-bearing Father Ephraim the Syrian, this great teacher of repentance and tears for our sins before God and men, his wondrous depiction of the Dread Judgment. “Listen to the second and dreadful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I remembered,” he says of himself, “this hour and trembled with great fear, pondering what will then be revealed. Who can describe it? What language can express it? Then the King of kings, rising from His throne of glory, will descend to visit all the inhabitants of the universe and settle accounts with them. When I reflect on this, my limbs are seized with fear, my whole being is overwhelmed, my eyes shed tears, my voice weakens, my lips close, my tongue becomes mute, and my thoughts are taught to be silent. Such great and terrible wonders have not been seen since the beginning of creation, nor shall they be in all generations!

Saint Pelagia of Antioch Resource Page

St. Pelagia the Former Courtesan (Feast Day - October 8)

Verses

Being washed of disgrace and abandoning the foolish,
You have attained refuge in Heaven, Pelagia.
On the eighth Pelagia fled a life in a sea of troubles. 

 

Synaxarion of Venerable Pelagia, Who Was Formerly A Courtesan

 

The Life of Saint Pelagia of Antioch, the Nun Who Was Once a Courtesan

  

Saint Pelagia of Antioch: A Repentant Courtesan

 

October: Day 8: Teaching 1: Venerable Pelagia of Antioch 

 

October: Day 8: Teaching 2: Venerable Pelagia of Antioch 

 

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: October 8 

 

Venerable Pelagia of Antioch in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church (1 of 2) 

 

Venerable Pelagia of Antioch in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church (2 of 2)

 

On the Repentance of the Anonymous Harlot of Antioch (St. John Chrysostom) 

 

The Tomb of Saint Pelagia of Antioch on the Mount of Olives

 

Saint Pelagia the Harlot, A Living Embodiment of the Goddess Aphrodite

 

Three Holy Responses to Sexual Immorality: Pelagia the Virgin, Pelagia the Courtesan and Thais the Harlot

 

Saint Nonnus, Bishop of Heliopolis (+ 471)  

 

The Tomb of Saint Pelagia of Antioch on the Mount of Olives

Near to the Chapel of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, there is a singular tomb that the three local religions curiously attribute to three different women. For the Jews, it is the prophetess Huldah, mentioned in the Old Testament in the time of King Josiah. For the Muslims, it is the tomb of Rabi'a al Adawiyya, one of the earliest Sufi mystics of the 7th century who was the first to set forth the doctrine of divine love. According to Christian tradition, however, which is the oldest of the traditions and the only one directly connecting the person to the Mount of Olives, here is buried Pelagia, a former prostitute and actress and dancer from Antioch, who converted to Christianity by the Bishop of Edessa, then secretly went to Jerusalem dressed in men's clothing, to live as an ascetic monk on the Mount of Olives until her death, when her true identity was discovered. It has been said that the tension of polemical dispute regarding the identity of the holy woman made it possible for three religions to share the site. In addition, a shared ritual of repentance and belief in the holiness of the tomb appealed to people of all religious identities.

Synaxarion of Venerable Pelagia, Who Was Formerly A Courtesan

On the 8th day of this month, we commemorate our 

Venerable Mother Pelagia, Who Was Formerly A Courtesan

Verses

Being washed of disgrace and abandoning the foolish,
You have attained refuge in Heaven, Pelagia.
On the eighth Pelagia fled a life in a sea of troubles.

She was from the city of Antioch, who devoted and occupied herself with dances and the theaters, and was a public prostitute of that city. By such a diabolical and shameful occupation she gathered immeasurable wealth. At one point she was catechized by Bishop Nonnus,* who was a holy man, and she fervently repented for her former wicked actions, and was baptized. Immediately she turned away from all the good and delightful things of this world, and considered them to be as dung. Having dressed herself in a garment made of hair, which was made from goat's hair, she transformed herself by taking on the form of a man, and went to the Mount of Olives, without anyone knowing. There the renowned one shut herself within a cell, and spent the rest of her life in asceticism and pleasing God. The blessed one then reposed in peace.

 

* Commemorated on November 10.

 

October: Day 8: Teaching 1: Venerable Pelagia of Antioch

October: Day 8: Teaching 1:
Venerable Pelagia of Antioch
 
(The Benefit of Reflecting on the Future Judgment)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Venerable Pelagia, whose memory is celebrated today, was at first a famous dancer in Antioch and led a life full of lawlessness. She was brought to repentance and the Christian faith by the Holy Bishop Nonnus, who converted 30,000 Arabs to Christ. One day, when the Holy bishop was teaching the people in the temple, speaking about the terrible judgment and retribution, it happened that Pelagia entered the temple. The teaching had such an effect on her that she was struck with the fear of God and could not hold back her tears. She came to Saint Nonnus, fell at his feet and tearfully asked to be baptized, calling herself a sea of sins and an abyss of impiety. Bishop Nonnus, seeing the complete repentance of the sinner, baptized her. Two days after the baptism, the devil appeared to Saint Pelagia at night and woke her up, saying: “Was it not I who enriched you so? How have you been offended by me? I beg you, do not make me the laughing stock of Christians.” But the Saint made a prayer with the sign of the cross, and the devil disappeared and did not appear again. Then Saint Pelagia gave all her property to Saint Nonnus for complete control. He ordered that the property be distributed to the poor, saying at the same time: “Let what was collected by evil be squandered wisely.” Saint Pelagia dressed in the hair shirt and cassock of Saint Nonnus, withdrew to Jerusalem and with the male name Pelagius lived in seclusion. Here she died in 457.