SAINT PELAGIA THE VIRGIN

Just as we strive to preserve the memory of recent or contemporary saints by collecting information and compiling biographies, St. John Chrysostom devoted a series of his sermons to the saints of the Church of Antioch, some of whom he knew personally. One of the righteous women revered by John was the holy martyr Pelagia of Antioch. Her memory is celebrated by the Church on October 21, or October 8 according to the old calendar.

1 The name “Pelagia” literally means ‘sea’ in Greek. Similar to the Latin female name “Marina,” it was one of the names or attributes of the pagan goddess Aphrodite and in ancient times usually indicated the pagan origin of its bearers, being widespread in the Roman world. Saint Pelagia of Antioch should be distinguished from two other saints with the same name: Pelagia of Tarsus, also a virgin martyr, who was locked alive in a red-hot copper bull for refusing to marry a member of the imperial family; and Pelagia of Jerusalem, a former actress and courtesan who converted to Christianity and, like Mary of Egypt later, performed incredible ascetic penance. Since all these saints lived at about the same time in a region whose ecclesiastical capital was Antioch, they were often mistakenly identified with one another. Of the three saints named Pelagia listed above, Pelagia the Virgin was the youngest, lived earlier than the others, and was a citizen of Antioch.

2 During the reign of the Roman emperor Numerian (283–284), when Pelagia was only fifteen years old, she was captured by a detachment of Roman soldiers with the intention of raping her. This happened due to the negligence of her very wealthy parents, or perhaps even because of their denunciation, if, based on her name in honor of a pagan goddess, we assume that they were convinced pagan fanatics. Being a virgin consecrated to God, Pelagia escaped from the hands of the rapists, but died after falling from a height, apparently misjudging her strength and losing her balance. The Church considered her death not just an accident, but martyrdom for her faith. In the Bible, paganism is seen not as a dogmatic violation, but as fornication, and the Early Church considered those who committed it to be apostates from the faith.

3 In addition to Chrysostom, Pelagia is mentioned by Ambrose of Milan, Father of the Church, and Eusebius of Caesarea, church historian. Being an unsurpassed master of words and a great sovereign hermeneutist, St. John Chrysostom gave the story of St. Pelagia an incredible heroic dimension. Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar called his film “The Skin I Live In.” “When the mistress of the house wanted to seduce the biblical Joseph, he left his clothes, which this barbaric woman grabbed with her depraved hands, and went out naked. In turn, this martyr did not allow those depraved hands to even touch her body. With her soul naked, she ascended to heaven, but left her flesh to her enemies, turning it into the greatest accusation. From that moment on, they simply did not know what to do with her remains,” Chrysostom proclaimed about Pelagia. The life of the saint helps us understand the power of conviction and the inexhaustible determination with which holy Christian women sought to preserve their virginity consecrated to God. In the Orthodox understanding, the body is not just skin, but a sacrament of uniqueness and a place of inviolability.