Venerable Pelagia the Penitent (†457) — October 8 / October 21 (Julian Calendar)

On this day, October 8 according to the Julian Calendar (October 21 civil calendar), the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates Venerable Pelagia the Penitent.

Venerable Pelagia was converted to Christianity by Bishop Nonnus of Edessa (commemorated on Cheesefare Saturday). Before her baptism she led a troupe of dancers in Antioch of Syria, was very wealthy, and lived a dissolute life.

One day Pelagia, richly dressed and accompanied by a company of young men and women, passed by a church at whose doors Bishop Nonnus was seated, teaching the people. The faithful averted their eyes from the woman known throughout the city as a harlot, but Nonnus gazed at her for a long time. The saint then pointed out to those gathered how diligently this woman cared for her appearance and the adornment of her body, and added with sorrow that we Christians strive far less to wash our souls with tears of repentance and adorn them with virtues.

Nonnus perceived the height of Pelagia’s soul and afterward prayed long in his cell for her deliverance from perdition.

The next day, as the bishop preached from the ambo about the dread Judgment and the eternal recompense of the souls of sinners and the righteous, Pelagia entered the church. Nonnus’s words filled her with the blessed fear of God; broken-hearted and in tears she approached him and asked for holy baptism. Convinced of her sincere repentance, the bishop baptized Pelagia and spoke with her about the temptations and struggles that await every person on the path to holiness.

That night a demon appeared to Pelagia and tried to persuade her to return to her former life, but the saint prayed and made the sign of the Cross, and the demon vanished. The blessed woman gathered all her wealth and brought it to the bishop, who advised her to distribute the treasure to the poor: “Let what was wrongly gained be spent wisely.” After this Pelagia went to Jerusalem and settled on the Mount of Olives. There the saint struggled in seclusion under the name of the monk Pelagius, and she departed in peace around the year 457.