We must always give great thanks to our Lord because He does not desire the death of sinners, but longsufferingly awaits their conversion to a righteous life. A wondrous event - writes the deacon of the Iliopol 1 church Jacob - happened in our days; Therefore, I am passing it on to you, holy brethren, so that by reading with attention you will receive great benefit.

His Holiness Archbishop II of Antioch summoned eight bishops from the surrounding towns for church needs.

Among them was a saint god man, my Bishop Nonn, a marvelous husband, formerly the most strict monk of the Tavenna 3 monastery. For his virtuous life he was taken from the monastery and made a bishop 4 . Nonn came from Iliopol, taking me with him. When the bishops gathered at the church of the holy martyr Julian 5, they desired to hear from Nonnas teaching, and they all sat down at the doors of the church. Nonn immediately began to lecture orally for the benefit and salvation of those who listened. All reverently listened to his holy teaching. At that time, one pagan woman, a harlot known throughout Antioch, walked past the church doors with great pride, dressed in costly clothes, adorned with gold, expensive stones and pearls, surrounded by many maidens and young men in beautiful clothes, with golden necklaces. She was so beautiful in face that the contemplation of her beauty could not get enough of secular youths. Passing by us, she filled the whole air with fragrant incense. Seeing her walking so shamelessly, with her head uncovered and her shoulders bare, the bishops closed their eyes and, sighing softly, turned away, as if from a great sin. And the blessed Nonn gazed at her intently and for a long time, until she disappeared from his eyes, and then, turning to the bishops, he said: “Didn’t you like the beauty of that woman?”

They didn't answer. Nonn bowed his head with weeping and wetted with his tears not only the handkerchief that was in his hands, but also his chest. Sighing from the depths of his heart, he again asked the bishops: “Did you not delight in the sight of her beauty?”

They were silent. Nonn said: “Truly, I learned a lot from her; for the Lord will place this woman at His terrible judgment, and by her will condemn us. How much time do you think she spent in her bedchamber, washing, dressing, decorating herself in various ways and looking around in the mirror, believing all her thought and care to appear most beautifully in the eyes of her temporary admirers? But we, having the Immortal Bridegroom in heaven, whom the angels desire to look at, do not care about decorating our accursed soul, defiled, naked and full of shame, do not try to wash it with tears of repentance and clothe it with the beauty of virtues, so that it appears pleasing in the eyes of God and does not was put to shame and rejected in the marriage of the Lamb.” 6

Having finished such moralizing, blessed Nonn took me, his sinful deacon, and we went to the cell, which was given to us at the same church of St. Julian. Entering his bedchamber, my bishop fell face down on the ground and, weeping, said: “Lord Jesus Christ! forgive me sinful and unworthy. The cares of this woman about decorating the body surpassed all my cares about my wretched soul. That woman, in order to please her perishable worshipers, decorating herself, showed so much effort: but I do not try to be pleasing to You, my God, but I am in laziness and negligence. With what face shall I look upon you? By what words shall I be justified before Thee? Woe to me, a sinner! Standing before Your holy altar, I do not offer You that spiritual beauty that You seek from me. That woman, in her vanity, promised to please mortal people, appearing to them in such a magnificent form, and does what she promised: but I promised to please You, my God, and lied because of my laziness. I am naked, for I have not kept thy commandments; I do not hope in my works, but in Your mercy, and from him I hope to receive salvation.

For so long St. Nonnus cried out with sobs. He also prayed for that woman, saying: “Lord, do not destroy the creation of Your hands: may such beauty not remain in depravity, in the power of demons, but turn her to You, may Your holy name be glorified in her: for everything is possible for You.”

After that day and night, after Matins (it was a Sunday), Saint Nonn said to me: “Brother James, listen to what a dream I had that night. It seemed to me that I was standing in one of the corners of the holy altar. And behold, during the performance of the service, a kind of black dove appeared, covered with impurity and filling the air with stench; she flew around me, and I could not bear her stench. When the deacon said, "Come out of the liturgy," the dove flew away, and I did not see it until the liturgy was over. After the celebration of the Liturgy, when we left the church, I suddenly saw again the same unclean dove, which again flew around me. Stretching out my hand, I took it and threw it into the water standing in the porch of the church; in it, that dove was washed from all its impurity, flew out clean and white as snow, and, rising in height, became invisible.

Having told me this dream, blessed Nonn, taking me with him, went with the other bishops to the cathedral church, where, having brought greetings to the archbishop, they performed the Divine service. At the end of the holy service, the Archbishop of Antioch proposed to the blessed Nonnus that he should teach the people. Nonn opened his mouth and taught people by the power of the wisdom of God that dwelt in him. His words were not distinguished by the exquisite wisdom of this world, but were simple, intelligible to all and effective: for the Holy Spirit spoke through his mouth. He spoke of the Last Judgment and the future retribution of the righteous and the sinners. All those present were so touched by his words that they watered the earth with tears.

By the care of the merciful God, this harlot, whom we are talking about and who had never been to church before and did not remember her sins, happened to go into the church at that very time. Hearing the teaching of Saint Nonnus, she fell into the fear of God; thinking about her sins and hearing the teaching of St. Nonnus about eternal torment for them, she began to despair, shed streams of tears from her eyes and, in contrition of heart, could not stop her weeping. Then she said to her two servants: “Wait here, and when that holy man who spoke the lesson comes out, follow him, find out where he lives, and when you return, tell me.”

The servants carried out the order and told their mistress that the saint was living at the church of the holy martyr Julian. Then she immediately wrote with her own hand the following message to the blessed Non: “To the holy disciple of Christ, a sinner and a disciple of the devil. I heard about your God that He bowed the heavens and descended to earth not for the righteous, but for the salvation of sinners. He humbled himself to the point that he ate food with publicans 7 . He whom the cherubim dare not look at, had fellowship with sinners and conversed with harlots (Luke 7:37-50; John 8:3-11, etc.).

My lord! If, as I hear from Christians, you are a true servant of Christ, then you will not reject me, who, with your help, wants to come to the Savior of the world and see His most holy Face.

Having read this epistle, Saint Nonnus wrote in response to her thus: “Whatever you may be, but God knows both you and your intention. Therefore, I ask you: do not tempt me unworthy: I am a sinful servant of God. But if you really have a good desire to believe in my God and see me, then other bishops are here with me; so come and see me with them. You shouldn't see me alone."

Having received and read this, the sinner was filled with great joy, hurried to the church of St. Julian and let the blessed Nonnus know about her arrival. He, having gathered seven other bishops to himself, ordered her to enter. Appearing before the Cathedral of the Holy Bishops, she fell to the ground with weeping and fell at the feet of Saint Nonn, exclaiming: “I beg you, my lord, be an imitator of your teacher, the Lord Jesus Christ, show me your grace and make me a Christian: I am a sea of ​​sins, my lord, and the abyss of iniquities; wash me with baptism.”

All the assembled bishops and clerics, seeing the harlot who came with such repentance and faith, shed tears. The blessed one could hardly make her rise from his feet.

“The rules of the church,” he said, “command not to baptize a harlot without guarantors, for fear that she would not return again to the same prodigal life.”

Hearing this answer, she again threw herself at the feet of the saint, washed them with her tears and wiped her head with her hair, as the evangelical sinner once washed the feet of Christ (Luke 7:37-38).

“You will give an answer to God about my soul if you do not baptize me,” she said. - From your hands, then God will seek my soul, and after you he will write down my evil deeds. If you reject me not baptized, then you will be the fault of the continuation of my prodigal and impure life. If you do not deliver me now from my evil deeds, then I will turn away from your God and worship idols. If you do not now make me the bride of Christ and bring me to your God, then you will not have a share with Him and His saints.

All those present, hearing this and seeing how such a harlot was so inflamed with aspiration for God, glorified the Lover of God. Blessed Nonn immediately sent me, the humble Jacob, to the archbishop to tell him about this. The archbishop, hearing about what had happened, was very glad and said to me: “Go, tell your bishop: honest father, this deed awaited you, for I know you well that you are the mouth of God, according to His word:“ if you extract the precious from the worthless, you will be like my mouth"(Jer. 15:19).

And, having called Mrs. Romana, who was the first deaconess of the Church, 8 he sent her with me.

When we arrived, we found Pelagia still lying on the ground, at the feet of the blessed Nonnus, who could hardly make her get up, saying: “Rise, daughter, to make your voice known before baptism.”

She got up, and the bishop said to her:

“Confess your sins first.

She answered with tears:

“If I begin to test my conscience, I will not find a single good deed in myself; I only know that my sins are more numerous than the sand of the sea, and there is no water in the sea to wash away my wicked deeds. But I hope in your God that He will lighten the burden of my iniquities and mercifully look upon me.

The bishop asked her:

- What is your name?

She replied:

“My parents called me Pelagia, while the citizens of Antioch renamed me Margarita 9 for the sake of those beautiful and valuable attire with which my sins adorned me.

Then the bishop read it out, baptized it in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, anointed it with myrrh and partook of the Most Pure and Life-Giving Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins. The spiritual mother of Pelagia was the deaconess Romana; having accepted her from the baptismal font, she led her out of the church into the chamber of the catechumens, since we were there too. Blessed Nonnus said to the other bishops: “Let us eat, brethren, and rejoice with the angels of God that we have found the lost sheep: let us eat food with oil and wine for the sake of spiritual consolation.”

When everyone came and began to eat together with the newly baptized, the demon began to cry out loud. Sobbing in a human voice, he said:

Woe, woe, that I suffer from this talkative wine-drinker! Oh, evil old man! Was not thirty thousand Saracens enough for you, whom you baptized, having stolen them from me? Was not Iliopolis enough for you, which you took away from me and brought to your God - and he was once mine, and all those who lived in it bowed to me! 10 And now you have taken away my last hope. What am I to do, stubborn old man, deceiver? I can't stand your tricks. Cursed be the day you were born, you wicked old man! Streams of your tears have shed on my dwelling and made it empty 11 .

So, weeping, the devil cried out before the doors of the chamber where we were, and all who were there heard his voice. And again, turning to the newly baptized, the demon said:

“What are you doing to me, Lady Pelagia? You imitate Judas. He, honored with apostolic glory and honor, betrayed his Lord, and you did the same with me.

Then the bishop ordered the servant of God Pelagia to protect herself with the sign of the cross. She made the sign of the cross of Christ on her face and said to the devil:

“May Jesus Christ drive you away, delivering me from you!”

When she said this, the devil immediately disappeared.

Two days later, when Pelagia was sleeping with Lady Romana, her spiritual mother, the devil appeared to her, woke her up and began to say to her:

- My dear mistress, Margarita, what harm have I done to you? Have I enriched you with gold and silver? Have I not adorned you with precious stones, ornaments and garments? I beg you, tell me: what sorrow have I caused you? Whatever you tell me, I will do everything immediately, just don’t leave me and don’t make a laughing stock of me.

Protecting herself with the sign of the cross, Pelagia answered:

- My Lord Jesus Christ, who delivered me from your teeth and made me the bride of His heavenly chamber, may he drive you away from me.

And immediately the devil disappeared.

Waking Saint Romana immediately, Pelagia said to her:

- Pray for me, my mother: the evil one is persecuting me.

Romana replied:

- My daughter, do not be afraid of him, for now he is afraid and trembles even of your shadow.

On the third day after her baptism, Pelagia called one of her servants and said to him: “Go to my house, copy everything that is in my gold guards, and all my clothes, and bring everything here.”

The servant went and did as he was ordered. Then the blessed Pelagia, calling on the holy Bishop Nonnus, gave everything into his hands, saying: “Here are the riches with which Satan has enriched me; I give it into your holy hands: do with them what you will, but I must seek the treasures of my Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed Bishop Nonn, having called the steward of the church, gave him, in the presence of everyone, the treasures transferred to him by Pelagia and said to him: “I conjure you in the name of the Holy and Inseparable Trinity not to bring anything from this gold either into the episcopal house, or into the church of God, or into your own house, nor in the house of any of the clergy: but distribute all this with your own hands to the orphans, the poor and the weak, so that what is collected by evil is spent on good, and the wealth of sin becomes the wealth of truth. If you break this oath, let your house be anathema, and your fate is with those who exclaimed: “ take it, take it, crucify it» 12 (Luke 23:21).

The servant of God Pelagia left nothing of her property even to feed herself, but ate at the expense of Romana the deaconess: for she swore not to use anything from the wealth of sin. Calling all her servants and maids, she set them free, giving everyone enough silver and gold.

“I free you from temporary slavery,” she told them, “but try to free yourself from slavery to a vain world full of sins, so that we, who lived in this world together, may be able to stay together and in a blessed life.”

Having said this, Pelagia dismissed her servants.

On the eighth day, when it was necessary for her, according to the custom of the newly baptized, to take off the white clothes received at baptism (it was Sunday), Pelagia, getting up very early, took off the white clothes in which she was dressed at baptism and put on a hair shirt. Taking the shabby clothes of the blessed Nonnus, she secretly withdrew from Antioch from everyone, and from that time no one knew where she was. Deaconess Romana mourned and wept for her. But the omniscient God revealed to the blessed Nonnus that Pelagia had gone to Jerusalem, and comforted Nonnus Romana, saying: “Do not cry, my daughter, but rejoice: Pelagia, like Mary, who “choose a good part that will not be taken away from her” (Lk. 10:42).

A few days later, we were released by the archbishop and returned to Iliopol. Three years later I had a desire to go to Jerusalem - to bow to the holy resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ 13, and I asked my bishop, blessed Nonna, to let me go. As he let me go, he said, “Brother Jacob! When you come to the holy places, look for a certain monk there, whose name is Pelagius: he is a eunuch 14, very virtuous and lives for several years in seclusion. Having found him, talk with him, and you will receive great benefit from him, for he is a true servant of Christ and a monk who has reached perfection.

This was said by Nonn about the servant of God, Pelagia, who, near Jerusalem, built herself a cell on the Mount of Olives 15, where our Lord once prayed and, shutting herself there, lived for God. But this Nonn did not reveal to me.

Having gathered, I went to the holy places, bowed to the holy resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and His honest Cross, and the next day I found a monk named Pelagia, as my bishop commanded me; I found his cell in the Mount of Olives. This cell was blocked from everywhere and had no doors; I only saw a small window in the wall, knocked on it, and when it was opened, I saw the servant of God. She recognized me, but did not reveal herself to me. I didn't recognize her. And how could I recognize that one, whose great beauty faded so quickly, as a flower withers? Her eyes were deeply sunken, from much and immeasurable abstinence, the bones and joints of her face were revealed. The whole country of Jerusalem considered her a eunuch, not a single person knew that she was a woman, and I myself did not know that: for my bishop spoke to me about a eunuch - a monk, and I received a blessing from her, as from a monk - a husband. She told me:

“Tell me, brother, aren’t you Jacob, the deacon of the blessed Bishop Nonnus?”

I marveled that she called me by my first name, and recognized in me the deacon of the blessed Nonna, and answered:

- Yes, my lord.

She told me:

- Tell your bishop to pray for me, for he is truly a holy man and an Apostle of Christ.

“And you, my brother,” she added, “I ask you to pray for me.

Having said this, the blessed one closed the window and began to sing the third hour. I made a prayer and departed; the contemplation of the angelic ascetic and her sweet conversation did me a lot of good.

Returning to Jerusalem, I visited various monasteries, visited the brethren, conversed with holy men, received their blessings, and received much benefit for my soul. Good fame about the eunuch Pelagia swept through all the monasteries, and the example of his life was to everyone's benefit. For this reason, I wished to go to him again and console myself with his soulful conversation. Arriving at his cell, I knocked on the window with a prayer, and dared to call him by his name, saying: “Open, Father Pelagia!”

But he did not answer me anything.

I thought that he was praying or resting, and after waiting a little, I knocked again, asking him to open it, but there was no answer; again I waited for a while, and knocked again. I spent three days like this, sitting at the window, and knocked at certain intervals, having a strong desire to see the holy face of Pelagius and receive his blessing: but there was no voice, no obedience. Then I said to myself: “Either he left this cell, and there is no one in it, or he passed away.”

I dared to open the window by force and saw Pelagius lying dead on the ground. I was horrified, and it became very bitter for me that I was not worthy to receive his last blessing. Having closed the window, I went to Jerusalem, and announced to the holy fathers living there that Abba Pelagius, the eunuch, had reposed; and immediately the news spread throughout all Jerusalem that Saint Pelagius, the spirit-bearing monk, had died in the Lord. Monks from all the surrounding monasteries, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and countless people from Jericho and from the other side of the Jordan came together to bury his honest body. Having broken the window of the cell, they made an entrance sufficient for one person; Entering through the hole thus made, the reverent men carried out the honest body. The Patriarch of Jerusalem also came with many other fathers. When, according to the rite, they began to anoint the body with aromas, they saw that the deceased ascetic was by nature a woman.

"Wonderful in holy god, - those who were present then cried out with tears, - glory to Thee: for You have hidden saints on earth, not only husbands, but also wives.

They wanted to hide the secret of Pelagia from the people, but they could not: for God was pleased not to hide, but to declare and glorify His servant. And a great multitude of people gathered; nuns also fled from their monasteries with candles and censers, with psalms and church hymns, and, taking the honest and holy body of Pelagia, they carried it with due honor to the same cell where she labored, and buried there 16.

Such was the life of the former harlot, such is the conversion of the lost sinner, such are her labors and deeds, with which she pleased God. May our Lord Jesus Christ be with her and let us receive mercy on the Day of Judgment! To him be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever. Amen.

Kontakion, tone 2:

Having exhausted your body with fasts, with vigilant prayers of the Creator, you begged for your deeds, as if you had a perfect abandonment: even you found your mother in reality, showing the path of repentance.

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1 Iliopol of Palestine, located in the north of Palestine, in Coele-Syria, in the present Syrian region of Asiatic Turkey, in ancient times was the central point for the entire pagan east, but in the 4th century. became a hotbed of Christianity and had its own bishops; subsequently this city was gradually destroyed.

2 Antioch Syrian - one of the ancient and richest cities of Syria, its capital city; lies at the river. Oronte, 10 versts from its confluence with the Mediterranean Sea, between the mountain ranges of Lebanon and Taurus; founded 300 years before R. Chr. Seleucus Nicator, and is named after Antiochus, his father. For the Christian Church, Antioch is of particular importance, as the second great center of Christianity after Jerusalem, and as the mother of Christian churches from the Gentiles. The famous church of Antioch was originally planted by Sts. App. Paul and Barnabas, and later approved by St. Peter. In Antioch, there were many wonderful councils of the pastors of the church during the heretical (Arian and Nestorian) strife, the Church of Antioch from ancient times enjoyed special advantages, along with the churches of Alexandria, Jerusalem, Constantinople and Rome; its abbots had the title and privileges of the patriarch, which is why in the present place of the life of St. Pelagia should be understood not as an archbishop, but as a patriarch. At present, Antioch is under Turkish rule and is a small and poor town with up to 10 thousand inhabitants.

3 The Tavenna Monastery was the first cenobitic monastery. He was in Tavenna, in Upper (Southern) Egypt, north of his ancient capital - Thebes, on the banks of the Nile; Founded around 340 Ven. Pachomius the Great (his memory, May 15), who was the first to draw up a strict cenobitic monastic charter, which quickly spread in the Christian world. The Tavenna monastery was of such great importance in the history of ancient Christian monasticism, and the success of Pachomius' charter was so great that even before his death, about 7,000 monks gathered in Tavenna and its environs. And later Tavenna, - the name of which belonged at first to one island, on the river. Nile, later moved to the coastal surrounding places of the river, where Ven. Pachomius and his disciples - was famous for its monasteries.

4 Nonnus was previously elected bishop to the see of Edessa, in 448, in place of the deposed Iva; when the Council of Chalcedon in 451 returned the see to Iva of Edessa, Nonnus took the chair in Heliopolis.

5 Here, of course, St. torment. Julian of Tarsus, who suffered at the end of the 3rd century (his memory is celebrated on June 21). In his honor, a church was built in Antioch, where his relics were laid.

6 An expression borrowed from the Apocalyptic mysterious image (Rev. 19:7), under the guise of marriage, the triumph of the Conqueror of Christ and His St. Churches, after the final victory over Satan, the Antichrist and their servants, at the end of time.

7 Publicans were the people appointed by the Romans to collect taxes from the Jews. They used to take charge of the collection of these duties, and used every possible measure in order to extract the greatest advantage for themselves. As greedy and impudent agents of a pagan power, the publicans were considered by the Jews as traitors and traitors to their country and the Lord God. A sinner, a pagan and a publican - they meant the same thing, talking with them was considered a sin, dealing with them - a desecration, although among them there were kind and God-fearing people. But Christ did not disdain them either, for which he was often reproached (Matthew 11:19; Luke 5:30; 7:34; 15:1-2).

8 Deaconess - from the Greek. language: servant. This was the name given to a special kind of officials in the Church, whose establishment dates back to apostolic times (Rom. 16:1; cf. 1 Tim. 5:3-10). Elderly (not younger than 40 years old) virgins or widows were elected to the position of deaconesses. It was their duty to instruct the converting wives and maidens, how they should behave during baptism, to serve the bishop at their baptism and instead of him to anoint other parts of the body, except for the forehead, etc., to observe order and decorum among women during Divine services , visit the sick, the needy, prisoners in prison, serve confessors and martyrs who are in custody, help the poor, etc. Regarding deaconesses, there are several canonical rules, namely: rule 15 of the 4th Ecumenical Council, rule 14 of the 6th, and St. Basil the Great rule 44th.

9 Margarita, translated from Greek, means a pearl.

10 At the beginning of the 5th century, paganism was still quite widespread in Iliopolis, but its influence here was finally undermined by the labors of Saint Nonn. – By Saracens we mean the Arabs, whom St. Nonn converted to Christ during his stay at the Heliopol see in the amount of up to 30,000 people.

11 Pelagia is meant here by the deserted habitation lost to the devil. According to the biblical view, just as a pious person is a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 19), so a wicked person is a temple of the spirit of malice. Therefore, the devil calls Pelagia his former dwelling, which was empty for him after her conversion to Christ.

12 That is, with Christ-sellers and God-slayers - Jews. Luke 23:21.

13 That is, the temple of the Resurrection of Christ, built on the site of the Resurrection of the Lord, the tomb of the Lord and other greatest Christian shrines located there.

14 A eunuch is a man incapable of sexual passions, in the highest, spiritual sense- dead to himself, dead to the passions.

15 The Mount of Olives, or Olivet, is one of the mountains of the Jews, and is called so because of the multitude of olive trees that grew on it, besides various other trees. It lies to the east of Jerusalem, separated from it by the Kidron valley, and higher than other nearby mountains; From the top it offers a magnificent view in all directions. The Mount of Olives is consecrated in the New Testament history by various significant events from the earthly life of the Savior, especially the ascension of the Resurrected Lord from it to heaven. Now this so remarkable mountain, with all its surroundings, presents the saddest sight and is devoid of its former rich vegetation. The cave of prep. Pelagia, located near the very place of the Ascension (the middle peak of the mountain) in the XII century. saw a Russian pilgrim, hegumen Daniel. Western pilgrim Anselm wrote in 1509: “below the place of ascension, descending 20 steps or so, is the place or cell where Saint Pelagia performed repentance.”

Today, the twenty-first of October, is the feast day of St. Pelagia of Antioch.

Saint Pelagia was born in the Syrian city of Antioch. Before her conversion to the faith of Christ, she was a licentious and frivolous girl. Being very attractive in appearance, she adorned herself with luxurious clothes, precious stones and gold.

Once in Antioch, bishops from neighboring dioceses gathered for a council. Among them was Nonn, Bishop of Iliopol. He was known for his righteous life and wisdom. When the bishops left the temple where they were sitting, they saw before them a noisy crowd of youths. Especially among them, one immodestly dressed girl, Pelagia, stood out with her beauty. The girl laughed loudly and joked, and the young men curled around her. The bishops, embarrassed by such a spectacle, lowered their gazes, only Saint Nonnus, on the contrary, began to carefully examine Pelagia. After the noisy crowd had passed, Nonn began to ask the bishops if they liked the beauty of this woman and her outfit, to which the bishops were silent. Nonn continued: “And I learned a lot from her. She made it her goal to please people and how many hours do you think she spent on decorating herself, on taking care of herself, in order to appear more beautiful than other women in the eyes of her admirers! At the terrible judgment God will condemn us with it, for we, having an immortal Bridegroom in Heaven, neglect the state of our souls. What will we bring before Him?”

Saint Nonn, arriving at the inn, began earnestly praying to the Lord for the salvation of foolish Pelagia. On the following Sunday, during the celebration of the Divine Liturgy by Nonn, Pelagia, drawn by an unknown force, crossed the threshold of the temple for the first time. The Divine Liturgy itself, and especially the sermon of Saint Nonnus about the Last Judgment, struck Pelagia so strongly that she, looking at her sinful life, was horrified. When she came to Nonnu, she wished to be baptized, but she doubted whether God would have mercy on her: “My sins are more numerous than the sand of the sea, and there will not be enough water in the sea to wash away my bad deeds.” Saint Nonn comforted Pelagia with the hope that the Lord was merciful and baptized her.

Saint Pelagia, having become a Christian, brought all her property to Nonna. He ordered to distribute it to the poor, saying: "Let the ill-collected be wisely spent." After a few days, Pelagia changed into men's clothes and went to Jerusalem. Here the saint took monastic vows and was mistaken for a young man. On the Mount of Olives, Pelagia arranged a cell for herself and, shutting herself in it, spent her harsh monastic life in prayer, fasting and repentance. People living in the vicinity considered the saint to be the monk Pelagius. After several years, Monk Pelagius achieved high spiritual gifts. He died about 457. When Pelagius was buried, it became known that the deceased monk was not a man, but a woman. They wanted to hide the secret of the saint from the people, but this did not work out: for the Lord was pleased not to hide, but to declare and glorify His servant.

Such was the life of the former harlot, such was the conversion of the lost sinner, such were her labors and deeds, with which she pleased the Lord. May the Lord, through the prayers and intercession of St. Pelagia, grant mercy to us sinners on the day of judgment.

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The Monk Pelageya (Pelagia) was born in Syrian Antioch and before her conversion to Christ was a frivolous and dissolute girl. Having a very attractive appearance, she adorned herself with luxurious clothes, gold and precious stones, for which fans called her Margarita, that is, a pearl.
One day the bishops of neighboring dioceses came to Antioch for a council. Among them was Nonn, Bishop of Iliopol, known for his wisdom and righteous life. During a break, the bishops left the temple where they were sitting, and suddenly a noisy crowd of young men appeared in front of them. Among them, one girl stood out for her beauty - with bare shoulders and immodestly dressed. It was Pelagia. She joked and laughed loudly, and the fans hung around her. The embarrassed bishops lowered their gazes, while Saint Nonnus, on the contrary, began to scrutinize Pelagia. When the noisy crowd left, Non asked the bishops: "Did you not like the beauty of this woman and her outfit?" They were silent. Then Nonn continued: “And I learned a lot from her. She made it her goal to please people and how many hours do you think she spent on decorating herself, on taking care of herself, in order to appear more beautiful than other women in the eyes of her admirers! At the terrible judgment, the Lord will condemn us with it, because we, having an immortal Bridegroom in Heaven, neglect the state of our souls. What will we bring before Him?”
Arriving at the inn, Saint Nonnus began earnestly praying for the salvation of Pelagia. On the following Sunday, when Nonn made Divine Liturgy, Pelagia, drawn by a mysterious force, first came to the temple. The service and sermon of St. John about the Last Judgment shocked her so much that she was horrified by her sinful life. When she came to Nonnu, she expressed a desire to be baptized, but she was not sure whether the Lord would have mercy on her: “My sins are more numerous than the sand of the sea, and there will not be enough water in the sea to wash my bad deeds.” The good shepherd comforted her with the hope of God's mercy and baptized her.
Becoming a Christian, Pelagia gathered her property and brought Nonna. Nonn ordered that it be distributed to the poor, saying: "Let the ill-collected be wisely spent." A few days later, Pelagia, dressed in men's clothes, left the city. She went to Jerusalem and there she took monastic vows. She was mistaken for a young man. Having arranged for herself a cell on the Mount of Olives, she closed herself in it and began to lead a severe monastic life in repentance, fasting and prayer. The inhabitants of the surrounding places considered her to be a monk Pelagius, a eunuch. After several years of attaining high spiritual gifts, Monk Pelagius died around the year 457. During the burial, it was discovered that the deceased monk was a woman.

There is no greater and more difficult feat in the Church of Christ than the feat of the foolishness of Christ for the sake of it. The Lord Himself blesses only His rare chosen ones on this path. It was on this path that God placedBlessed Pelageya Ivanovna .

She was born in October 1809 in the city of Arzamas in the family of the merchant Ivan Surin and his wife Praskovya Ivanovna, née Bebesheva. Her father lived quite richly, traded well, had his own tannery and was a smart, kind and pious man. He soon died, leaving his wife and three young orphans. Their stepfather, the widowed merchant Korolyov, took a dislike to them. The life of little Pelageya became unbearable, and a desire was born in her to leave such relatives. From a young age, something strange happened to her. She fell ill and, after lying in bed for a whole day, she got up not like herself. “From a rarely intelligent child, she suddenly became some sort of stupid one. He used to go out into the garden, pick up his dress, stand and wrap himself on one leg, as if dancing. They persuaded her and shamed her, even beat her, but nothing helped, so they left her.”

She grew up slender, tall, beautiful, and her mother, as soon as she was 16 years old, tried to marry the “fool” as soon as possible. The groom, tradesman Sergei Vasilyevich Serebrennikov, according to the old custom, came to the bride's bride with his godmother. Pelagia, in order to push him away from her, began to fool. The groom, who saw her pretense, despite the advice of her godmother, nevertheless decided to marry.

Soon after the marriage, Pelageya Ivanovna went with her husband and mother to the Sarov Desert. Father Seraphim led Pelageya Ivanovna into his cell and talked with her for a long, long time. Then, handing her the rosary, he conducted it with the words: “Go, mother, go immediately to my monastery, take care of my orphans, and you will be the light of the world, and many will be saved by you!” "This woman will be a great lamp!"- Father said about her after.

The conversation with the wondrous old man had a decisive influence on the later life of Pelageya Ivanovna. Soon, under the guidance of one holy fool, she learned the uninterrupted Jesus Prayer, which began to act gracefully in her and which became her constant occupation for her whole life. house attached gallery. With her deeds of prayer, she soon began to combine the feat of the foolishness of Christ for the sake of Christ, and, as it were, every day she lost more and more reason. It used to happen that she would put on the most expensive dress, a shawl, and wrap her head in some of the dirtiest rag and go either to church or somewhere for a walk, where more people gather so that everyone can see, judge and laugh at her.

But it was all the more painful for her husband, who did not understand the great path of his wife. And Sergey Vasilievich asked and persuaded her, but she remained indifferent to everything. Even when her sons were born, she was definitely not happy about their birth, saying: “God gave it, but I ask you to take it”. Soon, through the prayer of the blessed one, both boys died. From that time on, her husband ceased to spare her and began to beat her terribly, as a result of which Pelageya Ivanovna, despite her healthy and strong nature, began to wither away. She began to walk the streets of Arzamas from church to church, and whatever they gave her for the sake of pity or whatever fell into her hands, she took everything with her and distributed it to the poor or lit candles in the church of God. The husband catches her, beats her, sometimes with a piece of wood with whatever, forbids and starves her, but she does not let up and repeats one thing: "Leave me, Seraphim spoiled me." Mad with anger, he went to the police and asked the mayor to flog his wife. He punished her so severely that even her mother shuddered and froze with horror. At night, the mayor saw in a dream a cauldron with fire and heard a voice that the cauldron was prepared for him for the torture of the chosen servant of Christ. Waking up in horror, he forbade the city entrusted to him not only to offend, but also to touch the spoiled one, as it was called by the people.

Believing that she was spoiled, her husband took her to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra to treat her, where she immediately became meek, quiet and intelligent. On the way back, he joyfully let her go home alone, handing her all the money and things. However, she returned home in poverty, behaving worse than before, giving everything to the last penny and trying to take everything out of the house that she could. The distraught Sergei Vasilievich ordered for his wife, as for a wild beast, an iron chain with a ring, and with his own hands chained his wife to the wall, and mocking her as he wanted. Sometimes she broke off the chain and ran naked around the city and everyone was afraid to shelter her and help. “Sergushka (husband) looked for everything in me and broke my ribs; I didn’t find my mind, but my ribs broke everything ” she said later.

Soon her husband completely renounced her, drove her out of the house, dragged her to her mother and handed Pelageya Ivanovna to her parents. Mother decided once again to go to the Sarov desert herself. Father Seraphim said: “On such a path, the Lord chooses courageous and strong in body and spirit. And don’t keep her on a chain and you can’t, otherwise the Lord will punish you terribly for her. For 4 years Blessed Pelagia was a fool, ran through the streets of the city, screamed ugly and went wild, covered in tatters, hungry and cold, and at night she prayed on the porch in the church.

Finally, the relatives released the blessed one to Diveevo. Before leaving, the blessed one bowed at the feet of her family and quite sensibly and reasonably said: “Forgive Christ for my sake, I will not come to you again until the grave.”

In her cells, she herself chose the simple maiden Anna Gerasimovna, knelt before her, bowed to the ground and, raising her hands, exclaimed: “Benedict, Benedict! Serve me, for Christ's sake." Anna Gerasimovna went up to her, pitying her poor woman, stroked her head and saw that her head was all broken, covered in blood, and insects swarming in it. And so she felt sorry for her, but she dared not say anything. Subsequently, this kind peasant girl served her for 45 years, with the zeal and devotion of an ascetic of God.

And the “mad Palaga”, as many in Diveevo called it, began to live, with its holy fool, only God knows, life. At first, she continued to go mad: she ran around the monastery, smashed the windows in her cells, and challenged everyone to insult herself and beat her. He will take a handkerchief, a napkin or a rag, he will lay it all with very large stones to the top and drag it from place to place, he will drag them in a full cell, you won’t get enough rubbish. Or he picks up an armful of bricks, stands at the very edge of the pit, and from the hem, and throws one brick at a time from all that is, urine into the pit, into the very water. A brick thumps and from head to toe all over her and douses, but she doesn’t move, she stands, as if rooted to the spot, as if she really is doing some important work. Leaving the collected bricks, it will climb into the very water almost up to the waist, selects them from there. Having chosen, he will come out and again, having stood on the edge, begins the same trick. And so it does all the time of the service in the church. "I,- speaks, - I also go to work I can’t, I have to work, I also work.” She was rarely in her cell, and spent most of the day in the monastery courtyard, sitting either in a pit dug by herself and filled with all sorts of manure, which she always wore in the bosom of her dress, or in the gatehouse in the corner, where she practiced the Jesus Prayer . Sometimes she stood with her feet on the nails, piercing them through and through, and torturing her body in every possible way. She ate only bread and water. Patience and deprivation were her lot: she never asked for food, but ate when offered, and then very poorly. She never looked for or took anything from anyone, she was completely non-possessive; she went barefoot all year round, did not bathe, did not cut her nails; slept on the floor on a felt bedding. She spoke allegorically, but very wisely and had the gift of insight.

Diveevo

Once her husband, Sergei Vasilyevich, came to visit her: “And you are full of fooling something, it will; Let's go to Arzamas." Pelageya Ivanovna bowed and said: “I didn’t go to Arzamas, and I won’t go, even if you tear off all the skin from me.” Hearing this, he bowed silently and left, and after that he never returned. And only once, already many years later, Pelageya Ivanovna suddenly jumped up, all tensed up, crouched, walking up and down the room and moaning and crying. "Oh,- speaks, - father! After all, that's what you are! He dies, how does he die? No communion!" It turned out that with her appearance and actions she showed everything that happened with Sergei Vasilyevich. He really got caught; he writhed exactly like this, ran around the room, groaned and said: “Oh, Pelageya Ivanovna, mother! Forgive me for Christ's sake. I didn't know that you endure for the Lord's sake. And how I beat you! Help me. Pray for me". Yes, without communion, he died of cholera. From time to time, the blessed Fyodor Mikhailovich Solovyov, a former military man, came from Arzamas. It’s so incomprehensible to the mind that they only did it together; fear will take, it happened; you don't know where to go. As they raise, they used to raise their war, there’s no way to appease it. Both are huge and long, running back and forth, chasing each other, Pelageya Ivanovna with a stick, and Fyodor Mikhailovich with a log, they beat each other. “You, Arzamas fool, why did you leave your husband?”- shouts Solovyov. “And why did you leave your wife, such an Arzamas soldier?”- Pelageya Ivanovna objects. “Oh, you big shed, the Kolomna verst!” shouts Fyodor Mikhailovich. And so it goes on without interruption, they have their own, they only understand the squabble and conversation.

During the turmoil in the monastery, the blessed one, in her own way, fought for the truth - whatever came to hand, she beat and beat, and even, having denounced the bishop, hit him on the cheek. Vladyka was driving from the service in a droshky, and Pelageya Ivanovna was standing on the road, rolling eggs, just after Easter. He saw Pelageya Ivanovna, apparently, was delighted, got down from the droshky and went up to her, took out the prosphora. "Here,- speaks, - servant of God, the prosphora of my service to you. She silently turned away; he would have to leave; sees - not okay, a direct matter. Who wrote the law to them, blessed ones? That's why they are blessed. And he, you know, came in from the other side and served again. As soon as she gets up, straightens up, and so menacingly, and hit him on the cheek with the words: "Where are you going?" Evidently, she was correct in her denunciation, because Vladyka not only did not get angry, but humbly turned the other cheek, saying: "Well? According to the gospel, strike in another way. "It will be with you and one", - answered Pelageya Ivanovna; and again began to roll eggs.

After the turmoil ended, the blessed one changed, fell in love with flowers and began to deal with them. Holding them in her hands, she fingered them thoughtfully, quietly whispering a prayer. Of late, fresh flowers were almost always in her hands, because they were brought to her by those who wanted to please her, and these flowers apparently consoled her. Looking over them and admiring them, she herself became bright and joyful, as if her mind were already hovering in another world.

And she almost stopped running; more and more in the cell, it happened, he was sitting. Her favorite place was actually on the move, between three doors, on the floor, on the felt by the stove. She hung a portrait of Father Seraphim and Matushkin (Mary) here, it used to be with them that she always talks at night and gives them flowers. Abbess Maria did nothing without her advice. Pelagia Ivanovna called everyone in the monastery her daughters and was a true spiritual mother to everyone.

There are many stories about cases of her clairvoyance.

The artist M. P. Petrov, named by her most spiritual son, enjoyed a special location of Pelageya Ivanovna. He described his first visit as follows. “When I went into her cell, I was so struck by her atmosphere that I could not immediately understand what it was: on the floor on felt sat an old, crouched and dirty woman, with huge fingernails and bare feet, which made me feel amazing. impression. To my question “should I go to a monastery or get married?” she didn't answer. A month later, at the second visit, she immediately upon my arrival got up and straightened up in front of me to her full height. She was a beautifully built woman, with unusually lively, shining eyes. Standing in front of me, she began to run around the room and laugh, then ran up to me, hit me on the shoulder and said: “Well, what?” For a long time this arm had been aching from paralysis, but after this stroke of Pelageya Ivanovna, the pain in it instantly and completely disappeared. A kind of panicky fear attacked me, and I could not say anything to her; was silent and trembling all over with fright. Then she began to tell me all my past life with such amazing details that no one knew except me, and even told the contents of the letter that I sent to Petersburg that day. This struck me so much that the hair on my head stood on end, and I involuntarily fell on my knees before her and kissed her hand. And from that time I became her zealous visitor and admirer. She pulled me out of hell."

After 20 years of asceticism in Diveevo, Pelageya Ivanovna suddenly changed her way of life dramatically. Once she said to her cohabitant, Anna Gerasimovna: “Now Father Seraphim was with me, he ordered me to be silent and stay more in the cell than in the yard.” And she fell silent, and seldom honored anyone with her conversation, spoke little, in jerky phrases, sat more in her cell and, like Reverend Arseny Great, she began to avoid people and pay more attention to herself.

That iron chain with which her husband once chained, and which she brought with her to Diveevo, sometimes served as her head now. She slept and always sat on the floor and certainly near the front door to the cell, so that passers-by often stepped on her or poured water on her, which apparently gave her pleasure. Such exploits of Pelageya Ivanovna began to attract the attention of the Diveyevo nuns to her; and the former dislike for her was replaced by respect among many of them. But among the sisters there were those who hated her and slandered her in every possible way. Pelageya Ivanovna especially loved them and tried to repay them for evil with good. The nuns, attached to the ascetic, deeply believed in the power of her prayer, and sought spiritual guidance from her. Once, a pious nun dared to ask the Lord to reveal to her whether the path followed by the ascetic of God was right, because she often had to hear contradictory rumors. The Lord heard her prayer. She saw in a dream that Pelageya Ivanovna was walking through the monastery courtyard and two angels were leading her by the arms. When, waking up, this nun went to Pelageya Ivanovna to tell her her dream, she preceded her story with a strict prohibition not to tell anyone about it.

The human mind does not contain the feat of the servant of God Pelageya. Truly, her soul, hidden from others by visible madness, shone with purity and love. Only an attentive and compassionate look could see the heavenly beauty of her soul. So the prediction of Father Seraphim was fulfilled. She spent forty-six years in the monastery, year after year bearing the heavy burden of achievement, protecting the holy monastery with her prayer.

Blessed died January 30/February 12, 1884 . They put her in a little white shirt, in a sundress, put a large gray woolen scarf on her shoulders, tied her head with a white silk handkerchief; dressed up as she dressed up in life. In her right hand they gave her a bouquet of flowers, and on her left hand they put on the black silk beads of Father Seraphim. For nine days her body stood in a stuffy temple without the slightest change in the presence of a large gathering of people. Although it was winter, she was showered from head to toe with fresh flowers, which she loved so much even during her lifetime, these flowers were constantly replaced by new ones and were immediately snapped up by the masses of the people, who took them home with reverence.

On July 31, 2004, the blessed old woman Pelagia Diveevskaya was glorified as a locally venerated saint of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese. In October 2004, the Council of Bishops adopted a decision on her general church veneration. The holy relics of Blessed Pelagia, found in September 2004, were placed for veneration in the Kazan Church of the Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery.

Troparion
Thou hast appeared to the land of Russia, an ornament, / Abode of Diveyevo, our blessed mother Pelageya, / having fulfilled the blessing of the Queen of Heaven / and having acquired boldness to the Lord, / pray at the Throne of the Most Holy Trinity for the salvation of our souls.

Kontakion, tone 2
Having exhausted your body with fasts, / with vigilant prayers of the Creator you begged for your deeds, / as if you had a perfect abandonment: / even you found your mother in reality, / showing the path of repentance.

Life of Our Reverend Mother Pelagia

We must always give great thanks to our Lord because He does not desire the death of sinners, but longsufferingly awaits their conversion to a righteous life. A wonderful event - writes the deacon of the Iliopol church Jacob - has happened in our days; Therefore, I am passing it on to you, holy brethren, so that by reading with attention you will receive great benefit.

His Holiness, the Archbishop of Antioch, summoned eight bishops from the surrounding towns to meet his church needs.

Among them was a holy man of God, my Bishop Nonn, a marvelous man, who had previously been the most strict monk of the Tavenna monastery. For his virtuous life, he was taken from the monastery and made a bishop. Nonn came from Iliopol, taking me with him. When the bishops gathered at the church of the holy martyr Julian, they wished to hear from Nonnas teaching, and they all sat down at the church doors. Nonn immediately began to lecture orally for the benefit and salvation of those who listened. All reverently listened to his holy teaching. At that time, one pagan woman, a harlot known throughout Antioch, passed by the church doors with great pride, dressed in costly clothes, adorned with gold, expensive stones and pearls, surrounded by many maidens and young men in beautiful clothes, with golden necklaces. She was so beautiful in face that the contemplation of her beauty could not get enough of secular youths. Passing by us, she filled the whole air with fragrant incense. Seeing her walking so shamelessly, with her head uncovered and her shoulders bare, the bishops closed their eyes and, sighing softly, turned away, as if from a great sin. And the blessed Nonn gazed at her intently and for a long time, until she disappeared from his eyes, and then, turning to the bishops, he said: “Didn’t you like the beauty of that woman?”

They didn't answer. Nonn bowed his head with weeping and wetted with his tears not only the handkerchief that was in his hands, but also his chest. Sighing from the depths of his heart, he again asked the bishops: “Did you not delight in the sight of her beauty?”

They were silent. Nonn said: “Truly, I learned a lot from her; for the Lord will place this woman at His terrible judgment, and by her will judge us. How much time do you think she spent in her bedchamber, washing, dressing, decorating herself in various ways and looking around in the mirror, believing all her thought and care to appear most beautifully in the eyes of her temporary admirers? But we, having the Immortal Bridegroom in heaven, whom the angels desire to look at, do not care about decorating our accursed soul, defiled, naked and full of shame, do not try to wash it with tears of repentance and clothe it with the beauty of virtues, so that it appears pleasing in the eyes of God and does not was put to shame and rejected during the marriage of the Lamb."

Having finished such moralizing, blessed Nonn took me, his sinful deacon, and we went to the cell, which was given to us at the same church of St. Julian. Entering his bedchamber, my bishop fell face down on the ground and, weeping, said: “Lord Jesus Christ! forgive me sinful and unworthy. The cares of this woman about decorating the body surpassed all my cares about my wretched soul. That woman, in order to please her perishable worshipers, decorating herself, showed so much effort: but I do not try to be pleasing to You, my God, but I am in laziness and negligence. With what face shall I look upon you? By what words shall I be justified before Thee? Woe to me, a sinner! Standing before Your holy altar, I do not offer You that spiritual beauty that You seek from me. That woman, in her vanity, promised to please mortal people, appearing to them in such a magnificent form, and does what she promised: but I promised to please You, my God, and lied because of my laziness. I am naked, for I have not kept thy commandments; I do not hope in my works, but in Your mercy, and from him I hope to receive salvation.

For so long St. Nonnus cried out with sobs. He also prayed for that woman, saying: “Lord, do not destroy the creation of Your hands: may such beauty not remain in depravity, in the power of demons, but turn her to You, may Your holy name be glorified in her: for everything is possible for You.”

After that day and night, after Matins (it was a Sunday), Saint Nonn said to me: “Brother James, listen to what a dream I had that night. It seemed to me that I was standing in one of the corners of the holy altar. And behold, during the performance of the service, a kind of black dove appeared, covered with impurity and filling the air with stench; she flew around me, and I could not bear her stench. When the deacon said, "Come out of the liturgy," the dove flew away, and I did not see it until the liturgy was over. After the celebration of the Liturgy, when we left the church, I suddenly saw again the same unclean dove, which again flew around me. Stretching out my hand, I took it and threw it into the water standing in the porch of the church; in it, that dove was washed from all its impurity, flew out clean and white as snow, and, rising in height, became invisible.

Having told me this dream, blessed Nonn, taking me with him, went with the other bishops to the cathedral church, where, having brought greetings to the archbishop, they performed the Divine service. At the end of the holy service, the Archbishop of Antioch proposed to the blessed Nonnus that he should teach the people. Nonn opened his mouth and taught people by the power of the wisdom of God that dwelt in him. His words were not distinguished by the exquisite wisdom of this world, but were simple, intelligible to all and effective: for the Holy Spirit spoke through his mouth. He spoke of the Last Judgment and the future retribution of the righteous and the sinners. All those present were so touched by his words that they watered the earth with tears.

By the care of the merciful God, this harlot, whom we are talking about and who had never been to church before and did not remember her sins, happened to go into the church at that very time. Hearing the teaching of Saint Nonnus, she fell into the fear of God; thinking about her sins and hearing the teaching of St. Nonnus about eternal torment for them, she began to despair, shed streams of tears from her eyes and, in contrition of heart, could not stop her weeping. Then she said to her two servants: “Wait here, and when that holy man who spoke the lesson comes out, follow him, find out where he lives, and when you return, tell me.”

The servants carried out the order and told their mistress that the saint was living at the church of the holy martyr Julian. Then she immediately wrote with her own hand the following message to the blessed Non: “To the holy disciple of Christ, a sinner and a disciple of the devil. I heard about your God that He bowed the heavens and descended to earth not for the righteous, but for the salvation of sinners. He humbled himself to the point that he ate food with publicans. He whom the cherubim dare not look at, had fellowship with sinners and conversed with harlots (Luke 7:37–50; John 8:3–11, etc.).

My lord! If, as I hear from Christians, you are a true servant of Christ, then you will not reject me, who, with your help, wants to come to the Savior of the world and see His most holy Face.

Having read this epistle, Saint Nonnus wrote in response to her thus: “Whatever you may be, but God knows you yourself and your intention. Therefore, I ask you: do not tempt me unworthy: I am a sinful servant of God. But if you really have a good desire to believe in my God and see me, then other bishops are here with me; so come and see me with them. You shouldn't see me alone."

Having received and read this, the sinner was filled with great joy, hurried to the church of St. Julian and let the blessed Nonnus know about her arrival. He, having gathered seven other bishops to himself, ordered her to enter. Appearing before the Cathedral of the Holy Bishops, she fell to the ground with weeping and fell at the feet of Saint Nonn, exclaiming: “I beseech you, my lord, be an imitator of your teacher, the Lord Jesus Christ, show me your grace and make me a Christian: I am a sea of ​​sins, my lord, and the abyss of iniquities; wash me with baptism.”

All the assembled bishops and clerics, seeing the harlot who came with such repentance and faith, shed tears. The blessed one could hardly make her rise from his feet.

Church rules, he said, command not to baptize a harlot without guarantors, for fear that she would not return again to the same prodigal life.

Hearing this answer, she again threw herself at the saint's feet, washed them with her tears, and wiped them with her hair with her hair, as the evangelical sinner once washed the feet of Christ (Luke 7:37-38).

You will give an answer to God about my soul if you do not baptize me, she said. - Then God will seek my soul from your hands, and after you he will write down my crafty deeds. If you reject me not baptized, then you will be the fault of the continuation of my prodigal and impure life. If you do not deliver me now from my evil deeds, then I will turn away from your God and worship idols. If you do not now make me the bride of Christ and bring me to your God, then you will not have a share with Him and His saints.

All those present, hearing this and seeing how such a harlot was so inflamed with aspiration for God, glorified the Lover of God. Blessed Nonn immediately sent me, the humble Jacob, to the archbishop to tell him about this. The archbishop, hearing about what had happened, was very glad and said to me: “Go, tell your bishop: honest father, this deed awaited you, for I know you well that you are the mouth of God, according to His word:“ if you extract the precious from the worthless, you will be like my mouth.”(Jer. 15:19).

And, having called Mrs. Romana, who was the first deaconess of the church, he sent her with me.

When we arrived, we found Pelagia still lying on the ground, at the feet of the blessed Nonnus, who could hardly make her get up, saying: “Rise, daughter, to make your voice known before baptism.”

She got up, and the bishop said to her:

Confess your sins first.

She answered with tears:

If I begin to test my conscience, I will not find a single good deed in myself; I only know that my sins are more numerous than the sand of the sea, and there is no water in the sea to wash away my wicked deeds. But I hope in your God that He will lighten the burden of my iniquities and look mercifully upon me.

The bishop asked her:

What is your name?

She replied:

My parents called me Pelagia, while the citizens of Antioch renamed me Margarita for the sake of those beautiful and precious attire with which my sins adorned me.

Then the bishop read it out, baptized it in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, anointed it with myrrh and partook of the Most Pure and Life-Giving Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins. The spiritual mother of Pelagia was the deaconess Romana; having accepted her from the baptismal font, she led her out of the church into the chamber of the catechumens, since we were there too. Blessed Nonnus said to the other bishops: “Let us eat, brethren, and rejoice with the angels of God that we have found the lost sheep: let us eat food with oil and wine for the sake of spiritual consolation.”

When everyone came and began to eat together with the newly baptized, the demon began to cry out loud. Sobbing in a human voice, he said:

Woe, woe, that I suffer from this talkative wine-drinker! Oh, evil old man! Was not thirty thousand Saracens enough for you, whom you baptized, having stolen them from me? Was not Iliopolis enough for you, which you took away from me and brought to your God - and he was once mine, and all those who lived in it bowed to me! And now you have taken away my last hope. What am I to do, stubborn old man, deceiver? I can't stand your tricks. Cursed be the day you were born, you wicked old man! Streams of your tears spilled over my dwelling and made it empty.

So, weeping, the devil cried out before the doors of the chamber where we were, and all who were there heard his voice. And again, turning to the newly baptized, the demon said:

What are you doing to me, Lady Pelagia? You imitate Judas. He, honored with apostolic glory and honor, betrayed his Lord, and you did the same with me.

Then the bishop ordered the servant of God Pelagia to protect herself with the sign of the cross. She made the sign of the cross of Christ on her face and said to the devil:

May Jesus Christ drive you away, delivering me from you!

When she said this, the devil immediately disappeared.

Two days later, when Pelagia was sleeping with Lady Romana, her spiritual mother, the devil appeared to her, woke her up and began to say to her:

My dear lady, Margarita, what harm have I done to you? Have I enriched you with gold and silver? Have I not adorned you with precious stones, ornaments and garments? I beg you, tell me: what sorrow have I caused you? Whatever you tell me, I will do everything immediately, just don’t leave me and don’t make a laughing stock of me.

Protecting herself with the sign of the cross, Pelagia answered:

My Lord Jesus Christ, who delivered me from your teeth and made me the bride of His heavenly chamber, may he drive you away from me.

And immediately the devil disappeared.

Waking Saint Romana immediately, Pelagia said to her:

Pray for me, my mother: the evil one is persecuting me.

Romana replied:

My daughter, do not be afraid of him, for now he fears and trembles even your shadow.

On the third day after her baptism, Pelagia called one of her servants and said to him: “Go to my house, copy everything that is in my gold guards, and all my clothes, and bring everything here.”

The servant went and did as he was ordered. Then the blessed Pelagia, calling on the holy Bishop Nonnus, gave everything into his hands, saying: “Here are the riches with which Satan has enriched me; I give it into your holy hands: do with them what you will, but I must seek the treasures of my Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed Bishop Nonn, having called the steward of the church, gave him, in the presence of everyone, the treasures transferred to him by Pelagia and said to him: “I conjure you in the name of the Holy and Inseparable Trinity not to bring anything from this gold either into the episcopal house, or into the church of God, or into your own house, nor in the house of any of the clergy: but distribute all this with your own hands to the orphans, the poor and the weak, so that what is collected by evil is spent on good, and the wealth of sin becomes the wealth of truth. If you break this oath, let your house be anathema, and your fate be with those who exclaimed: "take it, take it, crucify it"(Luke 23:21).

The servant of God Pelagia left nothing of her property even to feed herself, but ate at the expense of Romana the deaconess: for she swore not to use anything from the wealth of sin. Calling all her servants and maids, she set them free, giving everyone enough silver and gold.

“I free you from temporary slavery,” she told them, “but try to free yourself from slavery to a vain world full of sins, so that we, who lived in this world together, will be able to stay together and in a blessed life.”

Having said this, Pelagia dismissed her servants.

On the eighth day, when it was necessary for her, according to the custom of the newly baptized, to take off the white clothes received at baptism (it was Sunday), Pelagia, getting up very early, took off the white clothes in which she was dressed at baptism and put on a hair shirt. Taking the shabby clothes of the blessed Nonnus, she secretly withdrew from Antioch from everyone, and from that time no one knew where she was. Deaconess Romana mourned and wept for her. But the omniscient God revealed to blessed Nonnus that Pelagia had gone to Jerusalem, and comforted Nonnus Romana, saying: “Do not cry, my daughter, but rejoice: Pelagia, like Mary, who “choose a good part that will not be taken away from her”(Luke 10:42).

A few days later, we were released by the archbishop and returned to Iliopol. Three years later I had a desire to go to Jerusalem - to bow to the holy resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I asked my bishop, blessed Nonna, to let me go. As he let me go, he said, “Brother Jacob! When you come to the holy places, look for a certain monk there, whose name is Pelagius: he is a eunuch, very virtuous and lives for several years in seclusion. Having found him, talk with him, and you will receive great benefit from him, for he is a true servant of Christ and a monk who has reached perfection.

This was said by Nonn about the servant of God Pelagia, who, near Jerusalem, built herself a cell on the Mount of Olives, where our Lord once prayed and, shutting herself there, lived for God. But this Nonn did not reveal to me.

Having gathered, I went to the holy places, bowed to the holy resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and His honest Cross, and the next day I found a monk named Pelagia, as my bishop commanded me; I found his cell in the Mount of Olives. This cell was blocked from everywhere and had no doors; I only saw a small window in the wall, knocked on it, and when it was opened, I saw the servant of God. She recognized me, but did not reveal herself to me. I didn't recognize her. And how could I recognize that one, whose great beauty faded so quickly, as a flower withers? Her eyes were deeply sunken, from much and immeasurable abstinence, the bones and joints of her face were revealed. The whole country of Jerusalem considered her a eunuch, not a single person knew that she was a woman, and I myself did not know that: for my bishop spoke to me about a eunuch - a monk, and I received a blessing from her, as from a monk - a husband. She told me:

Tell me, brother, aren't you James, the deacon of the blessed Bishop Nonnus?

I marveled that she called me by my first name, and recognized in me the deacon of the blessed Nonna, and answered:

Yes, my lord.

She told me:

Tell your bishop to pray for me, for truly he is a holy man and an apostle of Christ.

And you, my brother,” she added, “I ask you to pray for me.

Having said this, the blessed one closed the window and began to sing the third hour. I made a prayer and departed; the contemplation of the angelic ascetic and her sweet conversation did me a lot of good.

Returning to Jerusalem, I visited various monasteries, visited the brethren, conversed with holy men, received their blessings, and received much benefit for my soul. Good fame about the eunuch Pelagia swept through all the monasteries, and the example of his life was to everyone's benefit. For this reason, I wished to go to him again and console myself with his soulful conversation. Arriving at his cell, I knocked on the window with a prayer, and dared to call him by his name, saying: “Open, Father Pelagius!”

But he did not answer me anything.

I thought that he was praying or resting, and after waiting a little, I knocked again, asking him to open it, but there was no answer; again I waited for a while, and knocked again. I spent three days like this, sitting at the window, and knocked at certain intervals, having a strong desire to see the holy face of Pelagius and receive his blessing: but there was no voice, no obedience. Then I said to myself: “Either he left this cell, and there is no one in it, or he passed away.”

I dared to open the window by force and saw Pelagius lying dead on the ground. I was horrified, and it became very bitter for me that I was not worthy to receive his last blessing. Having closed the window, I went to Jerusalem, and announced to the holy fathers living there that Abba Pelagius, the eunuch, had reposed; and immediately the news spread throughout all Jerusalem that Saint Pelagius, the spirit-bearing monk, had died in the Lord. Monks from all the surrounding monasteries, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and countless people from Jericho and from the other side of the Jordan came together to bury his honest body. Having broken the window of the cell, they made an entrance sufficient for one person; Entering through the hole thus made, the reverent men carried out the honest body. The Patriarch of Jerusalem also came with many other fathers. When, according to the rite, they began to anoint the body with aromas, they saw that the deceased ascetic was by nature a woman.

“Wonderful God in the saints,” those who were present then cried with tears, “glory to Thee: for Thou hast hidden saints on earth, not only husbands, but also wives.”

They wanted to hide the secret of Pelagia from the people, but they could not: for God was pleased not to hide, but to declare and glorify His servant. And a great multitude of people gathered; nuns also flocked from their monasteries with candles and censers, with psalms and church hymns, and, taking the honest and holy body of Pelagia, they carried it with due honor to the same cell where she labored, and buried there.

Such was the life of the former harlot, such is the conversion of the lost sinner, such are her labors and deeds, with which she pleased God. May our Lord Jesus Christ be with her and let us receive mercy on the Day of Judgment! To him be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever. Amen.

Kontakion, tone 2:

Having exhausted your body with fasts, with vigilant prayers of the Creator, you begged for your deeds, as if you had a perfect abandonment: even you found your mother in reality, showing the path of repentance.