Saint Pelagia
Sign in to saveAlso known as Pelagia the Penitent, Pelagia of Antioch, Pelagia the Harlot
Pelagia (, d. 457), distinguished as Pelagia of Antioch, Pelagia the Penitent, and Pelagia the Harlot, was a Christian saint and hermit in the 4th or 5th century. Her feast day was celebrated on 8 October, originally in common with Saints Pelagia the Virgin and Pelagia of Tarsus. Pelagia died as a result of extreme asceticism, which had emaciated her to the point she could no longer be recognized. According to Orthodox tradition, she was buried in her cell on the Mount of Olives. Upon the discovery that the renowned monk had been a woman, the holy fathers tried to keep it a secret, but the gos
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- Died
- 311?
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- Pelagia
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Key facts
- Saint.honorific_prefix
- Saint
- Saint.name
- Pelagia <!--birth_date = 290?
- Saint.death_date
- 305 Removed ref History section, and that Nonnus was late 4th century -->
- Saint.image
- Saint pelagia.jpg
- Saint.caption
- Margarita among her courtesans, as Saint Nonnus prays for her (14th-century MS)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Margarita
- Gender
- female
- Place of birth
- Antioch
- Place of death
- Mount of Olives
- Occupation
- mystic
- Image
- St. Pelagia (3444743378).jpg
Show 8 more facts
- Commons category
- Saint Pelagia
- canonization status
- The Venerable
- date of death
- 0457-00-00
- time period
- Roman Empire
- name in native language
- Πελαγία
- feast day
- October 8
- date of birth
- 0400-00-00
- described by source
- Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~8 min read
Encyclopedic overview
9 sectionsContents
- Legend
- History
- Similar accounts
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Citations
- Bibliography
- External links
Pelagia (, d. 457), distinguished as Pelagia of Antioch, Pelagia the Penitent, and Pelagia the Harlot, was a Christian saint and hermit in the 4th or 5th century. Her feast day was celebrated on 8 October, originally in common with Saints Pelagia the Virgin and Pelagia of Tarsus. Pelagia died as a result of extreme asceticism, which had emaciated her to the point she could no longer be recognized. According to Orthodox tradition, she was buried in her cell on the Mount of Olives. Upon the discovery that the renowned monk had been a woman, the holy fathers tried to keep it a secret, but the gossip spread and her relics drew pilgrims from as far off as Jericho and the Jordan valley.
Saint Pelagia is one of several classical Christian desert ascetics whose gender identity is often up for debate. This is due to physical descriptors used within the mythos often leaning towards masculine.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Saint Pelagia” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.