Страдание святой мученицы девицы Пелагии

When the wicked Roman emperor Diocletian 2954 initiated persecution against Christians, then many of them, fearing torture, fled to the mountains. But those Christians who were strong in faith and feared God more than people, remained with the churches to which they belonged, and fervently prayed to God to strengthen them for feat, so that they would emerge victorious from the upcoming struggle. At this time in the city of Tarsus 2955 Klinon was the bishop. He converted to the true God and baptized many pagans; joining them, like a good shepherd, to the flock of Christ, he exhorted each of them to courageously stand for the confession of the name of Christ and lay down his soul for Him, with the undoubted hope of receiving from Him the crown of victory in the Heavenly Kingdom. Diocletian, who was then in Cilicia, heard about this courageous bishop, ordered him to be captured and ordered the city gates to be closed so that he could not escape from the city by flight. But even before the order, the bishop received a revelation from God about everything that was about to happen, and secretly from everyone he left the city, since his hour had not yet come. He, along with other Christians, hid in the mountains and deserts. Diocletian, irritated that he could not find the bishop, turned his rage on those whom the bishop had led to Christ; Having ordered the capture of many of the newly converted Christians, he imprisoned them. At this time, in the city of Tarsus lived a girl named Pelagia, of noble birth, famous for her wealth and beauty, filled with the fear of God and chastity. When she heard from Christians about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, her heart was inflamed with love for Him, she believed in Him and vowed not to unite in marriage with any mortal people, deciding to marry the heavenly, immortal, incorruptible Bridegroom; Having believed in Christ, she desired to be worthy of holy baptism. But when she learned that the Christian bishop had left the city, she was greatly saddened, because she wanted to see him and receive holy baptism at his hands. Until then, she had not yet seen the bishop and had only heard about him. Since Pelagia’s mother, a widow, was devoted to idolatry, Pelagia hid from her both her faith in Christ and her intentions. At this time, the king's son 2956 heard about the amazing beauty of the maiden Pelagia; he had the opportunity to see her. He sent honorable men to her, who were instructed to convey to Pelagia the intention of the king's son to marry her. Pelagia's mother was very happy with this turn of events, but the holy maiden decided otherwise. Having made the sign of the cross, she answered the messengers without fear: “I have already become engaged to the Son of God, the Immortal King.” With this answer, the messengers returned to the king's son. Hearing the answer of Saint Pelagia, the royal son became very angry; He planned to take cruel revenge on the holy maiden, but not now, because he hoped that the maiden would come to her senses and fulfill his wish. Meanwhile, Pelagia told her mother that she wanted to visit her nurse, whom she had not seen for a long time. Her nurse lived outside the city, and Pelagia was about to leave home in order to find a Christian bishop, about whose secret refuge she had heard from some Christians. The mother of Saint Pelagia, at the devil’s instigation, did not agree to fulfill her daughter’s request and resolutely opposed her, saying: “You cannot go there now; You’ll go another time.” This greatly saddened Pelagia. That same night the Lord appeared to her in the form of Bishop Klinon, without telling her anything. She was surprised at this vision, because the honest face of the one who appeared to her shone with light and his attire was marvelous. Having woken up, she secretly sent two of her most faithful eunuchs 2957 to the prison of the Christians imprisoned there, in order to question them about the bishop’s appearance. They carried out the assignment and returned with a detailed description of the bishop's appearance. The honest girl was amazed that the appearance of the bishop, according to them, was in every way consistent with what she had seen in her dream, and she realized that she had seen the bishop in her dream. Filled with joy, she longed with all her heart to see him in reality and earnestly prayed to God in these words: “Give me, Lord, to see Your servant, the messenger of Your good things, and do not deprive me of Your holy sacraments.” After that, she again began to ask her mother to let her go to the nurse, saying that she missed her, having not seen her for so long. Her mother didn’t want to let her go. But fearing that she would get sick from sadness, her mother fulfilled her request and ordered chariots, horses and servants to be prepared for the journey. Then, having dressed Pelagia, as the bride of the king’s son, in royal purple and adorned her with gold attire and precious stones, she sent her away, accompanied by her most trusted servants and eunuchs in a luxurious chariot with the parting words: “Go, be healthy, my daughter, and say hello from me to your nurse.” Pelagia went joyfully, surrounded by many servants. Having driven away from the city about ten miles 2958, they approached a mountain covered with dense forest. At this time, one of her servants, named Longinus, saw an honest husband coming down from the mountain. It was Bishop Klinon, who, at God’s discretion, happened to meet his companions here. Longinus, who was a secret Christian, recognized this man as Bishop Klinon and said to another servant, a secret Christian: - Brother Julian! Do you recognize the husband walking towards us? This is the man of God, Bishop Klinon, whose fame spreads throughout the East because of the miracles he performed; The king, having learned about him, searched for him for a long time, but could not find him, and for this he initiated a persecution against Christians. This conversation between Longinus and Julian was heard by those two eunuchs whom Pelagia sent to the Christians’ prison to find out about the bishop’s appearance. They told what they heard to Pelagia. The holy maiden stopped the chariot and, getting off it, headed towards the man of God. She ordered her servants to stay away and sit down to rest in the shade of the trees, since she did not want the pagans to hear about the mysteries of the holy Christian faith. Approaching the man of God, she greeted him with these words: – Rejoice, servant of Christ! - May the peace of my Christ be with you, young lady. “Blessed be God, who showed me in a vision the likeness of your face and sent you to me to save my soul from destruction.” I pray to you in the name of God, Whom you serve, reveal to me whether you are Klinon, a Christian bishop? – I am the shepherd of the verbal sheep of Christ, hoping to receive eternal life. “What do you command your sheep to do so that they can receive eternal life?” – Pelagia asked the bishop. – I teach them to know the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit and instruct them to live a godly life in the fear of God and love for Christ. “Tell me, my father, what should those who want to unite with your God first of all do?” “I proclaim to you,” was the bishop’s answer, “baptism for the remission of sins and eternal life; nothing could be more needed than this. Falling at the feet of the bishop, Pelagia said with a prayer: - Have pity on me, lord, and give me your gift! Since I have been talking with you, the light of God has shone in my heart, I have renounced Satan, his servants, and his wiles, and the soulless idols, which I have long hated, in which there is not life, but death and eternal destruction. Now I pray to the Heavenly God that He will notify me, unworthy, to His Son, Who enlightened my heart, for He is the Sun of righteousness. Hearing this, the bishop was amazed at this girl’s great love for God and rejoiced in her spirit. Then, raising his hands to the sky, he began to pray in these words: “God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! You, who are in heaven and have called this maiden to know You, send her the holy baptism of Your beloved Son.” Suddenly a fountain of living water suddenly flowed out of the ground before them. Seeing such a miracle, the bishop glorified God, saying: – Great are You, our God, Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, who has given people an inheritance of baptism into eternal life. Lord Knower of Hearts! The humility of Your servant is open before You. You see that I am ashamed to baptize this girl. So You, O Almighty, arrange everything by Your guidance, and teach me what to do. “Sir, my father,” Pelagia exclaimed at this time, “your prayer has been heard; Here I see two luminous young men standing at the source and holding light veils in their hands. You can baptize me without embarrassment. Having thanked God, the bishop approached the source and saw two Angels of God, who, as Pelagia said, were holding a blanket whiter than snow to cover the body of the maiden. Then the bishop blessed the water, saying the following prayer over it: – King of all creation, “You make Your angels spirits, Your servants a blazing fire” (Ps. 103:4), make me worthy to offer You this maiden whom You sent to me as a spiritual sacrifice. Number her among Thy chosen ones, so that on the day of Thy Kingdom she, too, with the five wise virgins, may enter the chamber of Thy Christ, with a lighted lamp 2959. Having completed the prayer, the bishop granted holy baptism to blessed Pelagia in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and communed her with a part of the body of Christ, which he carried with him. After the sacrament had been completed, Saint Pelagia bowed to the bishop and, kissing his feet, said to him: “My lord, honest father, pray to the Lord for me, so that He might strengthen me with His Holy Spirit.” – God, to whom you have given yourself, “may He send you help from the sanctuary” (Ps. 19:3) of His dwelling and may He grant you victory over your enemies. Filled with great joy from the Holy Spirit, Pelagia said to the bishop: – Father, I pray to you in the name of God, who granted me salvation through you: do not refuse me my request: from your holy hands I received the incorruptible purple of the Eternal King; therefore, I should not now wear this earthly, perishable purple and these vain jewelry. Take them from me, sell them and distribute the money received for them to those in need, since all these jewels arouse in me only one disgust. “It is indecent for me to take this into my hands, however, I will take it from you, so as not to offend you, since you ask me in the name of God.” Okay, I'll grant your wish. “I heard,” Pelagia said to this, “that our Lord says in His Holy Gospel: “No one can serve two masters.” You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). Therefore, I, wanting to serve the One God, reject mammon 2960. The bishop was surprised at the intelligence of Saint Pelagia. Having prayed to God for her, he blessed her and left her. Saint Pelagia, greatly rejoicing in the Holy Spirit, glorified and thanked God with all her heart for having made her worthy to receive heavenly gifts. When she reached the servants who were waiting for her, she saw that their eyes were darkened by demonic obsession: they saw nothing and did not know where they needed to go. The saint, realizing that this happened due to the action of the enemy of our salvation, made the sign of the cross over each of the servants and thereby delivered them from blindness; they began to see well again, as before. Having regained their sight, the servants began to question Saint Pelagia: - Madam! Where is the person you were talking to? In your absence, we saw the Blessed Woman standing between you and us with two virgins; on her head were two diadems; above the diadems a cross shone 2961. Saint Pelagia ordered the servants to be silent; then she began to teach them faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. - How can we not believe, our lady, in the One who, after death, will deliver us from eternal torment and who alone has the power to give us eternal life in heaven! The saint rejoiced when she saw the conversion of her servants, and advised them to immediately begin holy baptism. Then, getting into the chariot, she continued on her way to her nurse. The nurse came out to meet her pet and said that she had become even more beautiful than she was before, but was surprised that she was dressed so simply and without any decoration. After the first joy of the meeting, the nurse noticed a great change in the character of Saint Pelagia: before she was proud and arrogant, but now she became humble and meek; formerly she was talkative, but now she is silent; before she loved various delicate dishes, but now she was in fasting and abstinence, taking very little food; formerly she spent her days in idleness and pleasure, and at night she rested her body on a soft bed; Now she spent most of the day in prayer, resting on a hard bed, and at night she also got up to pray. From all these signs, the nurse realized that Pelagia had accepted the Christian faith. Then she told her: - My dear daughter! Just as you used to surprise the royal son and everyone who met you with your great physical beauty, so now try to please the Son of God, the Eternal King, to whom you have betrothed yourself as a bride, with your true spiritual beauty. I see that you have believed in the true God of heaven. May He strengthen you for the feat of suffering for Him, may He give you victory over the enemy, and may He crown you in His glory with a crown of triumph. And now, my daughter, quickly leave me in peace; I don’t want you to linger in my house, I don’t dare keep you, because I’m afraid of the wrath of the king’s son, who considers you his bride. However, do not think that I am afraid for myself: if I had suffered with you, then with you I would have accepted a reward from God; but I am afraid for my whole family and for all my relatives. If the royal son, who is thinking of becoming your husband, finds out that you are a Christian, and also that you are staying in my house, then he will destroy me and my entire family. Having heard these words of her nurse, Saint Pelagia, with her face downcast, went back to her mother. When Pelagia approached her house, her mother came out to meet her. Seeing her daughter not in royal purple and without precious jewelry, but in simple clothes, she was horrified and bewildered. One of the servants told her about everything that happened on the way, told her how Pelagia received holy baptism from a Christian bishop. Hearing about this, her mother seemed to be deadened in body and, due to great sorrow, lay for a long time on her bed as if dead. Then, having come to her senses, she, without telling her daughter anything, hurried to the king and asked to give her soldiers to find and capture the bishop who converted her daughter to Christianity and bring him to trial. The king gave her many warriors, horse and foot. Meanwhile, blessed Pelagia, seeing her mother in great anger, took with her several servants who believed in Christ, secretly left the house with them and, having crossed the river called Kydn 2962, decided to hide here. Her mother, returning home with the soldiers and not finding Pelagia at home, became even more saddened and sent soldiers everywhere, ordering them to look for Pelagia and Bishop Klinon. The soldiers dispersed throughout the surrounding area, asking about Pelagia along the roads and looking for her throughout the mountains and deserts, but they could not find her, because she was miraculously protected by God Himself. Saint Pelagia, sitting on the bank of the river, saw warriors on the opposite bank looking for her; but the soldiers, whose bodily eyes were closed at this time by God’s dispensation, did not see either her or her companions. Then the saint said to her servants: – Do you see how our Lord loves and covers His servants who trust in Him? After intensive fruitless searches, the soldiers returned without finding either the bishop or Pelagia. This plunged Pelagia's mother into the greatest grief and sadness, so that she seemed barely alive. Then Pelagia, feeling in her heart the inspiration from the Holy Spirit and inflamed with love for her Heavenly Bridegroom to such an extent that she was ready to give herself up to torture for the name of Christ, went to her mother’s house and began to exhort her to leave her false sorrow: “Why,” Pelagia said to her mother, “are you so angry?” Why don't you want to know the truth? You were not ashamed to summon soldiers to search for the holy man who honors the Most High God, the Creator of all creation. Aren't you ashamed to raise a fight against the God of Heaven! Don’t you know that His servant, the bishop, could by prayer beg Him to send one of His Angels to him, who would destroy all the military regiments in the blink of an eye? Saint Pelagia spoke this and much more about the Lord Jesus Christ, exhorting her mother to know the true God, but without any success, since her mother was blinded by madness and hardened by malice. She, not heeding her daughter’s divinely inspired words, sent the following message to the king’s son: “Your betrothed has dedicated herself to the Christian God.” Hearing this, the young man was very upset. His hopes were dashed. He remembered how many Christians his father had tortured, without, however, convincing any of them to submit to him. In confusion and sadness, he sat alone in his room and reasoned with himself like this: “If Pelagia believed in the Christian God and became engaged to Him, then she would never agree to leave Him and become my wife. What should I do? Should I hand her over to torment, it will lead to nothing, since I know with what great joy Christians give themselves up to torment and the cruelest death for their God. Pelagia will do the same; Of course, she would rather die than become my wife; All that remains for me is shame and even greater grief. I will feel shame and disgrace from this mockery of me from Christians, and sadness and grief from her death, since I love her immensely and am all burning with the fire of love for her. I know my fate! In order not to look at her torment and to no longer suffer the torments of a heart wounded by love, I will kill myself, since it is better for me to die once than to experience the pains of death every day, despised and hated because of the love with which I burn.” Having said this, the young man took out his sword, exposed his chest and, putting the tip of the sword to his chest, said with tears: - Let that hour be cursed in which my eyes saw great beauty, which I can neither enjoy nor get enough of. But now, at once, I will be freed from all my suffering! After these words, the young man struck himself hard in the chest with a sword and, piercing it, fell on the sword and died. Pelagia's mother, having learned about this, was horrified, fearing that King Diocletian would execute her and her entire family out of revenge for her son. Therefore, she herself tied up her daughter and brought her to the king, placing the blame for the death of his son on her alone and handing her over to death and execution. Diocletian, looking at the mother and daughter, said to them with great sadness in his heart: -What did you do? You killed my son. “So I brought to you the person responsible for the death of your son.” Execute her and avenge this death. Meanwhile, Diocletian gazed at the great beauty of Pelagia, who was more beautiful than all his wives and concubines, so that he had never seen such a beautiful woman. He was no longer thinking about execution or revenge, but about satisfying the passion that had flared up in him. He began to figure out how to turn Pelagia away from Christ and take him as his wife. He ordered that a lot of gold and precious stones be brought and placed in front of the girl, wanting to seduce the bride of Christ with this, and he gave her mother one hundred talents of 2963 gold and sent her away. She returned to her home, rejoicing with demonic joy. Saint Pelagia was left in the royal chamber in the care of the royal maids. The next day, the king ordered the holy maiden to be brought to him with honor, and he himself sat on the throne in all his splendor, with all his advisers. Many warriors surrounded him. Before such a great gathering, he addressed the holy maiden with these words: “I ask one thing from you, Pelagia, that you reject Christ; I will take you into marriage, and you will be the first in my palace; I will place a royal crown on you, and you will possess all my kingdom together with me. If I have a son from you, then after me he will sit on my throne. Saint Pelagia, filled with Divine jealousy, answered him without fear: - You are crazy, king, telling me such things! Know that I will not fulfill your desire, for I abhor your vile marriage, since I have a Bridegroom - Christ, the King of Heaven; I do not desire your royal, vain and short-lived crown, for my Lord in the Heavenly Kingdom has three incorruptible crowns prepared for me. The first is for faith, since I believed with all my heart in the true God; the second - for purity, since I handed over my virginity to Him; the third is for martyrdom, since I want to accept every torment for Him and lay down my soul for the sake of my love for Him. Hearing such words, Diocletian became very angry and ordered the copper ox to be set on fire, hoping to frighten the holy maiden. When the ox was red-hot, so that sparks flew from it, like from a burning coal, they brought the holy maiden to it. Among the people gathered for this spectacle there were many secret Christians. Seeing the girl preparing for torment, they secretly prayed to God for her, so that He would strengthen her from above with His unknown power. The king and nobles, both with caresses and threats, persuaded her to fulfill the royal desire, but she was unshakable in her decision. Then the king ordered to take off all her clothes. Seeing that they wanted to expose her, the saint loudly said to Diocletian: “It would be better if you remembered, king, about your wives and concubines, since I have the same body as them.” But the king, inflamed with lust and wanting to satiate his gaze with the spectacle of maiden nudity, ordered her to be exposed as soon as possible. But the martyr, without waiting for the hands of the wicked to touch her, having signed herself with the sign of the cross, quickly took off all her clothes, threw them to the face of the king and stood naked before the eyes of Angels and people, flaunting herself, like a royal scarlet, with a single girlish shame. And she began to reproach the king in these words: – I consider you, king, to be similar to the serpent who deceived Eve (Gen. 3:1–6) and incited Cain to kill Abel (Gen. 4:2–16), and to that demon who asked God for permission to tempt the righteous Job (Job 1:6–12). But soon, enemy of Christ, you will perish along with all your like-minded people. Having said this, she again made the sign of the cross on herself and went to the red-hot ox herself, without waiting to be thrown there. When she took hold of this ox with her hands, her hands melted like wax from a fierce fire. But she, as if feeling no pain, put her head into the hole of the ox and, going inside it, began to loudly glorify God, saying: - Glory to You, Lord, Only Begotten Son of the Most High God, for strengthening me, weak, for this feat and helping me defeat the devil and his wiles. For that be glory and worship to You and Your Beginning Father with the Holy Spirit forever. Having said this, the saint betrayed her soul into the hands of her Most Pure and Immortal Bridegroom and entered with him into the heavenly palace amid the rejoicing and singing of the Angelic powers 2964. Her venerable body melted like butter in the copper willow and spread out like fragrant ointment, so that the whole city was filled with an indescribable fragrance. The wicked king ordered her honest bones to be thrown out of the city, and they were taken to a mountain called Litaton. Four lions, coming from the desert, sat down near them, protecting them from other animals and carnivorous birds. Bishop Klinon had a revelation from God about the death of Saint Pelagia and about the place where the bones were located. And the bishop went to that mountain and found here the honest bones of Saint Pelagia and the lions guarding them. The lions, seeing the man of God, approached him and, bowing before him, returned to the desert. The bishop, taking the bones of the holy martyr, carried them to the highest hill of that mountain and laid a stone. Subsequently, during the reign of Emperor Constantine, when piety shone everywhere, he erected a church there over the honest relics of the bride of Christ. On the tombstone, Bishop Klinon made the following inscription: “The holy maiden Pelagia, who dedicated herself to God and fought for the truth to the end, rests here with her relics, and her soul reigns in heaven with the Angels in the glory of Christ.” This is how the holy martyr Pelagia completed her feat for Christ our Lord, to whom belongs glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Having despised time, and having been a partaker of heavenly blessings, having accepted the crown of suffering for the sake of it, the all-honorable Pelagie, as if you brought a gift of blood streams to the Master Christ. Pray to save us, who honor your memory, from troubles. Emperor Diocletian ruled the Roman Empire from 284 to 305. Tarsus is a large and populated ancient city in Cilicia, Asia Minor region. Founded by the Assyrian king Sennacherib (from 705 to 681 BC). Thanks to its position near the river, Kidna conducted great trade. – For Christians, the city of Tarsus is important as the birthplace and initial residence of the Holy Apostle Paul. Called by the Lord Himself to his great service, the Apostle Paul initially prepared to preach in Tarsus (see Acts 9:11–30). Currently, Tars is a small town in the Adana vilayet with 8,000 inhabitants and belongs to Turkey. It is remarkable that until now the main occupation of the inhabitants of Tarsus and its environs is the manufacture of carpets, felts for tents and all kinds of utensils, as it was in the time of the Apostle Paul, who earned his livelihood by making tents (Acts 18:3). Diocletian had no sons. The “royal son” mentioned here should be understood - as St. Demetrius of Rostov - a young man taken by Diocletian to be raised and adopted with the right to inherit the royal throne. A eunuch is a castrated servant destined for service in the harems of the East. The custom of castration (castration) of servants took place in ancient Greece and Rome, but was especially widespread in ancient times in Asia Minor. The field is a measure of length, equal to approximately 690 of our fathoms. See the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1–13). Mammon is the name of the Syrian deity, the patron of wealth. In a figurative sense, “mammon” generally meant wealth and earthly blessings. Obviously, the wonderful Woman who appeared was the Mother of God. Cydnus - now Tersus-Chai - a small river in Cilicia; originates on the Taurus and flows through the city of Tarsus. Talent is an ingot of silver or gold of varying size and value, depending on the time and place of circulation. The death of the holy martyr Pelagia followed in 287. In the 8th century, under Emperor Constantine Copronymus (from 741 to 775), her venerable relics were transferred to Constantinople and placed in a church named after her. You might be interested in: