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De sancta Pelagia virgine et martyre

A Homily of Praise for the holy martyr Pelagia of Antioch.

50.579 1. Blessed be God; for women henceforth mock death, and girls laugh at its end, and virgins quite young and unmarried leap upon the very goads of Hades, and suffer no evil. All these good things have come to us through Christ born of a virgin; for after those blessed birth-pangs, and that most awesome birth, the sinews of death were loosed, the power of the devil was paralyzed, and henceforth he has become easily despised not only by men, but also by women, and not only by women, but also by girls. For just as an excellent shepherd, having seized a lion that was terrifying the flocks and ravaging the whole herd, and having knocked out its teeth, and cut out its claws, and shorn its mane, makes it contemptible and ridiculous, and hands it over to shepherd boys and girls to mock henceforth; so also Christ, having seized death, which was fearsome to our nature and terrifying our whole race, and having completely dissolved its fear, handed it over, so that even virgins might mock it. For this reason also the blessed Pelagia ran upon it with such pleasure as not even to await the hands of executioners, nor to enter a courtroom, but by the excess of her own eagerness to anticipate their cruelty. For she was prepared for tortures, and punishments, and every kind of penalty, but she feared lest she should lose the crown of virginity. And that you may learn that she feared the licentiousness of the impious, she anticipates it, and snatches herself away beforehand from the indecent outrage; which no man ever attempted any such thing, but all followed to the court, and there displayed their courage; but women, on account of the susceptibility of their nature, devised this manner of death for themselves. For if it were possible both to preserve her virginity and to obtain the crowns of martyrdom, she would not have refused entry into the court; but since it was absolutely necessary to fall from one of the two, she considered it the utmost folly, when it was possible for her to obtain both victories, to depart crowned by halves. For this reason she was unwilling to go to the court, nor to become a spectacle for licentious eyes, nor to allow lewd eyes to revel in the sight of her own appearance, and to defile that holy body; but from the bedchamber and the women's quarters she came to another chamber, heaven. For it is a great thing to see executioners standing around and tearing open one's sides; but this is no less than that. For to those whose sensation has already been consumed by the variety of tortures, death no longer seems terrible, but a kind of release and relief from the impending evils; but she, who had as yet suffered nothing of the sort, but still had her body intact, and had as yet felt no pain, needed some great and noble resolve, if she were to take herself by a violent death from the present life. So when you marvel at them for their endurance, marvel at her for her 50.580 courage; when you are astonished at them for their patience, be astonished also at her for her noble resolve, because

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De sancta Pelagia virgine et martyre

ΟΜΙΛΙΑ ΕΓΚΩΜΙΑΣΤΙΚΗ Εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν μάρτυρα Πελαγίαν τὴν ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ.

50.579 αʹ. Εὐλογητὸς ὁ Θεός· καὶ γυναῖκες θανάτου λοιπὸν καταπαίζουσι, καὶ κόραι καταγελῶσι τελευτῆς, καὶ παρθένοι κομιδῇ νέαι καὶ ἀπειρόγαμοι εἰς αὐτὰ σκιρτῶσι τοῦ ᾅδου τὰ κέντρα, καὶ οὐδὲν πάσχουσι δεινόν, Ταῦτα δὴ πάντα διὰ τὸν ἐκ παρθένου Χριστὸν γέγονεν ἡμῖν τὰ ἀγαθά· μετὰ γὰρ τὰς μακαρίας ὠδῖνας ἐκείνας, καὶ τὸν φρικωδέστατον τόκον ἐξελύθη τοῦ θανάτου τὰ νεῦρα, παρελύθη ἡ τοῦ διαβόλου δύναμις, καὶ λοιπὸν οὐκ ἀνδράσι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ γυναιξὶν εὐκαταφρόνητος γέγονε, καὶ οὐ γυναιξὶ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ κόραις. Καθάπερ γάρ τις ποιμὴν ἄριστος λέοντα ἐκφοβοῦντα τὰ θρέμματα καὶ τῇ ποίμνῃ πάσῃ λυμαινόμενον λαβὼν, καὶ τοὺς ὀδόντας ἐκκόψας, καὶ τοὺς ὄνυχας ἐκτεμὼν, καὶ τὴν κόμην ἀποκείρας, εὐκαταφρόνητον καὶ καταγέλαστον ποιεῖ, καὶ παιδίοις ποιμενικοῖς καὶ κόραις παραδίδωσι καταπαίζειν λοιπόν· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς τὸν θάνατον φοβερὸν ὄντα τῇ φύσει τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ καὶ φοβοῦντα τὸ γένος ἡμῶν ἅπαν λαβὼν, καὶ τὸν φόβον αὐτοῦ διαλύσας ἅπαντα παρέδωκεν, ὥστε καὶ παρθένους καταπαίζειν αὐτοῦ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἡ μακαρία Πελαγία μετὰ τοσαύτης ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἔδραμεν ἡδονῆς ὡς μηδὲ ἀναμεῖναι δημίων χεῖρας. μηδὲ εἰς δικαστήριον εἰσελθεῖν, ἀλλὰ τῇ τῆς οἰκείας προθυμίας ὑπερβολῇ φθάσαι τὴν ἐκείνων ὠμότητα. Παρεσκεύαστο μὲν γὰρ καὶ πρὸς βασάνους, καὶ κολαστήρια, καὶ ἅπαν τιμωριῶν εἶδος, ἀλλ' ἐδεδοίκει, μὴ τὸν τῆς παρθενίας ἀπολέσῃ στέφανον. Καὶ ἵνα μάθῃς ὅτι τὴν τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἀσέλγειαν ἐδεδοίκει, προλαμβάνει, καὶ τῆς ἀσχήμονος ὕβρεως ἑαυτὴν προεξαρπάζει· ὃ ἀνθρώπων οὐδεὶς οὐδέποτε τοιοῦτον οὐδὲν ἐπεχείρησεν, ἀλλ' ἠκολούθησαν ἅπαντες εἰς τὸ δικαστήριον, κἀκεῖ τὴν ἀνδρείαν ἐπεδείξαντο· γυναῖκες δὲ διὰ τὸ τῆς φύσεως εὐεπηρέαστον, τοῦτον ἐπενόησαν ἑαυταῖς τὸν τρόπον τῆς τελευτῆς. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἦν καὶ τὴν παρθενίαν διασώσασθαι, καὶ τῶν τοῦ μαρτυρίου στεφάνων ἐπιτυχεῖν, οὐκ ἂν παρῃτήσατο τὴν εἰς τὸ δικαστήριον εἴσοδον· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀνάγκη θατέρου πάντως ἦν ἐκπεσεῖν, ἐσχάτης ἐνόμιζεν εἶναι ἀνοίας, παρὸν ἑκατέρας αὐτῇ τῆς νίκης ἐπιτυχεῖν, ἐξ ἡμισείας στεφανωθεῖσαν ἀπελθεῖν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἠθέλησεν εἰς τὸ δικαστήριον ἀπελθεῖν, οὐδὲ γενέσθαι θέατρον ἀκολάστοις ὀφθαλμοῖς, οὐδὲ παρασχεῖν ἀσελγέσιν ὄμμασιν ἐντρυφῆσαι τῇ τῆς οἰκείας ὄψεως θεωρίᾳ, καὶ τὸ ἅγιον ἐκεῖνο καθυβρίσαι σῶμα· ἀλλ' ἀπὸ τοῦ θαλάμου καὶ τῆς γυναικωνίτιδος ἐφ' ἕτερον ἦλθε θάλαμον, τὸν οὐρανόν. Μέγα μὲν γὰρ καὶ τὸ δημίους ἰδεῖν περιεστῶτας, καὶ τὰς πλευρὰς διορύττοντας· οὐκ ἔλαττον δὲ οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἐκείνου. Τοῖς μὲν γὰρ τῆς αἰσθήσεως ἤδη προαναλωθείσης τῇ ποικιλίᾳ τῶν βασάνων, οὐδὲ φοβερὸς ἔτι φαίνεται ὁ θάνατος, ἀλλ' ἀπαλλαγή τις καὶ ἄνεσις τῶν ἐπικειμένων δεινῶν· ἡ δὲ μηδὲν μηδέπω παθοῦσα τοιοῦτον, ἀλλὰ ἀκέραιον ἔτι τὸ σῶμα ἔχουσα, καὶ μηδεμιᾶς ὀδύνης αἰσθομένη μηδέπω, μεγάλου τινὸς καὶ γενναίου φρονήματος δεῖται, εἰ μέλλοι βιαίῳ θανάτῳ τῆς παρούσης ἑαυτὴν ἐξάγειν ζωῆς. Ὥστε ὅταν θαυμάζῃς ἐκείνους τῆς καρτερίας, θαύμασον ταύτην τῆς 50.580 ἀνδρείας· ὅταν ἐκπλαγῇς ἐκείνους ὑπὲρ τῆς ὑπομονῆς ἐκπλάγηθι καὶ ταύτην ὑπὲρ τοῦ γενναίου φρονήματος ὅτι