{"id":28730,"date":"2013-10-10T09:40:08","date_gmt":"2013-10-10T13:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/?p=28730"},"modified":"2014-02-03T10:51:47","modified_gmt":"2014-02-03T14:51:47","slug":"i-heard-the-talk-of-christians-why-saint-pelagia-once-the-harlot-is-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2013\/10\/i-heard-the-talk-of-christians-why-saint-pelagia-once-the-harlot-is-important\/","title":{"rendered":"I heard the talk of Christians: why Saint Pelagia once the Harlot is important"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>At this morning\u2019s Mass we heard from the Prophet Malachi. If you don\u2019t know about this minor prophet, I would spend some time with today\u2019s first reading but also do some research to know more about Malachi. He\u2019s a compelling voice.<\/p>\n

Dominican Father Jordan from New Haven\u2019s Priory preached on the life of a favor saint of his, Saint Pelagia once the Harlot. An unknown saint of the Antiochene Church whose life clearly illustrates what Malachi is getting at, and opens up for us in the Mass prayers. The Church puts on our lips these ideas found in the Collect by addressing God the Father: \u201cpour out your mercy upon us,\u201d \u201cpardon what conscience dreads,\u201d and \u201cgive what prayer does not dare to ask.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the Communion rite is finished, the Prayer after Communion asks God for the grace to be \u201crefreshed and nourished by the Sacrament … so as to be transformed into what we consume.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelagia was dancer and actress known for her beauty. Tradition tells us that her early life was none-too-moral. But her story ends as you would expect: in the arms of the Lord. Let me say up front: Pelagia\u2019s life is a narrative of mercy.<\/p>\n

Where the majority of the bishops of the region wouldn\u2019t speak with Pelagia but a bishop known for wisdom and holiness, Saint Nonnus, was willing get out of his comfort zone. Imagine that a bishop would recognize a woman\u2019s natural beauty, and be able to admit it. But I digress. Key for me is what Pelagia said, \u201cI heard the talk of Christians and I want to follow Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hagiography reports<\/strong><\/a> a letter Pelagia sent to Bishop Nonnus that moved him. She writes,<\/p>\n

To Christ\u2019s holy disciple from the devil\u2019s disciple, a sinful woman. I have heard that your God has bowed the heavens and come down to earth, not to save the righteous but sinners. Such was His humility, that He ate with publicans, and He upon Whom the cherubim dare not gaze lived among sinners and spoke with harlots. Therefore, my lord, since you are a true servant of Christ (as I hear from the Christians<\/strong>), do not spurn me who with your help seek to draw near the Savior of the world and to behold His most holy countenance.<\/p>\n

[The saint\u2019s biography (at the link above) is taken from The Great Collection of the Lives of the Saints<\/em>, Volume 2: October, compiled by St. Demetrius of Rostov.]<\/p>\n

Pelagia\u2019s story is our story, but in truth, the narrative that all the saints give is our story. Hagiography shows the contours of grace and sin and final redemption (communion) by Christ Jesus and that it is possible to live by what the New Testament (indeed, the whole Bible) reveals. Let me say that Pelagia\u00a0 is a model of recognizing in the witness of others (\u201cheard the talk of Christians\u201d) her own call from the Lord to be His disciple. AND being a student of Jesus\u2019 is our aim, isn\u2019t it? Where Pelagia was in her life so where we might have been, or may end up. Mercy was recognized and given and received and given to others. The text of The Life of St. Pelagia the Harlot<\/em>\u00a0is given to monks and nuns to encourage them in their life of conversion. The life of the saints is always formative and it opens a new door in evangelization. If it\u2019s good for the monastics it\u2019s gotta be good for the laity.<\/p>\n

The saint\u2019s life was first written by Deacon James who, in his Preface, tells us what we ought to glean from Pelagia\u2019s life:<\/p>\n

We should always have in mind the great mercy of our Lord who does not will the death of sinners but rather that all should be converted to repentance and live (1 Tim. 2). So, listen to a wonder that happened in our times. It has seemed good to me, James, to write this to you, holy brothers, so that by hearing or reading it you may gain the greatest possible aid for your souls. For the merciful God, who wills that no one should perish, has given us these days for the forgiveness of our sins, since in the time to come He will judge justly and reward everyone according to his works. Now be silent, and listen to me with all the care of which you are capable because what I have to tell you is very rich in compunction for us all.<\/p>\n

Deacon James puts his finger on the matter at hand: to always have in mind the great mercy of God who saves sinners. Does this sound familiar? Pope Francis has emphasized this point of departure. Mercy.<\/p>\n

Will I convert someone today by my talk? Will someone recognize me as a Christian by what I say and by what I do???<\/p>\n

In Orthodoxy Saint Pelagia is honored on October 8 and in Catholicism she\u2019s liturgically honored on May 4.<\/p>\n

The relics are located in the Milan Cathedral and have been there for centuries.<\/p>\n

[The Life of Saint Pelagia the Harlot<\/a><\/strong> was translated by Sr. Benedicta Ward, S.L.G., \u201cPelagia, Beauty Riding By\u201d in Harlots of the Desert, a study of repentance in early monastic sources <\/i>(Cistercian Publications, Inc., Kalamazoo, 1986): Latin Text in PL <\/i>73, 663-672).]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At this morning\u2019s Mass we heard from the Prophet Malachi. If you don\u2019t know about this minor prophet, I would spend some time with today\u2019s first reading but also do some research to know more about Malachi. He\u2019s a compelling voice. Dominican Father Jordan from New Haven\u2019s Priory preached on the life of a favor … Continue reading I heard the talk of Christians: why Saint Pelagia once the Harlot is important<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82,2],"tags":[1822,2008],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28730"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28730"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30385,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28730\/revisions\/30385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}