Page:A Dictionary of Saintly Women Volume 2.djvu/153

141 ST. PELAGIA 141 the same name ; in some of the legends, Pelagia is spelt Pelaye, Palayb. She was a native of Antioch, in Syria, and in childhood received some Christian teaching, but while still a catechumen, she took to evil ways and soon became an actress. In those days there was no innocence or virtue on the stage. If the whole fabric of society was steeped in depravity, the theatre, in the opinion of Christians and heathens alike, was saturated with its dreg^. The Chnrch saw only one way of dealing with it : reform was hopeless, mitigation impos- sible. The Fathers made a determined and uncompromising opposition to every kind of scenic representation. If an actor became a Christian, he must re- nounce his profession before he could be admitted to baptism ; if he returned to the stage, he was excommunicated. When Christianity became the recognized religion of the State, it was found im- possible to deprive ^he people of an amusement to which they were so warmly attached, and the Church was not allowed to interfere. An actor was a despised person. His father might disinherit him on the sole ground of his profession. The ministers of religion must not at- tempt to raise him from that ignominious position. Only at the point of death was it lawful to convert him ; when the world had done with him, the Church might have him. If the old classical dramas were ever put on the stage at all in those times, the women's parts were played by men, so that dancing and pantomime were the only arts prac- tised by Pelagia and the thousands of actresses in the Eoman empire. The Patriarch of Antioch sent to request the presence of several other bishops to settle some ecclesiastical matter of moment: eight came, each attended by some of his clergy. Among the number was the aged St. Nonnus, bishop, first of Heliopolis and afterwards of Edessa. This good old man was lodged at the church of St. Julian, and one evening he was sitting outside the door, breatibing the cool air and con- versing with his brethren, when Pelagia passed by, riding on a mule. She was a woman of extraordinary beauty and the best actress and dancer of wealthy and luxurious Antioch, and was so rich with the gifts of her lovers and admirers, that her dress was covered all over with gold and silver and heavy with precious stones; costly gems adorned her head and neck, which were unconcealed by any modest veil; her very shoes were embroidered with pearls ; the trappings of her mule were as gorgeous as her own clothes, and she was accompanied by a train of servants of both sexes, dressed as gaily as their mistress, taking up all the breadth of the road with their noisy presence and filling the whole air with their perfumes. The reverend Fathers, divining what manner of woman she was, discreetly averted their eyes. But there was one exception : the aged and saintly Bishop of Heliopolis looked steadfastly after the beautiful sinner, and said, while tears gathered in his pitying eyes, "God will receive even such an one as this. At the last day He will set that woman before His face and compare her with ns His servants, and the comparison wUl turn to our condemnation, for she dresses and paints herself again and again, she leaves no part of her task undone, she forgets no jewel, no pin; she spares no labour that she may serve her masters. But we — do we take half as much trouble to serve our Master ? " That night Nonnus had a dream, of a dove, all black and dirty, flying round him as he was saying mass ; he thought he caught it after much trouble, and threw it into a vessel of water, and that it came out white and glittering like snow. Next day a vast concourse of people assembled in the cathedral, to assist at a grand ceremony, in which so many bishops were to take part. I'he solemn service ended, the Patriarch requested St. Nonnus to preach. His sermon was on the last judgment ; he set forth its terrors so effectively, and spoke so touch- ingly of God's mercy to repentant sinners, that all his hearers were moved to tears. Among them was Pelagia, the actress. £Us words awoke in her slumbering conscience a fear for her own soul and a yearning for the better path from which she had long ago turned away.