In sanctam Pelagiam

An encomium by the same author on the same holy martyr Pelagia. A greater theater would have been fitting for Pelagia; for the contests of the maiden are great and worthy of a populous audience. Yet Christ suffices in place of the whole world, being present at the virgin’s festival; for where Christ is present, there is the whole chorus of angels. Now every martyr, displaying the body more eagerly than swords and tortures, contrives a great spectacle for the devil, conquering the incorporeal one through a body and contending against iron through flesh. But when I see even maidens laboring toward death for the sake of the Crucified One, I laugh more broadly at the devil’s audacity, who, fabricating many oracles as if foretelling the future through them, did not today foretell his own mockery, which is worthy of much laughter. For what more ridiculous could one find than the mockery the devil endured today? Having a virgin in his net, he fell out of the hunt, and having seized the girl, he did not seize her, as if grasping a shadow, not having taken hold of her herself. For the maiden, mingling the innocence of a dove with the prudence of a serpent, was caught as an innocent dove, but slipped away as a prudent serpent. For she did not despair of victory when captured, nor did she let her understanding be confined with her flesh; but she devised a scheme to counter the audacity of her captors. What then? She feigns repentance, and though shipwrecked in such a storm, she commands her face to be cheerful.

But those who were enticed by her appearance and stolen by the maiden's cheerfulness, suffered something toward her, and, being asked to put on a bridal garment, they grant permission, not only to gratify the virgin, but also to appear superior to the judge if they should lead away a adorned maiden. She, having obtained the means, immediately clothed herself in true adornment: girding herself with boldness and donning the hopes of the resurrection, she ran to the parapet of the roof, cast herself down from there, and conquers the form of wrestling which the Devil once dared to propose to the Lord as a great thing, saying, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down." Before her faith, I am astounded at the maiden's boldness; for who would not have stirred within herself: "I give myself over to a forced fall, fearing to commit fornication; the purpose is noble, if the fall is confirmed by death; for even if they abuse a dead woman, I will not know. But if I strike the ground and break the vital parts of the body, while the soul remains in the limbs, lamenting the injury to the body, I fear what I will suffer when brought before the judge. For they will release me dishonored, having broken my body and given it over to fornication, so that my misfortune is twofold: the use of the body harmed by the fall and my virginity violated." These things would have disturbed another maiden; but she, trusting in faith as a guarantor of the end, rushed toward the boldness of the fall. You have been caught by a maiden, Devil; you have been defeated by a virgin's daring.

For what you offered to your own Master, a certain slave girl of his summons you, a maiden, and rushing to the wing of the roof, she hurls herself from there. She does not obey when called through a judge, she does not accept the inserted battle; for she recognizes the intent of your cunning. You often summon virgins before judges as if to whips, and without battle you cast them out more bitterly than those conquered in battle. But if you truly summon her to a contest, or if you summon the maiden to the wrestling grounds, when she throws herself from the roof, grapple with her as she falls, endure her falling from there. Stand and attempt the wrestling match, sharpen whatever cunning you wish. You have the earth as the wrestling ground, plant in it the sword of death, spread beneath her a murderous resistance, prepare a crushing for her as she descends; for she will somersault through all your caves as if they were softer than a swimming pool. And what is greater, not even does the written word demand that God command the angels concerning her, lest her body ever strike a stone; but that he command the soul to depart after the fall of the flesh. O one created in the female sex, but shown to be male in spirit. O one fought over by bands of virgins and choirs of martyrs. O one who did not grant even the enjoyment of a glance to a licentious judge.

Let us then also pursue the maiden’s self-restraint, let us take up trophies against the pleasures, let us break wantonness when it approaches, let us bind piety before the soul, let us mine a judge from trials, let us display timely acts of daring, let us mortify our members that are upon the earth, so that the Lord may recast the body of our humility into becoming conformed to his own body, to whom are glory and power for the ages. Amen.