Melania the Younger (c. 383 – 31 December 439) is a Christian saint, Desert Mother, and ascetic who lived during the reign of Emperor Honorius, son of Theodosius I.

Her paternal and maternal relatives had held the highest offices of state with great distinction during the whole of the century, and Melania could even boast of a long line of imperial blood, most recently through Valerius Romulus (r. 308-309).

Living constantly under her father's watchful eye, she was obliged to comply with his wishes, and to sustain the honour of the family by conforming to all the usages of Roman society.

[6] Knowing that Melania wanted to practice a celibate lifestyle, her father, near death, asked for forgiveness for pushing the unwanted marriage years prior.

[4] As the sole heiress to her father and paternal grandfather, she inherited their wealth and enormous estates on the death of Publicola after 7 years of marriage.

Ascetics, and early Christian leaders believed that denying oneself worldly pleasures and desires was essential for spiritual growth and closeness to God.

She demonstrated no desire of worldly possessions by wearing a garment of cheap, coarse wool, and fashioned rather to hide and disfigure her womanly form.

This, as we gather from bishop Palladius,[7] consisted of fifteen eunuchs, sixty young girls who were vowed to virginity, other free-born women, slaves, and more than thirty families who had followed Pinianus in his new mode of life.

In addition to these regular guests, Melania's country house afforded hospitality to the pilgrims to Rome.Within existed numerous deputations of bishops and priests, who received every mark of honour and respect in the end of 404 and the beginning of 405, to plead the cause of John Chrysostom with Pope Innocent I.

[8] The sale of such enormous estates inevitably took several years to complete as even the smallest of Melania's properties yielded an income of abundant amount.

Their opponents contrived to take advantage of the critical state of affairs, with the secret co-operation of the senate, by confiscating the remaining estates to the Treasury.

Melania's palace on the Caelian Hill, which she was the most anxious to dispose of, was magnificent and contained an accumulation of riches so great that it was impossible to find a purchaser.

[8] Melania and Pinianus left Rome in 408 with her mother Albina and Rufinus of Aquileia, an old friend of the family, to live a monastic life near Messina (Sicily) for two years.

They resided in the magnificent villa (probably Pistunina) that they owned on the western shore of the straits, opposite Reggio Calabria, surrounded beautifully by both sea and land.

Before true departure, they attempted to visit Paulinus of Nola, but according to Gerontius of Jerusalem,[10] a storm forced the ship to an unnamed island (probably Lipari) that had been ravaged by pirates who held inhabitants for ransom.

On the advice of the principal bishops Augustine, Alypius, and Aurelius of Carthage, she was also generous to the other churches and monasteries in Africa She assigned a regular income to make them independent of precarious alms-giving.