Pelagia the Virgin (Ancient Greek: Πελαγία), also known as Pelagia of Antioch, was a Christian saint and virgin martyr who leapt to her death during the Diocletianic Persecution in refusal to offer a public sacrifice to the pagan gods by Roman soldiers,[1] or to do "something unspeakable (for she was a virgin)", typically inferred as the Roman soldiers attempting to rape her.
Pelagia is mentioned by St. Ambrose of Milan[3] and was the subject of two sermons by St. John Chrysostom.
[4] She was 15 years old when Roman soldiers arrived while she was home alone during the Diocletian Persecution.
She came out to meet them and, discovering they intended to compel her to participate in a pagan sacrifice (or to rape her), she received permission to change her clothes.
Originally, her feast day was celebrated on 8 October across the entire Christian Church,[5] in common with SS Pelagia the Harlot and Pelagia of Tarsus.