Her parents - eminent and rich people - saw in their daughter an heiress and continuer of the family.

At the age of fourteen, Melania was married against her will to the noble young man Apinian. From the very beginning of their life together, the saint begged her husband to live with her in chastity or to let her go unsullied in both body and soul. Apinian answered: “When, at the command of the Lord, we acquire two children as heirs to our property, then together we will renounce the world.” Soon Saint Melania gave birth to a girl, whom the young parents dedicated to God. Continuing to live in marriage, Melania secretly wore a hair shirt and spent her nights in prayer.

Melanin's second birth was premature and painful. A boy was born, he was baptized, and he immediately went to the Lord. Seeing the suffering of his wife, Blessed Apinian asked God to save the life of Saint Melania and vowed to spend the rest of their life together in chastity. Having recovered, the saint took off her silk clothes forever. Soon their daughter died.

Meanwhile, the parents of the saints opposed their desire to devote themselves to God. Only when Melania’s father suffered a fatal illness, he asked them for forgiveness and admonished them to follow the path they had chosen, asking them to pray for him. The saints immediately left the city of Rome, and for them began new life entirely dedicated to the service of God. Apinian was 24 years old at that time, and Melania was 20. They began to visit the sick, receive strangers, and generously help the poor. They went around prisons, places of exile and mines and freed the unfortunate people who were being held there for debt.

Having sold estates in Italy and Spain, they generously helped the elders and monasteries, buying lands for the latter in Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, Phenicia and Palestine. Many temples and hospitals were built with their funds. The churches of the West and East received benefits from them. When they left their homeland and sailed to Africa, a strong storm began during the voyage. The sailors said that this was the wrath of God, but blessed Melania told them to surrender the ship to the will of the One who carried it. The waves washed the ship onto an island on which stood a city besieged by barbarians. The besiegers demanded ransom from the residents, threatening the city with destruction. The saints contributed the necessary money, and thereby saved the city and its inhabitants from destruction.

Arriving in Africa, they also provided assistance to all those in need. With the blessing of local bishops, they donated to churches and monasteries. At the same time, Saint Melania continued to humble her flesh with strict fasting, and strengthened her soul by incessantly reading the Word of God, rewriting sacred books and distributing them to the poor. She sewed the hair shirt herself and wore it without taking it off. The saints stayed in Africa for 7 years, and then, freed, according to the commandment of Christ, from all their wealth, they headed to Jerusalem. Along the way, in Alexandria, they were received by the holy Bishop Cyril and met in the temple with the holy elder Nestorius, who had the gift of prophecy and healing. The elder turned to them, comforting them and calling for courage and patience in anticipation of the Heavenly Glory.

In Jerusalem, the saints distributed their remaining gold to the poor and spent their days in poverty and prayer. After a short trip to Egypt, where the saints visited many desert fathers, Saint Melania secluded herself in a lonely cell on the Mount of Olives, only occasionally seeing Saint Apinian. Gradually, a monastery arose near the cell, where up to ninety virgins gathered. Saint Melania, out of humility, did not agree to be his abbess and continued to live and pray alone. In her teachings, Saint Melania called on the sisters to stay awake and pray, guard their thoughts and, first of all, kindle love for God and for each other, observing holy Orthodox faith and purity of soul and body. She especially exhorted them to be obedient to the will of God. Recalling the words of the apostle, she advised fasting “not with grief or under compulsion: for God loves those who give willingly.”

Through her efforts, a chapel and an altar were built in the monastery, where the relics of the saints were buried: the prophet of God Zechariah, the holy First Martyr Stephen, and the forty martyrs of Sebaste. By this time Saint Apinian had departed to the Lord. Saint Melania buried the relics of the blessed one and spent about four years near this place in fasting and unceasing prayer. The saint wished to build monastery on the Mount of the Ascension of Christ. The Lord blessed her plan by sending a lover of Christ who gave funds for the monastery. Receiving them with joy, Saint Melania accomplished this great deed in one year. In the monastery she erected, holy men began to tirelessly offer their prayers to God in the Church of the Ascension of Christ.

Having completed her labors, the blessed one left Jerusalem, going to Constantinople to visit her pagan uncle, in the hope of saving his soul. On the way, she prayed at the relics of St. Lawrence, at the site of his martyrdom, and received a good omen. Arriving in Constantinople, the saint found her uncle there in illness and talked with him. Under the influence of her conversations, the patient abandoned paganism and died a Christian.

At that time, many residents of the capital were confused by the heretical teachings of Nestorius. Saint Melania received everyone who turned to her for admonition. Many miracles happened through the prayers of the blessed one. Returning to her monastery, the saint of God felt the approach of death and announced this to the presbyter and sisters. In deep sorrow and tears they listened to her last instructions. Having asked for their prayers and commanded them to keep themselves pure, having partaken of the Holy Mysteries with joy and jubilation, Saint Melania meekly and calmly gave up her soul to the Lord. This was in 439.

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In Christian historiography, she is called differently: Melania of Rome, Melania the Roman, Melania the Younger (in contrast to her grandmother Melania the Elder). On January 13, Orthodox Christians celebrate the memory of this amazing woman, who, for the sake of love for Christ, renounced power, noble origin and fabulous wealth. “Parishioner” decided to remind its readers of some moments of her life.

Venerable Melania is considered one of the most prominent figures in female monasticism. The girl, who, due to her noble position and wealth, occupied a high position in the Roman Empire, gave up everything in order to choose her own thorny path to the Lord.

We owe a detailed, vivid and very lively description of the life of Melania of Rome to her friend and student, the Jerusalem monk and presbyter Gerontius. True, until the end of the 19th century, texts by other authors telling about the life of Melania of Rome were more common, in which an attentive reader could notice many inaccuracies. Only in 1903 were the Greek and Latin versions of the Life of St. Melania the Younger published, written by Gerontius in the 5th century and discovered in late XIX century almost simultaneously in the Vatican repository and in the Escorial Library near Madrid.

...According to the calculations of theologians, Melania the Younger was born in 385 or 386. She was the daughter of Senator Valery Publikola, who came from a noble and ancient Valeri family. The girl was not only a noble Roman, but also the heir to a colossal fortune: her father owned huge estates, estates and palaces with slaves in Rome, Sicily, Gaul, Aquitaine, Spain, Brittany and North Africa. Having all this, the girl could have easily lived her life in honor and wealth, but under the influence of her paternal grandmother, Melania the Elder, she chose a different, Christian path.

(By the way, Melania the Elder, about whom, unlike her granddaughter, much less is known, also worked a lot in the Christian field. For many years she was mentored in Egypt by prominent ascetics, then lived in Palestine, where she founded a convent, in which she lived for many years together with 50 nuns.Then, when she turned 60, Melania the Elder returned to Rome, where she managed to direct Christian and monastic path many noble Romans. Including my granddaughter).

...But let's return to Melania the Younger. Also in early age the girl decided to devote herself to the Lord, to choose the path of purity, asceticism, and mercy. How poetically Gerontius writes about her, “Blessed Melania, being one of the first in the Roman Senate, from her youth loved Christ and, wounded by divine love, desired bodily purity.” For the sake of Christ, Melania wanted to keep herself in bodily purity, but, alas, her father Valery Publicola decided otherwise: he decided to marry his daughter to a descendant of the consuls of the noble Roman Pinian (in many texts on Orthodox websites he is mistakenly called Apinian - Ed.). No matter how much the girl begged him not to let her marry, the father remained deaf to her pleas.

At the time of marriage, Melania had just turned 14 years old; Pinian was three years older than her. He sincerely fell in love with Melania, and she, seeing his love, turned to her future husband with a prayer, asking him to leave her pure. Pinian disagreed. Although he was also a Christian and shared Melania’s desire for an immaculate life, at the same time Pinian remained hostage to the prejudices of the Roman nobility, where it was considered important to pass on to children a noble name, position in society, and wealth. Therefore, Pinian responded to Melania’s pleas as follows: “When, by the will of God, we give birth to two children, heirs to our fortune, then you and I will both renounce the world.”

But, as they say, man proposes, but God disposes. Over the next two years, Melania gave birth to two children: first a daughter, then a son... The son died soon after giving birth, as soon as his parents had time to baptize him. And after this, my daughter died. Moreover, Melania herself became very ill. Seeing her suffering and realizing that he could lose his beloved wife, Pinian turned to God with a prayer, making a vow that if Melania recovered, then for the rest of their lives they would both live a chaste life and devote themselves to Christ. And Melania was healed.

The couple even wanted to flee Rome in order to live the rest of their days in solitude and prayer, but their decision was actively opposed by their parents, in particular Melania’s father Valery Publicola, in whom the pride of a Roman patrician was strong. He forbade his daughter to even think about any monastic solitude and demanded that she and her husband take that high position in Roman society that they were worthy of by blood and wealth.

...Only a few years later, when Valery Publikola was struck by a terrible illness, on his deathbed he asked his daughter and her husband for forgiveness, saying: “Forgive me, child, that out of great foolishness I fell into terrible sin. For I, fearing the slander of detractors, saddened you by hindering the Heavenly calling. But now I am going to the Lord, and in the future you can manage yourself and, following the desire for God, do as you decide.”

At first, Melania and Pinian decided to move towards God through mercy: they helped the sick and needy, received strangers who came to Rome, giving them money for food and accommodation, went around prisons and mines, ransoming and giving freedom to prisoners. The doors of their home were always open to those in need.

It is known that the devil tempts people by skillfully selecting one or another “key” for each person: he hurts one with pride, catches another in the net of vanity, and offers power, money or the love of women to another. For Melania and Pinian, the stone that prevented them from tearing themselves away from everything earthly in order to get closer to God was their truly gigantic inheritance, which after the death of Valery Publicola brought them fabulous incomes.

That is why, guided by the words of Jesus “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven"(Matthew 19:21), Melania and Pinian decided to sell all their immense property and use the proceeds to create monasteries and help those in need.

Although it was very difficult to sell rich real estate scattered throughout the Roman Empire. And then the niece of the Roman Emperor Theodosius, the zealous Christian Queen Serena, offered her help.

After meeting with Melania, she instructed all governors of the Roman Empire to immediately begin selling lands, estates, palaces, and slaves belonging to Melania (by the way, the sale of Melania’s property almost completely destroyed the Roman economy).

In 410, when a horde of Visigoths under the command of Allaric began to approach Rome, Melania, along with her husband, mother Albina and grandmother Melania the Elder, left for North Africa to their estate in Tagaste in Numidia ( modern territory Algeria and northern Tunisia - Ed.). There Melania meets the famous Christian philosopher and theologian, the most influential preacher, Bishop of Hippo Aurelius Augustine, with whom she develops a strong friendship.

It is important to note that Melania the Roman in her life always and in everything trusted in the will of God, with a sincere soul she entrusted herself into the hands of the Lord, reasonably believing that the Lord would guide her on the right path. In this sense, the story that Gerontius cites in his “Life of Saint Melania the Younger” is very instructive. He talks about how, on the way to North Africa, Melania and Pinian decided to visit Sicily in order to communicate with the holy Bishop Paulinus of Nolan.

But a terrible storm broke out at sea, their ship was tossed like a piece of wood, the passengers were in great fear, and the sailors said that the wrath of God was not allowing us to sail to Sicily. And then Melania turned to the sailors: “It is not the will of God that we should sail where we wanted. So entrust the ship to the carrier and do not fight the winds.” She suggested sailing at the will of the waves and wind. And the wind, by the will of God, brought their ship to a certain island (Gerontius does not give its name - Ed.), which was recently captured by barbarians. They demanded a large ransom from the inhabitants of the island, threatening otherwise to kill everyone: women, children, old people. But the inhabitants of the island did not have the required money, and they were already preparing for death. At that very moment, a storm washed Melania's ship to their island. She paid the required ransom, and the barbarians left...

Once in Africa, Melania and Pinian continued to actively sell off their property, which they had in Spain, Numidia and Mauritania (the modern state of Morocco - Ed.). They generously distributed the proceeds to the poor and sick, ransomed prisoners, donated them to monasteries... But at this time, great saints and bishops - Blessed Augustine, his close friend Bishop of Tageta Alypius, as well as Aurelius of Carthage visited Melania and Pinian and gave them advice: “ The money you are now giving to monasteries will be spent in a short time. If you want to have a memory that does not fade in heaven and on earth, donate buildings and maintenance to each monastery.”. Melania and Pinian heeded the advice and continued to do so.

At the same time, Melania herself very diligently walked along the thorny road to the Lord she had chosen in childhood. She wore simple clothes made of coarse hair, fasted almost the entire year, with the exception of the holiday period from Easter to Pentecost, prayed a lot and tirelessly, diligently studied the works of the Holy Fathers, writing down main thoughts in small notebooks, four times a year she re-read the Old and New Testaments .

After spending seven years in Africa and getting rid of almost all their wealth, Melania and Pinian decided to visit holy places and went to Jerusalem. There, with the remaining funds, Melania built a nunnery, where she gathered 90 virgins around her. And when in 431 Pinian departed to the Lord, Melania decided to build a monastery on the Mount of the Ascension of Christ. True, by this time the last remnants of the once colossal wealth had ended, and there were people who expressed strong doubts that Melania the Roman would be able to build a monastery in the Holy Land... But since the Lord blessed her plan, He sent her a rich Christian , who gave her all the necessary funds to complete the construction.

The Venerable Melania, the first of the noble Romans “from a young age to strive for Christ, thirsting for bodily integrity and wounded by Divine love,” was born into a Christian family. Her parents - eminent and rich people - saw in their daughter an heiress and continuer of the family. At the age of fourteen, Melania was married against her will to the noble young man Apinian. From the very beginning of their life together, the saint begged her husband to live with her in chastity or to let her go unsullied in both body and soul. Apinian answered: “When, at the command of the Lord, we acquire two children as heirs to our property, then together we will renounce the world.” Soon Saint Melania gave birth to a girl, whom the young parents dedicated to God. Continuing to live in marriage, Melania secretly wore a hair shirt and spent her nights in prayer. Melanin's second birth was premature and painful. A boy was born, he was baptized, and he immediately went to the Lord. Seeing the suffering of his wife, Blessed Apinian asked God to save the life of Saint Melania and vowed to spend the rest of their life together in chastity. Having recovered, the saint took off her silk clothes forever. Soon their daughter died. Meanwhile, the parents of the saints opposed their desire to devote themselves to God. Only when Melania’s father suffered a fatal illness, he asked them for forgiveness and admonished them to follow the path they had chosen, asking them to pray for him. The saints immediately left the city of Rome, and a new life began for them, entirely devoted to serving God. Apinian was 24 years old at that time, and Melania was 20. They began to visit the sick, receive strangers, and generously help the poor. They went around prisons, places of exile and mines and freed the unfortunate people who were being held there for debt. Having sold estates in Italy and Spain, they generously helped the elders and monasteries, buying lands for the latter in Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, Phenicia and Palestine. Many temples and hospitals were built with their funds. The churches of the West and East received benefits from them. When they left their homeland and sailed to Africa, a strong storm began during the voyage. The sailors said that this was the wrath of God, but blessed Melania told them to surrender the ship to the will of the One who carried it. The waves washed the ship onto an island on which stood a city besieged by barbarians. The besiegers demanded ransom from the residents, threatening the city with destruction. The saints contributed the necessary money, and thereby saved the city and its inhabitants from destruction. Arriving in Africa, they also provided assistance to all those in need. With the blessing of local bishops, they donated to churches and monasteries. At the same time, Saint Melania continued to humble her flesh with strict fasting, and strengthened her soul by incessantly reading the Word of God, rewriting sacred books and distributing them to the poor. She sewed the hair shirt herself and wore it without taking it off.

The saints stayed in Africa for 7 years, and then, freed, according to the commandment of Christ, from all their wealth, they headed to Jerusalem. Along the way, in Alexandria, they were received by the holy Bishop Cyril and met in the temple with the holy elder Nestorius, who had the gift of prophecy and healing. The elder turned to them, comforting them and calling for courage and patience in anticipation of the Heavenly Glory. In Jerusalem, the saints distributed their remaining gold to the poor and spent their days in poverty and prayer. After a short trip to Egypt, where the saints visited many desert fathers, Saint Melania secluded herself in a lonely cell on the Mount of Olives, only occasionally seeing Saint Apinian. Gradually, a monastery arose near the cell, where up to ninety virgins gathered. Saint Melania, out of humility, did not agree to be his abbess and continued to live and pray alone. In her teachings, Saint Melania called on the sisters to watch and pray, to guard their thoughts and, first of all, to kindle love for God and for each other, observing the holy Orthodox faith and purity of soul and body. She especially exhorted them to be obedient to the will of God. Recalling the words of the apostle, she advised fasting “not with grief or under compulsion: for God loves those who give willingly.” Through her efforts, a chapel and an altar were built in the monastery, where the relics of the saints were buried: the prophet of God Zechariah, the holy First Martyr Stephen and the Forty Saints who suffered torment in Sebaste. By this time Saint Apinian had departed to the Lord. Saint Melania buried the relics of the blessed one and spent about four years near this place in fasting and unceasing prayer.

The saint wished to build a monastery on the Mount of the Ascension of Christ. The Lord blessed her plan by sending a lover of Christ who gave funds for the monastery. Receiving them with joy, Saint Melania accomplished this great deed in one year. In the monastery she erected, holy men began to tirelessly offer their prayers to God in the Church of the Ascension of Christ. Having completed her labors, the blessed one left Jerusalem, going to Constantinople to visit her pagan uncle, in the hope of saving his soul. On the way, she prayed at the relics of St. Lawrence, at the site of his martyrdom, and received a good omen. Arriving in Constantinople, the saint found her uncle there in illness and talked with him. Under the influence of her conversations, the patient abandoned paganism and died a Christian. At that time, many residents of the capital were confused by the heretical teachings of Nestorius. Saint Melania received everyone who turned to her for admonition. Many miracles happened through the prayers of the blessed one. Returning to her monastery, the saint of God felt the approach of death and announced this to the presbyter and sisters. In deep sorrow and tears they listened to her last instructions. Having asked for their prayers and commanded them to keep themselves pure, having partaken of the Holy Mysteries with joy and jubilation, Saint Melania meekly and calmly gave up her soul to the Lord. This was in 439.

Reverend Melania the Elder is one of the most interesting and colorful figures in church history of the 4th century. Connected with her by kinship or friendship are such ascetics as St. Rufinus of Aquileia, St. Paulinus of Nolan, St. Isidore the Host, Blessed Jerome of Stridon, Deaconess Olympias of Constantinople and others. No less significant person was her granddaughter Melania the Younger. But a lot is known about the latter thanks to the hagiographic texts of Simeon Metaphrastus and Abbot Gerontius, which spread in both the East and the West, as well as the research of Cardinal Rampolla (1905). Much has been preserved about Melania the Elder less information. The main one is in the “History of Lavsaik” by Palladius, who met her in Jerusalem, and some in the letters of her relative St. Paulinus of Nolan and other contemporaries. Palladius calls her blessed, Blessed Jerome - the new Thekla, the noblest of Roman wives. Of course, he means nobility of spirit.
Discipleship
The Monk Melania was born in Spain around 342 (a later date has been convincingly refuted by Murphy), and her childhood and adolescence passed there. Her mother was from a rich and noble family of Pontius sister mother of St. Peacock of Nolan (according to another version, Peacock was Melania’s uncle, but she was 10 years older than her uncle). Saint Melania's father (according to another version - grandfather) received the consulate in 341. The family was well-born and honored. Her husband, Valery Maximus, was chosen from the same family. She got married at the age of 14-15 (356-357). The Lord gave the newlyweds three sons. The family moved to Rome, Valerius Maximus made an excellent career and in 361 became prefect Eternal City. He remained in this post until 363, and then was probably appointed president to a province, perhaps to Spain. But what attracts attention is the fact that Valerius Maximus became and remained a Roman prefect during the reign of Julian the Apostate, so there could have been an exile, which seems more likely. Be that as it may, the family followed him. Perhaps Saint Melania’s family was Christian, but maybe not, because her close relative Peacock lived happily in paganism until he was 25 years old, until he married the Christian Tarasia. In any case, they were baptized then in mature age except in cases of terminal illness. When Melania Sr. accepted holy baptism, unknown.
The year 364 was probably the most tragic in the life of Saint Melania, because during this year three of the people closest to her died - her husband and two sons. She was left with one child, who, as one of her friends wrote, seemed to have been born to upset her mother. But whether this grief was connected with the character, or the subsequent upbringing of the child, or whether the child simply reminded of his father and brothers who died suddenly and prematurely, it is difficult to say. One thing is certain – the son did not follow in his mother’s footsteps. He received an excellent education, was rich and successful, but almost until his death he prevented his daughter, Melania the Younger, from her maximalist Christian aspirations.
In 365, Saint Melania Stasha returns to Rome, probably in order to give her son a good education. If she was a pagan, then her conversion to Christ most likely took place during this period.
In Christian circles, including Roman ones, by this time there had been a strong and persistent interest in the monastic movement in the East, primarily in Egypt. This probably happened under the influence of St. Athanasius of Alexandria, a pupil of Anthony the Great, who was in exile in different cities of Italy. Groups of people appear who strive for a strictly ascetic lifestyle. One of the most famous is the circle of the patrician Marcella, who formed a kind of monastery in her palace on the Aventine Hill. They lived according to the principle: “we’ll pop and we’ll drink,” so they were later criticized by Blessed Jerome for lordship and sybaritism. Of course, due to her position in society, Melania the Elder could have been a member of this circle, but it is more likely that she was under some other, more ascetic, influence. One way or another, by 372 she had a firm decision to part with her property and follow Christ in the best traditions of the Egyptian East. But it was not there! Her entire family turns against her. They are especially outraged by the idea of ​​selling property. But Melania the Elder was a strong-willed woman. It was not easy to fight with her. She decided to escape the clutches of wealth and nobility at any cost. It must be kept in mind that in Ancient Rome the woman was very dependent. Her fate was decided by her husband or guardian. Perhaps the relatives demanded that she leave her son Valery Publicola at home, providing for him in accordance with his position (he was 10-12 years old or a little more). Saint Paulinus of Nolan compared her sorrows associated with the need to part with her son with the sacrifice of Anna, the mother of the prophet Samuel. Saint Melania appointed a guardian for her son, one of her relatives, and, despite the difficulties of the winter journey, she went to Egypt. Probably Saint Melania was the first woman in the West to undertake such an exotic pilgrimage for that time.
Arriving in Alexandria, she immediately sold her jewelry and began to do charity work. The poor, the sick, prisoners, orphans, hopeless debtors - these are the closest circle of her current communication. But the purpose of her journey was to meet the Egyptian ascetics. Therefore, she begins to diligently visit ascetics who labored in the vicinity of Alexandria. She was especially impressed by the recluse Alexandra, who spent her entire life in a cave from her early youth. In Alexandria, Saint Melania met Rufinus from Aquileia, who came to the East for the same purpose as she. Palladium says about him that he did not know a kinder and more educated person, but Palladium has seen holy men. But at that time the routes of Saint Melania and Saint Rufinus diverged.
In connection with works of charity, Saint Melania met the Venerable Isidore the Host, a disciple of the Venerable Macarius of Alexandria. It was he who guided Melania on her six-month journey through the Nitrian desert and directed her to Saint Pambo. Traveling through the Nitrian desert at any time of the year was not easy, but Saint Melania not only walked around it length and breadth, but also visited the hermits Skete and Kellia, even more impassable places. When she met Reverend Pamvo and wanted to give him a large number of silver, he at first refused, but since she strongly begged, he ordered one of the brothers to distribute this money to the monks in Libya. She gave the money to that brother, but at the same time could not resist saying to Abba Pambo:
“Father, notice how much silver I give, three hundred liters.”
Naturally, the young woman wanted praise. And then she received her first ascetic lesson:
“- God, to whom you brought silver, my daughter, does not ask you how much you brought (...) If you gave me silver, then of course you would tell me how much you give, and you give it to God, Who did not despise and two mites for the widow, but he accepted them more willingly than many riches. So be silent, don’t sound the trumpet in front of you.”
It is one thing to hear about non-covetous people and quite another to encounter them personally. It was clearly a shock to her that a person could refuse a lot of money, give it to someone unknown and not even ask how much he lost!
Perhaps there were other lessons, but Saint Melania kept silent about them. Except one.
She made an impression on Abba Pamvo, and, dying, he wanted to see her. When she arrived, he was weaving a basket. Having stuck the last rod into it, he handed the basket to Saint Melania with the words:
“- Since I settled in this desert, built a cell and live in it, not a single day has passed that I did not do something with my own hands to the point of fatigue, I also do not remember that I ate the bread given to me someone, but always - earned by the labors of my hands, and no such word came out of my mouth that I would now have to repent with shame, but I go to the Lord as if I had never begun to live a monastic life pleasing to God.
With these words, he surrendered his honest and holy soul into the hands of God, without suffering any bodily illness.”
It was last lesson Abba Pamvo to the future nun. And the speech here was not at all about humility, but about the infinite smallness of any human effort in comparison with the task set by the Lord: “Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.”
Saint Melania reverently kept Abba Pamvo's basket all her life.
Serving Confessors
Soon Saint Athanasius of Alexandria also died. After his death and the appointment of the Arian Lucius in his place, persecution began in Egypt. Orthodox monasticism. More than a hundred monks and bishops were resettled from the desert to Diocaesarea, Palestine. Saint Melania went after them and helped them with labor and money. Because of this, she was arrested and imprisoned. The Palestinian proconsul, being misled by her poor clothes and suspecting that she was a slave transferring someone's money to the exiles, decided to warm his hands on this. But she said: “I am the daughter of so-and-so and the wife of so-and-so, but I am a servant of Christ. I’m not ashamed of the cheapness of my clothes, that’s not my dignity. And you won’t intimidate me or rob me.” The official was embarrassed and began to apologize. He allowed her to serve the sufferers without hindrance.

Founding of the monastery
When the exile of her charges ended, the saint moved to Jerusalem and thought about founding a monastery here. At the same time, Rufinus, a victim of the Arians in Alexandria, arrives in Jerusalem. And around 379 they founded two monasteries on the Mount of Olives - a women's monastery and a little later a men's monastery. The latter was headed by Rufinus, and the first by Melania. Soon about fifty girls gathered in the women's monastery. It is difficult to say anything about the rules of this monastery, where the saint spent 27 years. Of course, the Egyptian experience was not in vain. Prayer, work, extensive charity, and strict asceticism were the main principles by which the monastery existed. But we must not forget that Saint Melania was a bookish person. Palladium emphasizes that she attached primary importance to literary pursuits, so that night for her often turned into day (she rested 2 hours a day). She re-read the manuscripts seven or eight times. And not only the ancient fathers, but also the contemporaries. And her contemporaries were the Cappadocian fathers, John Chrysostom, Hilary of Pictavia, Ambrose of Milan. All of them related to the problems in one way or another monastic life. There is an assumption that Saint Melania chose the rules of Basil the Great for her monastery. (When the Monk Rufinus returned to the West in 397, he was soon asked to translate and participate in the dissemination of the rules of Saint Basil, because he knew him well and loved them, and Rufinus was the confessor of Saint Melania).
The community of St. Melania is distinguished by exceptional hospitality and mercy. About this quality of Saint Melania, Palladius writes: “It is not for me to tell how many things her Divine zeal distributes, as if burning them in fire (...) No one was left outside of her benevolence - neither the East, nor the West, nor the North, nor the South. She did charity to monasteries, churches, prisoners, people unknown to her (...) She zealously did this, although she no longer had an inch of land...”
In 385, Blessed Jerome of Stridon settled in Jerusalem. Together with the aristocrat Pavla, they created a double monastery with male and female halves. Their community was in the closest, kindest communication with the community of the Monks Rufinus and Melania. In the scriptorium of the Rufino monastery, manuscripts for Blessed Jerome were constantly copied and there was a continuous exchange of texts between the two communities.
Evagrius of Pontus, who became ill spiritually and physically, found shelter in the monastery of St. Melania. The saint looked after him, and when he began to come to his senses, she told him:
- Give me your word before the Lord that you will adhere to a strict monastic life and I, a sinner, will pray for you, so that you will be allowed to live.
Having repented and accepted the monastic robe from the hands of the saint, Evagrius disappeared into the Nitrian desert.
At this time there was an incident with four hundred fallen monks - either Doukhobors or supporters of Paulinus of Antioch, whom Saint Melania convinced to change their views and reunite with the Church.
It can be assumed that during the same period, Saint Melania was visited by the deaconess of the Church of Constantinople, Saint Olympias, who lived in her monastery for some time and Melania the Elder became her spiritual mentor in ascetic deeds.
Household chores
In part, purely external events related to the discussion of Blessed Jerome with the presbyter Rufinus regarding Origen forced the monk to leave Jerusalem. But in her sudden rush to Rome there was another background: “when this praiseworthy wife heard about her granddaughter that she had married, but intended to renounce the world, fearing that she would somehow be drawn into an unjust teaching, or heresy, or into a vicious life, boarded a ship and, sailing from Caesarea, arrived in Rome twenty days later. Then she was already sixty years old.” This happened in 399 or 400.
One noteworthy event occurred during the voyage, which clearly characterizes the ascetic appearance of Saint Melania: “We found ourselves in extreme heat (...) and (deacon) Juvenaly took the basin and began to thoroughly wash his hands and feet ice water. After washing, he threw the rug on the floor and lay down to rest.
Melania approached him, like a wise mother of a real son, and began to sneer at his softness, saying:
“How dare you, at such an age, when your blood is hot, please your flesh in this way?(...) At the age of sixty, with the exception of my fingertips, I don’t wash my arms, legs, or face with water. I am tormented by various ailments, and doctors try to force me to make concessions to the flesh, but never in my travels have I rested on a bed or used a bedding.”
Having descended on Italian soil in the capital of the Campania, Naples, the Monk Melania went to Nola to visit her relative - the former proconsul, former governor of the province, and now presbyter Paulinus, who looked after two monasteries, in one of which he himself lived, and in the other his wife Tarasia. Saint Melania was received very warmly and presented Saint Paulinus with a piece of the Cross of the Lord and the skin of a lamb given to her by the Monk Isidore the Host. The history of this skin is as follows. One Gehenna brought in her teeth St. Macarius Alexandrinsky of his blind cub. The monk healed him and, in gratitude, received this skin from the baby’s mother. She, of course, got it from the reverend for the “atrocity,” and the skin was given to Isidore.
Saint Paulinus of Nolan in one of his letters described this to the Monk Sulpicius Severus and spoke very cordially about his relative Melania. He also wrote that their spiritual relationship is much more valuable than blood, which indicates their inner closeness. Although, of course, the modest ascetic experience of St. Paulinus could not yet be compared with the works of St. Melania.
Finally, the Venerable Melania resides in Rome. There she finds her granddaughter Melania the Younger and her husband Pinian, who find themselves in exactly the same situation as she herself almost four decades ago, when she decided to sell the estate and devote herself to God. All relatives, led by the parents of Melania and Pinian, took up arms against them. The grandmother realized that this fortress could not be taken by storm, and began a long siege. She prayed and preached. However, she might not have said a word - her life, her appearance spoke for itself. But it was not in her character to remain silent. She became, in someone’s wonderful expression, “an apostle of monasticism.” Moreover, in its most radical form. The result was the conversion from paganism to Christianity of the husband of Apronius’s niece and Avita’s niece herself, as well as the involvement of Albina’s daughter-in-law Tseyonia in ascetic labor. Even her son Valery Publikola, having become seriously ill, changed his tough position on the affairs of his daughter and son-in-law. (And, presumably, he turned his heart to his mother). The problem of Melania the Younger and her husband Pinian was finally resolved by the emperor's mother-in-law Serena, who ordered not to disturb this blessed couple. Of course, through the prayers of Grandma Melania.
In 406, the whole family went to Saint Paulinus in Nola, but they had to flee from the Goths who invaded Messina and for some time they lived with Rufinus of Aquileia. In 4-8 they sailed to Africa and settled on their estate in Tagaste. There they met Blessed Augustine of Hippo and his friend Alypius of Tagasta, and then went further east to Cyril of Alexandria and, ultimately, home to Jerusalem. There, in 410, Melania the Elder died, and her granddaughter and her husband Valery Pinian continued her exploits, founding two monasteries in which they lived, working and doing good until their death.

The Venerable Melania, the first of the noble Romans “from a young age who strove for Christ, thirsting for bodily integrity and wounded by Divine love,” was born into a Christian family. Her parents - eminent and rich people - saw in their daughter an heiress and continuer of the family.

At the age of fourteen, Melania was married against her will to the noble young man Apinian. From the very beginning of their life together, the saint begged her husband to live with her in chastity or to let her go unsullied in both body and soul.

Apinian answered: “When, at the command of the Lord, we acquire two children as heirs to our property, then together we will renounce the world.”

Soon Saint Melania gave birth to a girl, whom the young parents dedicated to God. Continuing to live in marriage, Melania secretly wore a hair shirt and spent her nights in prayer. Melania's second birth was premature and painful. A boy was born, he was baptized, and he immediately went to the Lord.

Seeing the suffering of his wife, Blessed Apinian asked God to save the life of Saint Melania and vowed to spend the rest of their life together in chastity.

Having recovered, the saint took off her silk clothes forever. Soon their daughter died. Meanwhile, the parents of the saints opposed their desire to devote themselves to God.

Only when Melania’s father suffered a fatal illness, he asked them for forgiveness and admonished them to follow the path they had chosen, asking them to pray for him.

The saints immediately left the city of Rome, and a new life began for them, entirely devoted to serving God. Apinian was 24 years old at that time, and Melania was 20. They began to visit the sick, receive strangers, and generously help the poor. They went around prisons, places of exile and mines and freed the unfortunate people who were being held there for debt.

Having sold estates in Italy and Spain, they generously helped the elders and monasteries, buying lands for the latter in Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, Phenicia and Palestine. Many temples and hospitals were built with their funds. The churches of the West and East received benefits from them.

When they left their homeland and sailed to Africa, a strong storm began during the voyage. The sailors said that this was the wrath of God, but blessed Melania told them to surrender the ship to the will of the One who carried it. The waves washed the ship onto an island on which stood a city besieged by barbarians. The besiegers demanded ransom from the residents, threatening the city with destruction. The saints contributed the necessary money, and thereby saved the city and its inhabitants from destruction.

Arriving in Africa, they also provided assistance to all those in need. With the blessing of local bishops, they donated to churches and monasteries. At the same time, Saint Melania continued to humble her flesh with strict fasting, and strengthened her soul by incessantly reading the Word of God, rewriting sacred books and distributing them to the poor. She sewed the hair shirt herself and wore it without taking it off.

The saints stayed in Africa for 7 years, and then, freed, according to the commandment of Christ, from all their wealth, they headed to Jerusalem. Along the way, in Alexandria, they were received by the holy Bishop Cyril and met in the temple with the holy elder Nestorius, who had the gift of prophecy and healing. The elder turned to them, comforting and calling for courage and patience in anticipation of the Heavenly Glory. In Jerusalem, the saints distributed their remaining gold to the poor and spent their days in poverty and prayer.

After a short trip to Egypt, where the saints visited many desert fathers, Saint Melania secluded herself in a lonely cell on the Mount of Olives, only occasionally seeing Saint Apinian.

Gradually, a monastery arose near the cell, where up to ninety virgins gathered. Saint Melania, out of humility, did not agree to be his abbess and continued to live and pray alone.

In her teachings, Saint Melania called on the sisters to watch and pray, to guard their thoughts and, first of all, to kindle love for God and for each other, observing the holy Orthodox faith and purity of soul and body.

She especially exhorted them to be obedient to the will of God. Recalling the words of the apostle, she advised fasting “not with grief or under compulsion: for God loves those who give willingly.” Through her efforts, a chapel and an altar were built in the monastery, where the relics of the saints were buried: the prophet of God Zechariah, the holy First Martyr Stephen and the Forty Saints who suffered torment in Sebaste.

By this time Saint Apinian had departed to the Lord. Saint Melania buried the relics of the blessed one and spent about four years near this place in fasting and unceasing prayer.

The saint wished to build a monastery on the Mount of the Ascension of Christ. The Lord blessed her plan by sending a lover of Christ who gave funds for the monastery. Receiving them with joy, Saint Melania accomplished this great deed in one year.

In the monastery she erected, holy men began to tirelessly offer their prayers to God in the Church of the Ascension of Christ.

Having completed her labors, the blessed one left Jerusalem, going to Constantinople to visit her pagan uncle, in the hope of saving his soul. On the way, she prayed at the relics of St. Lawrence, at the site of his martyrdom, and received a good omen.

Arriving in Constantinople, the saint found her uncle there in illness and talked with him. Under the influence of her conversations, the patient abandoned paganism and died a Christian. At that time, many residents of the capital were confused by the heretical teachings of Nestorius.

Saint Melania received everyone who turned to her for admonition. Many miracles happened through the prayers of the blessed one. Returning to her monastery, the saint of God felt the approach of death and announced this to the presbyter and sisters. In deep sorrow and tears they listened to her last instructions.

Having asked for their prayers and commanded them to keep themselves pure, having partaken of the Holy Mysteries with joy and jubilation, Saint Melania meekly and calmly gave up her soul to the Lord. This was in 439, December 31, old style.

Not far from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher there is a monastery called Great Panagia - by name miraculous image The Most Holy Theotokos, who resides here.

This icon was found unharmed after one of the fires in the Church of the Resurrection. This monastery is one of the oldest in Jerusalem.

Tradition tells that from this place, located near Golgotha, Holy Mother of God saw Her Divine Son crucified on the Cross.

In the temple of the monastery there are many relics of various saints, including the holy Apostle James, the holy martyrs Kirik and Iulita.

Under the temple there is a cave in which the Monk Melania labored. It was here that her holy relics rested hidden, later taken by the crusaders to Venice.

MELANIA THE ROMAN
Kontakion, tone 3

Having loved the virginity of purity and admonished the betrothed to good things, / squander the abundance of wealth / in the sojourn of monastics, O Blessed One, and erected monasteries. / Also, move into the Heavenly monastery, / remember us, all-honorable Melanie.