in the baptismal gown. Nonnus took her confession and baptized "Margarita" under her birth name Pelagia, with Romana serving as her godmother. The devil shortly afterward arrived to complain, but was driven off when Pelagia made the Sign of the Cross and breathed upon him. He returned the next night to renew his complaints and was driven off the same way. On the third day, Pelagia directed her steward to inventory her possessions. She then turned them over to Nonnus, who disbursed them to the widows, orphans, and poor of the city. She freed her slaves, male and female, "taking their golden torcs off with her own hands". She then began living with Romana. The night before it came time to remove her baptismal gown, she stole out in the dark wearing one of Nonnus's chitons. She headed for Jerusalem, where she built a cell on the Mount of Olives. She lived there for three or four years, disguising herself as a male recluse and eunuch under the name Pelagi. She then died, apparently as a result of extreme asceticism, which had emaciated her to the point she could no longer be recognized. According to Orthodox tradition, Pelagia was buried in her cell. Upon the discovery that the renowned monk had been a woman, the "holy fathers" tried to keep it a secret, but the gossip spread and her relics drew pilgrims from as far off as Jericho and the Jordan valley. The story appeared in the Greek Menaea. It significantly omits dates and (on eight occasions) the name of the archbishop under whom Nonnus served. History The historical St Pelagia, mentioned by St Ambrose and in two sermons by John Chrysostom, was an Antiochene virgin who was martyred because of her refusal to offer pagan sacrifice during the Diocletianic Persecution. Chrysostom's sermon also mentions an anonymous (but apparently famous) actress and prostitute "from a wicked city in Phoenice" (possibly Heliopolis) who seduced "the empress's brother" but converted "in our own day". Constantius II's wife Eusebia had two brothers, Eusebius and Hypatius, joint consuls in 359, who both lived for many years in Antioch. In his account, attempts were made to lure her back to her former life by the Roman prefect and some of his soldiers, a role played by Satan in the hagiography. Similar other accounts Saint Marina, the Latin equivalent of "Pelagia", was another bride who disguised