St. Melania, the first of the noble Roman women "who aspired to Christ from a young age, longing for bodily purity and wounded by Divine love," was born into a Christian family. Her parents, famous and wealthy people, saw their daughter as an heiress and a continuer of the family. At the age of fourteen, Melania was unwillingly married to a noble young man named 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 body and soul. Apinian replied: "When, by the Lord's command, 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 her 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 preserve the life of Saint Melania and vowed to spend the rest of their lives together in chastity. After recovering, the saint took off her silk robes forever. Their daughter died soon after. Meanwhile, the saints' parents resisted their desire to devote themselves to God. It was only when Melania's father suffered a fatal illness that he asked them for forgiveness and told them to follow their chosen path, asking them to pray for him. The saints immediately left the city of Rome, and a new life began for them, devoted entirely to the service of God.
Apinian was 24 at the time, and Melania was 20. They began to visit the sick, receive pilgrims, and generously help the poor. Prisons, places of exile, and mines were bypassed and the unfortunate who were held there for debts were released. Having sold their estates in Italy and Spain, they generously helped the elders and monasteries, buying lands for the latter in Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, Phoenicia and Palestine. Many temples and hospitals were built at their expense. The churches of the West and the East received benefits from them. When they left their homeland and sailed to Africa, a violent storm broke out 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 Those who carried it. The waves washed the ship to the island on which the city, besieged by the barbarians, stood. The besiegers demanded a ransom from the inhabitants, threatening the city with destruction. The saints contributed the necessary money and thus saved the city and its inhabitants from destruction.
When they arrived in Africa, they provided assistance to all those in need. With the blessing of the 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, copying 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, having freed themselves, according to the commandment of Christ, from all their riches, they went to Jerusalem. On the way to Alexandria, they were received by Holy Bishop Cyril and met in the temple with the holy elder Nestorius, who had the gift of prophecy and healing. The elder addressed them, comforting them and encouraging them to have courage and patience while waiting for the Glory of Heaven.
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 of the hermit fathers, Saint Melania shut herself up in a lonely cell on the Mount of Olives, only occasionally seeing Saint Apinian. Gradually, a monastery appeared 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 protect their thoughts and, above all, to kindle love for God and for each other, observing the holy Orthodox faith and purity of mind 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 sorrow and not with 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 saints were buried: the prophet of God Zachariah, the holy First Martyr Stephen and the Forty saints who were martyred in Sebaste. By this time, Saint Apinian had gone 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 for men on the Mount of the Ascension of Christ. The Lord blessed her plan by sending a lover of Christ, who provided funds for the monastery. Having accepted them with joy, Saint Melania accomplished this great deed in one year. In the monastery she built, the holy men began to tirelessly offer their prayers to God in the Church of the Ascension of Christ. After completing her labors, the blessed one left Jerusalem, departing for 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 conversed 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 Nestorius' heretical teaching. Saint Melania received all those who turned to her for guidance. Many miracles were performed 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 the sisters. They listened to her last instructions in deep sorrow and tears. Having asked for their prayers and commanded them to keep themselves pure, having received the Holy Mysteries with joy and rejoicing, Saint Melania meekly and calmly surrendered her soul to the Lord. It was in the year 439.

The Church remembers St. Melania of Rome, Bethlehem
13.01.2025, 06:00