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[EDITOR'S NOTE: There are a number of Orthodox saints named Pelagia; the life of Pelagia of Caesarea has been preserved only in an Ethiopic version. The curious title "epistle" evidently refers to the fact that the story takes place in apostolic times and features St. Paul as its main character. One has the impression the text may even be a fragment from a lost version of the Acts of Paul and Thekla. -N. Redington]
The Epistle of Pelagia. When Paul came to the region of Caesarea, he
taught
again there also the
way of the Lord, according to his custom always; and they, [even] every
man
of the city, who
doubted and did not believe in law, because they were not of it, reviled
Paul, and they took him and
seized him, and put him in bonds, saying to him, Thou hast brought unto us
a
law that is not ours.
And he said to them, But ye also were not born of old, [that ye should]
judge me. But now, what
man seeketh of old--doth he not seek what is right and good? As said the
prophet David, "Know
ye, know ye, that I am, and there is no other Lord beside me, saith God."
--
Ask your fathers and they will tell you,
And then the judge wondered, and he despised him, and let him go. And Paul
departed toward the
mountain. And as he walked there, Paul found a lion, and his height was
twelve cubits, and his size
as that of a horse. And he met Paul, and they saluted each other as though
they knew each other.
And the lion said unto Paul, Well met, Paul, servant of God, and Apostle
of
the Lord Jesus Christ! I
have one thing which I ask thee to do unto me. And Paul said unto him,
Speak; I will hear. And the
lion said, Make me to enter among the mature Christians. And Paul took him
and made him to enter
among the mature Christians. And when he had finished the law of the
seventh
day, [then] they bade
each other farewell. And again Paul returned to the city.
And a certain man said to him, My brother, who is older than I, is dead;
and
come, make a prayer
in my house. And then Paul went and found him that was dead, and he said,
What aileth you? Do
not weep, be silent. And Paul began to pray, and he said, My Lord Jesus
Christ, who art not slow
to do good, wherever they call upon thee, and name thee, thou art there,
but
there is not one that
seeth thee, and that is able to see thee. For the sake of men shew thine
eternal wonders, that man
may not doubt and say, Where is this lord who is named the lover of men?
Do
thou, O Lord, give
life to this man, for from thee is every gift; and even if that which thou
hast given repent thee, do not
take away the faith which thou hast given us. Give to this man faith,
until
thy power come again,
[even] they judgment which is not found vain. And he said, Thou man,
arise.
And he arose and
regained consciousness and many believed, and followed him saying, Teach
us
also a faith such that,
when one asks, one makes the dead to arise and live.
And he said to them, If ye have faith in your heart, as much as a mustard
seed, then ye shall say to
this mountain, Depart, and it will depart. See ye that faith saves in
everything. And they said unto
him, May we also hear it, we seek of thee.
And he began to teach them; and he said to them, See Rahab, the harlot,
that
by her faith she
entered into the kingdom of heaven. And see that the three children were
saved by their faith from
the fire. See ye that by faith he saves. And by his faith Daniel was saved
from the mouth of the lions.
See ye Ezekiel the prophet; he was saved from the pit of clay. See Thekla,
that by her faith she
escaped from the fire and the mouth of the lions. See Abraham, that for
his
faith God said to him,
My friend. See Isaac, that by his faith he was saved from the sword of and
from the altar of
sacrifice, and Isaac heard him who spoke. And see Joseph, that by his
faith
he escaped from the pit
and from his brethren and from the hand of Pharaoh, the king, and he
became
ruler. And why
should I tell you of other prophets, and of our fathers also who pleased
God? And see his brethren
and his chosen ones; Elijah, who ascended alive into the heavens, and his
creator made him ascend
in a chariot of fire, with horses of fire drawing him at his command. And
by
his faith Elijah asked of
God that it should not rain upon the earth three years and six months, and
it was so. And see Elisha,
who by his faith, healed a leper, when he asked, and made the dead also to
live, and this by
entreating Jesus Christ.
And now also my brethren, believe with all your heart and with all your
strength and with all your
soul, that Christ, God the Father and Son and Holy Spirit, is one God, and
all that ye ask he will
give you and do for you. But I say unto you, if you believe that the Lord
is
God and do not do his
will, your faith is vain; and what doth it profit to believe, if ye do not
the will of him in whom ye have
believed? Behold, see, the demons also believe that God is Lord, and do
not
do his will. According,
therefore as they do not do his will and do not keep the commandment of
God,
they are vain. But if
therefore ye believe that Christ is God, ye shall not steal, ye shall not
commit adultery, and ye shall
not worship idols, and ye shall not swear, and ye shall not covet your
neighbor's substance; and
honor thy father and thy mother, and fear God with all thy heart and with
all they strength and will all
thy soul. Thou hast no other beside him, and he is thy creator, and thy
father's creator; besides Jesus
thou hast no other god. And of the fruits of thy house give unto the poor;
the first fruits of thy harvest
bring to the house of the Lord thy God.
And while Paul was proclaiming this commandment and teaching thus, [there
were] many moreover
who believed and renounced this world and followed the commandment of the
Lord, and they
followed Paul. And a woman whose name was Pelagia, daughter of the king,
heard, and she
renounced her husband and followed the exhortation of Paul. And her
husband
heard, and he told
the king. And the king met Paul and said to him, Behold thou art
corrupting
for us all our people,
and all, when they hear thine admonition, renounce the world. The husband
also renounces his wife,
and the wife also renounces her husband. And now also thou shalt pay for
everything which thou
has done unto that Thekla [another version of the text has "Pelagia"]. And
he commanded that they
should cast Paul into prison; and they did as the king commanded.
And they set a lion in ambush for Paul in the theater, and they set in
ambush the one whose height
was twelve cubits, and his size that of a horse, the one that had met
Paul,
that Paul had made to
enter among the mature Christians. And when they brought this lion and the
king saw him, he
marveled at his size, and said, Come now, we have found this day one that
will devour Paul. And
they brought Paul from the prison, and they brought him into the theater.
And after Paul they
brought the lion in to him. And it seemed to them that he would devour
him,
and they all said, But
this day hath Paul met that which will punish him.
And Paul stretched forth his hands and prayed; the lion also prayed after
him; and Paul worshiped
and the lion also worshiped with him. And when they had finished
glorifying
and praying, Paul also
turned and said to the lion, Well met! and the lion also said to Paul,
Well
met, our father, well met!
And Paul said to the lion, How [is it] that thou wast caught, who art so
great? And the lion also said
unto Paul, Thou also, behold thou wast caught, and they brought thee that
I
might devour thee. Did
they not know that we were dear to one another? We are servants of our
Lord.
And after they had
seen him talking with Paul, they all wondered and said, Great is the faith
of this man; even the beast
of the field obeys him, and people harken to him. And they said, Now take
Pelagia, but let him go
with his lion. And the lion and Paul departed.
and your elders and they will
inform you,
whether there was anyone before him who did a
wonder,
and
whether there was after him a creator of the universe,
and there is
none
beside him.
He is from before the world,
and he is after the
world.
He is of old also,
and he is now,
and there is no god
beside
him;
who spread out the heavens as a bowl,
and will roll them up
like
a scroll;
and everything decayeth and passeth away,
but he is God,
and
his years also fail not.
To him we will bow down,
and him we will
praise,
and his might we will hallow,
and his name we will worship,
and we will bow down.