Melania the Elder, Latin Melania Maior (born in Spain, ca. 350William Greenwalt: ''Melania the Elder (c. 350–c. 410)'', in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia, Gale Research Inc., 2002, via Encyclopedia.com
/ref>–died in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

before 410 or in ca. 417) was a

Desert Mother Desert Mothers is a neologism, coined in feminist theology in analogy to Desert Fathers, for the ''ammas'' or female Christian ascetics living in the desert of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria in the 4th and 5th centuries AD. They typically lived in ...

who was an influential figure in the Christian ascetic movement (the

Desert Fathers The Desert Fathers or Desert Monks were early Christian hermits and ascetics, who lived primarily in the Scetes desert of the Roman province of Egypt, beginning around the third century AD. The is a collection of the wisdom of some of the ea ...

and Mothers) that sprang up in the generation after the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Constantine made

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

a legal religion of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

. She was a contemporary of, and well known to, Abba Macarius and other Desert Fathers in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...

, Augustine of Hippo,

Paulinus of Nola Paulinus of Nola (; la, Paulinus Nolanus; also Anglicized as Pauline of Nola; – 22 June 431) born Pontius Meropius Anicius Paulinus, was a Roman poet, writer, and senator who attained the ranks of suffect consul () and governor of Campan ...

(her cousin or cousin-in-law; he gives a colorful description of her visit to Nola in his Letters), and Evagrius of Pontus, and she founded two religious communities on the

Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet ( he, הַר הַזֵּיתִים, Har ha-Zeitim; ar, جبل الزيتون, Jabal az-Zaytūn; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jeru ...

. She stands out for the convent she founded for herself and the monastery she established in honour of

Rufinus of Aquileia Tyrannius Rufinus, also called Rufinus of Aquileia (''Rufinus Aquileiensis'') or Rufinus of Concordia (344/345–411), anglicized as Tyrann Rufine, was a monk, historian, and theologian. He is best known as a translator of Greek patristic materia ...

, which belong to the earliest Christian communities, and because she promoted the asceticism which she, as a follower of

Origen Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and theo ...

, considered indispensable for salvation.

Life

Melania the Elder (ca. 350 - ca. 410) was born in

Hispania Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hisp ...

and became one of the wealthiest citizens of the empire. Her father, Marcellinus, was of consular rank. and she was related to

. She was married at fourteen, and moved with her husband (probably Valerius Maximus signo Basilius of the powerful patrician family of

gens Valeria The gens Valeria was a patrician family at ancient Rome, prominent from the very beginning of the Republic to the latest period of the Empire. Publius Valerius Poplicola was one of the consuls in 509 BC, the year that saw the overthrow of th ...

, or possibly a politician named

Maximus Maximus (Hellenised as Maximos) is the Latin term for "greatest" or "largest". In this connection it may refer to: * Circus Maximus (disambiguation) * Pontifex maximus, the highest priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome People Roman h ...

) to the suburbs of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Her husband and two out of three sons had died by the time she was twenty-two. She became a Christian in

and, leaving her son, Valerius Publicola, with a guardian, set off to

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

, accompanied by her servants, to join other Christian ascetics to visit the monks at Nitria."St. Melania the Elder", Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
/ref> She stayed with the monks in the desert near Alexandria, Egypt (today the area is known as Wadi Natroun) for about six months. When persecution broke out after the death of Bishop Athanasius in 373 and many of the monks were exiled to Diocaesaraea in Palestine, Melania followed and supported them financially. The governor had her briefly imprisoned, but released her when he realized her social status."Melania the Elder", Monastic Matrix, Ohio State University
/ref> She built a convent in Jerusalem, and a monastery on the

for the monk and theologian

. Because of her involvement as a pro- Origenist in the controversy over Origen in the 390s, Jerome was especially vitriolic about her, punning on her name and calling her "black in name and black in nature." (He tried to expunge his earlier lavish praises of her from his writings.)

Palladius of Galatia Palladius of Galatia ( el, Παλλάδιος Γαλατίας) was a Christian chronicler and the bishop of Helenopolis in Bithynia. He was a devoted disciple of Saint John Chrysostom. He is best remembered for his work, the '' Lausiac History ...

described her as "a very learned lady who loved the world". Around the year 400 she left for Rome to see her son, who had married Caeionia Albina, daughter of Caeionius Rufius Albinus. Due to her influence, her granddaughter, known as

Melania the Younger Melania the Younger ( 383 - 31 December 439) is a Christian saint and Desert Mother who lived during the reign of Emperor Honorius, son of Theodosius I. She is the paternal granddaughter of Melania the Elder. The Feast of Melania the Younger ...

, would later take up the religious life. She also visited Paulinus and Therasia of Nola and brought him a relic of the True Cross.Dietz, Maribel. ''Wandering Monks, Virgins, and Pilgrims'', Penn State Press, 2010; pages 122-124
Augustine of Hippo wrote Paulinus that his kinswoman was in North Africa when her son, Valerius, died in 406.Clark, Elizabeth A., "Melania, Elder", ''Augustine Through the Ages: an Encyclopedia'', (Allan Fitzgerald, John C. Cavadini, eds.), Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1999
She is regarded as a saint. Her feast day is June 8.

Influence

She was a spiritual mentor to Evagrius of Pontus, author of some texts found in the Eastern Orthodox Philokalia. She persuaded him to go to Egypt to join the desert ascetics and carried on a correspondence with him while he was there.

References

Sources

Palladius, "Melania the Elder", ''The Lausiac History''. Chapter XLVI
* Isaiah (2001). Matericon: Instructions of the Abba Isaiah to the Honorable Nun Theodora. Translated by St. Paisius Serbian Orthodox Monastery. Safford, Arizona: St. Paisius Serbian Orthodox Monastery. pp. 37–94. * Ruether, Rosemary. "Mothers of the Church: Ascetic Women in the Late Patristic Age", ''Women of Spirit: Female Leadership in the Jewish and Christian Traditions'', (Rosemary Ruether and Eleanor McLaughlin, eds.), New York, Simon and Schuster, 1979.

External links

{{Authority control 325 births 417 deaths 5th-century Christian saints 4th-century Roman women 5th-century Roman women Late Ancient Christian female saints Saints from Hispania Saints from the Holy Land Valerii