Person of St. Melania the Younger in the light of Vita Sanctae Melaniae Senatricis Romae by Geroncius
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15633/ps.942Keywords:
Melania the Younger, keep a fast, ascetic life, conversion, monastery, Rome, Africa, JerusalemAbstract
St. Melanie the Younger was born in Rome in 383 or 385 A.D. in a rich and well-known family Valeria. She was the daughter of Valerius Publicoli, a Roman senator, and Albina Ceionia as well as the granddaughter of Malanie the Older, a Christian ascet and founder of many monasteries. At the age of 14, upon her parents’ decision, she married her cousin, a 17 year old Valerius Pinianus. She preferred to run a life focused on God and she continuously encouraged her husband to follow her example too. After their two children had died, both Melanie and her husband made a decision to live in ascesis and resigned from all signs of belonging to the upper social class. They started selling their mansions scattered all over the world one by one and donated their money to people in need. Having left Rome, they proceeded to Nola where they met St. Paulin, and next to Africa, where they met St. Augustine. After spending 7 years in Africa, they went to the Holy Land. There Melanie also founded monasteries. She spent a few years in the Mount of Olives living in severe ascesis. She went to Egypt, where she visited the most famous monastery life centres and hermits’ centres. Having returned to Jerusalem, Melanie came back to living in penance. She died on 31st December 439 A.D., in opinion about her holiness. In 1907 the Pope Pius X formally confirmed her liturgical worship.
References
Ambrosius Aurelius, De virginibus, tytuł polski: O dziewicach, tłum. W. Szołdrski, K. Obrycki, [w:] św. Ambroży, Wybór pism, cz. 2, Warszawa 1986, s. 173–228 (Pisma Starochrześcijańskich Pisarzy, 35).
Brown P., Ciało i społeczeństwo. Mężczyźni, kobiety i abstynencja seksualna we wczesnym chrześcijaństwie, przeł. I. Kania, Kraków 2006.
Clark E., Women in the early Church, Minnesota 1983.
d’Alès A., Le deux Vies de sainte Mélanie la Jeune, „Analecta Bolandiana” 35 (1906), s. 401–450.
De Smedt Ch., Vita S. Melaniae Junioris auctore coevo et sanctae familiari, „Analecta Bollandiana” 8 (1889), s. 16–63.
Delehaye H., S. Melaniae Iunioris Acta Graeca, „Analecta Bollandiana” 22 (1903), s. 5–50.
Die Chronik des Hieronymus, hg. von R. Helm, Berlin 19562 (Griechischen Christlichen Schriftseller der Ersten Drei Jahrhunderte, 7).
Sancti Eusebii Hieronymi Epistulae, hg. von I. Hilberg, Vienna 19962 (Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, 54).
Étienne R., Ausone, propriétaire terrien et le problème du lattifundium au IVe siècle ap. J. C., [w:] Institutions, société et vie politique dans l’Empire Romain au IVe siècle ap. J. C., a cura di M. Christol et alii, Selci Lama (Perugia) 1992, s. 305–311 (Collection de l’École Française de Rome, 159).
Gérontius, La vie latine de sainte Mélanie, edition critique, trad. et commentaire par P. Laurence, Jerusalem 2002 (Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Collectio Minor 41).
Gérontius, The life of Melanie the Younger, ed. E. A. Clark, New York–Toronto 1984.
Gerontius, Vie de Sainte Melanie, edition bilingue français-grec, red. Denys Gorce, Paris 1962 (Sources Chretiennes, 90).
Geronzio, Vita latina di santa Melania, a cura di L. Coco, Roma 2013 (Collana dei Testi Patristici, 229).
Mathisen R. W., Fifth-century visitors to Italy: business or pleasure? [w:] Fifth-century Gaul: a crisis of identity?, ed. J. Drinkwater, H. Elton, Cambridge 1992, s. 228–238.
Melania, [w:] H. Fros, F. Sowa, Twoje imię. Przewodnik onomastyczno-hagiograficzny, Kraków 1995, s. 412.
Metafraste S., Vita et conversatio sanctae Melanae Romanae, PG 116, Paris 1863, kol. 753–794.
Misztal H., Geniusz kobiety. Aspekt etyczno-społeczny, Sandomierz 1996.
Molinier A., Kohler C., Itinera Hierosolymitana latina lingua exarata, Genevae 1885.
Murphy F. X., Melania the Elder: a biographical note, „Traditio” 5 (1947), s. 59–77.
Palladio, La storia Lausiaca, a cura di G. J. M. Bartelink, introduzione di Ch. Mohrmann, trad. di M. Barchiesi, Verona 1974.
Palladiusz, Opowiadania dla Lausosa (Historia Lausiaca), przekł. S. Kalinkowski, Kraków 1996 (Źródła Monastyczne, 12).
Paolino di Nola, I carmi, vol. II, ed. Ruggiero A., Libreria Editrice Redenzione, Napoli–Roma 1996, s. 9 (Strenae Nolanae, 7).
Paulinus Nolanus, Carmina, edidit G. Hartel, editio altera suplementis aucta curante M. Kamptner, Wien 1999 (Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, 30 bis).
Paulinus Nolanus, Epistulae, Sancti Pontii Meropii Paulini Nolani Epistulae, hg. von G. de Hartel, M. Kamptner, Vienna 19992 (Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, 29).
Rampolla Del Tindaro M., Sancta Melania Giuniore, Senatrice Romana, Roma 1905.
Špidlik T., Melania la benefatrice (383–440), Milano 1986.
Swan L., Zapomniane matki pustyni. Pisma, życie i historia, tłum. P. Kaźmierczak, Kraków 2005.
Szczur P., Melania Młodsza, [w:] Encyklopedia katolicka, t. 12, red. A. Bednarek i in., Lublin 2008, k. 488.
Św. Melania Młodsza, wdowa, 383–439, [w:] W. Zaleski, Święci na każdy dzień, Łódź 1984, s. 804–805.
Urban J., Relacja kard. Jana Puzyny o konklawe 1903 r. i o jego słynnym weto, „Folia Historica Cracoviensia” 8 (2002), s. 273–276.
Valeria Gens, [w:] Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, ed. W. Smith, vol. 3, Boston 1867, s. 1215.
Wilkinson K. W., The Elder Melania’s missing decade, „Journal of Late Antiquity” 5.1 (Spring 2012), s. 166–184.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain the copyright and full publishing rights without restrictions, and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).