Born into a wealthy and prominent Christian family in Rome, Melania embraced Christ from a young age. She yearned to serve Him with her whole life, devoting herself to purity and chastity. However, her parents, eager to see their lineage continue, arranged for her marriage to a young nobleman named Apinian. Melania tried to persuade her husband to live together in bodily purity, as brother and sister. He agreed to this but wished to have two heirs before renouncing the world. Yielding to his desire, Melania gave birth to a daughter and a son. Tragically, the Lord took both children in infancy. Melania and Apinian then vowed to spend the rest of their lives in purity, serving God and their neighbours. Apinian was 24 at the time, and Melania was 20.
Their parents blessed their decision. The devout couple left Rome and dedicated their lives to the poor, the sick, and travellers. They visited prisons, places of exile, and mines, freeing those unjustly imprisoned for debt. Melania and Apinian sold their estates in Italy and Spain. With the proceeds, they generously aided the elderly, purchased land for monasteries in Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, Phoenicia, and Palestine, and built churches and hospitals. Both the Eastern and Western Churches benefited from their generosity.
The young couple spent seven years in Africa, assisting those in need, rescuing people from barbarians and famine, and supporting churches and monasteries. Saint Melania tirelessly disciplined her body with strict fasting and nourished her soul through reading the Word of God. She copied sacred texts and distributed them to the poor.
When their wealth was depleted, the saints journeyed to Jerusalem. There, they distributed their remaining gold to the poor and lived in poverty and prayer. After a brief sojourn in Egypt, where they visited many desert fathers, Saint Melania withdrew to a solitary cell on the Mount of Olives, seeing Apinian only occasionally. Drawn to her example, about ninety young women seeking salvation gathered around her, forming a women’s monastic community. In her humility, Saint Melania declined to become the abbess, preferring to live and pray in solitude. In her addresses to the sisters, she urged them to be vigilant in guarding their thoughts and to cultivate love for God and one another in their hearts.
When Saint Apinian departed to the Lord, Melania buried his body and remained near his grave for four more years, immersed in constant prayer.
The holy ascetic longed to build a men’s monastery on the Mount of Ascension, but she lacked the resources. Fervently, she prayed to the Lord, and her prayer was answered. A benefactor appeared, providing the funds for the monastery’s construction. Saint Melania joyfully accepted the gift and completed this great and God-pleasing work in a single year.
Having finished her labours in Jerusalem, Saint Melania travelled to Constantinople. There, she converted her pagan uncle to the true faith and guided those who had strayed into the Nestorian heresy. Many miracles occurred through her prayers.
Upon returning to her monastery, Saint Melania, sensing the approach of her earthly end, received Holy Communion. She peacefully surrendered her soul to the Lord in the year 439.
