caption death_date death_place birth_place feast_day imagesize venerated_in |birth_date image article_title name
miniature from the '' menologion of basil ii '' 439 12 31 y jerusalem rome december 31 350px roman churches catholic church , orthodox church , eastern catholic c. 383 melania of basil ii -rrb- . jpg the younger , nun of rome -lrb- menologion melania the younger
 saint melania the younger
melania the younger

saint melania the younger -lrb- also melanie ; born in rome c. 383 , died in jerusalem on december 31 , 439 -rrb- is a christian saint and desert mother who lived during the reign of emperor flavius augustus honorius , son of theodosius i .
she is the paternal granddaughter of melania the elder .
the feast of melania the younger is held on december 31 -lrb- the julian calendar 's december 31 falls on january 13 on the gregorian calendar -rrb- .
in ukraine , malanka -lrb- `` melania 's day '' -rrb- is celebrated on january 13 .
born to valerius publicola or poplicola -lrb- son of valerius maximus basilius and wife melania the elder -rrb- and albina , she was married to a paternal cousin , valerius pinianus , at the age of thirteen .
after the early deaths of two children , she and her husband converted to christianity , maintaining a celibate life thereafter .
upon inheriting her parents ' wealth , she gave it all away to the poor and used some it to free 8,000 slaves .
melania and pinianus left rome in 408 , living a monastic life near messina -lrb- sicily -rrb- for two years .
in 410 , they traveled to africa , where they befriended augustine of hippo and devoted themselves to a life of piety and charitable works .
together they founded a convent of which melania became mother superior , and cloister of which pinianus took charge .
in 417 , they traveled to palestine by way of alexandria , living in a hermitage near the mount of olives , where melania founded a second convent .
after the death of pinianus c. 420 , melania built a cloister for men , and a church , where she spent the remainder of her life .
melania had `` vast domains in sicily '' and also held land in britain .
