Pelagia of Tinos

Pelagia (born Loukia; 1752 – 28 April 1834), distinguished as Pelagia of Tinos, is an Eastern Orthodox saint credited with receiving visions of the Virgin Mary which directed her to the lost icon of Our Lady of Tinos in 1822, shortly after the establishment of modern Greece. The icon has become the major site for Christian pilgrimage in Greece.

Born in 1752 on the island of Tinos, she became a nun at age 15, taking the name Pelagia. She continued to work throughout her life at the Kechrovouni Monastery in Tinos. Starting in July of 1822, Pelagia had visions of a woman (who she came to believe was the Virgin Mary) who told her to unearth the church of St. John the Baptist that lied in a field underground. The remnants of the church was unearthed in 1833, after a worker discovered an icon of the annunciation. Pelagia died on 28 April 1834, still on the island of Tinos.

This series of visions and excavations started the veneration of Our Lady of Tinos. Pelagia was canonized a saint on 11 September 1970, and Tinos continues to host large pilgrimages to the icon she found.