Their story
Adapted in modern English from Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints · Baring-Gould original below · little is known
Pega was the sister of St Guthlack, the famous hermit of Croyland. Though of the royal blood of the Mercian kings, she left the world and led an austere, retired life in Northamptonshire, at a distance from her brother.
Some time after his death she went to Rome, where she died. Butler gives about 719; Baring-Gould, the text on this page, gives about 718. The sources differ. Butler notes that a village in Northamptonshire still bears her name as Peagkirk, and that she was called St Pee there and St Pege at Croyland.
Early life
The book says little or nothing about early life. This is how the account begins.
Thin entry · the 1914 book gives only 134 words. We have not filled the gap with invented detail.
S. Pega was the sister of S. Guthlac of Croyland, and though of the royal blood of the Mercian kings, forsook the world and led a retired life in the country, where now stands Peakirk, in Northamptonshire. "There Pega, S. Guthlac's sister, was for a long time a servant of the Lord. After her brother's death, she used all her endeavours to wear out her life for the love of Christ, by still severer austerities.
How they teach us to live
Drawn from themes in the original account
Pray a little every day. Prayer runs all through this account.
Practise small acts of self-denial. The account dwells on fasting and penance; a skipped snack or a phone-free hour is a start.
Make time for silence. Solitude and withdrawal to pray shape this life.
Learn from the kind of life it was. A whole life given to God with an undivided heart.