Great Penitents of the Catholic Church - St. Mary of Egypt

(Note: This is the 1st in a series on saints who lead less than stellar lives who went on to become great saints. Some will be familiar, other may not be so familiar, like today's saint, Mary of Egypt. Their stories should serve to remind us that none of us are being God's mercy & forgiveness.)

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Mary of Egypt was born about 344 AD somewhere in Egypt. Her family was rich & se was spoiled by her parents. She ran away from home at the age of 12 & ended up in the city of Alexandria. There she lead a very dissolute life. & while she prostituted herself she said that she often refused the money offered for her sexual favors as she was driven "by an insatiable and an irrepressible passion". She often entertained men by dancing & singing as well. She often begged & spinned flax to earn money. She continued in this lifestyle for about 17 years.

At the age of 30 she heard about a group of pilgrims going to the Holy Land. They were traveling to Jesrusalem to celebrate the Feast of the Exultation of the Cross. She decided to go along, not because she wanted to make a pilgimage, but because she thought she could find new partners in Jerusalem. She paid for he passage on the ship by offering her sexual favors to those on board. She continued in this lifestyle after her arrival in Jerusalem.

When the feast day came arround she joined the crowds heading to to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for the celebration. However, when she tried to enter the Church she found her way barred by some invisible force. She made 3 attempts to enter & failed each time. It dawned on her that it was as a result of the impure life she had lead that she was being barred from entering. Feeling the stirrings of remorse & repentance for her sinful life she looked up & saw an icon of the Theotokos (the Virgin Mary) outside the church. She began to weep & prayed with all her might that the Theotokos might allow her to see the True Cross. She promised to give up the world, becoming an ascetic. After this she again attempted to enter the church. This time was permitted in. After venerating the relic of the true cross, she returned to the icon to give thanks. She heard a voice that told her, "If you cross the Jordan, you will find glorious rest/ true peace."

She immediately went to the monastery of St. John the Baptist on the bank of the River Jordan. There she received absolution & afterwards Holy Communion. The next morning, she crossed the Jordan where she retired to the desert to live the rest of her life as a hermit in penitence. She took with her only 3 loaves of bread. After they were gone, she lived only on what she could find in the wilderness, things like berries & herbs.

She lived this way for 47 years. As time went on, the very clothes she wore fell apart. One day a monk named St. Zosimas of Palestine came into the desert area where she was. He was there as it was traditional at that time for monks to spend lent in the desert in imitation of the time Jesus spent there. Seeing him come near she shouted out to warn him she was naked. Turning his back he handed her his cloak which she put on. God revealed to her who he was & she shared her story with him.

She asked him to meet her the next year at the banks of the Jordan River on Holy Thursday & bring her the Eucharist. Arriving on the West Bank he saw her across the river on the East Bank of the Jordan. Making the sign of the cross she then walked on the water & crossed over to St. Zosimas. After receiving the Holy Mysteries she told him to meet her a year later at the spot they 1st met in the desert. She then walked across the Jordan back to the other side.

Returning as she had requested, St. Zosimas found her dead body. In the sand was written a message for him. It told how God had transported her to that spot the year before right after she left him. She asked him to bury her at that spot as she knew she was about to die. Her body had been preserved incorrupt & protected from being devoured by any scavangers. St. Zosimas took the cloak & buried her aided by a lion in digging the grave.

Her story was passed on by St. Zosimas to the monks. About 100 years later, St. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, wrote the story down.

St. Mary of Egypt died on 1 April 522. Her feast is celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox & Eastern Catholic Churches on that day. She is also commemorated on the 5th Sunday of the Great Lent. Her feast is celebrated on 3 April in the Roman (Latin rite) Catholic Church.

Here are hymns used in the Eastern Liturgy on her feast:

Troparion - Tone 8 The image of God was truly preserved in you, O mother,For you took up the Cross and followed Christ. By so doing, you taught us to disregard the flesh, for it passes away; But to care instead for the soul, since it is immortal. Therefore your spirit, O holy Mother Mary, rejoices with the Angels.

Kontakion - Tone 3 Having been a sinful woman,You became through repentance a Bride of Christ. Having attained angelic life,You defeated demons with the weapon of the Cross; Therefore, O most glorious Mary you are a Bride of the Kingdom!