St Mary of Egypt (344-421) penitent
A story for edification to illustrate the pattern of repentance
This
story was written by Bishop Sophronius of Jerusalem and translated into
Latin by Paul, deacon of the Church of Naples.
It was a story which the
monks had preserved orally and like that of St Pelagia (8th October)
told it to pilgrims as a pattern for education and repentance.
From Alexandria to Jerusalem
Mary was an Egyptian
who left home at the age of twelve and went to live in Alexandria where
she became an actress and a prostitute for seventeen years.
At the age
of twenty-nine she joined a pilgrimage to Jerusalem through curiosity,
paying for her passage by offering herself to the sailors.
Living in the desert
Once in Jerusalem, although
wanting to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, she was held back by
an invisible and irresistible force.
Lifting her eyes to an icon of the
Blessed Virgin, she was told to go over the Jordan where she would find
repentance and rest.
She bought three loaves and went to live in the
desert, where for the rest of her long life she lived on the bread which
never diminished and on dates and berries.
Her clothes wore out but her
hair grew long and covered her nakedness.
She could not read but was
divinely instructed in the Christian faith and never tired of doing
penance.
Meeting with Zosimus
A devout monk called Zosimus
met her by chance in the desert and heard her story. At her request he
covered her with his cloak.
He promised to meet her in the same
place the following Holy Thursday to bring her Holy Communion. But when
he came, what he found was her dead body.
A lion who was nearby dug out
with his paws a hole big enough so Zosimus was able to bury the body.
The lion then went into the depths of the desert as meekly as if it were
a lamb.
Zosimus went home blessing and praising God and singing hymns
to Our Lord Jesus Christ.