Saint Mary of Egypt

Saint Mary of Egypt, for a great many years, was a prostitute in Alexandria in the middle fourth century. One year she joined a group of pilgrims who were traveling to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. She joined them not for religious reasons, but in the hopes of finding some customers along the way. Even when she arrived in Jerusalem she persisted in her ways and on the holy day itself even went to the church where the sacred relic was held to ensnare members of the pilgrimage. But when she reached the door, she found she could not enter. Some mysterious force continued to push her away and she sat down in a corner of the churchyard. She was suddenly filled with remorse for her sinful life, which she realized was the reason why she could not enter the church. As she sat crying, she saw a statue of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus and with a newfound faith and humility of heart she implored the help of the Blessed Mother and permission to enter the church and pray before the sacred wood of the cross. She promised that if her request were granted, she would renounce her previous life in favor of a life of holiness and piety. She stood and approached the church door once more, and found that the force that previously pushed her away, now gently pulled her inside the church. While praying for guidance before the wood of the cross, she heard a voice telling her that across the Jordan River she would find rest. She left immediately, and upon reaching the Jordan she was baptized in a church dedicated to John the Baptist, and the next day crossed the river and walked into the desert.

She lived alone in the desert for the next forty-seven years, until a monk named Zosimus came upon her dwelling. In the custom of monks at the time, he had come out of his monastery to spend Lent (a Christian season of fasting and penance before Easter) in the desert. As soon as she saw him, she called him by name and recognized him as a priest. The two talked and prayed for a long time, during which she told him the strange story of her life. She asked Zosimus to promise to meet her at the Jordan River on Holy Thursday of the following year and to bring her holy communion. Zosimus kept his promise, and brought bread and wine to consecrate into the body and blood of Christ. He arrived at the Jordan and waited; soon he saw Mary coming toward him, walking across the river. After receiving holy communion, she raised her hands towards Heaven and shouted the words of Simeon, "Now thou dost dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word in peace, because my eyes have seen Thy salvation." She then asked Zosimus to return to her dwelling the next year. He did so, but found only her lifeless body and a letter she had written to him. He performed the funerary rites and buried her in the desert aided, we are told, by an angel in the form of a lion. In his prayers he asked that she watch over him from Heaven, and returned to his monastery where he finally recounted to his brothers the story of the holy woman. Her feast day is celebrated by the Eastern Churches on the first of April, and by the Western Churches on the second of April.