The Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt, Fifth Sunday of Great Lent. #
On the fifth Sunday of Great Lent, the Church Ustav commands that we commemorate St. Mary of Egypt. Just two days earlier, at Matins on Thursday, her Life was read, and we heard the tropar dedicated to her in the composition of the Great Penitential Canon by St. Andrew of Crete. Moreover, a separate service is also held in her honor on the day of her repose—April 1st (Old Style). Of such as her, the Lord Jesus once said to those who heard His preaching: “Many that are first shall be last, and the last shall be first” (Matthew 19:30), and: “Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you” (Matthew 21:31).
The time of St. Mary’s life is known only approximately. Patriarch Sophronius of Jerusalem, who lived in the sixth and early seventh centuries, wrote her Life according to an ancient tradition—that is, evidently more than a century after her death. Therefore, it is most likely that she lived in the fifth century, and that her old age fell in the middle of that century—a relatively peaceful time, which is also reflected in her Life. According to the testimony of St. Sophronius, she lived to the age of seventy-six—a rare lifespan for women in antiquity.
Mary’s youth was darkened by grievous sins. At the age of twelve, having first tasted the temptations of the flesh and the corrupt world, she left her parents’ home and went to Alexandria. At that time, Alexandria was the most populous and wealthy city of the Christian East, drawing merchants, sailors, adventurers, seekers of pleasure, and those craving easy gain from all corners of the world. There Mary soon began to live a life of debauchery—and not by necessity, as with many poor girls who were driven into such a life by cruel poverty, but by passion, which quickly took root in her and brought her entire body and soul into submission. She knew how to spin flax and could have supported herself, and even children, had she had any. But the desire for carnal pleasure burned so strongly in her that she could think of nothing else. So passed seventeen long years.
One day, seeing a crowd gathered by a ship in the city’s harbor, Mary asked where they were going, and she was told they were sailing to Jerusalem to venerate the Precious Wood of the Lord’s Cross for the upcoming Feast of the Exaltation. Without hesitation, Mary asked to join the voyage—not for the sake of veneration, but in order to find among the throng of pilgrims men who could satisfy her lust. Throughout the entire voyage to the shores of Palestine, she continued in unbridled debauchery, and she shamelessly did the same even in the Holy City, near the sacred sites of our Lord’s Passion.
When the day of the feast arrived and thousands of people made their way to the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, she too went with the crowd, drawn by curiosity. But something astonishing happened at the entrance of the church: as Mary attempted to step inside, she found herself unable to do so—as though an invisible force were pushing her back from the threshold. Repeatedly she tried to enter along with the others, yet each time she remained stuck in the outer vestibule. And then, for the first time, the full horror of her sinful life became clear to her. Bitter tears over her recklessly lived youth overwhelmed her. Lifting her eyes to an icon of the Most Holy God-bearer painted on the wall of the vestibule, the sinner Mary began to pray to Mary—the Most Pure Virgin and Mother of the Savior—begging for forgiveness, and vowing to renounce the world and all that is in the world, and to go wherever the Most Pure One would lead her. After this prayer, feeling a measure of comfort, she once more attempted to enter the church—and now nothing hindered her. Seeing the Most Precious Wood of the Cross, Mary bowed before it with a love for Christ suddenly enkindled in her heart.
To fulfill the vow she had made, she left Jerusalem and withdrew into the desert beyond the Jordan, taking with her only three loaves of bread that she had purchased along the way.
There Mary lived for forty-seven years in poverty and hardship that would seem almost unbelievable, and in ceaseless prayer of repentance. It was there that she was found by the priest and monk Zosimas, who had left his monastery for the time of Great Lent in search of deeper asceticism and contemplation. The elder was astounded—not only by Mary’s appearance, for she had not dwelt under any roof for nearly half a century, enduring burning heat and freezing cold, hunger and thirst—but also by her gift of spiritual insight: though seeing him for the first time, she called him by name, knew that he was a priest, and spoke of the customs of his monastery. No less astonishing was what he saw during her prayer—how she would rise above the ground and stand in the air.
At Zosimas’s earnest request, she recounted the story of her life. In response to his amazement at the wondrous transformation that had taken place in her, she shared her heartfelt desire—to partake of the Holy Body and Blood of Christ. A year later, on Great and Holy Thursday, Zosimas celebrated the Divine Liturgy and brought the Holy Gifts to the banks of the Jordan, to the place appointed by the saintly ascetic—and saw her cross the river by walking upon the water, her feet not touching its surface.
Having received Holy Communion, Mary sighed with tears and cried out, lifting her eyes to heaven: “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.” Then she said to the elder: “Forgive me, Abba, and fulfill this one last wish. Go now to the monastery, and may the grace of God keep thee. Next year, return again to the stream where I first met thee. I beg thee, for the love of God, to come again—and thou shalt see me once more, for such is the will of God.”
A year later, Father Zosimas came to the appointed place—and there he found Mary’s lifeless body. Beside her was a message traced in the sand: “Bury, O Abba Zosimas, on this spot the body of the humble Mary. Return dust to dust, and pray to the Lord for me, who passed away on the first day of the Egyptian month of Pharmouthi, which is April by the Roman reckoning, on the very night of the Passion of the Lord, after receiving the Divine and Mystical Supper.”
The final miracle of the venerable Mary came after her death, when a lion appeared to help the elder Zosimas—who was too weak to dig a grave in the hardened, clay-like soil—and clawed out a pit in the earth for her burial.
After this, Zosimas, who until then had kept the life of the venerable Mary secret, told the abbot and brethren of his monastery about her. For many years her story was passed down orally among the monks of Palestine, until finally St. Sophronius committed it to writing.
The image of the venerable Mary is forever sealed in the memory and tradition of the Church as a guiding example for all who seek salvation, as a bright star calling others to follow, showing that no person—no matter how sinful—should ever despair of God’s mercy. For just as the father in the Gospel parable received with joy and celebration the prodigal son who had squandered his inheritance in debauchery and drunkenness (Luke 15:11–32), so too is our Heavenly Father ready to receive every sinner and to bestow upon him the riches of divine grace.
“For which of you,” asks the Lord Jesus of His disciples, “having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance” (Luke 15:4–7).
These words were wondrously fulfilled in the life of St. Mary and call us also to follow her example—if not in the unimaginable labors of her ascetic life, then at least in the purity and wholeheartedness of her turning to Christ, in her holy love that overcame and conquered all temptation and trial. “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much” (Luke 7:47). Let us, like the venerable Mary, love our Creator—whom we are commanded to love above all things on earth—and let us love our brothers and sisters, whom the Word of God also calls to enter His everlasting Kingdom. And may our sins, countless as the sands of the sea, be drowned in the abyss of the mercy of our Savior.
Stichera at “Lord, I have cried,” Tone 6 #
To thee, indeed, the sight of holy things was forbidden, for the defilement of thy former uncleanness still clung to thee. But thy conscience, O wise one, awakened by what thou hadst done, turned thee toward the better path. For when thou didst lift thine eyes to the icon of the blessed Virgin Mother of God, and beheldest thine own sins laid bare before thee, O most praiseworthy one, with boldness thou didst bow down before the Precious Wood of the Cross.
Having made thy dwelling in the desert, thou didst piously blot out the marks of thy passions, inscribing upon thy soul the divine image through the forms of virtue. And thou didst so shine forth, that by thy prayers thou couldst walk upon the waters with ease and be lifted above the earth. And now, standing before Christ with boldness, O most glorious Mary, pray for our souls.
Slavnik, Tone 2 #
Thou didst hew down the snares of the soul and the passions of the flesh with the sword of abstinence; and thou didst wither the thoughts of sin by the silence of fasting. With the streams of thy tears thou didst water the entire desert, and didst cause to spring forth for us the fruits of repentance. Wherefore, we celebrate thy memory, O venerable one.