Religious Tourism

The fifth week of the Great Lent is dedicated to of a known saint whose life demonstrates the power of the Church as the places of forgiveness and redemption. St. Mary of Egypt was a prostitute for 17 years before she chose the life of a hermit and the received the Holy Communion.

Her life was recorded by St. Sophronios of Jerusalem, who served as Patriarch of Jerusalem from 634 to 638 A.D.

The earliest manuscript of the Life of Mary of Egypt dates to the ninth century.

Around the story was built a legend that had tremendous popularity during the Middle Ages.

We have a story in which the sinner knows the heart of the saintly monk: in which a humble woman gives blessing to the worthy priest because he has seen that her own gifts of the Spirit exceed the ranks of ecclesiastical office; in which the desert, the place of death, becomes the place of life; in which the peace of God’s kingdom is restored and the man become partners in piety.

Mary whos born in 344 A.D.(?), and moved to the city of Alexandria when she was twelve and lived as an actress and courtesan for seventeen years.

With the intention of continuing her trade, she joined a large group that was making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

When she got to the door of the church, she was unable to enter. A miraculous force propelled her away from the door each time she approached.

Guided then by a vision of the Theotokos, Mary left at once for the desert beyond the Jordan river, for there, her vision told her, she would find rest. On the way, she stopped at a church built on the river banks.

There she washed herself in the jordan, receiving thus her baptism, and partook of the Eucharist in that church, all the while utterly alone. From there, she came to the desert, led still by the vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her new life was begun.

She survived for years on only three loaves of bread and thereafter on scarce herbs of the land. For another seventeen years, Mary was tormented by “wild beasts—mad desires and passions.” After these years of temptation, however, she overcame the passions and was led by the Theotokos in all things.

In the desert she was discovered a holy man named Zosimus (it was the custom of his monastery for all of the brethren to go out into the desert for the forty days of Great Lent, spending the time in fasting and prayer, and not returning until Palm Sunday) who was impressed by her spiritual knowledge and wisdom.She asked him to return to the banks of the Jordan on Holy Thursday of the following year and to bring her Communion. The priest was true to his word and returned bearing the Eucharist.

Mary told him to come back again the next year, but to the place where he had originally met her.

He saw her the following Lent, but when he returned, he found her dead and buried her. When he returned to his monastery near the Jordan, he told the brethren what had happened.

The Life of St. Mary of Egypt is read during Great Lent along with the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Krit.

The Orthodox Church celebrates Mary of Egypt’s feast on the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent and on April 1st, the Roman Catholic Church celebrates her feast on either April 2, 3, 9, or 10, depending on the local tradition and which calendar they follow. The Coptic Church celebrates her on April 1st.

St. Mary of Egipt patron of Chastity (warfare against the flesh; deliverance from carnal passions); Demons (deliverance from); Fever; Skin diseases; Temptations of the flesh.
Birth: 344  A.C. (?)
Death: 421 or  522 A.C.

Religious Tourism

Photo Desert in Palestine,  Religious Tourism/Maksym Strykhar