``Where
the Bishop is, there let the multitude of believers be;
even as where Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church'' Ignatius of
Antioch, 1st c. A.D
Feast of St. Mary of Egypt
There's a
certain kind of woman who, more than anything else, deeply desires
attention from men -- craves it
in the same way an addict craves his drug of choice.
Maybe such a woman was sexually abused as a child or in some other way
has come to see
herself as unworthy
of dignity, or perhaps she grew up without a father's love. Maybe she's
oppressed by a demon of lust. Or maybe some
combination of all the above is in play.
Mary of Egypt, born around A.D. 344, was such a woman. We don't know
what her home life was like when she was young, but we know that she
did have a home and a brother in Egypt. When she was twelve, though,
she ran away from them, making her way to Alexandria.1 Once
there, she gave herself over entirely to a life of sin, with
fornication being her favorite vice. As she described her situation
when speaking to
the priest Zosimus,2 it was lust and not profit that drove
her. She was not a prostitute; she gave herself away freely:
...I am ashamed
to recount now how at the outset I first polluted my virginity, and how
ceaselessly and insatiably I [gave myself up] to sins, and continued in
subjection to sinful lusts. It must now indeed be told briefly; yet I
now the rather tell of them, that thou mayest perceive the unlawful
burning of my misdeeds that I felt in my love of fornication.
...[E]ven for seventeen years I openly surpassed a number of
people, continuing in the desire of fornication. Neither did I lose my
virginity for any man's presents, nor would I indeed receive anything
from any one who desired to give me somewhat; but I was greatly excited
with the heat of sinful lust, so that I desired that they would come to
me in greater numbers without any price, to the end that I might the
more easily satisfy my culpable desires for wicked living.
Then, one day, she saw a group of "Africans and Egyptians" running
toward the sea to make it in time to board a boat. She asked where they
were going, and they told her they were going to Jerusalem on a boat
filled with pilgrims who were set to honor the
Holy Rood, the feast of which would be in a few days. She saw such a
trip as an opportunity to get with more men, perhaps eying the crewmen,
or maybe seeing men on a pilgrimage as a great challenge to her powers
of seduction. But she didn't have the
money it took to board, so, for once, she did sell her body. As she
told the
story,
...I saw ten
young men standing together on the shore, sufficiently comely in body
and in demeanour, and very suitable, methought, for my bodily lust.
Then I shamelessly, as I was wont, went amongst them, and said to them:
"Take me with you on your voyage; I shall not be displeasing to you."
And I soon excited them all to wicked vices and shameful jestings, with
many other filthy and lewd expressions. Then they, seeing my shameless
behaviour, took me with them in their ship, and rowed away.
...[H]ow can I relate to you, or what tongue may say, or what ear hear,
the evil deeds that took place upon the voyage, and that were done in
the passage; and how I compelled to sin both the wretches who were
willing and the wretches who gave me money. There is no description of
lewdness, utterable or unutterable, which I did not allure to and
teach, and first performed.
Once in Jerusalem, she carried on as she had on the boat. As she always
did. She told Fr.
Zosimus,
I associated
myself with similar, and even worse, foul deeds. I did not restrict
myself to the young men who associated with me on the sea or on the
journey, but I also gathered together many of the strangers and
citizens in the deeds of my sins, and betrayed and contaminated them.
Then came her miraculous transformation, her sudden awareness of
herself as she really was. It was September 14, Roodmas -- the Feast of the Exaltation of the
Holy Cross, the very reason so many pilgrims had made their way to
Jerusalem. Crowds of visitors went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
-- consecrated just eight years before Mary of Egypt was born -- and
entered. Mary
followed them. But, try as she might, she could not enter in; some
great invisible force held her back. Again and
again she tried, but, she said,
I toiled in
vain, whenever I touched the threshold of the doors. And they were all
received therein without any hindrance, when I alone was pushed out.
Just as if some strong company of men opposed me to prevent my
entrance, so the sudden vengeance of God barred the door to me, until I
was again standing in the vestibule of the temple.
Thus thrice or four times I endeavoured to behold and also to
fulfil my will; and when I in no wise succeeded, then I began to think
earnestly about it, and my body was extremely wearied by the compulsion
of the pressure.
Exhausted and giving up, she went into a corner of the vestibule and
thought. And then the knowledge came to her that it was her filthiness
that kept her out of the church. She burst into tears of repentance,
and as she was sobbing, she looked over to see an icon of the Blessed
Virgin. The
sight of the Blessed Mother brought on this prayer:
Oh! thou
glorious lady, who according to the birth of the flesh didst bear the
true God, well I wot that it is not fitting nor meet that I, who am so
grievous a sinner, should behold thy form, and should pray with looks
that have been so repeatedly polluted. Thou wast ever known as a
virgin, keeping thy body pure and undefiled; wherefore indeed it is
very right that I who am so foul should be separated and cast out from
thy pure virginity. Nevertheless, inasmuch as I have heard that the God
whom thyself barest was made man for that very reason, that He might
call sinners to repentance, assist me now, who am desolate and deprived
of any help. Permit me and give me leave to open the entrance of thy
holy church, that I may not be exiled from the sight of the precious
Rood on which the Saviour of all the earth was fastened, whom thou, a
virgin, didst conceive and, still a virgin, didst bear, who poured out
His own blood for my redemption. But command now, O glorious lady, that
for me, unworthy though I be, the doors may be unclosed to let me greet
the divine Rood, and I will give myself up to thee and choose thee for
my protector against thine own Son; and I promise you both that I will
never hereafter pollute my body with the dire lust of evil fornication;
but, as soon as I see the Rood of thy Son, O holy virgin, I will
thereupon forsake this world and its deeds with all things that are
therein; and will afterwards go whithersoever thou dost advise me to go
for my protection.
She made her way back to the church door. But this time, things were
very different.
Then indeed a
strong terror seized me, and I was all trembling and troubled, as I
again approached the door that before was fastened against me; just as
if all the force that had formerly debarred me from entering the door
had afterwards assisted my entrance in advancing. Thus was I filled
with spiritual mysteries within the temple, and I was considered worthy
to pray for the mysteries of the honoured and quickening Rood. Then I
beheld there the mysteries of the holy God, how He is ever ready to
receive the repentant.
After this, she went back to the vestibule and stood before the image
of Our Lady, asking the Virgin what she should do next. The Virgin's
reply came to her in a faraway voice: "If thou wilt pass over the river
Jordan, there thou shalt
experience and find good rest."
She left the church, begged a few coins and bought three loaves of
bread
with them, and then made her way to the Jordan River, near which was a
little church dedicated to St.
John the Baptist. She spent the night there, praying, and asked the
Mother of God for more direction. Thereafter, she went into the
wilderness, on the East side -- the Jordan side -- of the Jordan River,
where the Forerunner had fasted just three hundred and some years
earlier.
Forty-seven Years
Later
Now we flash forward almost five decades. A Palestinian priest named
Fr. Zosimus was inspired to go to the banks of the Jordan River to stay
at a little monastery there. The monks of this place would make
periodic excursions into the desert, and when Fr. Zosimus was on the
twenty-sixth day of one of these excursions, he saw a human figure in
the distance. He called out to it, but the figure retreated across a
small, dried-up stream and hid itself. Fr. Zosimus called out again,
and this time the person responded, saying,
Thou, Abbot
Zosimus, have pity on me for God's sake, I pray thee, because I cannot
show myself to thee and turn towards thee; for I am a person of female
sex, and totally bereaved of bodily clothing, even as thou thyself
seest, and having the shame of my body uncovered. But if thou desirest
to grant me, a poor evil-doer, thy salutary prayers, then cast me
hither thy mantle with which thou art clothed, that I may cover my
womanly weakness, and turn to thee and receive thy prayers.
She addressed him by name, and she knew he was a priest! He was
bewildered, but turned his back and tossed her his mantle. She covered
herself with it, and came out to greet him. She was an old, emaciated
woman, with long, gray hair. She and the priest asked each other for a
blessing, and then he asked her to tell him about herself, who she was,
how she came to be in the desert, how long she'd been there --
everything. She told him she'd been in the wilderness for forty-seven
years, so long that her clothes had disintegrated away. She'd kept
herself alive by eating roots and herbs, she said. And then she told
him the story you've just read, about her sins and how she came to
repent of them. She told him of her temptations while in the desert,
how she dealt with them, and how God rewarded her by infusing knowledge
directly into her mind, which explained how she knew his name and
office -- and
much of Sacred Scripture even though didn't have a Bible with her, or
even knew how to read. She told him everything but her name.
He was amazed, and ran to prostrate himself before her. She stopped
him, but told him she had a favor to ask of him. She'd not received the
Eucharist during all her years in the wilderness, so she asked him to
come back next year, on Maundy Thursday,
and bring to her the Blessed Sacrament. She also asked him to not tell
anyone about her.
A year went by, and Holy Thursday came. Zosimus gathered together some
figs, dates, and lentils for the woman, and he acquired the most
important thing of all: the Holy Eucharist.
He went back to the desert,
arriving at the Jordan River at night. The moonlight allowed him to see
her on the opposite bank, and he wondered how she would get across. He
watched as she knelt down and made the sign of the Cross over the water
-- and proceeded to walk across the water as Christ Himself did, and
St. Peter did at His command (Matthew 14:23-33). When
she got to him, they prayed the Credo and the Pater Noster together, and she
received Christ. She took a few bites of the food he'd brought, then
she left, crossing over the river in the same way as before.
Filled with joy, he went back to the monastery.
The next year he returned to the same wilderness place, hoping he'd see
her again. He looked and looked for the old woman, and finally found
her -- lifeless on the ground. Next to her, in the dirt, was written,
Abbot Zosimus,
bury and compassionate the body of Mary; render to the earth that which
is the earth's, and dust to dust. Add also to pray moreover for me,
(who am) departing from this world, on the ninth night of the month
that [is called] April, that is, the Ides of April, on the feast-day of
the Lord, and after the time of the Eucharist
Upon reading those words, he knew that she died right after their last
meeting, that is, she died right after receiving the Eucharist. And,
finally, he learned her name.
He started to comply with her wishes to be buried. He found, though,
that he was too old, and the ground was too hard, for him to dig. As he
was lamenting this, a lioness approached. He was afraid, and prayed
for protection from her, but the lioness wouldn't leave. So then he
said,
O thou huge wild
beast, if thou wert sent hither by God that thou mightest enclose in
the earth the body of this holy handmaiden of God, fulfil now the work
of thy service. I verily am weakened by age, so that I cannot dig, nor
have I anything suitable for undertaking this work; nor can I speed on
so great a journey, to bring [tools] hither. But do thou now perform
this work, at the divine behest, with thy claws, until that we two
enclose this holy body in the earth.
The lioness pawed at the earth, using her claws to make a pit in it, a
pit that would serve as the temporary grave of the woman we know as St.
Mary of Egypt.
Click to
enlarge
St. Mary of Egypt is the patron saint of penitents. She is usually
depicted in art as an old woman with very, very long hair (usually
gray), sometimes gazing at a skull or carrying three loaves of bread.
She is often depicted naked but covered by her hair, or wearing a very
loose-fitting garment.
A relic consisting of her skull can be venerated at the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore
in Florence Italy. Other of her relics are kept in a bust-shaped
reliquary in a church named for her -- Santa Maria Egiziaca a Forcella --
in Naples, Italy, and some can be venerated in the cathedral in
Sens, France, in an Orthodox monastery in the Astoria neighborhood
of Queens, New York, and in a Russian Orthodox monastery in Ft. Myers,
Florida.
The dates of St. Mary of Egypt's entries in the martyrology and
calendar have moved all over the place throughout the years. The 1962
calendar (the one most traditional Catholics now use) and the
martyrology in use in 1910 remember her on April 2; the Roman calendar
in use in 1910 on April 3; the Novus Ordo on April 1; Eastern Catholics
on April 1 and the fifth Sunday of Lent; Dom Prosper Gueranger's
"Liturgical Year" assigns her feast to April 9, etc. So be aware of
this, but know she is always honored, at least, in the first week or
week and a half of April.
Customs
Some Catholics might pray a Novena
to St. Mary of Egypt starting on March 24 and ending on April 1,
the eve of her feast. As to prayer for the day, these two prayers from
the East, with the simple plea added on would be nice:
In thee, O
mother, was exactly preserved what was according to the divine image.
For thou didst take the cross and follow Christ, and by thy life, didst
teach us to ignore the flesh, since it is transitory, but to care for
the soul as an immortal thing. Therefore, thy spirit, St. Mary,
rejoices with the Angels.
Having escaped the fog of sin, and having illumined thy heart
with the light of penitence, O glorious one, thou didst come to Christ
and didst offer to Him His immaculate and holy Mother as a merciful
intercessor. Hence thou hast found remission of transgressions, and
with the Angels thou dost ever rejoice.
O, St. Mary of Egypt, pray for us!
There are no special foods for the day, but the gifts Fr. Zosimus
brought to St. Mary bring to mind lentil soup, with some dried fruit
for dessert -- perhaps dates and figs paired with a creamy goat milk
cheese, served with halved pita bread crisped in the oven.:
Lemon Lentil Soup
2 TBSP olive oil
2 medium white onion, peeled and diced
4 medium carrots, diced
10 cloves garlic, minced
12 cup vegetable stock or chicken stock
3 cup dried red lentils, picked over and rinsed
1 1/3 cups whole-kernel corn
1 TBSP + 1 tsp. teaspoons ground cumin
2 tsp. curry powder
big pinch of saffron, optional
big pinch of cayenne pepper, optional
zest and juice of 2 small lemons
salt and fresh black pepper (get Fleur de Sel salt, if you
can)
In a big stockpot, heat the oil over medium heat. When hot,
add the onions and carrots and saute for 5 minutes or so, stirring,
until the onions are transluscent. Add the garlic and saute for another
minute or so until you can smell it.
Stir in the stock, lentils, corn, cumin, curry powder (and
the saffron and cayenne, if using) until combined. Bring it to a
simmer, then cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally,
until the lentils are completely tender. (At this point, if you like,
you can puree the soup with an immersion blender or by pouring it, in a
few batches, into a regular blender and then returning it back to the
stockpot.)
Stir in the lemon zest and juice and heat through. Salt
and pepper as needed.
As to music for the day, St. Mary of Egypt -- Santa
Maria Egiziaca to Italians -- is the subject of the operatic mystery playMaria
Egiziaca by Ottorino Respighi, which I provide for you below:
Today is a good day to meditate deeply on how utterly wise the Church
is with regard to her teachings about human sexuality. So many of the
horrors we endure now -- abortion, certain diseases, broken homes,
children without fathers and all the evils that stem from that (crime,
addiction, mental illness, etc.) -- are rooted in ignoring the simple
fact that sex is meant for marriage alone. It's all very, very simple.
-- Simple, but not easy sometimes, especially for those for whom, for
whatever reasons, sex becomes bound up with neuroses, addiction, or
abuse. But the beautiful teaching of the Church is that no matter how
far one has fallen, no matter in what ways one has degraded himself or
been degraded by others,
there are healing and
forgiveness. One needn't go to the extreme of
living decades in a desert; one just has to be contrite, go to confession, carry out one's penance, and
resolve to sin no more.
Praised be God!
For further reading about St. Mary of Egypt, see these pdf format books
from this site's Catholic Library:
One of the most striking examples of penance ever witnessed, is this
day proposed for our consideration : Mary, the Sinner and Penitent of
Egypt, comes to animate us to persevere in our Lenten exercises. Like
Magdalene and Margaret of Cortona, she had sinned grievously ; like
them, she repented, atoned for her guilt, and is now the associate of
Angels. Let us adore the omnipotence of our Grod, who thus changed a
vessel of dishonour into one of honour ; let us lovingly contemplate
the riches of his mercy, and hope for our own participation in them. At
the same time, let us remember, that pardon is not granted, save where
there is repentance ; and that repentance is not genuine, unless it
produce an abiding spirit and deeds of penance. Mary of Egypt had the
misfortune to lead a life of sin for seventeen years ; but her penance
lasted forty : and what kind of penance must not hers have been, living
alone in a desert, under a scorching sun, without the slightest human
consolation, and amidst every sort of privation ! The pledge of pardon,
— the receiving Holy Communion, — which we received so soon after our
sins, was not granted to Mary, till she had done penauoe for nearly
half a century. Yes, that pledge of Jesus' forgiveness, which he has
given us in the Sacrament of his Love, and which was communicated to us
so promptly, was withheld from this admirable Penitent, so that her
second time for receiving it was at the moment when Death was on the
point of separating her soul from her body which was worn out by
austerities ! Let us humble ourselves at such a comparison ; let us
think with fear on this great truth, — that Grod's justice will require
an exact account of all the graces he has heaped upon us ; and with
this thought, let us rouse ourselves to a determination to merit, by
the sincerity of our repentance, a place near the humble Penitent of
the desert.
We take the Lessons of the Office of St. Mary of Egypt from the ancient
Roman-French Breviaries.
Mary of Egypt left her parents, when she was twelve years of age. It
was during the reign of the Emperor Justin. She entered Alexandria, and
was a sinner in that city for seventeen years. Having visited
Jerusalem, and, it being the Feast of the Exaltation of the holy Cross,
having endeavoured to enter the church of Calvary, she felt herself
thrice repelled by divine power. Standing under the portico, she made a
vow before an image of the Virgin Mother of God, that if our Lord would
grant her to see and venerate the life-giving Wood of the Cross, she
would lead a life of penance. Immediately, she entered the church; she
saw; she adored.
Then, taking three loaves, as provision for her journey and having
received the Eucharist, in St. John's Church on the banks of the
Jordan, she withdrew into an immense wilderness, on the other side of
the river. There, her provisions consumed, and her garments worn to
tatters, she abode unknown to all, for forty-seven years, when she was
discovered by the priest Zozimus. She asked him to bring to her, on the
evening of Maundy Thursday, and on the other side of the Jordan, the
Body and Blood of our Lord, which she had not received during all these
years. On the appointed day, Zozimus came to the place that bad been
agreed on; and Mary, having made the sign of the cross upon the waters,
walked over them, and came to the priest. Having recited the Symbol and
the Lord's Prayer, as was the custom, she received the Divine Gifts.
She again besought Zozimus that he would come to the same torrent, the
following year. He did so, and found her body lying on the ground, on
which were written these words: "Abbot Zozimus! bury the body of this
wretched Mary. Give back to the earth what belongs to it, and add dust
unto dust. Yet, pray to God for me. This last day of the month of
Pharmuthi, on the night of the saving Passion, after the Communion of
the divine and sacred Supper."
A lion then came towards the place, and making a hole in the ground
with his paws, he prepared a grave for her body.
In praise of our incomparable Penitent, we offer to the reader the
following beautiful Sequence, taken from the ancient Missals of Germany.
This daughter
passes from the Egypt of Pharao to the espousals with Jesus, our true
Solomon. She that was abject, is made a chosen one; she that was
deformed, is made fair; the vessel of dishonour is made one of honour.
The Star of the Sea shone upon her, and leading her to her
beloved Son, has knit the bond of peace. The Mother of God interceded;
Christ forgave; the sinner's sins are pardoned.
She that led a carnal life, came to Jerusalem, to be espoused
to the King of Peace ; leaving her false lover, she is united to the
true Spouse, honoured bv the wonderful One.
She strives to enter the House of God, but her unworthiness
forbids it; she is compelled to retire. Then does she return to her own
heart ; she weeps for her sins. and her weeping blots them out.
She flees to the desert ; tramples on Leviathan ; conquers
the world and the flesh ; forgets her father's house : neglects the
beaut}' of the body, that her spirit may be made comely.
Rejoice, O daughter of Egypt! Thou, that once wast a barren
soil, take up thy harp and sing. Exult and be joyful, for now thou art
chaste and pure, fruitful in virtue, a vine that yields a precious
fruit.
He that is our Joy hath loved thee ; the shame of thy
disorders is effaced by the merit of thy purity. Cleansed and all fair,
the wisdom of thy heavenly Spouse has given thee the incorruption of
his grace.
Robed in the seven-fold veil of his Spirit, thou wast
anointed with the oil of gladness. The scarlet of charity, the lily of
chastitjr, the girdle of modesty — all were upon thee.
Thy feet were decked with violet, for thy affections were
changed from earthly to heavenly things. Thy vesture was of every
richest hue, and thy couch was decked with flowers, sweeter than those
of spring.
Rejoice, O Mary, in that Christ so loved thee, and beautified
thee with grace. Be mindful of us sinners; pray for all mankind; feast
now in thy eternal glory! Amen.
Thou wilt sing for all eternity, O Mary, the mercies of the Lord, who
changed thee from a Sinner, into so glorious a Saint, we join thee in
thy praises, and we give him thanks for having shown us so evidently,
in thy person, that a true penitent, whatever and how great soever may
have been his sins, may not only avoid eternal torments, but merit
everlasting bliss.
How light mast now appear to thee, O Mary, that forty years' penance,
the very thought of which terrifies us! How short a time, when compared
with eternity ! How insignificant its austerity, if we think of Hell!
And how rich must not its reward seem to thee, now that thou art face
to face with Infinite Beauty. We, too, are Sinners; dare we say, that
we are Penitents?
Aid our weakness, O Mary! Thou wast made known to the world at the
close of thy hidden life, in order that Christians might learn from
thee the grievousness of sin, of which they make so little account; the
Justice of Grod, of which they are so apt to form so false an idea; and
the goodness of that Father, which they care not to offend.
Pray for us, O Mary, that we may profit by the instructions given to
us, so profusely, during this holy Season. Pray, that our conversion
may be complete; that we may leave our pride and our cowardice; that we
may appreciate the grace of reconciliation with our Maker; and, lastly,
that we may ever approach to the Holy Table with compunction and love
like those thou hadst, when, in thy last happy Communion, Jesus gave
himself to thee in his Sacrament, and then took thee to himself, in the
kingdom of everlasting rest and joy.
Footnotes:
1 Though Alexandria is in the modern
country of Egypt, it was in St, Mary of Egypt's time, a highly Greek
city, a
place of higher status than the rest of Egypt. Only Egyptians who
lived in Alexandria could be granted Roman citizenship, and along
with it, many other civic privileges.
2 From "The Death of St. Mary of Egypt"
from
Ælfric's "Life of the Saints," Link above.
