Saint Mary was born in the Egyptian countryside in the early fourth century AD, and when she was twelve years old, she went hidden from her parents to the city of Alexandria, which at that time was a beacon of science and knowledge visited by merchants and industrialists from the East and West, and a destination for thousands of students. From all elements, she was immersed in a sea of wealth and luxury. She was dazzled by the beauty and money she saw, and young men rushed to flatter her, so she surrendered to them and lived a life of prostitution, recklessness, debauchery, debauchery, and debauchery for seventeen years, during which she caused the death of many men.

In Jerusalem:

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was approaching, a feast celebrated by the Holy City with great celebration, and Christians were coming from all over the country to watch the celebrations and seek blessings from the Holy Oud. A group left Alexandria heading to Jerusalem to attend the feast, so Mary went with them to watch and spend days of joy and happiness. When the caravan arrived in Jerusalem, Mary did not go to visit churches and holy places, but rather, as usual, she went behind sins. The day of the feast came, and thousands rushed to the church to attend the feast and receive blessings from the Holy Cross. Mary entered among the crowds and walked with them, but when she came to the church door, she felt a hidden force pushing her back and preventing her from walking. She tried to enter several times but was unable. She looked around and saw that everyone was entering and there was nothing stopping them, while she was the only one who could not enter.

Her knowledge of her sin and her repentance:

After several attempts to enter the church, Maryam could not find a path that would lead her inside, so she stood in one of the corners of the hallway. Only then, with great difficulty, did she realize the reason that prevented her from being allowed to see the life-giving Cross. The word of salvation gently touched the eyes of her heart and revealed to her that her filthy life was and she understood that her transgressions were what stood in her way and prevented her from entering the house of God. She began to cry, sob, and sigh from the depths of her heart.

As she raised her head slightly, her gaze fell on the icon of the Most Holy Mother of God, and she turned to her and said: “O Lady, Mother of God, who gave birth to God the Word in the flesh, I know, and I know very well, that it is not your honor for a corrupt person to raise his eyes to your icon. O ever-virgin, O you who kept her body and soul pure. I am truly cursed and disgusted by your virginal purity. But I heard that God was born of you. He was incarnated to call sinners to repent. So help me, because I have no one to help me but you. Order the entrance to the church to open in front of me. Allow me to see the noble oud on which He who was born of you suffered in the flesh and gave His holy blood to redeem sinners and me, the undeserving. Bear witness that I will no longer defile my body with the filth of prostitution. Rather, as soon as I prostrate myself to the wood of the cross, I will renounce the world and the experiences of the world and head wherever you lead me.”

Thus Mary spoke, addressing the Mother of God, and she headed again to enter the church, advancing to the doors that she had not been able to reach before. I entered without difficulty. I saw the life-giving oud. Then she threw herself on the ground, prostrated, and kissed the Cross of the Lord, pouring out her abundant tears and sincere remorse before Him. Then she left the church and headed towards the icon of the Mother of God and addressed her, saying: “O amiable lady, you have shown me your great love. Glory be to God who accepts the repentance of sinners through you. What more can I say, who is immersed in sin? It is time for me, my lady, to fulfill my vow as you witnessed. Now lead me with your hands on the path of repentance.” So she heard a voice telling her: “Go to the Jordan and cross it, and there you will find comfort and tranquility.”

Wild Jordan:

After that, I left the porch of the church in Jerusalem and went to the Church of the Forerunner John the Baptist on the Jordan. There, she received the Holy Communion, and then set off into the depths of the wilderness to spend the rest of her life. She lived 47 years of a very harsh life in repentance, fasting, meditation, and combating demonic temptations.

Her struggle and rituals:

Throughout the life of the Saint of God in the wilderness, she was fighting desires and whims. What she encountered and experienced during her life before repentance always came to her. The desire for meat and fish was the source of singing the ugly songs that she used to say, debauchery and the nightlife of young men. All of these would hardly have left her had it not been for her struggle and the help of the Virgin, the Mother of God, who promised her not to return to immorality and to walk on the path of righteous repentance.

As for its food, it was some legumes that you rarely find in the wild. She drinks a little water. Her dress was open. She had nothing to wear. The sun was burning her during the day, and the cold was killing her at night, until her skin became dark black from the intense heat and cold.

God's blessing be with her:

Sincere repentance and tireless struggle must be crowned with divine glory. This is what the Saint of God achieved after her long years of struggle. She was overshadowed by God's grace and the Holy Spirit resided within her. So I was taught the Holy Book, because the living and active Word of God teaches man knowledge on its own.

Meeting with Father Monk Zosima:

In the last days of her life, she was seen by a hermit priest named (Zosimas), who had gone into the desert to pray and worship. He had in his heart the hope that he would meet someone who would be sufficient, from among the struggling hermits, to satisfy his desire and quench his longing. So he thought at first that he saw a ghost, but he saw it moving, so he called to it and ran away. He followed it, and started running after it, shouting and saying: “Oh man of God, stand a little longer to receive your blessing,” thinking that it was one of the hermits. He continued running after him until he caught up with him, and then he saw that ghost shouting at the monk and saying: “Oh! Father Zosimas, I am a sinful woman and I am naked, so if you must speak to me, bring me the robe that you wear to cover me.” So he threw it to her and approached her, and suddenly he was in front of a woman whose face was wrinkled, her body was burned by the sun, and her hair became white and flowed over her chest and shoulders. She said to him: “O Father Zosimas.” What do you want from a miserable woman like me? Then she told him the history of her life from the beginning until that moment, the severe satanic temptations she endured, and the help of the Mother of God to her during the temptations. She asked him not to reveal her secret as long as she was alive and to bring her the pure secrets on Holy Thursday next year so that she could receive the body of the Lord. And his blood. The following year, on Holy Thursday, he brought it to her and gave it to her. Then she asked him to come the following year and see her in the place where he had met her for the first time in the desert, so he promised her that. And all this happened without Zosimas telling anyone.

Her sleep:

The year passed, and Father Zosimas walked into the wilderness until, when he reached the place where he first came, he did not see anything indicating the presence of anyone, so he raised his eyes to heaven and prayed: “Reveal to me, O Lord, your pure treasure that you hid in the wilderness. Show me the angel with the body for which the world is not worthy.” “. When he turned to the other side, towards the rising sun, he saw the saint lying modestly and solemnly, with light emanating from her face, and a lion crouching in front of her, guarding her. Her hands were crossed to her chest according to the custom of that time, and her face was facing east. As he ran towards her, he cried at her feet and kissed them without daring to touch anything else about her.
He cried for a long time, then recited the specific psalms and said the funeral prayers over them. Then he thought to himself: “Should I bury the body of the saint, or do you think I will violate her wish?” And he saw words written on the ground next to her head: “O Father Zosimas, hide in the dust the body of the humble Mary. Return to ashes what is ashes and pray to the Lord for the woman who departed in the Egyptian month of Vermotian. Corresponding to April among the Romans, the first day, the very night of our Lord’s Passion, after the divine mysteries were received.” So he stood up and saw the lion leading him and digging the ground with his claws until he dug a large hole, so Father Zosimas carried that pure body and showed him the dirt.

Thus Father Zosimas informed his superior of what had happened and wrote her biography. This was around the year 437 AD.

Saint Mary and the Fifth Sunday of Lent in the Church:

From it, the Church established a “model of repentance.” It is a symbol of conversion, repentance and austerity. On the last Sunday of Lent, it expresses the last and most urgent invitation that the Church addresses to us before the days of Passion and Holy Resurrection.

This story of Mary teaches us that true repentance saves a person and erases all his sins, whatever they may be. It is a purification of the soul, and is like a second baptism because the one who defiled his baptism with sins returns it to its original splendor through repentance. Through it, many people were saved and became saints following the example of Mary of Egypt, who was an adulteress, but through her repentance and ascetic struggle, God honored her, sanctified her, and entitled her to the kingdom of heaven.

Our church celebrates its memorial on the first day of the eastern month of April (14 western) and the fifth Sunday of Great Lent.

Troparion of Saint Mary of Egypt in the fifth tune
When you were enlightened by God by the grace of the cross, you appeared as a lamp of repentance, shining with light, and you left the darkness of passions, O Most Dignified One. So you appeared in the wilderness to Zosima the priest as an angel of God. O righteous Mother Mary, intercede with him for all of us.

Qandaq with the second tune
Through the hardships of your efforts, O you who cling to God, you sanctified the rugged wilderness. Therefore, we honor your remembrance with songs, O righteous Mary, O joy of the righteous.