Mary of Egypt

Wherever Saint Mary of Egypt is mentioned, she shows you that you are far from “the Father’s house”. What is the secret of this wondrous woman who was called to sit on the throne of the fifth Sunday of the Great Lent? In the prayers of these couple of days, yesterday and today, the Church has reiterated what she had revealed on her feast day (April 1st). She said about her that, after she was done with the visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Palestine, she crossed “the stream of the Jordan, with eagerness going to live in the dwelling-place of the Baptist” (that is, where Saint John the Baptist resided). Notice how the prophecy leaves its impress on geography! This is the secret of Mary that she had deserted the world for the sake of getting into the expanse of a prophet whose voice is still calling on earth: “repent” (Matthew 3:2). Repentance, this is the eager activity of the saints, this is their dwelling-place in the world, and this is our striving that will lead us to Pascha.