Saint Mary of Egypt was born around 344 AD and died around 421. When she was about twelve years of age, Mary left her family and lived a life of lust and prostitution, probably moving to Alexandria in the process. She engaged in this lifestyle for seventeen years.

When she was about twenty-nine years of age she came across a group of people leaving for Jerusalem to attend celebration of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. She decided to travel on the ship so she could engage in her lusts and expand her horizons to Jerusalem.

She continued her lifestyle once she arrived in Jerusalem. On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross she joined with the crowds going to the Church where the Cross was to be venerated, possibly out of curiosity, and possibly seeking new recruits.

When he reached the Church door an invisible shield prevented her from entering no matter how hard she tried. It may well have been the Blessed Ever Virgin Mary, the Bearer of God, who was preventing Saint Mary of Egypt from entering, for Saint Mary realized she was the of the least worthy of the unworthy. She prayed to The Blessed Virgin to assist her in entering the Church, and upon entering the church with no difficulties Saint Mary venerated the Blessed Cross.

Following the Virgin's instructions, Saint Mary then went to the Jordan, traveling all afternoon and evening, where she was Baptized at the place where Saint John the Forerunner (The Baptist) preached and Baptized Our Lord. Some believe Saint Mary also received the Sacred Body and Blood of Our Lord in Holy communion at that time, but it is more like that she did not, as her own words seem to indicate.

Saint Mary then crossed the Jordan into the Arabian desert, where she lived alone for the next forty-seven years, subsisting on herbs and that which grows in the desert, without water.

A Priest Monk named Zosimus, who was in the desert for his Lenten union with Our Lord for the forty days, saw her and actually had to chase her for she fled, being naked after forty-seven years of not having contact with mankind to replenish what we believe to be the necessities of life. finally, Saint Mary called out to Father Zosimus by name, which caused the Priest much concern, and told him she was a woman and could not stop with him, so Father Zosimus gave her his cloak which partially covered her, and she then told him her story.

She begged Fr. Zosimus to meet her on Holy Thursday of the next year to being her The Blessed Sacrament, wich Fr. Zosimus did. She told him not to forget, and that if he was afraid his duty would prevent him from keeping the promise, that he would be prevented from failing to keep his promise. Fr. Zosimus became very ill, almost to death, the following year, so he was unable to be assigned or keep his duty, but just before Holy Thursday he fully recovered and kept his appointment with Saint Mary on the Jordan River. After a little while, Saint Mary appeared on the opposite bank, and, after making the Sign Of the Cross over the water, walked across the Jordan as had Our Lord, and as could not Saint Peter.

Saint Mary received The Blessed Sacrament from Father Zosimus, then asked him to return next year. Upon his return the following year he found Saint Mary dead, wearing but the cloak he had given to her, and knew that she had died the year before after having received The Blessed Sacrament. Father Zosimus was distraught, for he did not even know Saint Mary's name, but then he saw she had written her name in the sand near where her head rested.

Father Zosimus could not leave Saint Mary there exposed to the elements, so he tried to dig a grave for her, but the round was too hard and he had nothing but a stick to dig with. Then he saw a lion next to Saint Mary, and was filled with fear, but remembered Saint Mary had said she was never troubled with wild animals in all her years in the desert, so he asked the lion to help him dig a grave for Saint Mary. The lion ( or was it The Lion) dug Saint Mary's grave, and Father Zosimus buried her with full Christian propriety. Many scholars believe Saint Mary died on April 1, 421 A.D., though Sophronius believes St. Mary died in 522 A. D., but all believe it was on the very day of the month and the day of the week that Our Lord and Savior died on the very same Holy Cross which Saint Mary had venerated.

If you have problems with purity, pray to Saint Mary of Egypt, for better than any person ever created, she personally knows your problem.

Saint Mary of Egypt, help us to become pure; pray for us.