During Great Lent, the words about Mary of Egypt are sure to be heard in churches. As a rule, it is said about her conversion from sin, about a long repentance in the wilderness. But one word about her is remembered somehow especially, it is akin to a good icon-painting image. This is a sermon of the Holy Mother. Serafima (Chichagova) "About the Call of God". Probably, not everyone knows about this instruction *, since the name of the Reverend Mary is not included in its title, but it is mostly dedicated to this saint. And now, there is a line in it, capacious and deep, conveying the essence of its history and at the same time allowing you to see the known, as if, for the first time, no longer as a chain of events, but as true miracle done by God. Here's what the svmch says. Seraphim: “... after 47 years, the monk Zosima once met her in the desert at night, this one is from the great sinners- great righteous…”.
Usually about Rev. Mary of Egypt is spoken of as "pardoned" by God, and this is true. But it is not often possible to feel and convey the immensity of God's mercy in this way. After all, what do the words Svmch mean. Seraphim, what did he see? - Yes, what past Reverend Mary simply no… No harlot. There is the greatest saint! The one who entered Paradise with the virgins.
With regard to sin, only the human soul and human judgment are "long-remembering". God's measure different. For Christ, there are no apostles who “forsaken Him”, there is no Peter who “denied Him”, there is no Paul who “sympathized with the beating of Archdeacon Stephen”, but there is only pupils and supreme Apostles Peter and Paul. True forgiveness, the one that the Lord teaches us, is complete, forever erasing what happened yesterday. It is this that makes it possible for a penitent person to pass into another state; a transition that may seem “unthinkable”, “too generous” and almost “mythical” for a stingy soul: of the great sinners- great saint!“Yes, how so?! After all, she ... ”or:“ Okay, let her be a saint, but what a terrible example, however!
May all this not seem like an exaggeration or a dubious shift in emphasis. Once, in a wonderful sermon about my saint, I happened to hear unexpected and apparently hasty words: “How many such “Mary of Egypt” are now in Russia!” - "How much?"- I wanted to ask ... The pain of a priest who receives hundreds, if not thousands of confessions and is even more worried about those who never reach the lectern, was understandable. It was a "scream" that broke through. But the point is precisely that there is no “Mary of Egypt”… There is no repentance that can lead a person like this, for forty-seven years into the desert beyond the Jordan, put him on the path of asceticism, on the path of extreme asceticism! And the point is not even that, but the fact that the consecrated Mary, whom St. Zosima calls "treasure", the blessing of which he considers for himself a great joy and which he fears ... not to see again, cannot be "typed" even in a small way as an "example for non-imitation". Why? Precisely because no more her past.
What is amazing about her life? The complete dispassion with which she “gives” her sins to God at the testimony of the priest who confesses her, her very confession, addressed to us as well. (Christians of the first centuries repented openly.) There is not the slightest hint of self-justification or, on the contrary, morbidity in it. Everything is perfect, to the end, "to the bottom" consciously, mourned and outlived ... She only removes from her soul past passions that almost destroyed her, like a "rag" that ... has not had power over her for a long time.
At the same time, the repentance of Mary of Egypt before the priest, that is, according to the rules of the Church, has nothing to do with indifference. She once again deeply experiences the events of almost half a century ago. And the Monk Zosima with trepidation received confession ... from the saint.
And so, through the word Svmch. Seraphim (Chichagova), life of St. Mary is revealed as ordained by God the work of man's salvation, which has begun before his appeal, beyond his will, through outwardly seemingly "random" circumstances that led the lost soul to the foot of the Cross of the Lord.
Gorgeous
... Jerusalem was preparing for the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord. Many pilgrims moved along the narrow streets to venerate the greatest shrine - the Cross of the Savior found by Queen Elena. But even in this variegation, one Egyptian woman attracted attention. Swarthy, flexible as a ribbon, with a quick look and impetuous movements, she did not look like a Christian. There was pride in her whole appearance. She clearly knew the value of her remarkable beauty.
When the gates of the temple opened, the Egyptian, out of curiosity, decided to go with everyone. After many efforts, she approached the doors of the temple vestibule.
From all sides of it, people freely penetrated inside, but it remained in the same place. Attempts to get into another stream did not bring results. She was simply thrown away like a grain of sand by a wave. Whenever, after long efforts, exhausted, she reached the threshold of the temple, there was a movement that carried her far back. This went on for a long time. The Egyptian was despondent. Finally, completely exhausted, she leaned against the wall of the narthex. And here Mary of Egypt suddenly clearly understood that everything that had happened to her was not accidental: she was not allowed to Myself Lord. This feeling was obvious and so acute that her conscience spoke out of horror; as if a flash lit up her whole life.
detours
As a teenager, a barely formed girl, she ran away from her parents and in seventeen years she never thought to turn back. AT toy life was too "prosaic", new but, the mistress of which she felt herself, promised freedom and happiness. All these years, shameful passion drove her like a scourge.
It was not greed or poverty that forced Mary of Egypt to live among the fallen, but a vice that completely subjugated her will. The reason, the beginning of everything, was pride from the consciousness of one's youth and rare beauty. It was by no means a desire to bow to holy places that brought her to Jerusalem, and she got on a ship sailing from Alexandria by accident, having neither definite plans nor duties capable of keeping a person in one place. She was attracted by the opportunity to have fun where there were many young people. Neither the place where the Egyptian ship was heading, nor the environment of the pilgrims stopped her. And only at that moment, in the porch, she was horrified for the first time by what she realized: God sees her.
Amazed by the obvious sign of God's opposition and seeing herself by no means beautiful, but, on the contrary, impure and unworthy, she wept more and more, to the point of despair. And then the eyes of Mary of Egypt fell on the icon of the Mother of God.
"Cover" of sinners
As opposed to herself, a meek, spiritualized beauty shone from the image. The look of the Virgin Mary, alive, penetrating the soul and distinguishing her movements, struck the Egyptian, and the half-smile of the Mother of Christ gave timid hope. And then she clung to the Mother of God, as to the only one Who, in spite of everything, incomprehensibly, inexplicably does not shun her ... Incoherent, confused were her words, interrupted by sobs. She asked for only one thing - not to reject her to the end, if possible, to ask God for forgiveness for her, to help her rise, to give her more time to redeem her past defiled life. As a mother is able to understand the indistinct babble of a child, so the Mother of God recognizes the movements in the Christian soul. And after some time, having already clearly felt the mercy of the Mother of God, Her responsiveness and holy intercession, the Egyptian woman was no longer as “alien”, “rejected”, but as a child, finally found and encouraged by her parents, freely passed through the multitude of people and did not bow , but fell near the Crucifixion on Golgotha. At that moment she felt rather than realized that already redeemed and forgiven that in this very place the Lord bore all her sins. It is only necessary to renounce the former life and become worthy of Him, not to betray and never forget this...
She prayed for a long time before the icon of the Mother of God, thanking her Intercessor and Guarantor and promising to correct her life, until she heard a voice: "If you cross the Jordan, you will find your complete rest."
Trusting in the help of the Mother of God and still seeing Her Face in front of her, the Egyptian woman, without losing her prayer, like a thread that connected her with Heaven, walked to the Jordan all day long without rest. A passer-by, seeing a face swollen with tears, gave her three coins, with which she bought herself three loaves. After praying in the Church of the Holy Prophet and Baptist of the Lord John, having washed herself in the Jordan, she returned to the temple to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Sleeping on bare ground did not seem tiring to her. A little light, finding an abandoned boat, she crossed to the other side. In front of her was a deserted desert. Then she disappeared from human eyes ... An old dress, but two and a half bread in her hands ...
Original taken from mon_sofia in MARY'S MYSTERY Marina Biryukova
Venerable Mary of Egypt
Mary of Egypt is perhaps the only holy woman depicted on icons with her head uncovered. With short white hair. With dead brittle hair dried and bleached by the merciless desert sun. This portrait detail reflects the life - a rare case.
And not only is her head uncovered on icons, but she herself is barely covered by the cloak of the elder Zosima, who, as you know, found her in the desert beyond the Jordan in the 47th year of her ascetic life.
The week of Mary of Egypt is approaching - I feel that I certainly need her icon. This was not the case in previous years. Every year, with every Great Lent, I… what, I think about her more and more? No, rather - I feel it more and more deeply, although I can’t explain this feeling to myself. How is she present in my life, in my soul, this Egyptian, repentant harlot and hermit? Roughly, not in a church way, why did she hook me so? ..
I buy a small icon, I find a place for it in my home red corner. "Reverend Mother Mary, pray to God for us" - this is how the Church sings at the beginning of Great Lent, and then - on Thursday morning of the fifth week, at Mary's standing.
Why am I so looking forward to this Thursday, or rather Wednesday evening? A very long service, extremely tiring: the Great Canon of Andrew of Crete in its entirety, and even the life of Mary, readable - also a rare case! - in modern Russian... Why? But what I look forward to is the reading of the life in the church - home re-reading can in no way replace it for me. And am I alone? The church on the Mariino Station will be packed, regardless of the weekday, this is already known. Why do we love her so much, this Mary of Egypt?
And why do I pray to her for love and mutual understanding, for overcoming conflicts and insults, for softening hearts? Where did I get that it was she who would certainly help me in a painful situation related to another person? Is she famous for peacemaking, comforting the mourners, the wounded, offended, love poured out on everyone? .. No, life says that she did not communicate with anyone except the elder Zosima during the entire time of her terrible desert feat.
I pray to Mary for one person, a deacon, who is now banned from ministry for actions incompatible with the holy order. That is, for the street habit of solving all disputes with fists, multiplied by addiction to alcohol. A hefty man with a real diaconal bass, who was also engaged in boxing, he was constant source danger on the way. Well, if only he barks at a woman who rustled the package at the wrong time or dropped her keys on the stone floor. Well, if only with a hangover he comes to the morning service ... However, he could repent and ask for forgiveness - both from the rector and from the same offended parishioner, he could kneel before her and kiss her hand, overcoming her resistance. He was pitied, this insane deacon with a difficult childhood, he was punished and forgiven ... until finally the cup of patience overflowed. So why am I now praying for this man of Mary of Egypt? Because he, reading her life in the temple, wept. At first he tried to hide the rising tears, sniffed, it seemed to everyone that he just had a cold, and then everything broke out. And this is also a mystery. What touched this man so much about the fate of the repentant harlot of Alexandria? In her desert feat? ..
Of course, Mary will not leave either the forbidden deacon, or me, or the person with whom I recently had a painful and obscure conflict (he, by the way, also loves her), nor ... Mary will leave none of us, and we almost feel it. physically - as a special warmth in the heart. If she settles in a person, then somewhere near the heart, such is - sorry, this is only according to my subjective feelings! - some kind of presence Reverend Mary.
Mariino standing. Photo: Patriarchy.Ru
Sad as it is, no matter how it reproaches us, our veneration of Mary of Egypt, our love for her in many (although not in all, of course) cases does not have a direct, immediate connection with her feat - the feat of almost half a century of repentance - but has only indirect communication. To truly understand what this woman was doing for 47 years in a row in a hot desert strewn with black and white stones, without a single blade of grass, without a drop of moisture (whoever saw this desert at least from the window of an air-conditioned bus imagines ...), you need to to really see sin for oneself, to know its perniciousness, fatality, to comprehend experimentally how sin separates us from God. And where are we before this, before a true vision of our sinfulness and horror of it! We have not matured to this, but we love the ascetic of repentance, outpacing our own growth with this love.
It seems to me that many of us love Mary as much as the lion loved her, who licked her dead feet, and then helped the elder Zosima dig a grave for her in the withered, petrified earth. What could this beast know about sin, repentance, forgiveness? He felt love - that, heavenly, lost with the fall of man, after which the whole creation groans and suffers together until now (Rom. 8: 22). I read somewhere about why animals have always been friends with the saints, served them: they felt the breath of Paradise with their animal souls. And it is not alien to us, sinners, to reach out, even unconsciously, to the stream of heavenly air. But we cannot, of course, linger at this “animal” or unaccountable stage - after all, we are people. And the example of the saints should teach us repentance.
But our love for Mary can be said differently. Rereading her life at home or listening to it in the temple, we see that she accomplished her feat ... not out of fear of hellish torment, no! This motive is missing. Mary did this precisely out of the love for God that lived in her, in spite of her sinful and prodigal life. And love for Him is inseparable from love for man and is inconceivable without it. That is why we believe and know that the emaciated and naked Egyptian desert woman with scorched white hair loves us and will help us.
On April 21, the memory of St. Mary of Egypt is celebrated. Why did the former harlot enter the trinity of saints, symbolizing the Lenten "school of piety", together with two great Orthodox prayer books and mystics - St. Gregory Palamas and St. John of the Ladder?
Rev. Mary of Egypt, life (fragment, www.ruicon.ru). 14th century, Greece. Athos, Hilandar Monastery.
The fifth, penultimate, Sunday of Great Lent has arrived (two weeks are left before Easter). Today the Church invites us as an example to turn to the life of one beautiful woman from Alexandria of Egypt. In her youth, she was a well-known harlot in this port city, or speaking literary language, a courtesan.
At first glance, this may seem strange. Are there really few other role models in the treasury of Christian holiness - such immaculate virgins as Barbara, Catherine (whose very name is translated as “always pure”) and others who have been faithful to their Heavenly Bridegroom since childhood? Moreover, it was not need that pushed her “to the panel”, like, for example, Sonya Marmeladova!
She herself admitted that, having left her parents at the age of twelve and having lost her purity, "she was irresistibly and greedily attracted to men." “I traded myself not for self-interest. ... I acted in such a way as to attract more wishing. This was my life: I considered life the constant desecration of my body.
It is all the more important to understand why the former harlot entered the trinity of saints (together with St. Gregory Palamas and St. John of the Ladder), who became symbols of the Lenten “school of piety”!
The wild life of the fallen girl lasted 17 years. Once, for fun, Mary joined the pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem, paying the way for the shipbuilders with her body. Walking around the Holy City and “hunting for the souls of young men,” as the life says, Mary saw people walking to the Church of the Resurrection of Christ. This is where the greatest christian shrine- Calvary Cross.
Together with a crowd of worshipers, Mary entered the narthex, but her attempts to get inside the temple were in vain. Some invisible force was throwing her back from the threshold. Finally, she gave up and retreated to the corner of the porch. “And then,” she later said, “the reason was revealed to me why I was not allowed to see the life-giving tree of the Cross, for my spiritual eyes were illuminated by the word of salvation, indicating that the abomination of my deeds blocked my access to the temple. I began to cry and mourn, hitting my chest and uttering groans from the depths of my soul, and then I saw an icon above me. Holy Mother of God". Turning to her with a prayer, the sinner was able to freely enter the temple, and then, returning to the icon, she received a revelation, hearing a voice: "Cross the Jordan, and you will find blessed peace!"
In the church of St. John the Baptist near the Jordan, she took communion, then crossed to the eastern bank of the river and disappeared from the world. Struggling with temptations, Mary spent another 47 years in the desert before she met the first living person, Hieromonk Zosima, who providentially retired during Great Lent in this very place. (It was a custom for the monks of the Lavra of St. Sava to celebrate Holy Fortecost one by one and return to the monastery for the feast of the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem.) He begged Mary, who had now become an ascetic, to tell him the story of her life. During their joint prayer, the saint was lifted off the ground by a cubit. The elder was filled with reverent awe, hugged her feet with tears and asked her blessings. And Mary called herself a sinner, having no virtues, and asked him for blessings.
They agreed to meet at Jordan, closer to his monastery, the next year, so that Mary could receive communion. By the providence of God, this happened on Holy Thursday. An old man standing on the western bank of the river saw how Mary made the sign of the cross over Jordan and “walked on the water without getting wet.” Having received the Holy Mysteries from his hands, “she raised her hands to heaven, began to groan and cry, and cried out: “Now you let your servant go, Lord, according to your word, in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation!” secret meaning this prayer of Simeon was hidden for Zosima, because the saint herself asked him: “Now go to your monastery, and next year come back to the place where I saw you for the first time. … And again, by the will of God, you will see me.” The elder returned, “full of jubilation and great fear, reproaching himself for not asking the name of the saint; but hoped to do so next year».
Arriving a year later in the desert, he saw at the mouth of a dried-up river “that holy woman lying dead; her hands were folded according to custom, and her face was turned towards the sunrise. Having mourned her and made a funeral prayer, he suddenly saw an inscription inscribed on the sand: “Here, Abba Zosima, bury the remains of the humble Mary and betray the ashes to ashes, unceasingly offering up prayers to the Lord for me, who died on the night of the Passion of the Savior, after receiving the Holy Mysteries.” This meant that she had died a year ago, a few hours after their second (and last) meeting, on April 1, 522, in good friday. A huge lion guarding the body of the saint helped the elder to dig the grave for her burial.
The legend about the life of a sinner-saint was kept in the monastery of Zosima, and later was recorded as "The Life of Mary of Egypt, a former harlot who honestly labored in the Jordanian desert" (the author of this masterpiece of early Byzantine hagiography is Patriarch Sophronius of Jerusalem, †638). The popularity of the life is evidenced by numerous transcriptions and its inclusion in the divine service on Thursday of the fifth week of Great Lent (Standing of Mary of Egypt, or St. Andrew's Standing). The plot of the life was used by I. S. Aksakov in the poem "Mary of Egypt".
The life of St. Mary of Egypt is seen as a dual symbol of active repentance, which transforms the whole being of a person, and God's mercy in return. Christianity is deeply “optimistic”: there is no place for haughty disgust towards people with “irreparably damaged reputation” (as in a secular society), or towards “untouchables” (as in a caste society), and the seemingly incredible ascent from the irrevocable abyss of sin to the halo of holiness is open to every modern colleague of Mary before her conversion. That is why this former sinner is dedicated to the last Sunday of Holy Pentecost (Forty Days of Lent), the most important penitential period of the Orthodox liturgical year.
Mary of Egypt is revered by us as a holy "reverend". Her memory is also celebrated according to the fixed (menine) calendar - April 1/14.
Mary of Egypt is one of the most unusual and amazing saints.
She was born in the 5th century in Egypt. Early leaving the house of her parents, Mary became a harlot and led a dissolute life, seducing many men and indulging in debauchery. The change in her life came when she found herself in a group of pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem for the feast. True, she ended up there not for pious reasons, but seeing how many men are on the ship at the same time, and how many can be seduced. In Jerusalem, she could not enter the temple - an invisible force pushed her away three times.
At that moment, Maria realized how she lived, and she decided to end her former life. taking bread with her, she went into the wilderness, where for forty years she prayed and repented of her sinful life. She did not know how to read and write, but she knew all the Holy Scriptures by heart. she told her story to the elder Zosima, who, while praying in the desert, met her.
The Complete Life of Saint Mary of Egypt: Mary of Egypt, the Treasure of the Desert
The most common are three images of St. Mary of Egypt:
1. The image in the life - the hallmarks tell about the most important episodes of her life, and in the center is depicted Saint Mary of Egypt herself.
2. The image of St. Mary praying to Christ or the Mother of God.
3. Meeting of St. Mary in the desert with the elder Zosima and communion of St. Mary.
This saint is considered the patroness of penitent women. If we talk about what Mary of Egypt helps with, then it is believed that she contributes to obtaining true forgiveness. But, in order for the request to be truly fulfilled, certain rules must be observed.
How does Saint Mary of Egypt help?
As mentioned above, this saint should be asked for true forgiveness for his misdeeds. In order to truly receive forgiveness for your act, you must perform certain actions. Peace of mind, peace, as well as getting rid of guilt for what you have done will not come by themselves. You will have to really work hard, and this saint will give strength to this, this is where the icon of Mary of Egypt helps.
It is believed that if you really want to make amends, you should find this saint and read a special prayer in front of her, of course, after placing a candle. Asking her is worth the effort to do everything possible to reduce the consequences of your act. But that's not all. People believe that only by starting to really do something for the people you offended, you can get the assistance of this saint in obtaining forgiveness. Well, the strength for this will be found thanks to the miraculous power of this saint. This is what really helps the icon of Mary of Egypt.
Only after sincere repentance and actions to minimize the consequences of your misconduct or thoughtless words, one can expect that a person will receive true forgiveness, that is, God's. Otherwise, nothing will work.
Is this really so, everyone must decide for himself. But in any case, both religion and they say that you can get rid of guilt only by sincerely repenting and trying to do everything to reduce the harmful consequences.
