Mary of Egypt

Mary lived a dissolute life in Alexandria from her youth. Traveling to Jerusalem out of curiosity for the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, she found herself mysteriously unable to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Struck with compunction, she prayed before an icon of the Theotokos, venerated the Cross, and crossed the Jordan into the desert, where she lived in complete solitude for about forty-seven years, enduring fierce temptations and attaining extraordinary holiness. Near the end of her life the elder Zosimas discovered her; she recounted her story, received Holy Communion from him, and was found dead when he returned the following year. Her life, recorded by St Sophronius of Jerusalem, is read during Great Lent, and she is also commemorated on the fifth Sunday of the Fast as the great model of repentance.