ŚWIĘTA MARIA EGIPCJANKA – PROSTYTUTKA, PUSTELNICA, MISTYCZKA

Bazyli Degórski

doi:10.31648/ft.10629

SAINT MARY OF EGYPT – PROSTITUTE, HERMIT, MYSTIC

Bazyli Degórski

Pontifical University of Angelicum, Rome (Italy)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.31648/ft.10629

Abstract

The Life of Saint Mary of Egypt was written between 354 and 431 and initially attributed to Sophronius of Jerusalem. From the 6th century onwards, Eastern monks presented the story of the saint. In the West, it became known through Paul the Deacon’s translation of the Vita S. Mariae Aegyptiacae into Latin.

Initially, Mary of Egypt led a lustful life, indulging in pleasures. Thanks to the help of grace and a determination to change, she embraced the severely austere life of a hermit, mourning her former sinful conduct for 47 years. The Mother of God for the penitent was a great help in this life and fighting carnal temptations. Mary became a model for St. Zosimus, who witnessed her holiness in the desert and the mystical states granted to her by God, including the gift of prophecy and levitation.

The story of Mary of Egypt can be classified as one of the lives of the desert mothers, for this saint reflects the testimony of an ascetic path, that is, the total abandonment of the world in favour of seclusion in the desert. Some scholars believe that the Vita S. Mariae Aegyptiacae was written on the model of Jerome’s Vita S. Pauli monachi Thebaei.

Mary of Egypt was a prominent figure in the female monastic tradition, but it appears from existing manuscripts that she was more celebrated in male monasteries. The figure of the hermit saint emphasises the woman’s independence: she is a teacher, a prophetess, a mystic who instructs the monk-priest, and who surpasses the man in Christian perfection.

Keywords:

μετάνοια, St. Mary of Egypt, monasticism, Vitae Sanctorum Eremitarum, spirituality

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