Michael Bremner

Susan Wendel, Ph.D.

BLST 378
8 December 2014
ST. MARY OF EGYPT: VOCATION THROUGH REPENTANCE.
Thesis: St. Marys life shows that by embodying a renewed Israel through repentance,
one can fulfil vocation in three ways by being the people of God, by having a prophetic
task, and by bearing the image of God.
I.
II.

III.

IV.
V.
VI.

Introduction: St. Mary the harlot and 6-7th century woman

The Story of Saint Mary of Egypt sets up St. Mary and Zoismas as an allusion to
Israel.
a. Zoismas the authoritative patriarch
i. Zoismas is painted as a righteous man
ii. Zoismas is painted as a righteous youth
b. St. Mary is first introduced as a contrast to Zoismas
i. St. Mary is weak, fearful, and sinful
ii. St. Mary loves pleasure as a young child
c. St. Mary of Egypt as an allusion of the sinful Israel.
i. St. Mary tries to enter a church, but cannot on account of her
sinfulness
ii. St. Mary is lead into the desert to wander, connecting her to Israel
d. St. Mary of Egypt as an allusion to a renewed people of Israel
i. Given the spirit as Fire connects her to Israel,
ii. Given the spirit as Fire connects St. Mary to The Church
iii. Her embodiment of the Christ connects her to Israel
e. Zoismas Character changes to that of St. Marys
i. Zoismas character reflects a woman instead of a patriarch, and
ultimately reflects St. Mary of Egypt.
ii. Zoismas transformation shows that Gods calling looks repentance
and humility rather than asceticism
Vocation: St. Marys vocation as the people of Israel.
a. St. Marys repentance allows her to embody Israel, and fulfils her calling to be
the people of God and to bear Gods image.
b. Historical circumstances show Gods calling to be open to all.
c. St. Marys embodiment as a new Israel helps show that she has a prophetic
call as through intercession
Reflection: How St. Mary is relevant to us all.
St. Marys idolatrous ways reflects those of us in our infancy in regards to our
faith
St. Marys idolatrous ways is very relevant to our culture.
1

VII.

St. Marys repentance is relevant to our own culture.

Sophronios biography of St. Mary of Egypt tells how St. Mary, the lowest of
humans, can still repent and be called by God. However, it is not clear whether St. Mary
of Egypt is a historical person or is a myth. There are multiple accounts of womens lives
that are similar to St Marys life from other sources, such as John Moschos The Spiritual
Meadow (approx.. 540-619) which recounts stories of ascetic women and their struggles
with sexual temptation. 1 Yet, Sophronios the patriarch of Jerusalem (560-638)2 writes
that he is reporting an event that took place in our own times,3 which seems to indicate
that St. Mary of Egypt is perhaps a real woman who lived in Palestine during the 6th or 7th
century.4 This essay is written to first explain how St. Marys life connects her to Israel,
then how that connects to vocation, and lastly how her life informs my own vocation. It is
the contention of this essay that St. Marys life shows that by embodying a renewed Israel
through repentance, one can fulfil vocation in three ways by being the people of God, by
having a prophetic task, and by bearing the image of God.

1 Siglind Bruhn, Saints in the Limelight: Representations of the Religious Quest on the Post
(Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press 2003), 195.
2 See Marie Koulie, Life of St. Mary of Egypt, in Holy Women of Byzantium: Ten Saints Lives,
ed. Alice-Mary Talbot (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks, 1996), 68. The story became very popular in
the Eastern Christian world with a majority of the manuscripts found in Greek. However, this biography
can also be found in Latin, Syriac, Ethiopic, Armenian and Slavonic languages. Thus, this essay uses
Sophronios account with humility, understanding that some of the events reported could be argued as being
romanticized and even outright fabricated as the tradition of this woman has been passed on.
3 Saint Sophronios, The Life of Mary of Egypt, the Former Harlot, Who in Blessed Manner
Became an Ascetic in the Desert of the Jordan, trans. Marie Koulie, in Holy Women of Byzantium: Ten
Saints Lives, ed. Alice-Mary Talbot (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks, 1996), 70.
4 See Mary Koulie, Life of St. Mary, 66. Sophronios was not an eye witness of this women, and
instead the story was passed on from monk to monk for generations. Furthermore, the biography of St.
Mary of Egypt by Sophronios is cited by St. John of Damascus in the eighth century and so the latest date
of composition of Sophronios account is the seventh century

The first protagonist in St. Marys story is Zoismas, a priest-monk whom

Sophronios paints as an authoritative patriarch by making allusions to Abraham. Zoismas
was regarded by his peers as being full of piety.5 Zoismas had lived an ascetic life for 53
years and a problem arises as he is plagued with thoughts that ask whether he has already
reached perfection.6 Zoismas is told by a messenger from God that his ascetic practices
themselves cannot lead to perfection, and so he should Go forth out of thy land and out
of thy kindred and out of the house of thy father.7 This is a clear reference to Genesis
12:1 in which God commissions Abraham to leave his land for the Promised Land, in
which he will become the father of the great nation Israel. The righteous life of Zoismas
also reflects apocryphal works of Abraham that eastern monastics and Christians were
aware of and had an effect on their liturgical and theological life as early as the 4th
century AD.8 In Jubilees 11:17-12:20, Abraham is seen as a righteous young man even
before his calling to be the father of a great nation in Genesis 12:1. Jubilees Abraham
does this by abhorring idolatry and the pagan ways of his fathers household and living in
piety and prayer.9 Furthermore, Zoismas would be a familiar authority to Palestinian
Christians who were aware of the desert fathers. These monks were spiritual authorities
5 Sophronios, the Life of Mary of Egypt, 71-72.
6 Ibid., 72.
7 Ibid.
8 See Alexander Golitzin, Earthly Angels and Heavenly Men: The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha,
Nicetas Stethatos, and the Tradition of Interiorized Apocalyptic in Eastern Christian Ascetical and Mystical
Literature, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 55 (2001): 139.
9 Chris VanLandingham, Judgment and Justification in Early Judaism and the Apostle Paul
(Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishing, 2006), 23.

who lived a semi-emetic life while living near populated areas.10 Thus, Zoismas is painted
as the patriarch of Israel.
St. Mary of Egypt is introduced as a contrast to Zoismas life. St. Mary of Egypt is
introduced to us only after Zoismas goes out wandering in the desert. While Zoismas is
still focusing on his ascetical practices even after his encounter with the messenger, he
spots St. Mary of Egypts silhouette and so begins to chase it, in which she responds by
fleeing. However, having feminine weakness11 St. Mary is easily outpaced. St. Mary is
discovered naked and afraid of being seen and describes herself as a sinful woman.12
St. Mary explains to Zoismas that as a child (beginning at 12 years old) she was the
instrument of the devil.13 What she means by this is that her life was lived entirely and
insatiably into the lust of sexual intercourse14 as a symptom of her addiction to fleshly
pleasures. She would not even charge to have sexual relations, but offered herself without
charge to as many men as she could, even when they offered to pay for her.15 Unlike
Zoismas righteous ways in his youth, Mary is first described to us as being weak, afraid,
and sinful.

10 Carolinet Schroarder, Women in Anchoritic and Semi-Anchoritic Monasticism in Egypt:

Rethinking the Landscape, Church History 83 (March 2014), 5.
11 Sophronios, the Life of Mary of Egypt, 77.
12 Ibid.
13 Ibid., 80.
14 Ibid.
15 Ibid.

Yet, it is through this contrast that we begin to see St. Mary as portrayed as Israel. What
changed St. Marys old sinful way of life was her experience trying to enter a particular
church in Jerusalem. She could not enter it because a divine power16 would not let her.
At first she assumed that this was because of her womanly weakness,17 but by turning
to the life-giving cross18 Christ made it apparent to her that it was her lifestyle that was
barring her from entering the Church. For this reason she asked for the intercession of the
Virgin Mary that she would allow St. Mary to enter the Church and thus not be deprived
of viewing the cross in the Church. If this would be granted, she promised that she would
no longer pursue her lusts and reject worldly pleasure and follow wherever she is told to
go.19 It is this promise that lead St. Mary to wander the desert for around 40 years.20 St.
Mary explains that she has fled afar and lodged in this <wilderness>, waiting for my
God Who delivers those who return to Him from distress of spirit and tempest.21 This is
an allusion to the cleansing of the sinful Israel in the desert for forty years (See Numbers
32:13), after disobeying God when they refused to enter into the Promised Land.
Furthermore, St. Marys sexual promiscuity is an illusion to the unfaithfulness of Israel.
For example, God tells Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman for like an adulterous
16 Ibid., 82.
17 Ibid.
18 Ibid.
19 Ibid., 83.
20 Ibid., 85
21 Ibid.

wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the LORD (Hosea 1:2; NIV). Biblical
imagery sets up sexual promiscuity for us as symbols that represent unfaithfulness to
God, usually through idolatry. Thus, St. Mary embodies the sinful Israel in her youth, but
one that is purified through her wandering in the desert.
St. Mary believes that God desires not the death of the sinner, (Ezek 33:11) and
so her character shifts into that of a renewed new Israel, namely by being painted as the
Church and as Christ. At the moment of St. Marys conversion, she received the fire of
faith.22 This is an allusion to the Pentecost in Acts 2:1-4, in which the Holy Spirit rests
on the first Church as of fire (Acts 2:3; NRSV). This is significant because it is this act
of the Spirit that empowers the Church and alludes to the Church as a renewed Israel. 23
For example, the covenant with Israel that is initiated on Mount Sinai is alluded to in Acts
2, since God comes to Israel onto the mount as fire (Exod 19:18).24 The same fire that
rests on Israel at Mount Sinai rests on the first church. And this Spiritual fire that rested
on the Church also comes and rests on St. Mary, painting St. Mary as the renewed Israel
in Acts 2. Furthermore, St. Mary becomes Christ in her life. For example, St. Mary can
walk on water25 which is an allusion to Christs walking on water (See Mark 6:4553,
Matthew 14:2234, John 6:1521). St. Mary is able to call Zoismas by name and
22 Ibid., 83.
23 See Luke Timothy Johnson, Prophetic Jesus, Prophetic Church: The Challenges of Luke-Acts to
Contemporary Christians (Grand rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2011), 61-62. By
restoring the disciples to twelve disciples with Matthias, Luke-Acts alludes to a restoration of Israel.
24 George T. Montague, The Holy Spirit: Growth of a Biblical Tradition. (Peabody, MA:
Hendrickson Publishers, 1993.)
25 Sophronios, the Life of Mary of Egypt, 89.

perceive things about him that she would never know,26 which alludes to Christs ability
to know secret things as well (See Matthew 12:25; 22:18; Mark 2:8, Luke 6:8). Christ is
also viewed as the true Israel. For example, the Holy Scriptures state that when Israel
was a youth I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son (Hos 11:1; NASB). Matthew
2:15 takes this passage and makes applies it to Christ, and so Israel becomes a type of
Christ.27 Therefore, by embodying Christ, who is the new Adam (See 1 Cor 15:45) and
also image of God, 28St. Mary becomes a raised Israel and embodies what God
envisioned for man. All the actions of St. Mary interweave her story with that of the
Israel of the Old and New Testament.

26 Ibid., 77.

27 See, Justin Martyr, Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew, in The Apostolic
Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson,
and A. Cleveland Coxe, vol. 1, The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Buffalo, NY: Christian
Literature Company, 1885), 261. It is St. Justins work on Christ and Christians as the
true Israel that had encouraged me to see these connections.

28 Gregory Nazianzen, Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen, in S.

Cyril of Jerusalem, S. Gregory Nazianzen, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, trans.
Charles Gordon Browne and James Edward Swallow, vol. 7, A Select Library of the
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series (New York:
Christian Literature Company, 1894), 311.
8

As St. Marys manifestations of Christ begin to appear, Zoismas character also

changes for the better. For example, through her gift of foresight29 as Zoismas calls it,
Mary is able to know Zoismas would find her corpse, and so Zoismas Found her dead
laying to the east.30 She wrote to him, telling him she died in the month of Pharmouthin
according to the Egyptians31 and in his veneration of her he went to wash her feet with
his tears, an allusion to the behavior of a woman in Luke 7:36-38.32 This woman washes
the feet of Christ with her tears in preparation of his death. He no longer embodies that
strong Abraham-like patriarchal character, but is humbled into repentance and prayer.
Furthermore, when Zoismas sees her spiritual knowledge, there is a showdown of
humility between the two in which they both bow to each other and continue to beg each
other in mimicry for forgiveness. By this the righteous patriarch is transformed into St.
Mary of Egypt, the once sinful woman. By mimicking St. Mary, the calling that Mary has
is shown to not be the perfect asceticism of Zoismas, but rather it looks like repentance
and humility.
It is St. Marys embodiment of Israel that fulfils her calling to be the people of
God and to bear Gods image. It has been argued previously that Mary embodies the
sinful Israel because of sin, but she becomes a renewed Israel through the Spirit. The

29 Sophronios, the Life of Mary of Egypt, 77.

30 Ibid., 91
31 Ibid.
32 Lynda L. Coon, Sacred Fictions: Holy Women and Hagiography in Late Antiquity (Philadelphia,
PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997), 88.

Spirit empowerment was initiated by her conversion through repentance. For this reason
St. Marys calling as the people of God is fulfilled by her repentance from her sin. To take
this further, St. Mary is empowered to embody Christ by this repentance as well. And by
embodying Christ her old man (See Romans 5:1221) disappears and she now reflects
the new man, Christ. This is significant because Christ restores (See Col 1:15-29) in man
the past reflection of God he was given (Genesis 1:27).
Even more so, St. Marys unique historical context shows how even the vilest
class of human beings can attain this embodiment of being the people of God and as
being the image of God through repentance. This is because St. Marys Story paints her
as a character that would cause social anxiety. In her culture females began to be a class
that was less praised. For example, in the third and fourth centuries there were a large
number of female saints. By the 6th-7th century there was less than a quarter of those
numbers that were made saints.33 Furth more, St. Marys body was black, and so her
color puts her in another racial class from the Palestinians. Her sexual promiscuity would
play on the fears of a womens ability to have maligned power through seduction,34 a fear
found within Greco-Roman world. A fear shared with philosophers such as Aristotle who
saw women as morally weak creatures.35 Furthermore, unlike the Roman code of having a

33 Tia Carley, Abjection and the Life of Mary of Egypt, Claremont Journal of Religion 2 (June
2013): 50.
34 Jo Ann McNamara, Sexual Equality and the Cult of Virginity in Early Christian Thought, in
Women in Early Christianity, ed. David M. Scholer (Abingdon: Taylor & Francis, 1993), 145.
35 Deborah F. Sawyer, Women and Religion in the First Christian Centuries (New York, NY: Routledge,
1996), 23.

10

male figure in control of St. Mary and to be in a home caring for a family,36 St. Mary
appears to do anything as she pleases, going against the filial and hierarchal approach of
the Roman world. Ultimately, Sophronios paints St. Marys old life as repulsive for his
contemporary audience. St. Marys calling for her culture is significant because it gives
hope to all, since the redemption of even one of the lowliest of sinners shows that God
can call all.37 Gods call is accessible for everyone, not just for the monastics.38 Although
St. Mary lives like a desert nun, these are not themes that are emphasized. The reason St.
Mary is in the desert living as if she is a nun is to create imagery for the readers in order
to easily connect her to Israel. However, it is her humility and repentance that really make
her true Israel, not being an ascetical monk. For Zoismas was an ascetical monk and his
calling was never fulfilled until he too began to embody St. Marys life. To the point
where he is portrayed as a woman. Therefore, we can conclude St. Marys calling is that
of repentance and not to be a desert monk.
St. Marys calling is much needed within her cultural context as well. St.
Sophronios uses a rhetorical exhortation to give an urgent call to a change in how one
views their world. Sophronios writes <God> forbid that I should give false account39 of
St. Marys life, and that one should not disbelieve because of their amazement at the
36 Robert Knapp, Invisible Romans (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011), 53-55.
37 David Jasper, Do Not Hide Your Face From Me: The Sacred and Profane Body in Art and
Modern Literature, in Reading Spiritualties: Constructing and Representing the Sacred, ed. Dawn
Llewellyn and Deborah F. Sawyer (Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 2008), 234. See also, Christopher
Maslanka, From Wench to Wonder Woman: Lenten Discipline and Miraculous Powers in the South
English Legendarys Life of Saint Mary of Egypt, Essays in Medieval Studies 29, (2014): 30.
38 Lynda L. Coon, Sacred Fictions, 89.
39 Sophronios, the Life of Mary, 70.

11

extraordinary<aspects>of the story. 40 There appears to be a concern with whether Christ

still works within his world. This can be attributed to the cultural context of this
Palestinian area in which there was war and turmoil with the rise of Islam. For example,
St. Sophronios is recorded as being shocked at the extreme violence by the Muslims
toward his Christian communities.41 Within bleak times with persecution it can be
difficult to find hope in ones religion, especially with the temptation to switch to other
Gods when ones environment is beginning to be set up to encourage conversion to
Islam.42 If one were to convert to Islam, there is still the ability for them to turn back to
God, like the idolatrous Israel renewed by God. The rhetorical exhortations to believe are
given in this account in order to encourage Sophronios congregations, since these
biographies were written to help readers to reenact the life of Christ by seeing how
someone of their own time was also able to do it. Thus, St. Marys calling was not
recorded for monastics, but again for the average person to embody repentance and to be
a part of the true Israel as well
St. Mary also embodies a prophetic call of intercession by embodying the true
Israel which is the Church. Throughout the story Zoismas main request is for St. Marys
intercession, that she would Pray for me the sinner, so that my sojourn in this desert

40 Ibid.
41 Daniel J. Sahas, The Face To Face Encounter Between Patriarch Sophronios of Jerusalem And
the Caliph Umar Ibn Al Khattab: Friends or Foes? in The Encounter of Eastern Christianity With Early
Islam ed. Emmanouela Grypeou, Mark N. Swanson, and David Richard Thomas, (Leaiden, NV: Brill,
2006) 34.
42 Bat Yeor, The Decline of Eastern Christianity Under Islam: From Jihad to Dhimmitude:
Seventh-Twentieth Century, (Cranbury, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1996), 134.

12

may not prove fruitless.43 Intercession is one of the main themes of being a prophet. For
example, Even though Abimelek has access to God, given that God speaks to him directly
(Gen 20:3), Abimelek is told to ask for the intercession of Abraham since Abraham is a
prophet, and he will pray for you (Gen 20:7). Thus, since the Church, and more
specifically St. Mary, is empowered by that same prophetic spirit she fulfills her
prophetic role by offering intercessions for the whole world (See 1 Timothy 2:1). In fact,
Zoismas just assumes that this is what St. Mary does in the desert when he tells her
thanks to your holy prayers, Christ has granted stable peace to all.44 There was no
mention in the story previously that this is what St. Mary doing. Furthermore, Zoismas
asks St. Mary to continue to pray for the whole world45 St. Marys calling actually
solves Zoismas problem with thoughts of perfection, since they are abolished by her
intercession and embodiment as Israel. Thus, through interceding she becomes a prophet
who turns Israel from their improper ways.
St. Marys own story seems to have huge relevance to my own generation,
because the sinful Israel allusions brings to mind how easily it is to fall away from God
and to turn to other gods. What do I mean by this? To steal a phrase from Fr. Lawrence
Farley, Secularism for example has made science a sovereign and unchallenged cultural
arbiter.46 That is, it is normal these days to question Christian sexual morality because
43 Sophronios, the Life of Mary, 78.
44 Ibid.
45 Ibid.
46 Fr. Lawrence Farley, Fr. Lawrence Farley: Is the LGBT a New Reality? American Orthodox
Institute, accessed 2 December 2014, http://www.aoiusa.org/fr-lawrence-farley-is-the-lgbt-a-new-

13

science says something contrary to the Christian way. I used to find that these kinds of
arguments against my faith were preferable, and so I also chased after my passions since
Thus says the science.47 In a way Science becomes a god who orders the universe and
my life, rather than the true God. Furthermore, it is incredibly hard to overcome passions
once one has been engulfed by them. In that way I identify with St. Mary of Egypt, by
being ruled by passions. Actually, it appears to me to be a reoccurring pattern in my
generation, the if it feels good do it generation as long as it does not hurt anyone.
Furthermore, we live in a nation with several other religions. For example, if you do not
like Christianity you can go to the nearest Buddhist guru and practice. Thus, like Israel
we are also surrounded by other gods, and like St. Mary and Israel I also gave my love to
other gods, such as money and especially security and luxury.
The Christian community and I can learn though that through repentance there is
the ability to turn back towards God and to be able to say no to the passions that can
enslave us. It is those passions that usually make me question whether I should be
ordained. Is it possible to go back once you have been so engulfed in them? If not then it
would appear that I should not be ordained, since a presbyter who is concerned with
luxury seems to be one that is unable to look after those who are under his guidance. The
reason for this is that the people become a paycheck, rather than fellow brothers in need
of salvation. When I was thinking about being ordained within the Orthodox Church in
America, I was discouraged because they are unable to pay their priests a decent salary.
However, I realized that my vocation is first and foremost to love my God and to also
love my neighbour as myself, through repentance and humility that is amply displayed by
reality/.
47 By passion I mean those desires that are improperly ordered.

14

St. Mary of Egypt. If I can continue to live as she did, then it seems to me that it is
possible to overcome my issues with passions, to turn away from the sinful Israel and to
be the renewed Israel that St. Mary embodies, since St. Mary was able to overcome even
worse than what I deal with. Thus, St. Mary encourages me to continue my education and
to strive for ordination.

15

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20

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