Mary of Egypt

Mary of Egypt (Greek: Μαρία ἡ Αἰγυπτία; Coptic: Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ Ⲛⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ; Egyptian Arabic: مريم المصرية/ماريا المصرية; Amharic/Geez: ቅድስት ማርያም ግብፃዊት; Latin: Maria Aegyptiaca) was an Egyptian grazer saint, said to have dwelled in Byzantine-era Palestine in the 5th century AD (in late antiquity / Early Middle Ages).

The hagiography The Life of Our Venerable Mother Mary of Egypt tells her life story through the framing device of her encounter with the hieromonk Zosimas of Palestine near the Jordan River. Mary recounts to Zosimas debauched life of lust so great she traveled from Alexandria to Jerusalem seeking to seduce pilgrims traveling to the Elevation of the Holy Cross. Arriving at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre she encounters the power of an icon of the Mary the mother of Jesus barring her entrance. She receives instructions to cross the Jordan River to seek glorious rest wandering the desert as an ascetic. Mary and Zosimas then part ways resolving to meet by the Jordan one year later so that Zosimas can administer Holy Communion; at this meeting Zosimas witnesses Mary walking on the water.

The story concludes with Zosimas waiting one year hence to reunite only to find Mary's deceased body; after praying he receives divine instruction to provide her Christian burial. The hagiography then states that Zosimas told his fellow monks about Mary, who after his own death told the story to the text's credited author Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, in the 7th century.

Later, in the 8th century the hagiography was read into the record at the Fourth Session of the historical Second Council of Nicaea, preserving it. The Council, debating whether to revive the practice of icon veneration amid Byzantine iconoclasm, heard Mary of Egypt's conversion as an argument for the virtues of icons.

The Roman Martyrology of the Catholic Church, Synaxarion of Constantinople of Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Copto-Arabic Synaxarion of the Coptic Orthodox Church each list Mary of Egypt as a saint with a feast day. The Martyrology characterizes her time in the desert as an act of penitence and mortification. In contrast, the Synaxarion of Constantinople emphasizes her time in the desert as spiritual elevation through self-control.

The historicity of Mary of Egypt is uncertain and has been questioned by some historians. Art historians further note that artists of Medieval and Renaissance Europe regularly conflated Mary of Egypt with Mary Magdalene.