Mary of Egypt
Egyptian hermit and female Christian saint
Feast: 1 April (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Mary left home at twelve and lived for seventeen years a life of sin in Alexandria. Going to Jerusalem for the feast of the Holy Cross, she was held back by an unseen force from entering the church, was struck with remorse and prayed before an image of the Blessed Virgin.
She withdrew to the desert beyond the Jordan and lived there in penance for many years. The monk Zosimus gave her Holy Communion, and a year later found her body with a request that he bury her. She died about 421.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: she has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
A great sinner who became a great penitent.
Connected on this site
- Giovanni Colombini Saint“Giovanni Colombini, a rich merchant of Siena, was greedy, ambitious and quick-tempered until, reading the life of St Mary of Egypt, he was converted to deep humility and meekness.” — this site's research
- Mary Magdalene Saint“Historians further note that artists of Medieval and Renaissance Europe regularly conflated Mary of Egypt with Mary Magdalene.” — Wikipedia
- Zosimas of Palestine Saint“The hagiography The Life of Our Venerable Mother Mary of Egypt tells her life story through the framing device of an encounter with the hieromonk Zosimas of Palestine near the Jordan River, describing a debauched life of lust in which she traveled from Alexandria to Jerusalem and seduced pilgrims on their way to…” — Wikipedia
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Mary of Egypt
- Wikidata Q237583 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Mary of Egypt (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.