Elder: “Have I ever told you my child about St. Mary of Egypt?’
Young man: “I don’t believe so.”
Elder: “St. Mary of Egypt was a prostitute from the age of twelve, spending seventeen years in this way of life. She was living in complete lust, fully immersed in the pleasures of the flesh. Once she embarked on a ship towards Jerusalem and she was asked if she had a ticket. She said “I have my body”. Well St. Mary arrived at the Holy City and she decided to go to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. There some unseen power prevented her from entering. In great fear, she turned to an icon of the Theotokos and begged her to let her go in and venerate the holy relics, confess her sins and promised her that she would then go wherever the Theotokos will led her. She was allowed to enter the church and then she left to go beyond the river Jordan and in the desert having nothing with her but 3 loaves of bread. She spent 48 years alone in the wilderness. Can you imagine her torments, her struggles with passions and other terrors? After 48 years she met Father Zossima who saw her walking over the river Jordan like it was dry land! What a model of repentance! My Child memorize her life and ask for her intersessions because we need to repent. Our life is gone and we have done nothing. Remember the past is gone and the future is not for sure; we only have the present!”
Personal testimonies to Dr. Nick Stergiou
