April 3 St. Mary of Egypt

Patron Saint Against Sexual Temptation

You don’t often read a saint’s biography begin with  “A beautiful, spoiled, cynical, disenchanted, rich child who repaid her family by running away at age 12.”  Born in the mid 300s, she ran to Alexandria, Egypt where she worked as a singer, dancer and prostitute for seventeen years. At age 30 she hopped on a boat of pilgrims heading to Jerusalem, hoping to ply her trade amongst the pilgrims in the Holy City.

On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross she moved with the crowds to the church, looking for customers. At the church door she found herself invisibly repelled, unable to open the door; she was overcome with remorse for her life and exclusion from the Church. Asking for forgiveness, she heard a voice instruct her to cross the Jordan River to find peace. The next day Mary crossed the river, wandered into the desert, and took up the life of a hermit. Quite the turn for the former spoiled child turned prostitute.