Saint Mary of Egypt, also known as Maria Aegyptiaca, was born somewhere in the Province of Egypt. During the reign of Emperor Justinian, Saint Mary spent her young years in Egypt as a passionate, greedy, and corrupted creature only desiring to satisfy her fleshly lust and refused to take money. Due to this behavior, she travelled with hundreds of other travelers to Jerusalem for the pilgrimage to the Holy Cross. When she tried to enter the temple to worship, she felt an unknown force preventing her. She then stood before the icon of the Virgin Mary and asked Her for guidance. With her support, she advanced through the temple and genuflected. Listening to her words, she went to the desert where she spent forty-seven years without encountering any human being. Sunburned, naked, victim of the heat and frost, she lived with prayers and penitence.

At that same period, the monk Abba Zossimas, listening to God’s will, went to the monastery of Saint John the Baptist. According to the monastery rules, the monks should strive in the desert alone during Lent and come back on Palm Sunday to celebrate the Holy Week. There in the desert, he encountered the weird figure of Saint Maria, who asked him to return a year later to commune with her. On Holy Thursday, when all monks had returned to the monastery, Abba Zossimas stayed to commune with Saint Maria; she then went away walking on the water of the river Jordan. Next year, the Abba returned to commune her again but found her dead, looking to the East. The life and strong will of Saint Maria’s faith led her to penitence and transcendence. The church celebrates her memory corresponding to the Great Lent.

Available in 3 sizes

• Icon can be wall-mounted or can be a standing display
• Powerful pieces for your home, family, or friends as gifts
• Commemorated on April 1st
• Adhering to traditional Byzantine iconography
  Authentically made in Greece