St Mary of Egypt - 5.25 x 7 (Maple)

St Mary of Egypt was a desert ascetic who lived her life in debauchery. She spent her early life following her passions and ran away from her parents at the age of 12 and traveled to Alexandria. In Alexandria she lived as a harlot for 17 years, refusing pay from the men she slept with. She made money by begging and spinning flax.

One day she met a group of men that were sailing to Jerusalem for the veneration of the Holy Cross. St Mary traveled with the men, seducing them as they traveled. When they arrived in Jerusalem, the men walked into the temple and St Mary followed. St Mary was stopped in her tracks unable to walk into the temple, being stopped by an unseen force. She failed numerous times by the same unseen force and was sitting on the stairs of the church when she looked up and saw an icon of the Theotokos. She wept bitterly and prayed to the Mother of God that she might be allowed to gaze upon the True Cross. She promised that she would give up her worldly passions and go wherever the Theotokos may lead her.

After her conversion she fled to the Judean desert where she lived as an ascetic for 47 years! After 47 years alone she met a priest who is now a Saint! St Zosima intrigued by her asked to know about her and who she was. She recounted her life and having been clairvoyant she told St Zosima who he was and his life story without ever having met him! St Mary asked for St Zosima to return the following year on Holy Thursday at sunset. St Zosima agreed and returned the following year and was doubtful when he did not see her. St Mary appeared on the opposite side of the Jordan river and walked across the water to meet St Zosima. St Zosima was holding the Holy Mysteries and St Mary received the Eucharist and walked back across the Jordan. She gave St Zosima instructions about his monastery and that he should return to this exact spot a year later. When St Zosima returned a year later he found St Mary's body with a note written on the sand giving burial instructions and that she had reposed immediately after receiving Holy Communion the year prior. St Zosima began to dig to make a grave for St Mary and a lion appeared and helped him dig her grave. The life of St Mary is such an incredible story of a life of repentance and reminder to us all of God's love for us all!

This 5.25 x 7 Icon of St Mary of Egypt in maple is the perfect medium sized icon to have on your icon wall at home or on your desk!

Note on wood products - All wood warps, that is something you have to remember with these icons. Warping over time will occur but it wont affect the icon. We use Feed-N-Wax for all of our icons which is our wood sealant and we recommend touching up the icons with this product as needed. If you get water spots from having the icon blessed the easiest way to get rid of them is to apply the Feed-N-Wax product mentioned above to the areas with the water spots and they should go away.

Note that the icon you will receive will vary slightly from picture shown. 

All of our icons are made to order, sculpted by Lydia Riley and made in Montana.