In the Life of Venerable Mary of Egypt, written by Patriarch Sophronios of Jerusalem in the 7th century, we read of the wondrous repentance of Mary in Jerusalem on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. It is said that as she approached the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where people were going to venerate the Honorable and True Cross of our Lord, in a miraculous manner she was prevented from entering by a divine force due to her intentions to commit a licentious act. Realizing her sins prevented her entrance, she looked up and saw an icon of the Theotokos in the courtyard to whom she prayed a prayer of repentance. Following this prayer, she was allowed to enter and venerate the Holy Cross.
In the two top photos below we see the exact place tradition says Venerable Mary repented, above what is known as the Sacred Stairs. Emperor Heraclius climbed these Sacred Stairs in the year 629 with the Holy Cross after he returned as conqueror against the Persians, who had previously stolen the Holy Cross. These stairs lead directly to the place in the Holy Sepulchre known as Golgotha, which is the place where our Lord was crucified.
Tradition holds that this prayer for her repentance before the icon of the Theotokos occurred at the site where the Chapel of Saint Mary of Egypt now stands. This chapel is part of the Cathedral of Saint James (the Brother of the Lord) complex, located immediately to the right of the main entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In the video below, you can see where these locations are.
