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| Venerable Mary of Tarsus (Feast Day - September 14) |
By St. John Moschos
Two
elders were traveling from Aegaion to Tarsus in Cilicia when, by the
Providence of God, they stopped for rest at a small inn, for the heat
was intense. There they found three young men who had with them a
harlot. The elders settled themselves down apart and one of them got out
his holy Gospel and began to read aloud. When the harlot who was with
the young men saw the elder begin to read, she came and sat down near
him, forsaking the young men. The elder, however, drove her off, saying
to her:
"Wretched woman, you seem very indecent. Are you not ashamed to come and sit near us?"
In reply, she answered:
"I
beg you, father, do not look down on me, or drive me away. I know I am
full of every kind of sin, but the Lord and Savior of all, Christ our
God, did not reject the harlot who came to Him."
"Yes, but that harlot did not remain a harlot," the elder said.
"I
place my hope in the Son of the living God," she said, "that from this
day onwards I won't keep on with this sinful way of life either."
Forsaking
the three young men and everything that she had, she followed those two
elders. They took her to a monastery called Nakkiba, near the city of
Aegaion. I saw her when she was an old woman of great wisdom, and
learned all these things from her own mouth. Her name was Mary.
From The Spiritual Meadow, Ch. 31.
