On the first of this month [April], we commemorate our Holy Mother Mary the Egyptian.
Verses
Long ago her spirit was taken away, and her flesh perished,
The earth now hides the dead bones of Mary.
On the first of April Mary died praying in the desert.
Venerable Mary was from Egypt, and lived during the reign of Emperor Justinian the Great (527-565). At first she lived in licentiousness, bringing many people to destroy their souls through shameful pleasure. As a child she fell into wicked acts of the flesh and remained in them. Having lived like this for seventeen years, then the blessed one gave herself over to asceticism and virtue. And she ascended so much to the heights of dispassion, that whenever she walked over the waters or rivers she would not sink. And when she prayed, she was raised high above the earth, standing in the air between heaven and earth.
