The Stand of Mary of Egypt: How to overcome the “emptiness of a sinful life”? The Great Canon of Andrew of Crete. life of the Rev. Mary of Egypt

Wednesday evening at Orthodox churches A special service is being performed - “Standing of Mary”. At this service, the only time a year the entire canon is read, which was read in parts from Monday to Thursday of the first week of Great Lent. Due to this feature, the morning service on Thursday is called the Station of St. Andrew and the Station of Mary of Egypt. The canon contains and sets forth all the incentives for fasting and repentance, and the Holy Church now repeats it in in full force to inspire us with new strength for the successful end of Lent. Reading also serves for the same purpose - to stimulate both the strength and attention of the penitents.

The Venerable Mary was an Egyptian ascetic. This is how she herself opened her life to Saint Zosima, who, shortly before her death, met her in the desert. “At the age of 12, I left my parents’ house for Alexandria, where I began to lead a vicious life. One day I went with a crowd of people to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord. While sailing, I seduced many travelers. Arriving in Jerusalem, I wanted to go with the people to church, but some invisible force held me back. I began to wonder why I could not enter the church when others were entering. Then the light of God illuminated my heart, and I realized that my sins did not allow me into the temple of God. I cried for a long time and suddenly, raising my eyes to the top, I saw an image of the Most Holy Theotokos on the wall. I started begging Holy Mother of God forgive me and allow me into the church to venerate the Cross of Christ. And what? After prayer, I freely entered the church, bowed to the Holy Cross and, returning to the icon, began to ask the Mother of God to guide me on the path of salvation. Then I heard a voice: “Go beyond the Jordan, and there you will find rest for your soul!” I obeyed the voice and three days later I reached the monastery of St. John the Baptist, near the Jordan River. After bathing in the holy river, I entered the church, partook of the Holy Mysteries, and then, crossing the river, settled in the local desert. I lived here for 40 years, ate roots, and suffered terrible hunger. Sometimes I suffered, remembering the sweet food that I always had in Egypt. Sometimes there was no simple water, and I wanted those expensive wines that I had previously drunk without measure. My tongue, against my will, was determined to repeat those crazy songs that had previously consoled me. I struggled terribly with my evil skills. It happened that she fell to the ground from exhaustion. My dress had decayed with time, my body either suffered from the cold or burned from the heat. But after 17 years, the time of peace came.” Having told her life, Saint Mary asked Zosima that next year, on Maundy Thursday, he would bring the Holy Gifts from the monastery and give her communion on the very day on which the Lord gave communion to His disciples. Saint Zosima, having come to the desert, prayed for a long time and waited for the holy ascetic. Finally, I saw that she approached the river and, crossing it, walked on the water. The elder was amazed and wanted to bow to Mary’s feet, but she said: “What are you doing? Are you a priest and are you holding the Holy Gifts in your hands?” Having received communion, the holy ascetic asked to come to her once again in the desert; Zosima appeared a year later and found her already dead. Near her, in the sand, the words were inscribed: “Father Zosima! Bury here the body of the humble Mary, who died on April 1.” It was April 1, 524, the very day of her communion. The memory of Saint Mary, except April 1 (April 14, new style), is honored on Sunday and Thursday of the 5th week of Great Lent. It is read at this time in order to show repentant sinners high example repentance. The relics of St. Mary are found in parts in different cities of Europe.

• What is Mariino's standing?
• Schedule of services in our church.
• Brief life of St. Mary of Egypt.
• Download the texts of the service along with translation.

On Wednesday evening, a special service is performed in Orthodox churches - “Standing of Mary”. At this service, the only time a year the Great Canon of Andrew of Crete is read in its entirety, which was read in parts from Monday to Thursday of the first week of Great Lent, the life of St. Mary of Egypt and the canon of St. Mary of Egypt. Due to this feature, the morning service on Thursday is called the Station of St. Andrew and the Station of Mary of Egypt. On Thursday morning the Liturgy is served Presanctified Gifts in honor of the Great Canon and the memory of St. Mary of Egypt.

Previously, at every full statutory service, the teachings of the holy fathers, the synaxarium - instructions on the holiday, the lives of the saints, and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures - were read. This was more related to monastic worship, which now remains only in some strict monasteries and monasteries. City worship over time completely changed this practice, leaving, as an example, the feat of Mary of Egypt, in some monasteries and churches the teachings of St. Ephraim the Syrian on the 1st and other Weeks of Great Lent. The teachings and lives were usually read at Matins. After each kathisma and at the canon. Nowadays, during confession or before Communion in many churches, lives, teachings, and interpretations of the Holy Scriptures are read.

Photo: Elder Zosima giving Holy Communion to St. Mary of Egypt. Sretensky Monastery. Iconostasis of the left side chapel in honor of St. Mary of Egypt.

March 25 Wednesday 17-00: Matins with the life of St. Mary of Egypt and the Great Canon. 1st hour confession.

The canon contains and sets out all the motives for fasting and repentance, and the Holy Church now repeats it in its entirety in order to breathe new strength into us for the successful completion of fasting. For the same purpose - to stimulate both the strength and attention of the repentant - the reading of the life of the Venerable Mary of Egypt also serves.
Some troparia of St. Mary of Egypt from the Great Canon

“With all your zeal and love you flowed to Christ, turning away the first path of sin, feeding in impassable deserts, and keeping His Divine commandments purely.”

“Having turned away from your former sinful life, you ran to Christ with all your zeal and love, staying in the deserted desert and fulfilling His Divine commandments in purity.”

May you extinguish the flame of passions, may you ever shed drops of tears, Mary, whose soul is inflamed, grant their grace to me, your servant.

“To quench the fire of passions, you, Mary, burning in your heart, constantly shed streams of tears, the grace of which grant to me, your servant.”

Life of Venerable Mary of Egypt

The Venerable Mary was an Egyptian ascetic. This is how she herself opened her life to Saint Zosima, who, shortly before her death, met her in the desert. “At the age of 12, I left my parents’ house for Alexandria, where I began to lead a vicious life. One day I went with a crowd of people to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord. While sailing, I seduced many travelers. Arriving in Jerusalem, I wanted to go with the people to church, but some invisible force held me back. I began to wonder why I could not enter the church when others were entering. Then the light of God illuminated my heart, and I realized that my sins did not allow me into the temple of God. I cried for a long time and suddenly, raising my eyes to the top, I saw an image of the Most Holy Theotokos on the wall. I began to beg the Most Holy Theotokos to forgive me and allow me into the church to venerate the Cross of Christ. And what? After prayer, I freely entered the church, bowed to the Holy Cross and, returning to the icon, began to ask the Mother of God to guide me on the path of salvation. Then I heard a voice: “Go beyond the Jordan, and there you will find rest for your soul!” I obeyed the voice and three days later I reached the monastery of St. John the Baptist, near the Jordan River. After bathing in the holy river, I entered the church, partook of the Holy Mysteries, and then, crossing the river, settled in the local desert. I lived here for 40 years, ate roots, and suffered terrible hunger. Sometimes I suffered, remembering the sweet food that I always had in Egypt. Sometimes there was no simple water, and I wanted those expensive wines that I had previously drunk without measure. My tongue, against my will, was determined to repeat those crazy songs that had previously consoled me. I struggled terribly with my evil skills. It happened that she fell to the ground from exhaustion. My dress had decayed with time, my body either suffered from the cold or burned from the heat. But after 17 years, the time of peace came.” Having told her life, Saint Mary asked Zosima that next year, on Maundy Thursday, he would bring the Holy Gifts from the monastery and give her communion on the very day on which the Lord gave communion to His disciples. Saint Zosima, having come to the desert, prayed for a long time and waited for the holy ascetic. Finally, I saw that she approached the river and, crossing it, walked on the water. The elder was amazed and wanted to bow to Mary’s feet, but she said: “What are you doing? Are you a priest and are you holding the Holy Gifts in your hands?” Having received communion, the holy ascetic asked to come to her once again in the desert; Zosima appeared a year later and found her already dead. Near her, in the sand, the words were inscribed: “Father Zosima! Bury here the body of the humble Mary, who died on April 1.” It was April 1, 524, the very day of her communion. The memory of Saint Mary, except April 1 (April 14, new style), is honored on Sunday and Thursday of the 5th week of Great Lent. It is read at this time in order to show repentant sinners a high example of repentance. The relics of St. Mary are found in parts in different cities of Europe.

On Wednesday of the 5th week of Great Lent, the clergy of our parish: Archpriest Andrei Amelin, Archpriest Peter Zavatsky, Priest Alexy Bychkov and Priest Igor Stepov performed Matins with the reading of the Great penitential canon St. Andrew Cretan and the life of the Venerable Mary of Egypt.

The service on Thursday of the 5th week of Great Lent, dedicated to the memory of the spiritual feat of the Venerable Mary of Egypt, who, after a sinful youth, spent 47 years in the desert in repentance, was called “Standing of the Venerable Mary of Egypt” or “Standing of Mary”. The day before, on Wednesday, during the statutory Lenten Matins, the Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is read in full, with the addition of troparions from the canon of St. Mary. The penitential images of the Great Canon again, as in the first week of Lent, call on Orthodox Christians to examine their conscience, and the life of the Venerable Mary reminds us of how sincere and deep, overcoming all sins, repentance can and should be, regenerating the soul and changing a person’s life.

Reading the canon of St. Andrew and the life of Mary of Egypt on the fifth week of the Holy Pentecost was established by the fathers of the Trullo Council, which was a continuation of the VI Ecumenical Council. It was then, in 692, that the life compiled by Patriarch Sophronius of Jerusalem and the canon were presented to Christians. This text is capable of giving hope to those who think that they are in a desperate situation and to those who do not believe that they are able to adequately complete the fast and meet the Resurrection of Christ. Mary's standing is a service that consoles those who suffer and at the same time encourages believers to continue the feat of fasting and repentance.

This special service calls us in the remaining days of Great Lent to once again remember our sins, the need for repentance in order to cleanse our souls for a joyful meeting with Christ on the feast of His glorious Resurrection.

Maria was born in a small Egyptian village. When she was twelve years old, she left her parents' home. Possessed by carnal passion, she went to Alexandria and became a harlot. For more than 17 years she knew no limits to her debauchery. One day, seeing many Libyan pilgrims going to Jerusalem to venerate the Cross of the Lord, Mary decided to join them.

The woman did not have any pious intentions; on the contrary, she hoped that there would be no shortage of clients, and in Jerusalem there would always be someone to “have fun” with. With her body she paid for food, for lodging, for transportation on the ship.

But when, on the day of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Mary suddenly wanted to enter the Church of the Resurrection of Christ with a crowd of pilgrims, she could not do this. Not only did the crowd of believers push her away from the entrance, but some incomprehensible force did not let her in, did not allow her to cross the threshold of the temple. She tried to enter once, twice, three times, but when something prevented her from entering the temple the fourth time, the woman retreated. She realized that the Lord did not allow her to enter the holy place because of her uncleanness.

Maria suddenly burst into tears. Standing in the vestibule of the temple, sobbing over her sins, she saw in front of her an icon of the Mother of God. Mary turned to the Mother of God, begging her to intercede before Christ, who never disdained sinners. In her prayer, Mary promised “not to defile herself any more with carnal filth and to renounce the world.” After this, she immediately felt enlightenment in her soul and entered the temple without hindrance. Shedding copious tears at the Holy Sepulcher, she asks the question: “How to live further? How to beg for forgiveness? Also unexpectedly, she heard a voice: “Go beyond the Jordan, there you will find blissful peace.”

Mary fulfilled her promise to change her life. From Jerusalem she retired to the harsh and deserted Jordanian desert and there she spent almost half a century in complete solitude, in fasting and prayer. Thus, through severe deeds, Mary of Egypt completely eradicated all sinful desires in herself and made her heart a pure temple of the Holy Spirit.

Elder Zosima, who lived in the Jordan Monastery of St. John the Baptist, by the providence of God, was honored to meet the Venerable Mary in the desert, when she was already an old woman. He was amazed by her holiness and gift of insight. One day he saw her during prayer, as if rising above the earth, and another time, walking across the Jordan River, as if on dry land.

Parting with Zosima, the Monk Mary asked him to come again to the desert a year later to give her communion. The elder returned at the appointed time and communed the Reverend Mary with the Holy Mysteries. Then, coming to the desert another year later in the hope of seeing the saint, he no longer found her alive. The elder buried the remains of St. Mary there in the desert, in which he was helped by a lion, who with his claws dug a hole for burying the body of the righteous woman. This was around 521.

Thus, from a great sinner, the Venerable Mary became, with God’s help, the greatest saint and left such a vivid example of repentance.

Book of Memory

An important feature of the liturgical life of our parish is the constant prayerful commemoration of civilian and military sailors who died in peacetime while performing their duties. In this regard, every week a funeral service is held, at which a special prayer is offered for all the deceased sea workers, whose names are kept in the “Book of Memory” of our temple.

Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann called Lent"spiritual journey". This is an incredibly accurate image. Those who have ever tried to fast are probably familiar with this feeling: as if you are looking at the rest of the world from the deck of a ship or from an airplane. He remained the same, full of bustle and trouble. And you left the general flow and went towards your goal, you are not entirely involved in this world, because your thoughts are in a completely different place. This is a very unusual and valuable feeling. It gives us the opportunity to think about the ultimate meaning of all our labors.

The Church prepares believers for the journey of Lent. To do this, in the first week the Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is read. The reading takes place at the service, which is called “Great Compline,” that is, “after Vespers,” so on Slavic languages was called dinner. And the name “Great” emphasizes the significance of the service. In addition, the Canon is indeed very large: it contains more than two hundred individual songs - troparia.

During Great Lent, the Penitential Canon of Andrei Kritsky sounds on Wednesday of the fifth week. This service is popularly called the “Standing of Mary”, since the songs of the Canon alternate with the life of the Venerable Mary of Egypt.

The canon of St. Andrew of Crete becomes the springboard from which we take off and dive into the very depths of Great Lent. It is read in parts, during the first four days of fasting. Take a look at the temple at this time, see how everything has changed compared to usual Sunday service. The priests are dressed in dark vestments. The church's decoration was changed to Lenten - black or dark purple: the veil, lecterns, covers on the icons. At Compline, the lights in the church are turned off, only the candles near the icons and in the hands of believers are lit.

The first lines of the Canon are heard, and believers, following the author, ask themselves the most severe question: “Where will I begin to mourn the damned deeds of my life? What beginning will I, O Christ, make for this present mourning?”

The Penitential Canon is a dialogue with one’s own soul. In this conversation, Saint Andrew cites the example of the forefathers Adam, Joseph, Moses, King David and others, both righteous and sinners. He laments: “Of them, you, soul, imitated the last, and not the first, sinning against God...”

What gives the Canon special strength is that personal history is intertwined with world history. For the author, it is, first of all, the relationship between man and his Creator. Falling away, sorrow, pain and repentance. “I committed the crime of the primordial Adam... I, Jesus, did not become like Abel’s truth...” we mourn, following St. Andrew. But at the same time, he encourages us: “don’t give in to despair about yourself.” The Lord can “whiten and cleanse the life of the leper,” he assures. Thus, the Canon of Andrew of Crete also becomes a compass for our spiritual journey. He points the way - from repentance to forgiveness, from sin - to the Heavenly Father.

On Wednesday evening of the fifth week of Lent, a special Lenten service is celebrated in all Orthodox churches - St. Mary's Station. The entire Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete and the Life of Mary of Egypt are read. The service can give hope to those who think they are in a desperate situation and to those who do not believe that they are able to adequately complete the fast and meet the Resurrection of Christ.

Mariino standing

In the fifth week of Great Lent, on Wednesday evening, Thursday Matins is celebrated in churches, which is usually called the Station of Mary of Egypt, or the Station of Mary. This is a long service that occurs only once a year. During it, the entire Great Canon of Andrew of Crete(in the first week of Lent the canon was read in small parts from Monday to Thursday), which is connected with the canon of Mary of Egypt. Also in the church on this day we hear the life of St. Mary of Egypt. This text, according to the thoughts of the holy fathers of the VI Ecumenical Council (692) - and it was then that the service was compiled from the Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete and the Life of Mary of Egypt - is capable of giving hope to those who think that they are in a desperate situation, and those who do not believe that they are able to adequately complete the fast and meet the Resurrection of Christ. Mary's standing is a service that consoles those who suffer and at the same time encourages believers to continue the feat of fasting and repentance.

Life of Mary of Egypt

Maria was born in a small Egyptian village. When she was twelve years old, she left her parents' home. Possessed by carnal passion, she went to Alexandria and became a harlot. Maria indulged in debauchery uncontrollably and insatiably, both for bribes and voluntarily. For more than 17 years she knew no limits to her debauchery. One day, seeing many Libyan pilgrims going to Jerusalem to venerate the Cross of the Lord, Mary decided to join them.

The woman did not have any pious intentions; on the contrary, she hoped that there would be no shortage of clients, and in Jerusalem there would always be someone to “have fun” with. With her body she paid for food, for lodging, for transportation on the ship. But when, on the day of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Mary suddenly wanted to enter the Church of the Resurrection of Christ with a crowd of pilgrims, she could not do this. Not only did the crowd of believers push her away from the entrance, but some incomprehensible force did not let her in, did not allow her to cross the threshold of the temple. She tried to enter once, twice, three times, but when something prevented her from entering the temple the fourth time, the woman retreated. Exhausted, she stood confused at the entrance and wondered: “Why is this? I want to be there, inside." The answer suggested itself. Realizing who she is, what she lives for, what she strives for, realizing that her own sin does not allow her to touch Life-giving Cross Lord, Mary suddenly burst into tears. Standing in the vestibule of the temple, sobbing over her sins, she saw in front of her an icon of the Mother of God. Mary turned to the Mother of God, begging her to intercede before Christ, who never disdained sinners. In her prayer, Mary promised “not to defile herself any more with carnal filth and to renounce the world.” And now she feels that the prayer has been heard. Transfigured Mary at the Cross of the Lord. The face is flooded with tears. Tears flow in an endless stream down tired eyes, and the question in my head is: “How to live on?” How to beg for forgiveness? Also unexpectedly, she heard a voice: “Go beyond the Jordan, there you will find blissful peace.”

Venerable Mary of Egypt with her life. XIX century

Beyond the Jordan, in the desert, completely alone, experiencing terrible temptations for forty-seven years, Mary prayed for forgiveness. For forty-seven years, under the scorching sun, the saint cried about her sins, practically not remembering water and food.

Therefore, when the monk Zosima, an eyewitness to the life of Mary of Egypt, wanting to see “the holy man who surpassed him in sobriety and work,” came to the Trans-Jordanian desert, he did not recognize either a woman or even a person in the black shadow.

When the “shadow” began to rapidly move away from him, he rushed to pursue it. Only after the weak old man began to beg the hermit not to run away did the man, blackened by the sun, himself turn to the old man for help. Mary, unaware of the holiness she had achieved, addressed the monk by name, called him presbyter and asked Zosima for a cloak to cover her nakedness and come under the blessing.

For a long time they knelt in front of each other and repeated: “Bless.” And then Zosima asked Mary to pray for the whole world and for him. Turning to the east, raising her hands to the sky, Mary whispered a prayer. Her body rose almost half a meter from the ground and floated.

The monk Zosima was even more shocked when Maria told him about her life. An uneducated woman who had never held a book in her hands, who had spent half a century alone in the desert, easily quoted Holy Bible and psalms. And most importantly, she bitterly mourned her sin.

A year later, on Thursday Holy Week when the church remembers Last Supper, the saint came to the Jordan. In front of the elder, she crossed the water and crossed the river as if on dry land to take communion. Elder Zosima was sad only that he did not know the name of the ascetic.

A year has passed. Zosima is again in the desert. He stands by the dry stream where he first met the hermit. In front of him is her body with her arms folded crosswise on her chest. And in the heads on the sand there is a message: “Bury, Abba Zosima, in this place the body of the humble Mary.” So Zosima learned the name of the saint. He buried the ascetic, and a lion who came from the desert helped dig the grave. This happened in 522.

“The Golden Legend”, or How Mary Magdalene turned into Mary of Egypt

Jose de Ribera. Mary of Egypt. 1651

IN church art, thanks to the service that existed since the 7th century, Mary of Egypt, along with Andrew of Crete, began to be revered as a “mentor in repentance” and depicted on icons with him.

IN fiction and in folklore, in painting, and sculpture, the image of the saint was also reflected. A big role in this was played by the “Golden Legend” (1255) of Jacob of Voraginsky, which was inferior in popularity in medieval Europe only the Bible. One of the two hundred lives contained in the book is dedicated to Mary Magdalene. And although the myrrh-bearing Mary Magdalene is a saint who lived five centuries earlier than Mary of Egypt, the author (who knew neither Greek nor Hebrew) borrows some motifs from the life of Mary of Egypt for his story. He adapts them, attributes to Mary Magdalene some of the traits of Mary of Egypt. In the Golden Legend, Mary Magdalene is depicted as a repentant harlot who, having come to Christ and realizing her sinfulness, labored in fasting and prayer in the desert. For thirty years, angels brought prosphora to the cave where she lived every day.

Giotto. Mary Magdalene receives clothes from the hands of Elder Zosima. 1307-1308

The "Golden Legend" inspired sculptors and painters of the Renaissance. That is why Mary Magdalene, both in the sculptor Donatello and in the painting by Titian, looks like Mary of Egypt. The Gospels say nothing about Mary Magdalene being a harlot or living in the desert, but the popularity of the Golden Legend turned the New Testament character into a medieval ascetic.

Donatello. Mary Magdalene. 1454

The image of Mary of Egypt was also reflected in the literature of modern times. We find motifs from her life in Brecht, Goethe, Dostoevsky, and Zamyatin.

April 14, new style, as well as on Sunday of the fifth week of Lent Russian Orthodox Church honors the memory of the Venerable Mary of Egypt. In 1912 the poet Silver Age, writer and composer Mikhail Kuzmin retold the life of St. Mary of Egypt in poetic lines and presented it to his friend, Maria Zamyatina, on Angel’s Day on April 1st.

“After all, Mary the Egyptian
Sinful life is empty
Didn't let me touch you
Life-giving cross.
And when I went into the desert,
Having forgotten fornication, my soul is simple,
Free songs sounded
The new glory of Christ.

Zosima found her,
Having divided your mantle,
To cover before death
Prepared flesh.
Not sins, but the power of the Savior,
The secret life of purity
Let it make it easy for you
I wear a free cross.

And the care of life is cramped,
Invisible and simple
It will count for you as a prayer,
At the resurrection Christ,
And it’s not Zosima who will find it,
Having divided your mantle:
Christ Himself, coming, will cover
prepared flesh."

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