The fifth Sunday of Lent is a unique commemoration in the calendar of the Orthodox Church. We have many celebrations of saints and some of holy icons; today we honor an “icon in words”, the Life of St. Mary of Egypt. This work, attributed to St. Sophronius of Jerusalem (c. 550-c. 639), is a narrative gem. Whether the events that it recounts literally took place (though there is no strong reason to doubt the basic facts) is no more important than whether an icon offers a literal portrait of the saint whom it represents.
Commentary on this tale can only flatten it and drain away a portion of its meaning. That most Orthodox know it only second hand, through the sermons that we have heard year after year, is our misfortune. We should read and reflect on it today, learning from Father Zosimus, a man who studied holiness all his life, how far short of the divine our striving falls, and from Mary the sinner how great is the power of repentance and prayer.
It is profitable, too, to reflect on the background against which St. Sophronius wrote: the Persian invasions that Emperor Heraclius repelled with desperate fighting, the Monophysite and Monothelite controversies within the Church, and the Moslem assault that placed the birthplace of Christianity under alien rule. Sophronius himself held the office of Patriarch of Jerusalem when the city was besieged by Caliph Omar, negotiated the terms of its surrender and died shortly afterwards. (His year of death is uncertain: between 638 and 644; his feast day is March 11th.) Yet his masterpiece brushes aside kings and conquests. Empires are mortal and transient. It is human souls that live forever, Zosimus and Mary who, from the perspective of eternity, matter more than Heraclius and Omar.
Troparion – Tone 8
The image of God was truly preserved in you, mother,
for you took up the Cross and followed Christ.
By so doing, you taught us to disregard the flesh, for it passes away,
but to care instead for the soul, since it is immortal.
Therefore your spirit, holy mother Mary, Rejoices with the angels!
Kontakion – Tone 3
Having been a sinful woman,
you became through repentance a Bride of Christ.
Having attained angelic life,
you defeated demons with the weapon of the Cross.
Therefore, most glorious Mary, you are a Bride of the Kingdom!
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