EPHESIANS 2:8-9
The story of saint Mary of Egypt is one that demonstrates the power of God, His redemption and mercy.
Before she became an anchoress, Mary of Egypt (c. 344–421A.D.), a highly venerated Desert Mother in the Orthodox and Coptic Churches, as well as the patron saint of penitents in the Roman Catholic Church,
spent her youth pursuing illicit pleasures and seducing men. At the height of her sleazy career, she journeyed to Jerusalem for the Great Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in an attempt to corrupt pilgrims. Instead, she experienced deep conviction of her sins and thereafter lived a life of repentance and solitude in the wilderness.
A life story of any one of us could begin with a catalogue of our failures and defeats. But God’s grace always allows for a different ending. By His grace, through faith in Jesus Christ – accepting Him as Lord and Saviour, any man can be redeemed and transformed from a sinner to a saint.
