St. Mary of Egypt died in the 5th century and was, according to legend, a sexually insatiable libertine who went on an “anti-pilgrimage” to Jerusalem for the sole purpose of having dalliances with pilgrims. She tried to enter a church, and an invisible force wouldn’t permit her to do so. She then noticed an icon of the Blessed Lady Mary (Mother of the Lord) and dedicated her life to God on the spot. She then was able to enter the church. She crossed the river to spend the rest of her days as a hermit. Incidentally, she made the conscious decision to live nude. She so renounced the world that she had no use for clothes.
When wanderers would happen upon her, she taught them (in the nude) from the bible which she had never read. She died alone and when her body was found, it had not begun the decomposition process. The person who found her buried her with the help of a passing lion! The legend of Saint Mary was first translated into Old English from Latin by an unknown author just over a thousand years ago; it was then copied multiple times and translated into Norse, Welsh, Irish and eventually Middle English. The story is erotic, the libertine temptress who later gives bible lessons in the buff. It’s mythic…her dead body doesn’t decompose in the desert, and an animal becomes her grave digger. How might Mary of Egypt be a queer figure for us? How could we redeem the guilt she was given for her party days? How might this become a liberating tale, or was it always? Queer God Squad, get to work.
