Synaxarium

On this day, we commemorate the appearance of the Lord Jesus the Glorious to the Apostle Thomas on the eighth day after the glorious Resurrection, as the Scripture says: "After eight days, His disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, 'Peace to you.' Then He said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand, and place it in My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.' Thomas answered and said to Him, 'My Lord and my God!' Jesus said to him, 'Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'" (John 20:26–29) When Saint Thomas put his hand into the Lord's side, his hand almost burned from the fire of divinity. When he confessed His divinity, the pain of burning was healed. May the prayers of this apostle be with us. Amen.

On this day in the year 137 A.M. (421 AD), the holy wanderer Mary the Coptic departed. She was born in the city of Alexandria around the year 61 A.M. (345 AD) to Christian parents. When she reached twelve years old, the enemy of mankind deceived her, making her a trap and snare for him, by which he caught many countless souls. She remained in this sinful state for seventeen years until the love of God reached her. She saw a group going to Jerusalem and traveled with them. Since she had no fare for her journey, she gave herself to the ship owners until she reached Jerusalem. There too, this sinful state came upon her. When she wanted to enter through the door of the Church of the Resurrection, she felt a hidden power pulling her from behind. Whenever she tried to enter, she felt someone preventing her. Immediately, she realized this was because of her impurity. She lifted her eyes, broken-hearted, wept, and implored the Virgin Mary with fervent tears to intercede for her before her beloved Son. Then she gained courage and wanted to enter with those entering, and she found no resistance, so she entered with the worshippers and prayed to God, asking Him to guide her to what pleases Him.

Then she stood before the icon of the pure Virgin and earnestly begged her to guide her to the salvation of her soul. A voice came from the icon saying, 'If you cross the Jordan, you will find rest and tranquility.' She rose quickly and left the Church of the Resurrection. On the way, a man met her and gave her three silver coins, with which she bought three loaves of bread. Then she crossed the Jordan River into the wilderness and stayed there for forty-seven years, seventeen of which she fought the enemy against the sin she had repented of until she overcame by the grace of God. She lived on herbs during all this time. In the forty-fifth year of her wandering, Saint Zosimas the priest went out to the wilderness, as was the custom of the monks there during the forty-day fast for solitude and asceticism. While walking in the desert, he saw this saint from afar and thought she was a phantom. He prayed to God to reveal the truth about this vision. He was inspired that it was a human. He wanted to catch up with her, but she fled from him. When she saw that he did not cease following her, she called to him from behind a hill, saying, 'O Zosimas, if you want to speak to me, throw something for me to cover myself, for I am naked.' He was amazed that she called him by name. He threw her what she asked for, and she came to him. After greetings and prostrations, she asked him to pray for her because he was a priest, and she explained to him her life story. She told him everything that had happened to her from her early life until that time. Then she asked him to bring the Holy Communion with him the next year to give her the divine mysteries.

The following year, he came to her and gave her the Holy Communion. He also gave her some dates and lentils. She ate some soaked lentils and asked him to return the next year. When he came at the appointed time, he found that she had departed and saw a lion standing beside her. At her head was written: 'Bury poor Mary in the earth from which she was taken.' He was amazed at the writing and the lion. While he was thinking about how to dig the earth to bury her, the lion approached and dug the earth with its claws. The priest prayed over her and buried her. Then he returned to his monastery and told the monks about the life of this saint, so they increased in steadfastness in God's mercies and advanced in spiritual life. Her lifespan was seventy-six years. May her prayers be with us, and to our Lord be glory forever. Amen.