Bonnie N. THURSTON. Saint Mary of Egypt: A Modern Verse Life and Interpretation. Athens, OH: Cistercian Publications, 2021. pp. 120. $15.95 pb. ISBN 9780879071165. Reviewed by David VON SCHLICHTEN, Seton Hill University, Greensburg, PA 15601.

In teaching courses on women and religion, I am ever on the lookout for great spiritual women I have not heard of, women whose stories have often been minimized or disremembered. I want to share the stories of these women with my students so that they can have a richer appreciation for the roles women have played throughout history and can also understand more deeply the great extent to which patriarchal institutions have endeavored to silence those women.

Bonnie Thurston’s latest book, Saint Mary of Egypt: A Modern Verse Life and Interpretation, provides an engaging and thought-provoking introduction to the once popular saint whose story has faded from prominence and is probably unknown to most students. This concise and accessible book could provide students with a stimulating introduction to this extraordinary figure.

As Thurston explains, Saint Mary of Egypt, according to most, was a sexually promiscuous woman who, upon encountering an icon of the Virgin Mary while on a pilgrimage in Jerusalem, found herself wanting to abandon her licentious ways. She felt called to journey into the desert wilderness, where she lived a life of asceticism for forty-seven years alone. Then arrived a monk, Father Zossima, who considered himself to be an exemplar of model spirituality until he encountered Mary and became aware of how far short he fell spiritually compared to her. He and Mary formed a spiritual bond. When she died, a lion helped Father Zossima bury her. Thus, the story is about a double-conversion: one of a profligate woman the other of a hubristic man.

Thurston highlights the power of women in the narrative. It is the Blessed Virgin Mary, a woman, who leads Mary of Egypt to repentance, and it is Mary of Egypt who helps a man, Father Zossima, to see his need for humility. Of course, the focus on Mary’s promiscuity is very much in line with patriarchy’s obsession with female sexuality. Even so, the story does manage to lift up women from the usual tropes by presenting them in a position of empowerment.

Thurston’s book has two major components, making it a creative blend of genres. At the beginning and end of the book, Thurston provides a scholarly treatment of Mary of Egypt, providing helpful information about the history of the story and issues of historicity, including the treatment, both positive and negative, of women throughout the two millennia of the Church. The middle portion of the book contains a collection of Thurston’s poems that retell the story of Mary of Egypt, such as by recounting Mary’s repentance in response to the Virgin Mary’s icon:

But She Who sent me to this desert
did not abandon me to die here.
I put my mind’s eyes before Her icon,
wept, begged, beat my breast
until the shining, Her enfolding light,
dispelled the perils of my heart’s night. (p.41)

Thus, the book is a rich hybrid of poetry and scholarly prose. Indeed, the poetry makes the book exceptionally valuable by presenting an example to readers, such as students, of how a person can use the arts to engage in a story. In a course on spirituality, for instance, students could read the book and then think about how they could express artistically the story of a saint or even the story of someone they know (or themselves). Students could use writing, visual art, music, dance—whatever they feel comfortable with.

Mary of Egypt is sure to rekindle interest in this extraordinary figure while also modeling writing that crosses genres.