Saint Mary of Egypt and the Myth of Solitary Confinement

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I think it is safe to say that we all know what solitary confinement is. When someone is in prison and whose crime is particular heinous, for the prisoner’s own safety, or because of vile behavior in prison, the incarcerated is put into a tiny cell, alone, with nearly all contact with the rest of the inmates and staff reduced to a bare minimum. Perhaps a one-hour furlough, alone, into an outdoor cage may be allowed.

In certain political cases, in which the ruler or state wishes to inflict grave distress on a prisoner, solitary confinement is also a weapon of choice.

The effects of solitary confinement can be devasting emotionally, physically, and socially to the prisoner.

Consider, however, a look at solitary confinement not simply as interment in a small cell, but any situation in which one is isolated. Imagine someone lost in the woods; although there are no walls to confine the person, the nearest human might be miles away. There is likely someone in a home or apartment near you who, because of the pandemic, has been isolated from interaction with other people for much, if not all, of the past year. Certainly, many people suffering from mental illnesses, though walking among us, are confined to the unfortunate solitude of their own, infirm minds.

St. Mary of Egypt was someone who spent the majority of her life in solitary confinement. From the time she was about 30 years old, according to her story, she fled worldly temptations and lived alone in the wilderness of Palestine.

The wilderness of Palestine is not a hospitable place. It is a desert. The days are scorching hot and the nights can be dreadfully cold. Food and water are scarce. And in the case of St. Mary, she lived in such a place for nearly 50 years.

Of course, the wilderness of Palestine is not a small place of confinement. No walls existed to keep St. Mary within the desert. She certainly could move about at her will.

In the forty-seventh year of her “confinement,” a priest, St. Zosimos, came upon her. A year later, he returned to offer her Holy Communion, and she partook. In nearly fifty years, she had only two encounters with another human being!

What sustained her for nearly 50 years of isolation?  Indeed, what sustained Fr. Roman Braga in a communist Romanian prison?  What sustained Fr. Arseny in the gulag? 

The answer is not a “what,” but a “Who.”  It was our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Who was always with them and sustaining them.

Although this can be a difficult thing to realize, Christ is always with us. Though lost in the vast expanse of a desert, Christ is there. Though in the tiniest of prison cells and segregated from all other contact, Christ is there. Though sheltered alone in a home, Christ is there. Though suffering at the hands of seen and unseen tormentors, Christ is there. And though lost in the deepest recesses of the mind, Christ is there.

Jesus is always with us. Even when the night falls in the desert or the prison door is slammed shut, nothing will keep Jesus away from us. Even in the midst of our most grievous sin, Christ is still next to us. The important issue, then, is to know and remember that Christ is ever present for each and every one of us.

Jesus Himself knows what it is like to be alone. He spent forty days in the desert. The disciples fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane and He was left alone knowing the tortures, crucifixion, and death that were about to come. And even when healing, teaching, or hanging on the cross, could any human being really understand the condescension of God; to be in our midst and suffer at our hands – all in order to have us with Him in the Heavenly Kingdom?

The human being is never alone, but it often takes faith, perseverance, and prayer to recognize that.
St. Mary is commemorated on the last Sunday of Great Lent to remind us that through all of our struggles, God is near to us, always.

Please pay attention to this most beautiful priestly prayer from the Liturgy of St. Basil, following the consecration of the Holy Gifts (italics and bold face are my addition for emphasis):

“[Lord our God,] nurture the infants; instruct the youth; strengthen the aged; give courage to the faint hearted; reunite those separated; bring back those in error and unite them to Your holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. Free those who are held captive by unclean spirits; sail with those who sail; travel with those who travel; defend the widows; protect the orphans; liberate the captives; heal the sick. Remember, Lord, those who are in mines, in exile, in harsh labor, and those in every kind of affliction, necessity, or distress; those who entreat your loving kindness; those who love us and those who hate us; those who have asked us to pray for them, unworthy though we may be. Remember, Lord our God, all Your people, and pour out Your rich mercy upon them, granting them their petitions for salvation. Remember, O God, all those whom we have not remembered through ignorance, forgetfulness or because of their multitude since You know the name and age of each, even from their mother's womb. For You, Lord, are the helper of the helpless, the hope of the hopeless, the savior of the afflicted, the haven of the voyager, and the physician of the sick. Be all things to all, You who know each person, his requests, his household, and his need.”

May the knowledge of the presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ always give you strength, comfort, and peace.

With Love in Christ,
+Fr. Nick