The Life of Saint Mary the Harlot

The Life of Saint Mary the Harlot (c. 370) is a hagiography which can be found in Book 1 of Rosweyde's Vitae Patrum.

The work is an extract from the work The Life of Abraham. The earliest Syriac manuscript to contain it (fifth or sixth century) leaves the authorship anonymous.

The Life of Saint Mary the Harlot is later attributed to Ephraem, deacon of Edessa and was likely written towards the end of his life, though there have been claims against Ephrem's authorship. Certain parallels have been noticed between Ephraem and Abraham, the uncle of St. Mary, notably that both were hermits who gave up their hermitage for work in the world only to return just before their deaths. The character of Abraham may be a semi-autobiographical representation of Ephraem, or Ephraem was motivated by their personal similarities to record the story.

Ephraem writes that he is recounting the story in response to the unanimous request of his brethren, though this practice of claiming that one has been compelled to write is a common convention among ascetic authors as an expression of humility.

The translator of the text from Syriac into Greek and Latin is unknown.

The prologue, in which the author recounts this story to serve as a lesson in "compunction and humility" for those in their old age.

Abraham the hermit had a brother who died, leaving behind a seven-year-old daughter. The orphan, Mary, was brought by her father's friends to live with Abraham. He housed her in the outer room of the cell, while he lived in the inner room. Through a small window between the two rooms, Abraham taught her the psalter and the ascetic disciplines. Mary became great in spiritual virtue until she was an ascetic in her own right.

Mary's father had left her a large sum of money. Abraham, not wishing that she should be ensnared by the affairs of the world, represented by her inheritance, had the money given to the poor. She lived with him for twenty years.

A monk, who is called "a monk in profession only," came to visit Abraham, as was his habit. When he saw Mary, he lusted after her. He whispered things to her through the window, trying to tempt her. Finally, after a year had passed she came out to him, and they had sex.

Mary regretted the act immediately. She enters into a soliloquy about her sin, at one point making a veiled allusion to the supposed author by name, wishing she had been true to his writings. Finally, she concluded, "I am a sinner full of sordid uncleanness - how shall I even try to speak with my holy uncle? If I even dared to attempt it, wouldn't a blast of fire burst from him to burn me to ashes?" She therefore left her uncle for a foreign land.

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