Venerable Taisia of Egypt (the Thebaid), the Penitent

Venerable Taisia of Egypt (of the Thebaid) lived in the 4th century in Alexandria. Orphaned young, she was given by her mother into a life of prostitution, and her extraordinary beauty led many men into ruin. Word of the courtesan Taisia reached the great ascetic Abba Paphnutius, renowned for converting lost souls. Disguising himself in worldly clothes, the elder came to Taisia and asked for a secluded place "where God would not see them." Struck by his words on God's omnipresence, Taisia recognized the full weight of her sinful life. Paphnutius told her to gather everything she had acquired through sin and burn it publicly in the city square, which she did. He then brought her to a women's monastery, where, on his instructions, she was sealed alone in a small cell. There Taisia spent several years in strict repentance, ceaselessly praying, "O my Maker, have mercy on me!" After this time, Paphnutius, consulting St. Anthony the Great and his disciple Paul the Simple, learned in a vision that Taisia's repentance had been accepted by God, and ordered the cell opened. A few days later her peaceful death confirmed her full reconciliation with God. Her feast is kept on 8 October (Old Style) / 21 October (New Style).