St. Thais

Thaïs is first briefly described as wealthy and beautiful, a courtesan living in the cosmopolitan city of Alexandria, Egypt. Yet in the eyes of the church, she was a public sinner. Thaïs, however, made inquiries about the Christian religion and eventually converted. In her Vita a monk in disguise pays for entry into her chambers in order to challenge her and convert her, yet he finds that she already believes in God, from whom nothing is hidden. The identity of this person who instructs and offers Thaïs ways of spiritual transformation is unclear, three names being mentioned: St. Paphnutius (Egyptian Bishop in Upper Thebaïd), St. Bessarion (disciple of St. Anthony in the Egyptian desert), and St. Serapion (Bishop in the Nile Delta).

Following her acceptance into the Church, Thaïs is shown a convent cell where she is provisioned for three years. During her years of solitude, she performs penance for her sins. When she later emerges, it is said, she lives among the nuns of the Egyptian desert only for a brief period of fifteen days, before she dies. Her life story became famous in France where Jules Massenet used it as the basis of an opera. Her feast is kept on October 8.