A Brief Biography of St. Mary Magdalen
OVERVIEW:
Saint Mary Magdalen, a converted great sinner, became a follower of Christ and has been the classic example of the repentant sinner from earliest times. She is identified with the sinner who anointed Christ's feet in Simon's house (Luke 7:36ff.) and and traditionally is thought to be Mary, the sister of Martha. She had seven devils cast out of her by the Lord (Mark 16:9; Luke 8:2), ministered to him in Galilee (Luke 8:2), was among the women at the Crucifixion (Matt. 27:56; Mark 15:40; John 19:25), and with Mary, the mother of James and Salome, discovered the empty tomb and heard the angelic announcement of the Resurrection of Christ (Matt. 28:1ff.; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-10). She was the first person to see Christ later the same day (Matt. 28:9; Mark 16:9; John 20:1-18). According to tradition, she accompanied John to Ephesus, where she died. Her Feast Day is July 22.
CLOSER LOOK:
The New Testament and tradition are the Church's sources for Saint Mary Magdalen, who is almost always depicted in art with flowing red hair, either with Christ in the house of Simon or beneath the Cross, or alone with her jar of precious oil and or a book, symbolizing the knowledge she had from both Jesus and Mary. Our Saint gets her full name from the town she came from, Magdala, near Bethany; the actual site of the town is in ruins and has been given a variant of the name today.
When our Lord began preaching and going about the countryside He no longer had a fixed abode; He visited the homes of friends or those open to hospitality. The domicile of the two sisters, Mary [Magdala] and Martha, and their brother Lazarus, is considered the house He most frequented. Bethany is only two miles from Jerusalem. Mary and her sister were devoted to Christ and it was at their home that Christ spent His last days before the Passion. The Saturday before Palm Sunday, St. Mary Magdalen showed her complete reverence for the Son of God when she poured out the costly nard, approximately the yearly salary of today's typical working man or laborer, onto the feet of Our Savior. Not only did this act reveal her deep repentance for a former life of sin, but it signaled the price Our Lord would pay for our salvation a mere six days hence. Before she anointed the feet of the Lamb of God, she performed the custom of the times concering honored huests---she refreshed the top of Jesus' head with the oil first. To be so lavish as to then bathe His feet was not only an extraordinary event, it was inspired by the Holy Spirit, for once again His Heavenly Father was well pleased with His Son. In keeping with Jesus' words in St. Matthew 26: 10-13, the memory of St. Mary Magdalen's work is now immortalized in art. The Scripture passages that tell of this marvel are perhaps among the most often repeated and well known among most Christians.
We have to look to the tradition of the Church as to who Mary Magdalen really was, as there is more than one Mary in the Gospel identified with a famous sinner. Pope St. Gregory the Great is considered the most authoritative source. He identifies Mary of Bethany with Mary Magdalen, the converted sinner. We also rely somewhat on Jєωιѕн historians. According to their account she had been married
source: CatholicTradition.org
Topic: Saint Mary Magdalene (Read 2270 times)