Saint Mary = Magdalen

Saint=20 Mary Magdalen, Myrrhbearer and=20 Equal to the Apostles

You=20 followed Christ who was born of the Virgin, O holy Mary Magdalen, = keeping=20 strictly to the commandments he revealed to us. For this, we honor your memory = today,=20 begging you to obtain for us the remission of our sins. (Troparion to Saint Mary = Magdalen,=20 Tone One)

Today,=20 let us sing a special hymn in honor of that friend of the Lord who was = the first=20 to anoint him in death. = Let us=20 praise Mary Magdalen for being the messenger of joy for his disciples, = and let=20 us fall before the Lord himself, filled with wonder that he should = lavish on the=20 world such a fountain of grace. =20 (Kontakion to Saint Mary Magdalen, Tone=20 Four)

Saint=20 Mary Magdalen (often spelled Magdalene), called by the Orthodox = Church=20 both Myrrh-bearer and Equal-to-the-Apostles. She is commemorated on July = 22, as well=20 as with the other Myrrh-bearers on the second Sunday after Easter. Born in the seaport town of = Magdala on the Sea of=20 Galilee, she played an important role during Christ's = ministry,=20 crucifixion, and resurrection. = In=20 Orthodox iconography, she is depicted modestly veiled and carrying a jar = of=20 myrrh and a cross.

Gospel=20 accounts

The Gospels = provide the=20 little that we know about Saint Mary Magdalen, from whom Christ cast out = seven=20 demons (Mark 16:9). = Saint=20 Mary and other wealthy women followed Christ and =93provided for them = out of their=20 means=94 (Luke 8:1-3). =20 According to the Gospel accounts, she and these other women were = present=20 at the crucifixion (Matthew 27:55-56; Mark 15:40; Luke=20 23:49; John 19:25). = They=20 watched where Christ was laid, and made plans to come to the tomb on the = following day to perform the ritual for anointing the dead and preparing = the=20 body for burial.

In=20 the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Saint Mary and the women with her are=20 instructed by the angel at the tomb to go and proclaim the good news of = the=20 resurrection to the male disciples. =20 Saint Mark, in his Gospel, recounts that Saint Mary was the first = to see=20 and speak with the risen Christ. = Her meeting with the risen Christ outside His tomb is one of the = most=20 touching scenes in the Gospel of Saint John:

Jesus=20 said to her, =93Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?=94 Supposing Him to be the = gardener, she=20 said to Him, =93Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you = have laid=20 Him, and I will take Him away.=94 =20 Jesus said to her, =93Mary.=94 =20 She turned and said to him in Hebrew, =93Rabboni!=94 (which means Teacher). (John 20.15-16)=20

Also in the Gospel = of John,=20 Jesus himself tells her to go to the apostles with the good news of his=20 resurrection; hence, her title of =93Apostle to the Apostles=94.

Later=20 traditions

For=20 the Orthodox Church, little more of Saint Mary=92s life is known beyond = the Gospel=20 accounts. After Christ's = ascension,=20 she is believed to have gone to Ephesus = and=20 evangelized with Saint=20 John the Theologian. There she died and was buried = near the=20 entrance to the tomb of the Seven Sleeping Youths. During the reign of one of the = Emperors=20 Leo (which one is uncertain; there were several), her relics were = transferred to=20 the Monastery of Saint Lazarus in Constantinople, where an annual synaxis = (gathering for=20 worship) was celebrated for her.

Many=20 Orthodox accept a pious legend about Saint Mary (although obviously not = on the=20 level of her importance in the Gospel) that credits her with the = invention of=20 the Easter egg. According = to this=20 story, she presented an egg to the Roman emperor Tiberius Caesar as a = symbol of=20 the resurrection, with the words =93Christ is Risen!=94 Some versions of this story = say that the=20 egg was already dyed red to symbolize Christ=92s blood shed for the life = of the=20 world. Other versions say = that,=20 when Tiberius challenged Saint Mary that a man could no more rise from = the dead=20 than the egg in her hand could change color, it miraculously turned red = in=20 response. Unfortunately, = since=20 Tiberius was apparently unimpressed, Christians would have to endure = another=20 three centuries of Roman persecution before another emperor, = Constantine, would=20 grant us official acceptance.

Western traditions

Saint Gregory the = Dialogist=20 (Pope Gregory the Great) is believed to have begun the tradition in the=20 Western=20 Church, which=20 (mis)identified Saint Mary with the =93sinful woman=94 in the seventh = chapter of=20 Luke. There are two = possible=20 reasons for this misidentification (which has never been accepted in the = Eastern=20 Church):

1. =20 Saint=20 Mary was from Magdala, a port city that had a reputation for unsavory=20 goings-on. This = reputation may have=20 been transferred to her, in a classic example of guilt-by-association.=20

2. =20 Saint=20 Mary is first mentioned in the Gospel of Luke directly following the = account of=20 the sinful woman (Luke 7:36-50) and so was associated with = her. Further parallels can be drawn = from the=20 fact that the sinful woman is sometimes called a myrrh-bearer, because = she=20 anointed Christ's feet with ointment (although nard and myrrh are two = different=20 substances) and wiped them with her hair. =20 Saint Gregory also supposed that Mary of Bethany was the same = person as=20 Saint Mary Magdalen.

This=20 misidentification continued in the western religious art, where Saint = Mary is=20 often depicted sensuously, red-haired and bare-breasted. Such depictions, from an = Orthodox point=20 of view, are totally inaccurate and inappropriate. =

There=20 are a number of later legends concerning the life of Saint Mary from the = Western=20 medieval cult of the saints, which the Orthodox Church similarly = rejects. One suggests that she was in = love with=20 Saint John the Theologian and became a = prostitute=20 when he rejected her to follow Jesus (this may have come from the = earlier=20 misidentification of Mary with the sinful woman or from Mary's later = work with=20 John in Ephesus). =20 Another asserts that Saint Mary Magdalen (here thought to be Mary = of=20 Bethany) traveled with her sister Martha and her brother Lazarus to = evangelize=20 the inhabitants of Provence, in what = is now=20 southern France. In the Middle Ages, at least = three=20 Proven=E7al monasteries claimed to have her body.

It=20 is very important to note that=97regardless of its accuracy=97the = classic version of=20 the western tradition of Saint Mary having been a prostitute does = present an=20 important and valuable lesson: she is presented as the supreme model of=20 repentance. Whatever the = nature of=20 the seven cast-out demons may have been, she stands as a shining example = of=20 acceptance of Christ=92s healing power=97a power that can only be = accepted when we=20 realize and repent of our own sinfulness.

Recent=20 re-interpretations=20

The Orthodox Church also rejects many = modern=20 re-interpretations of the life and importance of Saint Mary = Magdalen. Many of these (for example, = the=20 ridiculous notion that Saint Mary and Christ were married and had = children) are=20 based on Gnostic and other apocryphal writings and are both historically = and=20 theologically unsound. = While it is=20 may be fashionable to seize upon =93repressed history=94 or to decry the = supposed=20 evils of male-dominated, patriarchal Christianity, such speculations are = based=20 more on their authors=92 own prejudices or agendas than on the truth (or = even on=20 decent scholarship), and they do nothing to bring us closer to God or to = each=20 other.

In general, it is important to remember = that =93What=20 the Scripture has covered, is not for man to reveal.=94 Learning to see and understand = how the=20 Scriptures reveal Christ and his saving work to us is more than enough = to keep=20 us occupied, without indulging in unnecessary speculation.

Saint Mary = Magdalen as the=20 image of the true Christian

In=20 the Gospel accounts, we come to know the reality of Saint Mary = Magdalen's love=20 for Christ and her fidelity to Him during His passion, death, and=20 resurrection. The Church = has=20 recognized her as a disciple and Equal-to-the-Apostles, and she stands = as an=20 example of love and faithfulness, even in the darkest of times when all = hope=20 seems lost. As = Christians, we=20 follow her example, repenting of our sins, offering to Christ and his = Church=20 what we have to give, remaining faithful even when all around us have = fallen=20 away, and constantly proclaiming the good news of Christ=92s saving = death and=20 resurrection. We ask her = to pray=20 for us, that God may grant us the means to continue to offer fitting = worship to=20 him and ministry to his people. =

The=20 preceding is based in part on Karen Rae Keck=92s Life of Saint Mary = Magdalene,=20 originally published in the St Nina=20 Quarterly.
We = also=20 recommend Marvelous,=20 Mysterious Magdalene by Father Vladimir Berzonsky.

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