By DEB PIROCH
“Jesus crying again in a loud voice, yielded up the ghost….And there were many women afar off, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: Among whom was Mary Magdalene” (Matt. 27:49, 55-56).
All apostles but John were in in hiding. At the foot of the cross along with Mary, Virgin Mother, and Mary of Cleophas, stood Mary Magdalene. God favored her greatly in grace and fortitude that she, too, remained with Him.
Mary was a very common name of the age. “Magdalene” means she came from Magdala, an ancient city on the Sea of Galilee, where they processed fish. The Gospel of Luke mentions her being exorcised from demons: “And certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities; Mary who is called Magdalene, out of whom seven devils were gone forth.”
Many of the Marys in the New Testament have been conflated with one another. Pope Gregory I made this assumption partly himself and from this came the belief — unproven — that she was a prostitute. Many centuries later, Pope Paul VI would later remove the word “penitent” describing her from the calendar. Now, Pope Francis has also raised her memorial to a special feast day of the Church, which falls on July 22.
Just to explain the confusion briefly: 1) Mary of Bethany is sister to Lazarus and Martha; 2) There are stories in more than one Gospel of a woman washing the feet of Jesus; 3) In one of those cases the woman is not identified but, in the other, Mary of Bethany is named; and 4) In a separate Gospel incident, where a woman is caught in adultery, many assumed this was also Mary Magdalene.
As you see, Mary Magdalene’s name does not appear. It does not make sense that she should assume credit for all events without attribution.
All we know factually is that Mary Magdalene was cured of possession, stood at the foot of the cross and was the first to speak to Christ after His Resurrection (except Mary — surely, He must have spoken to her first). Notwithstanding, we have many centuries’ worth of art portraying the sinful Mary Magdalene doing penance for alleged sexual sin, and many still recall her this way.
That she is a saint is not in doubt. Her name is mentioned more times in the Bible than the name of any apostle, except Peter. There are two schools of thought as to what she did after Christ’s death. One believes that she accompanied the Virgin Mary and St. John to Ephesus, where she lived out her days. The other holds she went to France, where first the Vézelay monks were believed to have her relics in keeping until 1279.
Then those at another destination in Provence, St.-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, located what they believed to be the corpus of St. Mary Magdalene. More recently, her hair was submitted for DNA testing and found to date to the first century, probably from someone aged about 50 and not native to France.
But one can make the argument that whatever the case as to veracity, one can venerate a saint anywhere.
In the fourth century, St. Helena located the home of Mary Magdalen, where she was exorcised from the demons, and built a basilica there. It was reputedly destroyed in the seventh century, but rebuilt by Crusaders in the twelfth. Then it again fell into disuse when the Crusaders were kicked out of the Holy Land. Yet this is one more location to venerate her and, thus, praise Christ.
Regardless, we need to remember that she is the woman portrayed in the Catholic Bible. As a reproach, and it can be nothing other, there are those believe that Mary Magdalene was the wife of Christ, or that her story was downplayed in history by men, simply because she was a woman. The idea that Jesus was married, and many other false ideas, are perpetuated in texts known as the “Gnostic Gospels.” The movie The Da Vinci Code furthered this nonsense.
The Gnostic Gospels are old but not as old as the actual ones, which we know to be Truth itself. They are not mentioned in something called the “Muratorian fragment,” which is the oldest known list of actual books of the New Testament, also including also notes on which writings should not be included. St. Irenaeus, bishop of Lyon, condemned Gnosticism in a work, Against Heresies, written in the year AD 190. He and others formed part of the basis for the fragment debunking the Gnostic Gospels.
Gnosticism is a heretical cult. Among its beliefs are that Christ was human, not divine, and that there was no Incarnation or Resurrection. Adherents believed they alone had the ability to see the truth, and used aspects of Christianity to try and make it fit their pagan religion. They believed man and anything physical was bad, but his soul was good. Therefore, they did not believe in marriage, in life, or having children. They also believed the Sophia or Wisdom myth. Sophia was a virgin goddess who fell into sin and became Wisdom. Sound Christian?
And like history, gnostic ideas gain and wane in their popularity, as does support for radical feminism. In God’s eyes, we are all equal, but different. That we do not have any of the words spoken by Mary Magdalen and that she was not an apostle — these do not make her less of a person or a saint. She was a saint greatly favored by God. What more could any of us hope for?
“But Mary stood at the sepulcher without, weeping. Now as she was weeping, she stooped down and looked into the sepulcher, And she saw two angels in white, sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been laid. They say to her: Woman, why weepest thou? She saith to them: Because they have taken away my Lord: and I know not where they have laid him.
“When she had thus said, she turned herself back and saw Jesus standing: and she knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith to her: Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, thinking that it was the gardener, saith to him: Sir, if thou hast taken him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him: and I will take him away. Jesus saith to her: Mary. She turning, saith to him: Rabboni (which is to say, Master). Jesus saith to her: Do not touch me: for I am not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren and say to them: I ascend to my Father and to your Father, to my God and to your God. Mary Magdalen cometh and telleth the disciples: I have seen the Lord; and these things he said to me” (John 16:12-18).
St. Mary Magdalene, help us to prepare for the coming of Our Master, Lord, and Redeemer this Easter. Amen.
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