About St. Mary Magdalen, Sheet
About St. Mary Magdalen, Sheet
About St. Mary Magdalen
Mary Magdalen, probably from Magdala on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee near Tiberias, became a follower of Christ and has been the classic example of the repentant sinner from earliest times.
Mary from Magdala in Galilee is mentioned by name in the Gospels on only a few occasions, but her meeting with the risen Christ on Easter morning makes her one of the most important Christian saints.
We first hear of her in chapter 8 of St. Luke's Gospel where she is described as having become a follower of Jesus after some kind of healing experience. She was one of a number of women who were said to have been set free from evil spirits and infirmities and who provided for Jesus and the disciples out of their own resources.
We do not hear of Mary Magdalen again until the Crucifixion. All four gospel writers mention that she was present, usually in the company of a group of women who had ministered to Jesus in Galilee and accompanied him to Jerusalem. St. John is the most precise and describes her as being among those near the Cross with the mother of Jesus. After Jesus had died Mary Magdalen and her companions waited to see where his body would be taken, so that they could return to perform the customary anointing rites. The next day being the Sabbath they were required to rest, but very early the following morning the women returned and heard the angelic announcement that Jesus had risen from the dead. Mary Magdalen, still confused and grief-stricken at finding the tomb empty, sought help from a man she took to be the gardener. It was when he addressed her by name that she recognised Jesus and so became the first witness of the Resurrection.
In the past there has often been much confusion about the identity of Mary Magdalen. As early as the 6th century she was thought to be the unnamed penitent who, according to St Luke, entered the house of Simon the Pharisee where she washed Christ's feet with her tears, dried them with her hair and poured precious ointment over them. In some traditions she has also been identified with Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, who is described in St. John's gospel as having anointed Jesus. Neither of these attributions is accepted by most modern scholars, but they have led to the widespread artistic tradition of depicting Mary Magdalen with long flowing hair and with the jar of precious ointment as her identifying symbol.
There are also various legends about Mary Magdalen's later life, one of the best known being her reputed death in the south of France.