SAINT MARY MAGDALENE

Sts. Matthew & Mark, Barrington, R. I.

(Friday, July 24, 2026—tr. from July 22)

 

Before we can begin to understand Mary Magdalene, we need to debunk several popular misconceptions about her. First, no evidence supports the belief that she was a reformed prostitute. That notion dates from the sixth century, when Pope Saint Gregory the Great conflated her with three other women: the unnamed penitent who anoints our Lord’s feet in the seventh chapter of Luke’s Gospel, the woman taken in adultery in the eighth chapter of John’s Gospel, and Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus—although absolutely nothing in the Gospel texts supports any of these identifications.

 

Luke’s Gospel does say that “seven demons had gone out” from Mary Magdalene, and Pope Gregory supported his contention that she was a prostitute by identifying her seven demons with the seven deadly sins. But in the biblical world, the number seven signified completeness and perfection. So, to say that seven demons had been expelled from her indicated her complete healing and deliverance. While I have enormous respect for Gregory the Great, he got this particular point wrong. The Eastern Orthodox tradition has always rejected any notion that Mary Magdalene was a sinner, and instead regards her as a woman so holy that the devil sent the seven demons to torment and tempt her. 

 

In any case, the misidentification of Mary as the penitent woman washing our Lord’s feet with her tears, combined with John’s depiction of her weeping outside the tomb on Easter morning, led to her being depicted in Western art weeping or with red eyes. The English word maudlin—meaning tearfully sentimental—derives from Magdalene. At both Oxford and Cambridge Universities, the names of the colleges dedicated to her are spelled in more or less the usual way but pronounced “maudlin.”

 

More recently, theories about Mary Magdalene have included the propositions that she was the beloved disciple who wrote the Fourth Gospel; or that she was the wife of Jesus, and that their offspring became the Merovingian Dynasty of French kings. Not a shred of evidence supports any of these theories, which reflect more the preoccupations of their proponents than anything else.

 

What, then, can we positively say about Mary Magdalene? The title Magdalene is not a surname but indicates that she came from the town of Magdala on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. The canonical Gospels record that she followed the Lord from Galilee to Jerusalem along with several other women, and there ministered to him and the apostles. She was present at his crucifixion and burial. She was among the women who went to the tomb on Easter morning and found it empty; and John’s Gospel identifies her as the one to whom the risen Christ first appeared.

 

 At the tomb Mary doesn’t recognize the risen Jesus and supposes him to be the gardener. They address each other politely, even formally: his use of the term “Woman” really has more the sense of “My lady,” and she in turn addresses him as “Sir.” But then he calls her by name and, recognizing him, she responds with the familiar form of address, “Rabbouni,” which means “My teacher” or even “My master.” Most likely she has fallen down and tried to take hold of his feet when he utters the enigmatic words: “Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father.”  This can be paraphrased as “Don’t try to cling to the way you’ve known me in the past.” Then, to redirect her attention to the future, he entrusts her with the mission: “Go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” 

 

The word apostle means one who is sent. The early Christian tradition designated Mary Magdalene as the apostle to the apostles—the one sent to tell them that she had seen the risen Lord, and to report all he had said to her. She is, above all, the first witness of the Resurrection. 

 

In Mary Magdalene we encounter a pattern of Christian life and discipleship. Having received the Lord’s healing and help, we become his loyal followers. But then, either gradually or in a moment of profound encounter, he transforms his disciples, those who follow, into apostles, those who are sent out. Above all, Mary Magdalene shines forth as an example to us today, as we seek to fulfill the Church’s calling to bear witness to the Resurrection in our own day and time.