Searching for Mary Magdalene

This article originally appeared in the July edition of The Epigram.

“Searching for Mary Magdalene: A Journey Through Art and Literature” - Jane Lahr

By Mary Ellen Horton

As a child, my mother attended a convent boarding school run by nuns who were cloistered. When young women, considered redeemed sinners, joined this order, they wore crowns of thorns during the ceremony, while the “good novices” wore wreaths of flowers.

Had Jesus been present, I think he would have removed the thorns and given all crowns of flowers. This book has many theories about the place of Mary Magdalene in the life of Jesus. The author describes her as “an enigma and a spirit that continues to morph from one form to another with the subtlety of an apparition.” Misunderstood by many, in the New Testament Mary Magdalene is mentioned only 13 times. Luke writes of Jesus at the home of his friends Mary, Lazarus and their sister Martha. Martha chided Mary for sitting at Jesus’ feet and not helping prepare the meal, but Jesus said to Martha, “Mary has chosen the better part, and it shall not be taken from her.”

In Eastern Christianity, Mary, the sister of Martha, the unnamed woman who was a sinner, and Mary Magdalene have been treated as three different individuals. In the 6th century, Pope Gregory the Great combined them and declared them one and the same woman, A fourth, the woman taken in adultery, was later included. The reason he did so is unclear, but the author calls it a case of identify theft, a political act, or simply a way to tie up loose ends. It was not until 1969 that this label was repealed by Rome. We now know Mary Magdalene was a devout follower of Jesus, was present at the crucifixion, and was the first person he appeared to after he rose from the dead.

In a 13th century partly fictitious work by the Dominican Jacobus de Voragine, we are told that after the crucifixion, Mary and 72 disciples traveled to southern France, where she preached to a pagan governor and the other inhabitants, and converted all to Christianity. It is said that she then retired to a cave in the desert, where she died at the age of 65. She is now called the Beloved Apostle and the Apostle to the Apostles.

(Editor's notes: On the 21st of July, Epiphany will celebrate the feast of Mary Magdalene at 7:00 PM "prayer service " with refreshments afterwards. All are welcome.)