Mary Magdalene

Why do Gnostics consider Mary Magdalene the greatest Apostle?

2010-03-06T14:05:00.001-08:00

Why do Gnostics consider Mary Magdalene the greatest Apostle?

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Ancient synagogue found in Israel

2009-09-13T11:43:00.000-07:00

Kevin Flower has this story at CNN.com:

. . . The synagogue was discovered in area called Migdal, historically an important settlement along the Sea of Galilee, which researchers say was mentioned in ancient Jewish texts as playing a prominent role during what is known as the Great Revolt, when Jews attempted to rebel against Roman rule. Migdal also figures in early Christian writings as the place where Mary Magdalene accompanied Jesus and the Apostles.

Legend of Mary Magdalene

2009-09-11T14:52:00.000-07:00

Screen capture. Hugh Montgomery, The God-Kings of Europe. Image courtesy of Google Books.

Hugh Montgomery cites this story in his God-Kings of Europe (2006:124) and also God-Kings of Outremer (2008:Appendix C).

"Now it came to pass in those days that a Priestess of the Goddess from the village of Bethany of the Tribe of Benjamin and a keeper of the Sacred Doves was affianced to a man called Jeshua for she had served her six years. Now Jeshua was of the House of David the King and they were married.

And Jeshua rebelled against the oppressors against Rome and was defeated, but many Romans were devotees of the Mother and were unwilling to kill her priestess who was with child. So Miriam took ship and was secretly smuggled into Gaul where she was delivered and there she abode many years. Now she bore a daughter who was exceedingly fair and the King of that place looked upon her and demanded that she be his wife but she was promised to the Goddess. But the King would not have it so and took her and made her his wife and she bore him a son and a daughter.

But the Goddess was exceeding wrath for his rape of her daughter and cursed him saying, 'Thy seed shall be estranged from me and thine inheritance taken from thee. Thy seed shall end by the piercing of an eye and so shall thine inheritance cease.

Yet for the sake of my priestess whom thou ravished shall I forgive thee and thy seed if they fulfil those labours which I shall give to them.

They must fight and capture that which was lost to the oppressors of thy wife though they shall not hold it for they shall suffer betrayal (as thou betrayed me). Unless one of thy seed shall end the House of their betrayers by piercing the eye of its Liege. To this family shall I award greatness if they return to me and from this time to that shall be four and one hundred generations.'"

Magdalene Murals in the Chapel at St. Baume

2009-08-31T15:45:00.000-07:00

Mary Magdalene preaching (late 1940s). Montenard. Chapel, St. Baume. Image courtesy of Magdalineage.com.

Mary Magdalene with open arms (late 1940s). Montenard. Chapel, St. Baume. Image courtesy of Magdalineage.com.

Mary Magdalene at the Grotto (late 1940s). Montenard. Chapel, St. Baume. Image courtesy of Magdalineage.com.

Mary Magdalene raised by angels (late 1940s). Montenard. Chapel, St. Baume. Image courtesy of Magdalineage.com.

Saunière's Altar as it looked in the 1960s

2009-08-27T14:44:00.000-07:00

Saunière's Altar as it looked in the 1960s. Image courtesy of Rennes-le-Château Research.

Interesting article there as well.

Three Maries by Michael Wolgemut

2009-08-17T17:36:00.001-07:00

The Three Maries (c. 1500). Michael Wolgemut. Image courtesy of Pictopia.

Detail from Martha Rebuking Mary for her Vanity by Cagnacci

2009-07-29T14:49:00.001-07:00

Detail from Martha Rebuking Mary for her Vanity (c. 1663). Guido Cagnacci. Simon Norton Museum of Art, Pasadena, CA. Image courtesy of Simon Norton Museum of Art.

Various Magdalens by Guido Cagnacci

2009-07-29T13:52:00.000-07:00

Mary Magdalene (date unk.) Guido Cagnacci. Private Collection. Image courtesy of Wikimedia.

Penitent Mary Magdalene (c. 1659). Guido Cagnacci. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Image courtesy of Wikimedia.

Martha Rebuking Mary for her Vanity (c. 1661). Guido Cagnacci. Norton Simon Museum of Art, Pasadena, CA. Image courtesy of Best Price Art.

Description from the Norton Simon Museum website:

At center, a penitent Magdalene is rebuked by Martha. The confusion of clothes and jewels cast aside suggests her desertion of vanity. Behind them an angel (Virtue) chases out a devil (Vice). The handmaids at the door reiterate these contrasts. The crying woman represents "contrition"; the other, gesturing in annoyance, represents "vanity." This brilliant tableau combines lofty allegory with sensuous representation to create an inventive, but effective visual metaphor.

Maddalena svenuta (1663). Guido Cagnacci. Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome. Image courtesy of Wikimedia.

Maddalena sollevata da un angelo (date unk.) Guido Cagnacci. Galleria Palatina. Palazzo Pitti. Florence. Image courtesy of Wikimedia.

Mary Magdalene by Piero della Francesca

2009-07-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

Mary Magdalene (1460). Piero della Francesca. Duomo, Arezzo. Image courtesy of AIWAZ.NET.

Litany of St. Mary Magdalene

2009-07-22T08:21:00.000-07:00

Margaret Starbird posted a link today on the Da Vinci Code Forum to this litany that is on the Catholic Culture website:

According to the tradition of the Western Church Mary Magdalene, who is mentioned in all four Gospels, is also identical with "the woman who was a sinner" and with the sister of Lazarus, though this identification is challenged by the Fathers of the East. She was of Magdala in Galilee, whence her name of Magdalen. Liturgical devotion, to this glorious penitent has been immemorial. This litany is mellow with age; from an old German version this was translated many years ago. Two prayers have been added from liturgical sources, the Secret and finally the Collect from the Mass of her Feast, July 22, which is duplex in Latin Church and has been since end of ninth century, commemorating the Translation of her Relics from Ephesus to Constantinople on July 22, 886.

Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us. Holy Mary, Mother of God, Saint Mary Magdalene, Pray for us. Sister of Martha and Lazarus, Pray for us. Who didst enter the Pharisee's house to anoint the feet of Jesus, Pray for us. Who didst wash His feet with thy tears, Pray for us. Who didst dry them with thy hair, Pray for us. Who didst cover them with kisses, Pray for us. Who wast vindicated by Jesus before the proud Pharisee, Pray for us. Who from Jesus received the pardon of thy sins, Pray for us. Who before darkness wast restored to light, Pray for us. Mirror of penance, R Disciple of Our Lord, Pray for us. Wounded with the love of Christ, Pray for us. Most dear to the Heart of Jesus, Pray for us. Constant woman, Pray for us. Last at the Cross of Jesus, first at His tomb, Pray for us. Thou who wast the first to see Jesus risen, Pray for us. Whose forehead was sanctified by the touch of thy risen Master, Pray for us. Apostle of apostles, Pray for us. Who didst choose the "better part," Pray for us. Who lived for many years in solitude being miraculously fed, Pray for us. Who wast visited by angels seven times a day, Pray for us. Sweet advocate of sinners, Pray for us. Spouse of the King of Glory, [Emphasis added.] Pray for us.

V. Saint Mary Magdalene, earnestly intercede for us with thy Divine Master R. That we may share thy happiness in heaven.

Let us pray. May the glorious merits of blessed Mary Magdalene, we beseech Thee, O Lord, make our offerings acceptable to Thee: for Thine only-begotten Son vouchsafed graciously to accept the humble service she rendered. Who livest and reignest with Thee and the Holy Ghost, God for ever and ever. R. Amen.

May the prayers of blessed Mary Magdalene help us, O Lord : for it was in answer to them that Thou didst call her brother Lazarus, four days after death, back from the grave to life. Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, Unity in Trinity, world without end. R. Amen.

Prayer Source: Kyrie Eleison — Two Hundred Litanies by Benjamin Francis Musser O.F.M., The Magnificat Press, 1944.

Penitent Mary Magdalene by Gentileschi

2009-07-12T11:12:00.000-07:00

Penitent Mary Magdalene (c. 1622). Orazio Lomi Gentileschi. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Image courtesy of Art Knowledge News.

Mary Magdalene Removing her Jewelry by Alonso del Arco

2009-07-08T14:51:00.000-07:00

Mary Magdalene Removing her Jewelry (17th c.). Alonso del Arco. Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias, Oviedo. Image courtesy of Magical Realism and the New World Baroque.

The world’s oldest Bible goes online

2009-07-07T12:12:00.000-07:00

From a press release at their website:

Over 25% of Codex Sinaiticus, the earliest existing Christian Bible, becomes freely accessible on 24 July 2008 at http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/.

All pages at Leipzig University Library together with the complete Book of Psalms and Gospel of Mark held at the British Library are part of the launch.

Pages made available by the British Library and the University of Leipzig as part of a larger international collaboration.

The launch of the website is the landmark first phase of an extensive online initiative to reunite the different parts of the Bible now held in four separate institutions. In a ground-breaking collaboration between the British Library, the Monastery of St Catherine (Mount Sinai, Egypt), the University Library at Leipzig (Germany) and the National Library of Russia (St Petersburg), the full text of the manuscript will be accessible in one place for everyone to research and enjoy by the end of the project in July 2009.

SOURCE: "The world’s oldest Bible goes online," Codex Sinaiticus (Retrieved 7 July 2009).

Magdalene's Iconography, between Passion and Melancholy

2009-07-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

The following article by Pino Blasone is from Scribd.com:
Magdalene's Iconography

Magdalene - Artist's Impressions

2009-07-04T15:34:00.000-07:00

This YouTube video contains a series of images of the Magdalene throughout the history of art.

Its compiler has the following companion video as well:

S. Maria Magdalena by Lavers and Westlake

2009-06-26T13:40:00.000-07:00

S. Maria Magdalena (1902). Lavers and Westlake. Stained Glass. St. Matthews, Carver Street, Sheffield. Image courtesy of Flickr.

Recently came across this beautiful stained glass image by Lavers and Westlake so thought I would share.

Edgar Cayce on Mary Magdalene

2009-06-25T00:14:00.000-07:00

In my post on Leonardo and the Real Mary Magdalene I have a link to an article which references Edgar Cayce's reading on Mary Magdalene. Since it makes for interesting reading, particularly Cayce's claim that there was no sexual relationship, I am including it in more detail below:

"Q: Please describe the personal appearance of the body [of Mary Magdalene] at that time.

"A: This is well drawn by Da Vinci, as well as in that by Blum [Blaum?] - The Magdalene. A body five feet four inches (5'4") in height, weight a hundred and twenty-one (121) pounds - in the general. Hair almost red. The eyes were blue. The features were those impelled both from the Grecian and Jewish ancestry." (295-8)
According to Cayce's readings, the soul that was Mary Magdalene (#295 in the Cayce files) began her incarnations in this world as the princess Amliea in Atlantis, with a talent for maintaining the life force in physical bodies through magnetic treatments, presumably using the famed Atlantean crystal. In one case, she actually purified a friend's body of possession-like influences. As a result of being highborn and talented, she experienced the pomp and ceremony that came with such. But according to the Sleeping Prophet's reading, she did not handle the recognition well, becoming discontented with the people to the point that she began acting against them and their ways, taking names and holding grudges. She had the magic within her to channel the higher forces into the Earth realms yet a personality that tended toward contention and strife against any who opposed her.

In her second major incarnation, men were now ruling, unlike Atlantean times when women ruled. She was the temple musician Islta in Egypt during the time of the high priest Ra Ta (an incarnation of Edgar Cayce's soul). When the high priest was banished for his misdeeds, she counseled Pharaoh to reinstate the priest for the sake of the higher good for all. Once Ra Ta was restored, she continued her temple musician duties, which again allowed her to channel the Creative Forces to improve the vibrations in human bodies and minds. The sleeping Cayce said that many of her compositions will be recovered when the "yet uncovered" pyramids are found.

In the Egyptian incarnation, she developed a distrust of men. Also, her sense of discontent with this world and most people increased.

The next significant incarnation was as Mary Magdalene. Cayce's reading of the Akashic Record says that she did indeed become a courtesan in the Roman courts and a harlot among the men of her people. Cayce's readings also identify her as the Mary who was the sister of Martha and Lazarus and the woman who, caught in adultery and condemned to be stoned, was let go by Jesus' statement: "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone."

Cayce says that she was 22 when Jesus raised her brother from the tomb, causing many changes within her. Cayce goes on to explain that she and others found it strange to share life with her recently deceased brother, who once again lived among them. When she was 23, the readings state that "Christ cleansed her from seven devils: avarice, hate, self-indulgence, and those of the kindred selfishnesses; hopelessness and blasphemy."

She joined with Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the disciple John's household, which also included Elois (sister of the Mary that was the mother of John and James). There were also many visits from several of the disciples. Sadly, Martha, Lazarus, and James "the Lesser" (John's brother) had all been killed in the first wave of Roman crackdowns on followers of Jesus Christ. Cayce's readings say that the officials felt that Lazarus had to be killed because he was a walking reminder of Christ's miracles.

Cayce says that, like her brother, Mary Magdalene became a kind of "monument, as a memorial, to the activity of the Christ life upon the life of a soul" in this world because she had been a "sinner" and was purified and energized to a new way of thinking and acting. Her presence was a blessing to many, including Romans who had known her before and after the cleansing.

This little household lived in John's summer home on Lake Gennesaret, but the increasing crackdowns forced them to move north to Ephesus, and there they remained until their deaths.

When asked if Mary Magdalene had been Jesus' lover, Cayce clearly replied that she had not. Jesus wanted to be, and was, "her savior," not her lover. But this lover idea is sure selling a lot of books and resulted in a major motion picture.

The idea of that the progeny of Mary Magdalene and Jesus are living today fits nicely within our growing interest in the genetic code and its impact on future generations. Blood lines have always been a fascination for humans. But, as exciting as it may be to think that Jesus's heirs may be living quietly in Europe, it is not true according to Cayce's reading of the Akashic records.

After her life as Mary Magdalene, her next major incarnation picked up on her royal birth in Atlantis. This time she was the daughter of the last of the Louises, Louis XVI of France. Again she was facing mounting contention from the people ruled by her family. When Louis resigned and the rebellion began, she escaped the fate of the rest of her family by fleeing with great stealth to Austria and changing her name to Marie Augusta.

In her soul's next incarnation, she joined with Edgar Cayce's little band of visionaries to help build the Association for Research and Enlightenment. Her name was Mildred Davis. Her special healing talents were once again apparent, as the "sleeping" Cayce selected her to be among the seven initial members of the Glad Helpers Prayer Group. Edgar Cayce once had a dream about her in which she announced to everyone in the group that she was going to foretell what the next Cayce reading would say!

In this incarnation, the readings said that she needed to overcome her mistrust of men and her contentious spirit against people with different opinions. He also encouraged her to hold on to her deep understanding of the importance of not condemning self, which Jesus planted in her when he said, "Neither do I condemn thee."

John Mirk, Sermon on St. Mary Magdalen

2009-06-18T14:41:00.000-07:00

From the TEAMS Middle English Texts at The Camelot Project comes the following sermon by John Mirk on St. Mary Magdalen:

Gode men, suche a day . . . ye schul have the feste of Mary Magdalé, that was so holy that oure Lorde Jhesu Criste aftur Hys modur He lovid hir moste of alle wommen. Wherefore ye schal comyn to the chyrch that day to worchep God and this holy womman, for scheo was the furste in tyme of grace that dud penaunce for hyr synnes, and so recovred ageyne grace be doing of penaunce, and repentyng that scheo hadde loste be luste of the flesse and so synnyng. The wyche is made a myrroure to alle synful to schewon how alle that wollon levon hur synne, and done penaunce for hur trespace, thei schul recovre grace ageyn that thei have loste and ofte myche more. An so dude this womman, and how ye schul here.

This womman Mary Magdaleyne hadde a fadur that was a grete lorde and comyn of kyngus blode, and hadde grete lordeschep in Jerusalem, the wyche he gaf at hys dying to Lazarus hys sone. And the lordschep that he hadde in Betanye, he gaf to Martha, hys doghtor. Magdaleyn Castele wyth alle the lordschep he gaf to Mary, hys other doghtyr, of the whyche castel scheo was callyd Mary Magdaleyne, for scheo was lady therof. Than, as many bokys tellyth, whan John Evangeliste schulde have weddyd hyr, Criste hadde John sewond Hym, and lyvon in maydenhed; and so he dud. Herfore Mary was wroth and gaf hyr al to synne and namely to lechery, insomyche that scho loste the name of Magdaleyne and was kallyd the synful womman. Than, for it was often seyne that Cryste of the gresteyste synnerres He made the moste holy aftyr, wherfore whan He seygh tyme, He gaf this womman grace to knowyn hyrself and repentaunce of hur mysdedus. [More]

SOURCE: Sherry L. Reames, ed., "John Mirk, Sermon on St. Mary Magdalen," TEAMS Middle English Texts. Retrieved 17 June 2009. Originally published in Middle English Legends of Women Saints (Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 2003).

Mary Magdalen, from Speculum Sacerdotale

2009-06-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

From the TEAMS Middle English Texts at The Camelot Project comes the following text from the Speculum Sacerdotale:

In syche a day ye schull have the feste of Seynt Marye Magdalene, whiche was the synneful womman and servyd to hure fleschely desires, and to whome God afterward gafe siche grace that sche servyd forgevenes of here synnes.

For when Crist was in the hous of Symon the Leprous, as sone as Marye herde telle of Hym, sche thought in hireself by dyvyne aspiracion and grace that it were then covenable tyme for to converte and make sorowe and penaunce of hure lyf that sche hadde ladde afore. And sche toke an oynement in a vessel and yede into the hous of Symon where Jhesu was and yede to the feet of Jhesu and wasshid hem with here teris of hure yghen and then dide wipe hem with the heeres of hire heed and anoyntyd hem then with hire oynement.

And seeynge Crist that the Pharasye Symon hadde indignacion that Crist lete siche a synful womman come so nye hym, he seide to hym thus: "Symon, sethen I come into thyn hows thou nether kyssid my feet ne wasshid hem ne anoyntid hem, but this womman hath done al this sethen sche come." And therefore seide Crist to Symon, "Propterea dimittuntur ei peccata multa quoniam dilexit multum. Therfore for hure myche love is the multitude of hure synnes forgeven." And then he seide to the womman, "Remittuntur tibi peccata tua quoniam dilexisti me. Woman, for thou hast shewyd to me love, thi synnes are forgeven. Vade, fides tua te salvam fecit. Go, thi feith hath made thee safe."

Joseph telleth us that Marie Magdalein for the grete brennyng love that sche loved God wold never have housbonde ne se man with hire yghen after the ascension of Crist. But sche yede into deserte and there sche dwellyd the space of thirty yere unknowyn to alle maner of men, ne never ete mete of man ne dronke drynke. But in yche tyme and in yche houre when that men worschipid here God, then the aungels of Hevene come to hyre and reysed hure up betwene hem into the eyre, and there sche made hire prayer with hem to God. [More]

SOURCE: Sherry L. Reames, ed., "Mary Magdalen, from Speculum Sacerdotale," TEAMS Middle English Texts. Retrieved 17 June 2009. Originally published in Middle English Legends of Women Saints (Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 2003).

Early South English Legendary Life of Mary Magdalen

2009-06-16T13:48:00.000-07:00

From the TEAMS Middle English Texts at The Camelot Project comes the following early South English text based on the life of Mary Magdalen:

Sleighe men and egleche, and of redes wise and bolde,
Lustniez nouthe to mi speche, wise and unwise, yongue and olde.
Nothing ich eou nelle rede ne teche of none wichche ne of none scolde,
Bote of a lif that may beo leche to sunfule men of herte colde.
Ich nelle eou nother rede ne rime of kyng ne of eorl, of knyght ne of swein,
Ake of a womman ich chulle ou telle that was sunful and forlein;
A swythe fol wumman heo bicam, and thorugh Godes grace heo was ibrought ageyn,
And nouthe heo is to Crist icome, the fayre Marie Maudeleyn.
Of hire ichulle yeou telle nouthe al hou and hware heo was ibore,
Yif ye to me wullez iheore and habben of God thonk tharefore.
This word "Marie" so is brightnesse and bitokne the steorre of the se,
And soruwe also and biturnesse, ase the bok tellez me;
For hwane a man fielez in is heorte that he havez muche misdo,
And him tharefore biguynnez to smeorte, that is to him bitur and wo,
He mournez and he sikez ofte. This ilke Marie fierde also,
That thing that was hire leof and softe was seththe hire fulle fo.
In the Castel of Magdalé this faire wumman was ibore;
Heo was icleoped in propre name the Maudeleyne right tharefore.
To speken of hire ich am wel fous, and it likez me ful murie.
Ire fader was hoten Sire Titus, and hire moder Dame Euchirie,
Hire brothur was cleoped Lazarus, and Martha was hire soster.
Heo was debonere and pitiuous, and heo was a seli foster.
Heore fader and heore moder bothe comen of riche kunne,
Of bolde kyngus and of quienes, men of muchele wunne, [More]

SOURCE: Sherry L. Reames, ed., "Early South English Legendary Life of Mary Magdalen," TEAMS Middle English Texts. Retrieved 17 June 2009. Originally published in Middle English Legends of Women Saints (Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 2003).

See also:

John Mirk, Sermon on St. Mary Magdalen
Legend of Mary Magdalen, Penitent and Apostle, The
Mary Magdalen, from Speculum Sacerdotale

The Legend of Mary Magdalen, Penitent and Apostle

2009-06-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

From the TEAMS Middle English Texts at The Camelot Project comes the following article regarding the Legend of Mary Magdalen:

INTRODUCTION

The Mary Magdalen of medieval legend was a composite figure who had her origins in the Biblical passages about three different women - not just the woman explicitly called Mary Magdalen in the Gospels, but also Mary of Bethany, sister of Martha and Lazarus, and the unnamed female sinner who washed Christ's feet with her tears. Biblical exegetes in the Latin West tended to equate the three from the time of Gregory the Great on, but the various New Testament passages about these women were first woven into a single narrative vita in a tenth-century sermon attributed to Odo of Cluny. Odo's sermon, which was subsequently used as a source of lessons in the liturgy for Mary Magdalen's feast day (July 22), relates her life up to the time of Christ's Ascension. The post-Ascension portion of the legend developed in a great variety of ways, but
the dominant version in the West was clearly the one that claimed that she journeyed to Provence in a rudderless boat, had a successful career as an apostle in Marseilles and Aix-en-Provence, and then spent thirty years alone in the wilderness nearby as a contemplative hermit.

Victor Saxer, who did most of the pioneering work on both the cult and the legend, found that the legend of Mary Magdalen in Provence has four major components, which originated separately. (1) The vita eremitica, recounting her years of solitude in the wilderness and her death, was probably borrowed in the ninth century from the Greek legend of a reformed prostitute, Mary of Egypt. As Katherine Ludwig Jansen has pointed out, the Bible never actually specifies the nature of Mary Magdalen's sins, but medieval exegetes and preachers found it natural to connect female sinfulness with prostitution (The Making of the Magdalen, pp. 146 ff.). (2) The vita apostolica, recounting Mary Magdalen's apostolic work in Provence but not the story of the prince of Marseilles, dates from around the same time in the tenth century as Odo's sermon. (3) A translation story was added in the eleventh century to explain how her body had been rediscovered in Provence some 200 years earlier and brought north - with her consent - to the abbey of Vézelay in Burgundy. (4) The story of the prince of Marseilles, which bears close resemblances to secular romance and would become a favorite part of the vernacular legends of Mary Magdalen, was added even later - probably in the twelfth century. In addition to these major components, the Provençal legend in its fully developed form often includes two other kinds of relatively late additions: brief accounts of Martha, Lazarus, and other saints who supposedly accompanied Mary to Marseilles and participated in the evangelization of France, and stories about her miraculous intercessions for believers who have prayed to her or honored her memory in other ways. [More]

SOURCE: Sherry L. Reames, ed., "The Legend of Mary Magdalen, Penitent and Apostle," TEAMS Middle English Texts. Retrieved 17 June 2009. Originally published in Middle English Legends of Women Saints (Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 2003).

Leonardo and the Real Mary Magdalene

2009-06-14T20:17:00.000-07:00

Il cenacolo. [The Last Supper] (1495-1498). Leonardo da Vinci. Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan. Image courtesy of Wikimedia.

Contrary to Dan Brown, I do not believe that the figure to the Christ's right is Mary Magdalene. It was typical of Renaissance artists to depict the disciple John as young and somewhat effeminate. See also the convincing argument from Leonardo's notebooks and the Bible at Da Vinci Speaks. However, in spite of that, Leonardo may have left us an image of the Magdalene.

Mary Magdalene (c. 1515). Recently attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. Private collection. Image courtesy of Maria Madalena e o Santo Graal.

From Wikipedia:

The above painting was recently attributed as a Leonardo by Carlo Pedretti. Previously regarded as the work of Giampietrino who painted a number of similar Magdalenes.[7] Carlo Pedretti's attribution of this painting is not accepted by other scholars, e.g. Carlo Bertelli, (former director of the Brera Art Gallery in Milan), who said this painting is not by Leonardo and that the subject could be a Lucretia with the knife removed.[8]

[7]. "A lost Leonardo? Top art historian says maybe". Universal Leonardo. Retrieved on 2007-09-27.
[8]. Bertelli, Carlo (November 19, 2005). "Due allievi non fanno un Leonardo" (in Italian). Il Corriere della Sera. Retrieved on 2007-09-27.

See also:

"Unseen Da Vinci works go on show," BBC News (15 Oct 2005).
"Mary Magdalene: Edgar Cayce's Da Vinci Painting Found," Gaia Community (18 Jul 2008).

La Maddalena by Francesco Furini

2009-06-13T10:30:00.000-07:00

La Maddalena (). Francesco Furini. Museo di Stato di San Marino. Image courtesy of Wikimedia.

I'm still trying to learn more about this painting, but the Magdalene does appear somewhat pregnant here.

Mary Magdalene by Stodart

2009-06-12T14:24:00.000-07:00

Mary Magdalene. Richard Stodart. Image courtesy of Richard Stodart.com.

Stodart captures beautifully the eyes of the Magdalene in this stunning image. The article in Wikipedia explains the tradition of the often-occuring egg in Magdalene paintings:

One tradition concerning Mary Magdalene says that following the death and resurrection of Jesus, she used her position to gain an invitation to a banquet given by Emperor Tiberius. When she met him, she held a plain egg in her hand and exclaimed "Christ is risen!" Caesar laughed, and said that Christ rising from the dead was as likely as the egg in her hand turning red while she held it. Before he finished speaking, the egg in her hand turned a bright red, and she continued proclaiming the Gospel to the entire imperial house. . . .

Another version of this story can be found in popular belief, mostly in Greece. It is believed that after the Crucifixion, Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary put a basket full of eggs at the foot of the cross. There, the eggs were painted red by the blood of the Christ. Then, Mary Magdalene brought them to Tiberius Caesar.

Magdalenes by Guido Reni

2009-06-11T15:09:00.000-07:00

The Penitent St. Mary Magdalene (1633). Guido Reni. Image courtesy of Art / 4 / 2Day.

Description from the Art / 4 / 2Day site:

The image of the penitent Mary Magdalene enjoyed great popularity between the late sixteenth century and the first decades of the seventeenth century. Cardinal Baronius, in his hard-hitting polemics against Protestantism, employed the subject (along with that of the penitent St Peter) to emphasize the necessity and validity of penance, a sacrament discarded by the reformers. The penitent Magdalene was something of a iconographic specialty for Reni, who painted various versions to please a public that prized them and continually requested them. A splendid example of the mature style of Reni, this painting is characterized by a profound classicism in the monumental and noble figure of the saint. The refined chromatic range, lit by a cold and silvery light, is also typical of Reni's art in the 1630's.

Another version:

The Penitent St. Mary Magdalene (1635). Guido Reni. Image courtesy of Art / 4 / 2Day.

Mary Magdalene in France

2009-06-07T08:20:00.000-07:00

The following is from Dr. Barbara Thiering's website in which she answers a question that Dana Chivers asks about the Magdalene cult in Southern France.

The true facts on which the whole profitable cult of Mary Magdalene is based are, first, that two of the Herods, Archelaus and Antipas, were exiled to the south of France by the Romans, Archelaus to Vienne in 6 AD, and Antipas to Lyons in 39 AD. (Josephus, Antiquities 17, 344; 18, 252) These cities were prominent in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD as centers for Christian martyrs. Another element drew on my research, that the Christian movement had begun as a mission to the Diaspora in the courts of the Herods, that Jesus had survived the crucifixion, died in Rome in the early 70's AD, and that he had a family. His first wife was Mary Magdalene. [More]

Mary Magdalene by Rossetti

2009-06-06T14:05:00.001-07:00

Mary Magdalene leaving the house of feasting (1857). Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Tate Britain. Image courtesy of Flickr.com.

Mary Magdalene at the door of Simon the Pharisee (1858). Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Image courtesy of The Athenaeum.

Mary Magdalene (1877). Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE. Image courtesy of Sexual Fables.

Other Rossetti pieces with a Magdalenian flavor:

La Ghirlandata (1873). Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Guildhall Art Gallery, London. Image courtesy of The Athenaeum.

The Beloved [aka The Bride] (1865-1866). Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Tate Britain. Image courtesy of The Athenaeum.

The bride is described in the biblical Song of Solomon. Rossetti shows her at the moment she takes the veil from her face, transfixing the viewer with her direct gaze and the power of her beauty. The picture’s lush exoticism is accentuated by the flowers and the bride’s luxurious Japanese dress and Peruvian headress. Her attendants are of varying physical types and ethnic origin.

SOURCE: Tate Collection The Beloved (`The Bride') by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

The Damsel of the Sanct Grael (1874). Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Private Collection. Image courtesy of The Athenaeum.

Mary Magdalene by Anthony F. A. Sandys

2009-06-02T14:57:00.001-07:00

Mary Magdalene (c. 1860). Anthony F. A. Sandys. Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE. Image courtesy of Holy Mary Magdalene.

I found the image below of Sandys' Morgan-le-Fay at Bethany Magdalene's Realm and wanted to include it for its similarities to Magdalenian art as well as its unique beauty. According to the BMAG website, "Sandys met the model for Morgan-Le-Fay, Keomi, in a gypsy camp in Rome. Very little is known about her but she is believed to to have had an affair with the artist."

Morgan-le-Fay (1864). Anthony F. A. Sandys. Birmingham Art Gallery. Image courtesy of Wikimedia.

The Magdalen Legend

2009-06-01T16:09:00.000-07:00

David Mycoff has an analysis of the legend of the Magdalene in the introduction to his translation of the Pseudo-Rabanus Life of St. Mary Magdalene and her sister St. Martha. I've divided the material into smaller paragraphs in the following quotation:

There are, then, five parts to this fully-developed Magdalen legend: the pre-ascension life; the story of the voyage to Marseilles; the account of the thirty-year solitude, death, and burial; and the post-burial miracles and translation of relics.

The pre-ascension life is the product of the patristic harmonizing of scattered scriptural passages which, in the view of the medieval Western Church, all pertained to Mary Magdalene. The earliest extant text that assembles these patristic motifs into a single, concise, coherent narrative appears to be a tenth-century sermon on the Magdalen attributed to Saint Odo of Cluny (BHL 5439).[7]

Close in date is a legend, titled by the prominent scholar of the Magdalen legend and cult, Victor Saxer, Vita apostolica Mariae Magdalenae, [8] which tells of the Magdalen's voyage to Marseilles and her career in Gaul, omitting the stories of the prince of Marseilles and the thirty year seclusion.

The remote source of the account of Mary's solitude is the legend of Mary of Egypt, first told in the Life of Cyriacus by Cyril of Scythopolis. [9] By the ninth century, the Egyptian's story had been adapted for Mary Magdalene in a piece titled by Saxer, Vita eremitica Mariae Magdalenae (BHL 5453-5456). [10]

The Vita apostolica and Vita eremetica were conflated into a single piece to form Vita apostolico-eremitica (BHL 5443-5448), [11] apparently in the eleventh century during the resurgence of Western eremiticism that began in northern Italy.

Another composite piece, Vita evangelico-apostolica (BHL 5450) [12] assembles the pre-ascension material of Odo's sermon with the post-ascension material of Vita apostolico-eremitica, abbreviating the account of the contemplative retreat.

NOTES:

[7]. Printed in Acta Sanctorum, July V: 218-221; also in PL 133: 713-721 with variants in accidentals.

[8]. Étienne-Michel Faillon, Monuments inédits sur l'apostolat de sainte Marie-Madeleine en Provence . . . , 2 vols. (Paris, 1848), calls this the 'Ancienne Vie' of Mary Magdalene and prints it in vol. II, pp. 433-436.

[9]. J. Misrahi, 'A vita Sanctae Mariae Magdalenae . . . ,' Speculum 18 (1943) 335-337 and Sr Benedicta Ward, Miracles and the Medieval Mind (Philadelphia: Univ. Penna. Press, 1982) p. 260, n. 65.

[10]. Edited by Misrahi, ibid., pp. 335-339.

[11]. Faillon considers the part drawn from Vita eremitica an addition and prints it in Mon. inéd., II; 445-451

[12]. Printed by Faillon, Mon. inéd., II; 437-445, with the title 'Vie Anonyme Sainte Marie-Madeleine'.

Yvonne Elliman as Mary Magdalene

2009-05-31T15:29:00.000-07:00

Barbara Hershey as Mary Magdalene

2009-05-30T16:24:00.000-07:00

Barbara Hershey as Mary Magdalene. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). Image source unknown.

Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene

2009-05-30T16:02:00.001-07:00

Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene. The Passion of the Christ (2004). Image courtesy of Top Ten Bible Films.

Christ in the House of Mary and Martha by Tintoretto

2009-05-29T16:17:00.000-07:00

Christ in the House of Mary and Martha (1580). Tintoretto. Alte Pinakothek, Munich. Image courtesy of Bible Art.info.

Great Saints

2009-05-28T07:39:00.000-07:00

Great Saints
The Holy Maries of the Sea
Heart of the Christian and Provençal tradition

The Cross of Camargue
The cross + the anchor + the heart: the 3 theological virtues

On the whole planet, every diocese, all the more its cathedral, offers the faithful its chapels and churches to accomplish their jubilee pilgrimage.In the course of the year 2000, we are going to visit some of this high ground of the faith. In the Rhône Delta, the cathedral of Aix-en-Provence diocese is the Holy Saviour's. Monseigneur Claude Feidt has chosen, as jubilee churches, Notre-Dame-de-la-Major at Arles and Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer church in Camargue.

Land of tradition

Camargue, this triangle of 82,000 hectares between two arms of the Rhône, has jealously managed to keep its traditional parochialism. Paradoxically, its originality has been determined by the inhospitality of this land, basically marshy and brackish. The bull and the wild horse have found refuge here in the course of centuries while agriculture and forestry have always prevailed elsewhere. The first canal to drain the marshes was dug in the 12th century by the monks of Montmajour and the first dykes were only constructed in the 18th century. The salt and the rice _ after the vine _ have beckoned a small population to the Camarguais soil. The tourist eruption since the 1960s has not overwhelmed the Provençal tradition of which Camargue is one of the «reservoirs».

Its black bull and white horse have remained wild. The mares foal freely, outdoors. The foals are hence subjected to a harsh climate which decides their small size and remarkable resistance. The horse is broken in at the age of three, the breeding mare isn't saddled.

The bond between the small Camargue horse and its breeder is surprising. The rider leads with the left hand and holds his trident in the right hand. The sorting of bulls is done while galloping, it's an astonishing spectacle of skill and strength. This pastoral activity which would go back to the Antiquity, still exists to provide bulls for the ferias in the numerous arenas of Lower Provence and the Languedoc where passionate fans are crowding.

A horse breeder's life requires the qualities of energy, tenacity, uprightness, love of freedom as are very naturally born out of an inherited attachment to traditions. Thanks to the nacioun gardiano (the horse-breeding nation, the movement for the preserving of traditions founded in 1909 by Baroncelli), the pilgrimages to Saintes-Maries- de-la-Mer have persisted, in particular during the terrible depression of the faith from the 1960s to the 1980s. The herdsmen attended all processions, on horseback, wielding the trident, proud and smiling, paying respect to «their» Grandes Saintes. Last Christmas I saw them getting down from their mounts and going to the midnight mass, still holding the trident in their hand, and receiving Communion.

The nacioun gardiano means also the women of Arles, present at all manifestations, clad in their Provençal dress as they had been wearing until the Second World War.

The Mystery of the Saints

In the last years, the pilgrims have returned numerously (more than 40,000 last May _ estimated by the gendarmerie) including the Gypsies who had forgotten that Saint Sara has been expecting them in their sacred land by the 24th and 25th May for nearly two thousand years. The Saints without the Gypsies would be the Saints no more!

The Holy Maries (The Grandes Saintes, say the Provençaux) have always been watching over them. In the 11th century a hermit would have convinced a prince, who had arrived from Arles on a hunting trip, to build a church. It was certainlyGuillaume II, he incurred lavish expenses for the construction of a big fortress church surrounding the first oratory. At the beginning of the [20th] century, the Folco de Baroncelli were the poets and the horse breeders… Today it is Laurent Ayme, eighty-three years old, a genuine félibre,1 who liberally spends money to organize pilgrimages, to write and stage pastorals and to revive the Confraternity.

These watchers are the astonishing mystery of the Great Saints indeed, they are the embers under cold ashes. They were there at the beginning of the 19th century after the terrible Revolution, they were there during the 1920s while no Saintois soldier at all returned from the War of 1914-18… The whole Provençal tradition is steeped in the Catholic faith. The evangelization of France had started from Provence.

Who are the Saints?

The origin of this pilgrimage could be written as a Gospel sequel but it would be apocryphal as there is no historic source written on its origin. No need to be radical though, as the essence of the pre-12th century history is archaeological, and nowadays historians have gone as far as asserting that «a bundle of converging testimonies exceeds in historic value a document often subject to caution».2

In the year 44, following the death of Herod Agrippa, Judaea passed under direct Roman authority. The disciples of Jesus multiplied their numbers but the priests of the Sanhedrin, afraid of the Romans looking after public order, dared not eliminate them brutally and preferred to expel them. The witnesses to the life of Jesus were able to depart to evangelize Gaul: Lazarus the resurrected man, the sisters Martha and Mary the Magdalene, Maximinus, the blind-born man Sidonius who had been healed by Jesus, Mary Jacoby, Mary Salome… «Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.» (Mark 14, 16).

The latter would have been put in a barque, without provisions… and abandoned to the sea. A pious legend maintains that Sara, their maidservant who had been left on the beach, wanted to join them. Salome threw out her shawl to help her swimming (another legend has it that she would have welcomed them on their landing in Gaul).The barque ran aground on the Isle of Camargue. They would have made there a small altar of kneaded clay mentioned in the manuscripts of Gervais of Tilbury in 1212 and of Monseigneur Durand, the bishop of Mende, in the late 13th century. The altar was discovered again during the 1448 diggings.

_ Mary Jacoby is called, in the Gospels, Mary of Cleophas (John 19,25) or Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses (Mark 15, 40), or Mary the mother of James (Luke 24, 10). Her kinship with the Virgin cannot be established, John (19, 25) gives her as her sister but the Hebrews only had got, in their vocabulary, the words brother and sister to describe close kinship including all the cousins. She married Cleophas (also known as Alpheus), the brother of Saint Joseph, and they had 4 sons: James, Jude (or Thaddeus), Joseph (or Joses), Simeon (or Simon) and many daughters. With his brother Thaddeus, James the Less was called to the apostolate, he benefitted of a particular appearance of Christ (1 Co 15,7) after his resurrection. Saint Jerome associates him to the Church of Jerusalem, the apostles made him her bishop, he died as a martyr.

– Mary Salome is the wife of Zebedee, her sons are James the Greater and John, one of the Gospel writers. She would have been, with the Blessed Virgin and Mary the Magdalene, at the foot of the Calvary.Pious tales say their fellow travellers were Lazarus who went on to evangelize Marseille; Maximinus who went to Aix; Mary the Magdalene who followed her brother to Marseille, then set off for Aix and the cave of Sainte-Baume (see Chrétiens Magazine, January 1987); Martha who saved the dwellers of the banks of the Rhône by slaying Tarasque at Tarascon; Sidonius who became the bishop of Aix.The two Maries, elderly already, with Sara's help, settled down in the Isle of Camargue, near a source of fresh water they had found.

The cult of the Saints

Undoubtedly, they evangelized all the inhabitants they had found upon landing in Camargue. They were buried there after their death. Their tomb was soon paid worship, the pious legend speaks of many miracles.It was certainly a place already visited because of a pagan temple dedicated to Mithra or Diana of Ephesus (some remains have been preserved like an altar of marble that can be seen in the crypt of the present church). The Good Word is soon more easily spread in the whole countryside. Since this epoch, the nomadic tribes of the Bohemians, Gypsies and Caraques come to worship the relics of the saints and of Sara who, they say, was one of theirs and whom they make their patroness.

The first church was erected in the 4th century, called Sainte-Maria-de-Ratis (Sainte-Marie- de-la-Barque), surrouning the primitive oratory that certainly had been their abode.

In the 4th century Bishop Saint Caesarius of Arles installs a religious community there, the offshoot of the monastery he had founded at Arles in 512 with his sister Saint Caesaria.

There were Saracen invasions from the 8th to the 10th centuries. The best protection was the fortress. Thence the construction of the characteristic fortress church that protected the precious relics too. It has been rebuilt many times but the overall look that is preserved, is peculiar to the military buildings of the 8th century.

In the 12th century the first name of the church fell in oblivion to the benefit of Sancta-Maria- de-Mari (Saint Mary of the Sea) which has been preserved in the plural.

Throughout the Middle Ages, many princes of the blood and princes of the Church undertook a pilgrimage, alongside the crowds, to les-Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. Many prayers were granted.

In 1332, the bishop of Saint-Pol-de- Léon, Pierre de Nantes, for many years paralyzed, implored the protection of the Saintes and took the oath to visit their church if they obtained his healing. He was healed, complied, composed a hymn in their honour in Latin verse and dedicated three altars to them.

The invention of the relics

The relics remained buried in the church, with no indication of the precise location. In order to give them a pride of place, in the 15th century, the pious prince René d'Anjou (the count of Provence, the king of Sicily and Jerusalem) intends to look for them. Pope Nicholas V gives him the authorization by a bull dated to the 3rd August 1448.

The whole matter was conducted following canonical rules, in an exemplary manner. Among else, there were gathered all the historic pieces of the legend, the liturgical name of the life of a Saint _ read at the mass of his feast _, always written with caution and rigour.

The exact and important diggings brought to daylight the canal of the freshwater source, then a man's head bandaged with lead (the head of Saint James the Greater), a cavity containing bowls of clay, charcoal and ashes (the humble abode of the two Saintes). Underneath the choir of the church, there was found a hillock of kneaded clay in which was discovered a small column of white stone topped by a small piece of marble, the whole forming an altar. Taking the diggings to the left, the workers discovered a perfectly preserved human body spreading a very pleasant sweet scent, its head was resting on a marble stone on which was engraved Hic jacet sancta Maria Jacobi (Here rests Saint Mary Jacoby3).3 The diggings to the right uncovered another body in the same position that emitted the same good odour, on a marble stone was engraved Hic jacet sancta Maria Salomi (Here rests Saint Mary Salome).

Other diggings to the left side of the oratory showed 3 children's heads, laid out in a triangle, these are the heads of three of the Holy Innocents.

Among the attributes of the portrayals of the Saintes Maries, they are seen bearing an urn each in which they had put, upon leaving Palestine, the heads of Saint James the Greater and of the Holy Innocents. It is remarkable these remains would have been preserved during more than fourteen hundred years in marshy and brackish soil.

Note also that immediately since the time of Christ's eyewitnesses, the relics (corporeal remains of the martyrs) had their importance. The relics are no more than remembrance attached to a venerable person, their presence in the churches is necessary, among else in the altar stone.

No other bodies were found, proving the respect paid by the Church to the Saintes.

The legate of the Pope, after having washed the relics carefully, put them in two wooden caskets. Numerous ceremonies were held that day in front of an immense and enthusiastic crowd that had flooded from all Provence. The relics were exposed to everybody's veneration under a canopy, surrounded by the royal court of Provence and the authorities of the Church. In a bronze reliquiary were deposited the heads of Saint James and of the Holy Innocents as well as the remains of Sainte Sara (let's remember that she has never been canonized but is considered a Saint by the power of the vox populi).

After the closing of the caskets containing the relics of the saints, they were solemnly raised in the chapel constructed above the choir where they still are. Since this time many miracles have been recorded, they have, in the course of centuries, not benefited of canonical inquests but they couldn't be ignored, so numerous they were, except the very last years. A nun, an old friend of mine, encountered at the last October pilgrimage, from whom I enquired, answered with much good sense: «The faithful are told no more that God works miracles, then they forget to present their sufferings to Him, they deprive themselves of the greatest graces God is ready to grant, they still must ask him through the intercession of the saints. A little child knows very early that it can get candy by insisting very loudly on its parents. Our great saintes are ready to do much for us but they must be asked. I come every year with all the intentions confided to me. This year, moreover, I have come to say thanks.»

The Revolution

1793: the consequences of the iniquitous decisions of the Convention break over a France already in pain. The victims of the guillotine are abundant. The priests refusing to take the oath are imprisoned unless they have chosen the exile. A destructive storm hits the churches and chapels. God is expelled to be replaced by a stupid idol to whose adoration the people are pushed. Armed men from Arles, after having threatened the people, broke in the Saintes church and seized furniture and valuable objects, including two silver reliquiaries in the form of hands. But they ignored the caskets.

In the night of the 22nd October, Abbé Abril and one of his parishioners, M. Molinier, removed some of the remains of the saints from the caskets and hid them in a shed near the cemetery.

On the 5th May 1794 the despicable persons reappeared and sacked the church. They encountered no resistance. They took the caskets down, took the votive gifts out, removed the reliquiary of Sainte Sara and burnt everything while dancing a fiendish saraband. The profaners _ all had come from Arles and were known to the Saintois _ would tragically die in two years, I was told in my childhood by an old damsel who held the key of the door leading to the roof of the church (can still be visited today).

Early in 1797: the Directory votes many laws restoring national peace, including the abolition of the laws against the Church. France, exhausted, aspires to peace and many ardently desire the return of religion. Two pious Saintois give the new curate the remains of Sainte Sara that had been saved from the flames of 1794. An administrator of the district of Arles returns one of the two reliquiary hands discovered in an office of his administration. It would be the one containing a relic of Saint Martha. M. Molinier, after long hesitations due to fear of reprisals, points out the hiding place of the relics of the Saintes. Pious history reports that he would have been saved from a shipwreck by imploring the Grandes Saintes and he would have taken the oath to dedicate himself to the renewal of the pilgrimages.

The relics were found to be tied up with strips provided with 1709 and 1710 seals of authentification. On the 25th May 1797 they were solemnly installed in the upper chapel to the sound of Te Deum, in the midst of joyous ovations.

The 23rd May the following year, when the caskets were being taken own, Antoine Gousty, seriously ill, was suddenly healed. The crowd carries him in triumph before the exposed Holy Sacrament while singing at the top of their voice the hymn of the action of grace. The long list of healings was resumed. One of the church walls is covered with naïve votive paintings of the 18th and 19th centuries.

The pilgrimages

The two main yearly pilgrimages:

– The 24th and 25th May (feast of Saint Mary Salome). It is also the pilgrimage of the Sons of the Wind, the Gypsies arriving from all of France, Italy, Spain, Ireland but also South Africa and India. While they come for the Saintes Maries, above all they worship their patroness Saint Sara.

– The Saturday and Sunday following the 15th October (feast of Saint Mary Jacoby).

– And the pilgrimage of the Saturday and Sunday after the 3rd December, reserved to the Saintes (but open to all). No procession but the caskets are taken down. 19th-century narratives describe enthusiastically the crowds of pilgrims who had arrived on foot, by carriage or by boat while Mistral arrived from Maillane in a wagon driven by horses. The crowds increased since October 1892 thanks to the small train departing from Arles, inaugurated in August.

One must make at least once in his lifetime the pilgrimage of the Saintes, steeped in this very Southern hot atmosphere. The May one is the more vivid because of the presence of the Gypsies, with an excessive but very sincere expression of faith! How not to be touched by seeing them delve in prayer, face covered with tears, at the feet of Sainte Sara? One remark peculiar to our time: there are seen more and more people in prayer than I can recall seeing just a few years ago. It is not only the Gypsies, more and more people are seen in our churches at weekly masses, including those under thirty.

Do not miss the casket ceremony in Saturday afternoon. For many centuries, they are taken down, by a winch, from the upper chapel above the altar. All along the ropes, bouquets of flowers and votive gifts are fixed by the pilgrims. Those present chant an old Provençal song whose rhythm reminds one of the waves of the sea. As soon as the descent starts, out of a sudden, all the believers, a lit candle in their hand, raise their arms and jubilantly exclaim: «Vive les Saintes, vive les Saintes…» Many weep with joy. In some year a priest gives a homily in lango nostro. The believers can pray near the caskets. Some touch and kiss them.

The next day, after the high mass, there is the pilgrimage to the beach. The procession is opened by herdsmen riding on horseback, wielding the trident, wearing a black vest and a coloured shirt made of Indian fabric (a Provençal specialty since the 17th century, resumed thirty years ago with designs and colours attesting to good taste). At the head of the procession walk the clergy, including a priest carrying the reliquiary hand, followed by costumed women of Arles, the tambourinaires (musicians striking the tambourine with their left hand and playing the flute with the right hand).

The members of the Confraternity are surrounding and carrying the ship with the Saints. In May, the Gypsies are following them while carrying the statue of Sainte Sara, around which the sons of the wind press themselves to touch and kiss it and to lay a bunch of flowers at its feet.

When the cortège arrives to the beach, herdsmen wade in the sea up to the chest of their horses and form a half-circle. In their turn the bearers of the Saintes and of Sainte Sara march in water followed by some believers. The bishop goes into a barque lying on the beach and blesses, with the reliquiary hand, the statues, the pilgrims and the sea. The church bells are pealing out. The statues are brought back to the church, greeted on their arrival by the Magnificat. They are then taken back to the upper chapel. The ceremony ends with the regional hymn: Provencaou et catouli (Provençal and Catholic) that everyone sings at the top of his voice, proud of his race, as Mistral said.

Christian Ravaz

1 - Félibrige: an academic organization founded in 1854 by Frédéric Mistral for the creation of a «literary Provençal», still active. The members are called the félibres.

2 - Les Saintes Maries de Provence - Chanoine J.-M. Lamoureux _ reprint of a book of 1908 (the only work available on the history of the Saintes) _ Editions Bélisane _ 16x24 _ 294 pages _ 160 F.

3 - One of the stones of white marble has been walled in a column of the church, to the right of the nave on the edge of which are put the statues of the two Maries. This stone is much worn because of touches of the pilgrims attributing it curative powers.

SOURCE: Andreas (trans.), "Great Saints," Da Vinci Code Forum (Retrieved 28 May 2009).

Grandes Saintes

2009-05-28T07:21:00.000-07:00

Grandes Saintes
Les-Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer
coeur de la tradition chrétienne et provençale

La croix de Camargue
la croix + l'ancre+ le coeur: les 3 vertus théologuales

Sur toute la planète, chaque diocèse, en plus de sa cathédrale, propose aux fidèles des sanctuaires et des églises pour accomplir leur pèlerinage jubilaire.

Au cours de l’année 2000, nous visiterons quelques-uns de ces hauts lieux de la foi. Dans les Bouches-du-Rhône, la cathédrale du diocèse d’Aix-en-Provence est Saint-Sauveur. Monseigneur Claude Feidt a choisi comme églises jubilaires Notre-Dame-de-la-Major à Arles et l’église des Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, en Camargue.

Terre de tradition

La Camargue, ce triangle de 82 000 hectares entre les deux bras du Rhône, a su garder jalousement ses particularismes traditionnels. Paradoxalement, c’est l’inhospitalité de cette terre, essentiellement marécageuse et saumâtre, qui a déterminé son originalité. Le taureau et le cheval sauvage, au fil des siècles, y avaient trouvé un refuge, alors que l’agriculture et l’exploitation forestière s'étendaient toujours plus ailleurs. La première roubine (canal) pour assécher les marais a été creusée au xiie siècle par les moines de Montmajour et ce n’est qu’au xviiie siècle que les premières digues ont été construites. Le sel et le riz – après la vigne – ont accroché au sol camarguais une petite population. La déferlante touristique, qui a débuté dans les années soixante, n’a pas submergé la tradition provençale dont la Camargue est l’un des « réservoirs ».

Son taureau noir et son cheval blanc sont restés sauvages. Les juments mettent bas librement, en plein air. Les poulains subissent ainsi un climat sévère qui détermine leur petite taille et leur résistance remarquable. Le cheval est dressé à l’âge de trois ans, la jument réservée à la reproduction n’est pas montée.

La complicité du petit cheval Camargue et de son gardian est surprenante. Le cavalier mène de la main gauche et tient son trident de la main droite. Le tri des taureaux se fait au plein galop, c’est un spectacle étonnant fait d’agilité et de force. Cette activité pastorale, qui doit remonter à l’Antiquité, existe encore pour fournir en taureaux les ferias dans les nombreuses arènes de basse Provence et du Languedoc où se pressent les foules d’aficionados.

La vie du gardian réclame des qualités d’énergie, de ténacité, de droiture, de liberté qui engendrent tout naturellement un attachement inné aux traditions. C’est grâce à la nacioun gardiano (nation gardiane, mouvement de sauvegarde des traditions fondé en 1909 par Baroncelli) que les pèlerinages des Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer ont perduré, en particulier pendant la terrible dépression de la foi des décennies 60 à 80. A toutes les processions les gardians étaient là, sur leurs chevaux, trident en main, fiers et souriants, encadrant « leurs » Grandes Saintes. A Noël dernier, je les ai vus descendre de leurs montures et se rendre à la messe de minuit, toujours le trident à la main, et communier.

La nacioun gardiano ce sont aussi les Arlésiennes, présentes dans toutes les manifestations, vêtues de leurs costumes provençaux qui ont été portés jusqu’à la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

Le mystère des Saintes

Ces dernières années, les pèlerins sont revenus en grand nombre (plus de 40 000 en mai dernier – chiffre de la gendarmerie) dont les gitans, qui avaient oublié que Sainte Sara les attend sur leur terre sacrée les 24 et 25 mai, depuis près de deux mille ans. Les Saintes sans les gitans ne seraient plus les Saintes!

Les Saintes Maries (les Grandes Saintes disent les Provençaux) ont toujours eu leurs veilleurs. Au xie siècle un ermite aurait convaincu un prince, venu d’Arles pour chasser, de construire une église. Ce fut certainement Guillaume II, il se lança dans de folles dépenses pour la construction d’une grande église-forteresse englobant le premier oratoire. Au début du siècle, c’étaient les folco de Baroncelli, qui furent des poètes et des manadiers… Aujourd’hui c’est Laurent Ayme, quatre-vingt-trois ans, authentique félibre1, qui se dépense sans compter pour animer les pèlerinages, écrire et mettre en scène des Pastorales et redonner vie à la Confrérie (voir encadré).

Ces veilleurs sont bien l’étonnant mystère des Grandes Saintes, ils sont la braise sous les cendres froides. Ils étaient là au début du xviiie siècle après la terrible Révolution, ils étaient là dans les années vingt alors que pas un seul soldat saintois n’était revenu de la guerre 14-18…
Toute la tradition provençale est imprégnée de la foi catholique. C’est de la Provence qu’est partie l’évangélisation de la France.

Qui sont les Saintes?

L’origine de ce pèlerinage pourrait être écrit comme un post-Evangile, mais il serait apocryphe, car il n’y a aucune source historique écrite sur ses origines. Cependant il ne faut pas être trop radical, car l’essentiel de l’histoire antérieure au xiie siècle est archéologique, et de nos jours les historiens vont jusqu’à affirmer « qu’un faisceau de témoignages convergents dépasse en valeur historique un écrit souvent sujet à caution2 ».

En l’an 44, à la mort d’Hérode Agrippa, la Judée est passée sous l’autorité directe des Romains. Les disciples de Jésus se multipliaient, mais les prêtres du Sanhédrin, craignant les Romains qui veillaient à l’ordre public, n’osèrent pas les éliminer brutalement et ont préféré les expulser. C’est ainsi que des témoins de la vie de Jésus sont venus évangéliser la Gaule : Lazare le ressuscité, Marthe et Marie-Madeleine ses sœurs, Maximin, Sidoine l’aveugle de naissance guéri par Jésus, Marie Jacobé, Marie Salomé… « Allez par tout le monde et prêchez la bonne nouvelle à toute la création » (Marc 14, 16).

Ces derniers auraient été mis dans une barque, sans provisions… et jetés à la mer. Une pieuse légende affirme que Sara, leur servante, qui avait été laissée sur la plage, a voulu les rejoindre. Salomé lui a jeté son châle qui lui servit de radeau (une autre légende affirme qu’elle les aurait accueillis à leur accostage en Gaule).

La barque s’est échouée sur l’île de Camargue. Elles y ont construit un petit autel de terre pétrie mentionné dans des manuscrits de Gervais de Tibury en 1212, et de Monseigneur Durand, évêque de Mende à la fin du xiiie siècle. L’autel sera retrouvé lors des fouilles de 1448.

– Marie Jacobé est appelée dans les Evangiles Marie de Cléophas (Ja 19, 25), ou Marie mère de Jacques et de Joseph (Marc 15, 40), ou Marie mère de Jacques (Luc 24, 10). Sa parenté avec la Vierge ne peut pas être établie, Jean (19, 25) la donne comme sœur, mais les Hébreux n’avaient dans leur vocabulaire que frère et sœur pour désigner la parenté proche qui englobait tous les cousins. Elle se maria à Cléophas (appelé aussi Alphée) frère de Saint Joseph, et ils eurent 4 fils : Jacques, Jude (ou Thaddée), Joseph (ou José), Siméon (ou Simon) et plusieurs filles. Avec son frère Thaddée, Jacques dit le Mineur a été appelé à l’apostolat, il avait profité d’une apparition particulière du Christ (1 Co 15, 7) après sa résurrection. Saint Jérôme lui a recommandé l’église de Jérusalem, les apôtres en ont fait l’évêque, il est mort martyr.

– Marie Salomé est l’épouse de Zébédée, ses fils sont Jacques dit le Majeur et Jean, l’un des auteurs des Evangiles. Elle sera avec la Sainte Vierge et Marie-Madeleine au pied du Calvaire.
De pieuses histoires nous disent qu’elles avaient comme compagnons de voyage Lazare, qui est allé évangéliser Marseille ; Maximin, qui s’est rendu à Aix ; Marie-Madeleine, qui a suivi son frère à Marseille, puis à rejoint Aix et la grotte de la Sainte-Baume (voir Chrétiens Magazine de janvier 1987) ; Marthe, qui a sauvé les habitants des bords du Rhône en éliminant la Tarasque à Tarascon ; Sidoine, qui sera évêque d’Aix.

Les deux Maries, déjà âgées, avec l’aide de Sara, se sont installées dans l’île de Camargue, près d’une source d’eau douce qu’elles auraient découverte.

Le culte des Saintes

A n’en pas douter, elles ont évangélisé les habitants qu’elles avaient trouvés en accostant en Camargue. Elles y ont été enterrées à leur mort. Rapidement leur tombe a été vénérée, la pieuse légende parle de nombreux miracles. C’était certainement un lieu déjà visité pour un temple païen dédié à Mithra ou à Diane d’Ephèse (quelques restes ont été conservés dont un autel de marbre que l’on peut voir dans la crypte de l’église actuelle). La Bonne Nouvelle s’est d’autant plus facilement répandue dans toute la contrée. Dès cette époque, les tribus nomades des bohémiens, tziganes, caraques sont venues vénérer les reliques des saintes et de Sara qu’ils disent être l’une des leurs et dont ils ont fait leur patronne.

La première église a été construite au ive siècle sous le vocable de Sainte-Maria-de-Ratis (Sainte-Marie-de-la-Barque) englobant l’oratoire primitif qui était certainement leur maison.
Au ive siècle Saint Césaire, évêque d’Arles, y a installé une communauté de religieuses, émanation du monastère qu’il avait fondé à Arles en 512 avec sa sœur Sainte Césarie.
Du viiie au xe siècle ce furent les invasions des Sarrasins. La meilleure protection était la forteresse. D’où la construction de l’église-forteresse si caractéristique qui protégeait aussi les précieuses reliques. Elle a été plusieurs fois reconstruite, mais l’appareil général qui a été conservé est propre aux ouvrages militaires du viiie siècle.

Au xiie siècle le premier vocable de l’église était tombé en désuétude au profit de Sancta-Maria-de-Mari (Sainte-Marie-de-la-mer) qui a été conservé en le pluralisant.

Tout au long du Moyen Age une multitude de princes de sang et de princes de l’Eglise ont pèleriné avec les foules aux Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. De nombreuses prières ont été exaucées.
En 1332, l’évêque de Saint-Pol-de-Léon, Pierre de Nantes, paralysé depuis plusieurs années, implore la protection des Saintes et fait le vœu de visiter leur église si elles obtiennent sa guérison. Il guérit, s’exécuta, composa à leur gloire un hymne en vers latins et leur consacra trois autels.

L’invention des reliques

Les reliques demeuraient enfouies dans l’église, sans aucune indication de l’endroit précis. Pour leur donner une place d’honneur, au xve siècle, le pieux prince René d’Anjou (comte de Provence, roi de Sicile et de Jérusalem) projette de les faire rechercher. Le Pape Nicolas V lui en donne l’autorisation par une bulle datée du 3 août 1448.

Toute l’affaire a été menée selon les règles canoniques, d’une façon exemplaire. Entre autres, ont été rassemblées toutes les pièces historiques de la légende, nom liturgique de la vie d’un Saint – lue à l’office de sa fête – toujours rédigée avec prudence et rigueur.

Les fouilles minutieuses et importantes ont mis à jour le canal de la source d’eau douce, puis une tête d’homme enveloppée dans une bandelette de plomb (c’est le chef de Saint Jacques le Majeur), une cavité renfermant des écuelles en terre, du charbon de bois et des cendres (c’est l’humble demeure des deux Saintes). Au fond du chœur de l’église a été trouvé un monticule de terre pétrie dans lequel a été découvert une petite colonne de pierre blanche surmontée d’une petite pierre de marbre, le tout formant un autel. En poussant les fouilles sur la gauche, les ouvriers dégagèrent un corps humain parfaitement conservé qui exhala une odeur suave très agréable, la tête reposant sur une pierre de marbre sur laquelle était gravé Hic jacet sancta Maria Jacobi (Ici repose sainte Marie Jacobé3). Les fouilles sur le côté droit découvrirent un autre corps dans la même position qui dégageait la même bonne odeur, sur une pierre de marbre était gravé Hic jacet sancta Maria Salomi (Ici repose sainte Marie Salomé).

D’autres fouilles du côté gauche de l’oratoire ont fait apparaître 3 têtes d’enfants, disposées en triangle, ce sont les chefs de trois des saints Innocents.

Dans les attributs des représentations des Saintes Maries on voit qu’elles portent chacune une urne dans lesquelles elles avaient placé en partant de Palestine les chefs de Saint Jacques le Majeur et des saints Innocents.

Il est remarquable que ces restes se soient conservés pendant plus de mille quatre cents ans dans une terre marécageuse et saumâtre.

A noter aussi que dès le temps des témoins directs du Christ, les reliques (restes corporels des martyrs) avaient leur importance. Les reliques ne sont pas qu’un souvenir attachant d’un être vénéré, leur présence dans les églises est nécessaire, entre autres dans la pierre d’autel.
aucune autre dépouille n’a été retrouvée prouvant le respect qu’a porté l’Eglise aux Saintes.

Le légat du Pape, après avoir soigneusement lavé les reliques, les plaça dans deux châsses de bois. De nombreuses cérémonies se déroulèrent ce jour-là devant une foule immense et enthousiaste accourue de toute la Provence. Les reliques ont été exposées à la vénération de tous sous un baldaquin, entourées de la cour royale de Provence et des autorités de l’Eglise. Dans un reliquaire de bronze on été déposées les têtes de saint Jacques et des saints Innocents, ainsi que les ossements de Sainte Sara (rappelons qu’elle n’a jamais été canonisée, mais qu’elle est considérée comme Sainte par le pouvoir de la vox populi).

Après la fermeture des châsses contenant les reliques des saintes, on les éleva solennellement dans la chapelle construite au-dessus du chœur où elles sont toujours. Depuis cette époque de nombreux miracles ont été consignés, ils n’ont pas profité au cours des siècles d’enquêtes canoniques, mais on ne peut pas les ignorer, tellement ils sont nombreux, sauf ces dernières années. Une vieille amie religieuse, rencontrée au dernier pèlerinage d’octobre, auprès de qui je m’en inquiétais, m’a répondu avec bon sens : « On ne dit plus aux fidèles que Dieu fait des miracles, alors ils oublient de lui remettre leurs souffrances, ils se privent des plus grandes grâces que Dieu est prêt à donner, encore faut-il le lui demander en faisant intervenir l’intercession des saints. Un petit enfant sait très tôt que c’est en insistant très lourdement auprès de ses parents qu’il obtiendra un bonbon. Nos grandes saintes sont prêtes à faire beaucoup pour nous, mais il faut le leur demander. Je viens chaque année avec toutes les intentions que l’on me confie. Cette année, en plus, je suis venue remercier. » Qu’on se le dise.

La Révolution

1793 : les conséquences des décisions iniques de la Convention s’abattent sur la France déjà agonisante. La guillotine multiplie ses victimes. Les prêtres qui refusent de prêter serment sont emprisonnés quand ils n’ont pas choisi l’exil. Une tempête destructrice va s’abattre sur les églises et les sanctuaires. Dieu est chassé pour être remplacé par une idole stupide à l’adoration de laquelle on poussera la population. Venus d’Arles, des hommes en armes, après avoir menacé la population, s’introduisent dans l’église des Saintes et s’emparent des meubles et objets de valeur, dont deux reliquaires d’argent en forme de bras. Mais ils ignorent les châsses.

Dans la nuit du 22 octobre, l’Abbé Abril et un de ses paroissiens, M. Molinier, retirent des châsses une partie des ossements des saintes et les cachent dans un hangar près du cimetière.

Le 5 mai 1794, les infâmes réapparaissent et saccagent l’église. Rien ne leur résiste. Ils descendent les châsses, décrochent les ex-voto, sortent le reliquaire de Sainte Sara et brûlent l’ensemble en dansant une sarabande satanique. Les profanateurs – tous venus d’Arles et connus des Saintois – seraient morts tragiquement dans les deux ans, m’avait raconté dans mon enfance la vieille demoiselle qui détenait la clé de la porte qui conduit au toit de l’église (toujours visitable aujourd’hui).

Début 1797 : le Directoire vote plusieurs lois qui rétablissent la paix nationale, dont l’abolition des lois contre l’Eglise. La France exsangue aspire à la paix et beaucoup désirent ardemment le retour de la religion.

Deux pieuses Saintoises remettent au nouveau curé des ossements de Sainte Sara, sauvés des flammes de 1 794. Un administrateur du district d’Arles rend l’un des deux bras reliquaires découvert dans un bureau de son administration. Ce serait celui contenant une relique de Sainte Marthe. M. Molinier, après avoir hésité longtemps, par peur des représailles, indique la cache des reliques des Saintes. L’histoire pieuse rapporte qu’il avait été sauvé d’un naufrage en implorant les Grandes Saintes et qu’il avait fait le vœu de se consacrer au renouveau des pèlerinages.

Les reliques ont été retrouvées serrées dans des bandes munies de sceaux d’authentification de 1709 et 1710. Le 25 mai 1797, elles étaient solennellement installées dans la chapelle haute, au chant du Te Deum, au milieu de joyeuses ovations.

L’année suivante, le 23 mai, à la descente des châsses, Antoine Gousty, parvenu à la dernière extrémité, est soudainement guéri. La foule le porte en triomphe devant le Saint-Sacrement exposé en chantant à tue-tête l’hymne d’action de grâces. La longue liste des guérisons reprenait. Sur l’un des murs de l’église sont exposées des peintures naïves d’ex-voto des xviiie et xixe siècle.

Les pèlerinages

Les deux pèlerinages annuels principaux :

– Les 24 et 25 mai (fête de Sainte Marie Salomé). C’est aussi le pèlerinage des Fils du vent, les gitans qui viennent de toute la France, d’Italie, d’Espagne, d’Irlande, mais aussi d’Afrique du Sud et d’Inde. S’ils viennent pour les Saintes Maries, ils vénèrent surtout leur patronne Sainte Sara.

– Le samedi et le dimanche qui suivent le 15 octobre (fête de Sainte Marie Jacobé).

– Et le pèlerinage du samedi et du dimanche après le 3 décembre, réservé aux Saintes (mais ouvert à tous). Pas de procession, mais descente des châsses.

Des récits du xixe siècle décrivent avec enthousiasme les foules de pèlerins venus à pied, en charrette ou en bateau dont Mistral arrivé de Maillane en voiture à cheval. Les foules ont grossi à partir d’octobre 1892 grâce au petit train venant d’Arles, inauguré en août.

Il faut avoir fait au moins une fois dans sa vie le pèlerinage des Saintes, imprégné de cette ambiance chaleureuse toute méridionale. Celui de mai est d’autant plus animé par la présence des gitans, à l’expression de foi débordante mais si sincère ! Comment ne pas être touché en les voyant s’abîmer dans la prière, le visage couvert de larmes, aux pieds de Sainte Sara ? Une remarque propre à notre temps : on y voit de plus en plus d’hommes en prière, alors que je ne me souviens pas en avoir vu, il y a seulement quelques années. Cela n’est pas propre aux gitans, on voit de plus en plus d’hommes dans nos églises aux messes de semaine, dont des moins de trente ans.

Ne manquez pas la cérémonie des châsses le samedi après-midi. Depuis plusieurs siècles, elles descendent par un treuil de la chapelle haute, au-dessus de l’autel. Tout au long des cordages seront accrochés des bouquets et des ex-voto remis par les pèlerins. L’assemblée entonne un vieux chant provençal, rythmé à l’instar des vagues de la mer. Dès que la descente est amorcée, tout à coup, tous les fidèles, un cierge allumé en main, lèvent les bras, entrent liesse en s’écriant : « Vive les Saintes, vive les Saintes… » Beaucoup pleurent de joie. Certaines années un prêtre prononce l’homélie en lango nostro. Les fidèles peuvent venir se recueillir près des châsses. Certains les touchent et les embrassent.

Le lendemain, après la grand-messe, c’est le pèlerinage sur la plage. La procession est ouverte par les gardians à cheval, trident en main, vêtus de leur veste noire et d’une chemise colorée faite de toile indienne (spécialité provençale depuis le xviie siècle, relancée ces trente dernières années avec des dessins et coloris de bon goût). En tête du cortège le clergé, dont l’un des prêtres porte le bras reliquaire, suivi des Arlésiennes costumées, des tambourinaires (musiciens frappant de la main gauche sur le tambourin et jouant de la flûte de la main droite). Entourant et portant la nef avec les Saintes, les membres de la Confrérie. En mai, les gitans suivent en portant la statue de Sainte Sara, autour de laquelle se bousculent les fils du vent pour la toucher, l’embrasser, déposer un bouquet à ses pieds.

Lorsque le cortège arrive sur la plage, les gardians rentrent dans la mer jusqu’au poitrail de leurs montures et forment un demi-cercle. A leur tour les porteurs des Saintes et de sainte Sara marchent dans l’eau suivis de quelques fidèles. L’évêque monte dans une barque échouée sur la plage et bénit, avec le bras reliquaire les statues, les pèlerins et la mer. Les cloches de l’église sonnent à toute volée. Les statues sont ramenées à l’église, accueillies à leur entrée par le Magnificat. Elles sont alors remontées dans la chapelle haute. La cérémonie se termine par l’hymne régional : Provencaou et catouli (Provençal et catholique) que chacun chante à tue-tête, fier de sa race, ainsi que le disait Mistral.

Christian Ravaz

1 - Félibrige : organisme académique fondé en 1854 par Frédéric Mistral pour la création d’un « provençal littéraire », toujours actif. Les membres s’appellent les félibres.
2 - Les Saintes Maries de Provence - Chanoine J.-M. Lamoureux - Reprint d’un livre de 1908 (seul ouvrage disponible sur l’histoire des Saintes) - Editions Bélisane - 16x24 - 294 pages - 160 F.
3 - L’une des pierres de marbre blanc a été maçonnée dans une colonne de l’église, à droite de la nef à bord de laquelle ont été placées les statues des deux Maries. Cette pierre est fortement usée par l’attouchement des pèlerins qui lui prêtent des vertus curatives.

SOURCE: Christian Ravaz, "Grandes Saintes: Les-Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, coeur de la tradition chrétienne et provençale," Chrétiens Magazine 127 (Janvier 2000). Retrieved 28 May 2009.

Magdalenes by Ribera

2009-05-23T11:39:00.000-07:00

Mary Magdalene in the Desert (1641). José de Ribera. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. Image courtesy of Wikimedia.

Penitent Magdalene. José de Ribera. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. Image courtesy of Art.com.

Penitent Magdalene (c. 1638-1640). José de Ribera. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. Image courtesy of Wikimedia.

Assumption of Mary Magdalene (1636). José de Ribera. Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid. Image courtesy of Wikimedia.

De Ribera's painting of Mary Magdalene in the Desert has been one of my favorites for a long time. From Wikipedia:

Jusepe de Ribera (01/12/1591 - 09/02/1652) was a Spanish Tenebrist painter and printmaker, also known as José de Ribera in Spanish and as Giuseppe Ribera in Italian.

He was also called by his contemporaries and early writers Lo Spagnoletto, or "the Little Spaniard." Ribera was a leading painter of the Spanish school, although his mature work was all done in Italy.

The Magdalene also appears at the foot of the Cross and at Christ's feet in the following paintings by de Ribera:

Crucifixion (c. 1620). José de Ribera. Collegiata di Osuna, Osuna. Image courtesy of Wikimedia.

Pietà (1637). José de Ribera. Museo di San Martino, Naples. Image courtesy of Wikimedia.

Red hair

2009-05-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

Mary Magdalene is very often depicted with red hair. According to JZ Knight who channels Ramtha, "Yeshua ben Joseph had red hair. You know, just a factoid there. . . ."

SOURCE: JZ Knight (Ramtha), A Master's Reflection on the History of Humanity Part II: Rediscovering the Pearl of Ancient Wisdom (Yelm, WA: JZK Publishing, 2002), p. 217.

Penitent Magdalene by Creti

2009-05-15T14:38:00.000-07:00

The Penitent Magdalene. Donato Creti (1671-1749) Agnew's, London, UK. Image courtesy of St. Mary Magdalene on Flickr.

Penitent Mary Magdalene by Saraceni

2009-05-10T14:19:00.000-07:00

The Penitent Mary Magdalene (1579-1620). Carlo Saraceni. Galleria dell'Accademia, Venice. Image courtesy of St. Mary Magdalene on Flickr.

Mary Magdalene by Donatello

2009-05-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

Mary Magdalene (1455). Donatello. Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence, Italy. Image courtesy of Mary Magdalene Imagery.

Some other shots of this famous sculpture:

Detail of front.
Rear full view. (One of my favorites)

See also:

Images of Mary Magdalene by Donatello.

Mary Magdalen by John Rogers Herbert

2009-04-13T20:56:00.000-07:00

Mary Magdalen (1859). John Rogers Herbert. Maas Gallery, London. Image courtesy of Victorian Web.

Rogier van der Weyden Magdalenes

2009-04-01T01:37:00.000-07:00

Mary Magdalene (c. 1450). Right panel of the Braque triptych. Rogier van der Weyden. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Image courtesy of Famous Paintings.

The text at the top of the painting is from John 12. In Latin, it reads "Maria ergo accepit libram ungenti nardi pistici, pretiosi, et unxit pedes Iesu." In the King James version it reads: "Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus."

The Magdalene Reading (c. 1445). Rogier van der Weyden. National Gallery, London. Image courtesy of Web Gallery of Art.

Dali: The Life of Mary Magdalene

2009-03-31T00:48:00.000-07:00

The Life of Mary Magdalene (1960). Salvador Dali. Oil on canvas, 62.5 x 62.5 cm. Image courtesy of Collection New York.

Caravaggio - Penitent Magdalen

2009-03-23T17:58:00.000-07:00

Penitent Magdalen (c. 1593-1594). Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi). Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome. Image courtesy of Olga's Gallery.

Notice the Grail on Magdalen's underdress. The Galleria Doria Pamphilj's website mentions that:

. . . the provenance of this picture is uncertain. It is mentioned, however, in an eighteenth-century inventory with a frame which displays the Aldobrandini arms, a detail which perhaps allows us to deduce that it originally belonged to the collection of Pietro.

El Greco Magdalens

2009-03-17T21:27:00.001-07:00

Mary Magdalen in Penitence (1576-78). Image courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest.

The Repentant Magdalen (c. 1577). Image courtesy of Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA.

The Penitent Magdalene (1580-85). Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City. Image courtesy of Web Gallery of Art.

Mary Magdalen in Penitence (1585-90). Museo Cau Ferrat, Sitges. Image courtesy of Web Gallery of Art.

Penitent Magdalen (1605-1610). Private Collection. Image courtesy of Web Gallery of Art.

Redeeming Magdalene's Gospel Reputation

2009-03-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

Posted by Margaret Starbird on the Da Vinci Code Forum (12 March 2009):

The first fallacy in the RCC interpretation of Mary Magdalene is that she is "of Magdala." The title of the article says "h Magdala" but that phrase NEVER OCCURS in the texts of any of the Gospels. She is called "h Magdalhnh" in those sacred texts, never "h Magdala." Since the town "Magdala" that is now cited as her "hometown" was called by a Greek name --Taricheae--in every extant record during Biblical times until AD 70, it's very unlikely IMO that the town was the source of her title. Instead, I've been shown (call it "revelation"?) that her epithet "h Magdalhnh" stems from the prophetic passage in Micah 4:8-11, a scripture passage written in 700 BC which sums up her story in a nutshell. It speaks of the "Magdal-eder"--the "Watchtower of the Flock"--identified with "The Daughter of Sion," crying aloud over the death of her King and being sent, defiled and profaned, into foreign exile. This passage as "source" for Mary's honorific has some important points: 1) it tells her story, 2) it points to her tears: "Why are you crying? Have you no King? Has your counsellor (rabbi, master, teacher?) perished that you cry aloud...?" "Magdalene's tears are marked again at the tomb when Jesus asks her the exact same question, "Why are you crying?" John 21). 3) It is JEWISH, coming directly out of Hebrew Scriptures.

Later Greek-speaking Christians of the second century were confused about the meaning of her title precisely because they didn't understand Hebrew and weren't particularly familiar with Hebrew Scriptures. Like many modern scholars, they weren't even aware that this passage in Micah even exists! When they went looking for the source of her title, the hit on a town, rebuilt after it had been destroyed in AD 67 during the Jewish Revolution, and given a new name, "Magdala Nunnayah" (Tower of the Fishes). The Talmud (written in AD 250-300) said that the town had been "destroyed for prostitution" (a euphemism meaning that it had adopted pagan (Greek) culture, gods and mores).... so, logically, early Christians who associated Mary "Magdalene" with the woman who had anointed Jesus at the banquet (the "sinner" according to Luke!) decided "ex post facto" that this must be her home town..... Then, adding to the subterfuge and confusion, Helena, the mother of Constantine in the early 4th century made a trip to "Magdala" and claimed to have discovered the ruins of the house that Mary Magdalene had lived in..... pure fiction, as far as I am concerned!

One of the reasons modern Bible scholars separate Mary "of Magdala" from Mary "of Bethany" is based on this misinformation about her "Hometown." How can she be "of Bethany" if she was "of Magdala"? How can they be the same person if they are from different home towns? But if the town "Magdala" is a fabrication (since that town was called Taricheae until AD 70!)--- then they don't have a case at all for separating the two women. In John 12, Mary "of Bethany" anoints Jesus at the banquet and Jesus says, "Let her keep it for the day of my burial" ("it" --referring to the ointment /anointing). Then, a few chapters later, it is "Mary Magdalene" who goes alone to the tomb (John 20:1). Clearly the author of the Gospel of John believed that Mary "of Bethany" was the one "called Magdalene." And it is in his Gospel (John 21) that Jesus literally quotes the prophetic passage from Micah 4: "Why are you crying?"---

This same Mary is already famous for her tears..... they moved Jesus to raise her brother Lazarus from the tomb (John 11) and she cried over Jesus' feet and wiped her tears with her hair (John 11:2 and John 12:3). She is the ONLY MARY who cries in the Gospels. As "goddess" devotées often notice, tears are one of the symbols of the Goddess, a sure sign of love and compassion. Medieval statues and painting of Mary Magdalene often include a tear in her eye--they're coming straight out of Scripture.

Another important point "missed" by the author of this article (Carol Morrow) is the fact that in the Book of Acts, Mary "Magdalene" who was so prominent in the Gospels, is never mentioned at all..... the Church goes forward without its "first witness"! In my "Bride in Exile" book, I explain in some detail that Luke was the Gospel writer that marginalized Mary Magdalene (mentioned 7 demons, moved the "anointing at Bethany" to an unknown town in Galilee, called the woman a "sinner" who anointed Jesus "in advance for his burial" and whose story was to be "told and retold in memory of her"! Luke was a friend of Paul....and if I had been the family of Jesus, Paul would have been the very last person I would have told of the post-resurrection whereabouts of Mary Magdalene. But it's clear that she was NOT included in the events of Pentecost and the early ministry of the "Apostles."

At the end of "Bride in Exile" I wrote a two-page epilogue based on the question "Who do we say that she is?"--- Styling Mary Magdalene as "Apostle to the Apostle" may give women some voice and authority in the "Church" and academia, alongside their male colleagues. It will make her about equal to Peter...but it will NOT make the flowers grow and the desert bloom. It will not reclaim her as "Sacred Counterpart" of the Archetypal Bridegroom nor will it provide a model for "Sacred Marriage" / harmony / reconciliation and symbiosis of the "Divine" imaged as both masculine and feminine in loving Union and mutuality. "Apostle to the Apostles" robs Mary Magdalene of the one attribute that heals: her HEART!

The Gnostic Gospels do not make any distinction between Mary "Magdalene" and Mary of Bethany. The "Gospel of Mary" is the correct title of the text that bears her name.... it does NOT call her "Mary of Magdala" (contrary to the impression being made by feminist scholars who use "of Magdala" to designate this pre-eminent Mary! "Mary" is often mentioned in connection with "Martha" and "Salomé"--and is always assumed to be "Mary Magdalene"---although only the Gospel of Phillip actually calls her "the Magdalene." That's the Gospel that says that Jesus used to kiss her often and the other apostles were jealous of their intimacy....

Sorry I've let this get so long..... the rest of my arguments are spelled out in "Alabaster Jar" and "Bride in Exile." IMO the RCC's current position separating Mary "of Bethany" from "the Magdalene" is based on superficial and sometimes outright false assumptions.

Moser Altarpiece

2009-03-08T16:37:00.001-07:00

Altarpiece of Mary Magdalene (1431). Lucas Moser. Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Tiefenbronn, Germany. Image courtesy of Florida State University Electronic Thesis Database.

Magdalene Master

2009-03-08T16:23:00.000-07:00

Mary Magdalene with Eight Scenes of Her Life (c.1280). Panel, Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence. Image courtesy of Florida State University Electronic Thesis Database.

Nuptials of God

2009-03-07T14:34:00.000-08:00

The Nuptials of God (1922). Eric Gill. Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Image courtesy of British Wood-Engraved Book Illustrations 1904 - 1940.

I came across this telling illustration in Haskins and found a copy on a website dealing with British wood engravings. The hair is reminiscent of the St. Mary of Egypt paintings. Update (13 June 2009): Found the Gill illustration below. This print was apparently done for a prospectus of The Songs of Solomon.

Stay Me with Apples (1925). Eric Gill. Image courtesy of Artline.com.

Albani Psalter

2009-03-02T15:47:00.000-08:00

Mary Magdalen announcing the resurrection to the apostles (c. 1123). St. Albans Psalter, St Godehard's Church, Hildesheim. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Above is an image of Mary in her role as Apostola Apostolorum from the Albani Psalter.

Secrets of Mary Magdalene

2009-03-01T14:19:00.000-08:00

Secrets of Mary Magdalene. Dan Burstein and Arne J. De Keijzer. Image courtesy of Amazon.com.

Every once in a while I like to recommend a book or DVD that I find interesting, entertaining, or informative in some way. From the publisher's description:

Continuing in the tradition of the New York Times bestselling Secrets of the Code, the latest book from the team, Secrets of Mary Magdalene, brings together world class experts from different faiths, backgrounds, and perspectives, to discuss the most thought-provoking new ideas and original thinking about Mary Magdalene. All of the contributors to Secrets of Mary Magdalene are well-known and highly respected authors whose books have sold more than five million copies in total. Never before has such a wide range of fascinating ideas and new scholarship about Mary Magdalene been collected in one book that is so timely, popular and accessible.

Burstein also has a DVD that goes with the book.

Recently I came across the trailer for this DVD on Youtube and thought I would add it. There was also an interview with author Dan Burstein.

Limoux Mary Magdalene

2009-02-28T16:29:00.001-08:00

Mary Magdalene (17th c.). Limoux. Image courtesy of Rennes-le-Chateau Research.

In a recent interview with Radio Rennessence author Kathleen McGowan mentions the above painting. According to the website, it

. . . was found in a private house in Limoux. It depicts her with her eyes closed, leaning on a skull covered in a bright red mantle. Besides her stands something that looks like the Grail or an urn with a bearded head depicted on it. Based on the view, French researchers concluded this scene depicts an actual grotto in Mount Cardou.

SOURCE: "Interview with Kathleen McGowan," Radio Rennessence (22 Feb 2009).

Tomb of Christ?

2009-02-28T14:05:00.001-08:00

Image on a Reliquary kept in la Sainte-Baume. Courtesy of Rennes-le-Chateau Research.

In his book, La Tombe Perdue (The Lost Tomb), Christian Doumergue asks the question, "Was the body of Christ laid to rest in Southern France?" In the image above, the boat carrying Mary Magdelene into Southern France is also apparently carrying a body wrapped in linens facing Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Mary Magdalen taken up in the air

2009-02-28T01:05:00.001-08:00

Mary Magdalen taken up in the air (c. 1605). Giovanni Lanfranco. Galleria Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples. Image courtesy of Mary Magdalen: Later Life in Provence.

Vie de la Magdalene (Paris, B.N., ms. fr. 24.955)

2009-02-28T00:14:00.000-08:00

An informative doctoral thesis by Barbara J. Johnston describes and analyses the Life of the Magdalene written by Franciscan priest François Demoulins de Rochefort and illuminator Godefroy le Batave for Louise of Savoy (1476-1531), mother of Francis I of France.

Abstract
Table of Contents
Chapters 1-3
Chapters 4-6
Catalogue of the Vie de la Magdalene
Folios 1r-31r
Folios 31v-61r
Folios 61v-91r
Folios 91v-108v
Figures 1-30
Figures 31-60
Figures 61-80, Bibliography

Martin Luther on Mary Magdalene

2009-02-25T18:23:00.000-08:00

In commenting on Psalm 119, Luther is speaking of love. He says, “How great is this ardor, which forces her not only to call but to cry out with the whole heart!”

Then he proceeds to use Mary Magdalene as an example. “She will easily teach you what the ardors and emotions in the words of this octonary [the eight words under consideration] are. For they can very well be adapted to her, since she also came beforehand at the dawn and with untimely haste and cried and called to her husband [Emphasis mine] much more wonderfully in spirit than in body.

But I think she alone might easily explain the Song of Songs. She contains wonderful mysteries in herself according to the story written in the Gospel concerning the resurrection. “Hear me, O Lord,” namely, by sending Christ and His grace and Gospel. This what I long for with crying.”

SOURCE: Luther’s Works, American Edition, Vol. 11, pp. 509-510. See also Jeffrey Bütz, "Martin Luther and Mary Magdalene," The Jesus Police (Retrieved 26 February 2009).

More Tissot

2009-02-16T17:17:00.000-08:00

After searching some more I discovered these additional Magdalene paintings by Tissot at the Brooklyn Museum site.

Madeleine répentante (1886-1894). James Tissot. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY. Image courtesy of Brooklyn Museum.

Le parfum de Madeleine (1886-1894). James Tissot. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY. Image courtesy of Brooklyn Museum.

Jésus à Bethanie, Marie, Madeleine et Marthe (1886-1894). James Tissot. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY. Image courtesy of Brooklyn Museum.

Jésus pleura (1886-1894). James Tissot. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY. Image courtesy of Brooklyn Museum.

Ce que voyait Notre-Seigneur sur la Croix (1886-1894). James Tissot. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY. Image courtesy of Brooklyn Museum.

Le tremblement de terre (1886-1894). James Tissot. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY. Image courtesy of Brooklyn Museum.

Consommatum est (1886-1894). James Tissot. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY. Image courtesy of Brooklyn Museum.

La mort de Jésus (1886-1894). James Tissot. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY. Image courtesy of Brooklyn Museum.

La descent de croix (1886-1894). James Tissot. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY. Image courtesy of Brooklyn Museum.

Le corps de Jésus porté à la pierre de l'onction (1886-1894). James Tissot. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY. Image courtesy of Brooklyn Museum.

Les deux Maries observent le tombeau (1886-1894). James Tissot. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY. Image courtesy of Brooklyn Museum.

Madeleine et les saintes femmes au tombeau (1886-1894). James Tissot. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY. Image courtesy of Brooklyn Museum.

Madeleine dans le tombeau interroge les anges (1886-1894). James Tissot. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY. Image courtesy of Brooklyn Museum.

Apparition de Jésus à Madeleine (1886-1894). James Tissot. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY. Image courtesy of Brooklyn Museum.

Noli me tangere (1886-1894). James Tissot. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY. Image courtesy of Brooklyn Museum.

Madeleine court au cénacle et avertit les apôtres que le corps de Jésus n'est plus dans le tombeau (1886-1894). James Tissot. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY. Image courtesy of Brooklyn Museum.

Mary Magdalene Before Conversion by James Tissot

2009-02-15T23:46:00.000-08:00

Madeleine avant sa conversion (1886-1894). James Tissot. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY. Image courtesy of Brooklyn Museum.

James Tissot (1836-1902) was a French artist who is probably best known for his over 700 illustrations of scenes from the Bible. Wikipedia states the following:

He disappeared from Paris, . . . and went to Palestine. In 1896 the series of 350 drawings of incidents in the life of Christ was exhibited in Paris, and the following year found them on show in London. They were then published by the firm of Lemercier in Paris, who had paid him 1,100,000 francs for them. (Over 500 related drawings, watercolors and oils are now in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum.) . . .

The merits of Tissot's Bible illustrations lay rather in the care with which he studied the details of scenery than in any quality of religious emotion. He seemed to aim, above all, at accuracy, and, in his figures, at a vivid realism, which was far removed from the conventional treatment of sacred types.

One can see this in the period realism of Magdalene's attire.

Magdalene Reading

2009-02-07T15:21:00.000-08:00

The website, Bible Paintings, has the painting of The Magdalene Reading below by Ambrosius Benson (1495-1550). The site makes no mention, however, of the wedding band noticeable on the ring finger of her left hand.

The Magdalen Reading (c. 1525). Ambrosius Benson. National Gallery, London. Image courtesy of Bible Paintings.

Margaret Starbird further notes that:

Interesting in these paintings by Benson is also the fact that Mary is wearing the gauzy headdress worn by women of the period (especially in Italy, Benson's birthplace). The veil-like headpiece is called a "guarnello" and was worn by women who were either pregnant or newmothers. The "Mona Lisa" ("La Gioconda") has recently been shown to be wearing this same garment--and her portrait is known to have been painted to celebrate the birth of her second son. The Ambrogio Altarpiece painted by Botticelli in 1490 shows M Magdalene wearing a gauzy veil as well, as do numerous other painting of the period.

SOURCE: "Re: Magdalene Reading (with wedding ring)," The Magdalene Line (25 Jan 2009).

Benson also produced two other Magdalene works, though neither is as intriguing as the one above. Both, however, show her wearing the guarnello. In the second one she is also reading a book and is wearing a ring on the pinkie finger of her left hand. It almost appears to be connected to the fabric that surrounds her book.

Mary Magdalene. Ambrosius Benson. Groeninge Museum, Bruges. Courtesy of Web Gallery of Art.

Mary Magdalene (c. 1530). Ambrosius Benson. Galleria Franchetti, Ca' d'Oro, Venice. Courtesy of Web Gallery of Art.

The Life and Death of Mary Magdalene

2009-02-02T17:28:00.000-08:00

The Internet Archive contains the following metrical setting of Mary's life dated c. 1620. Lines 31-32 are of some interest as they mention "Mary" and "Marys sonne."

Poore, silly sheapheard-swaines ! eu'n such am I : 25
(Farre bee prœsumption from an humble minde !)
I will not, (oh, I dare not,) soare too highe,
Least hee, that all enlightens, strike mee blinde :
Sooth, this is all I craue, to be refind, 29'
So to endite a laye with siluer pen,
Of Mary, and of Marys sonne : and then
Her life, his loue declare, her loue, and life agen. 32

SOURCE: Thomas Robinson, The Life and Death of Mary Magdalene: A Legendary Poem in Two Parts, ed. H. Oskar Sommer (London: Early English Text Society, 1899), p. 10

Mary Magdalene: Saint or Sinner?

2009-01-24T23:04:00.000-08:00

The following excerpt is from a 2003 review of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code in TIME magazine:

. . . Three decades ago, the Roman Catholic Church quietly admitted what critics had been saying for centuries: Magdalene's standard image as a reformed prostitute is not supported by the text of the Bible. Freed of this lurid, limiting premise and employing varying ratios of scholarship and whimsy, academics and enthusiasts have posited various other Magdalenes: a rich and honored patron of Jesus, an Apostle in her own right, the mother of the Messiah's child and even his prophetic successor. The wealth of possibilities has inspired a wave of literature, both academic and popular, including Margaret George's 2002 best-selling historical novel Mary, Called Magdalene. And it has gained Magdalene a new following among Catholics who see in her a potent female role model and a possible argument against the all-male priesthood. The woman who three Gospels agree was the first witness to Christ's Resurrection is having her own kind of rebirth. . . .

In 1988, the book Mary Magdalene: A Woman Who Showed Her Gratitude, part of a children's biblical-women series and a fairly typical product of its time, explained that its subject "was not famous for the great things she did or said, but she goes down in history as a woman who truly loved Jesus with all her heart and was not embarrassed to show it despite criticism from others." That is certainly part of her traditional resume. Many Christian churches would add her importance as an example of the power of Christ's love to save even the most fallen humanity, and of repentance. (The word maudlin derives from her reputation as a tearful penitent.) Centuries of Catholic teaching also established her colloquial identity as the bad girl who became the hope of all bad girls, the saved siren active not only in the overheated imaginations of parochial-school students but also as the patron of institutions for wayward women such as the grim nun-run laundries featured in the new movie The Magdalene Sisters. In the culture at large, writer Kathy Shaidle has suggested, Magdalene is "the Jessica Rabbit of the Gospels, the gold-hearted town tramp belting out I Don't Know How to Love Him."

The only problem is that it turns out that she wasn't bad, just interpreted that way. Mary Magdalene (her name refers to Magdala, a city in Galilee) first appears in the Gospel of Luke as one of several apparently wealthy women Jesus cures of possession (seven demons are cast from her), who join him and the Apostles and "provided for them out of their means." Her name does not come up again until the Crucifixion, which she and other women witness from the foot of the Cross, the male disciples having fled. On Easter Sunday morning, she visits Jesus' sepulcher, either alone or with other women, and discovers it empty. She learns — in three Gospels from angels and in one from Jesus himself — that he is risen. John's recounting is the most dramatic. She is solo at the empty tomb. She alerts Peter and an unnamed disciple; only the latter seems to grasp the Resurrection, and they leave. Lingering, Magdalene encounters Jesus, who asks her not to cling to him, "but go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father ... and my God." In Luke's and Mark's versions, this plays out as a bit of a farce: Magdalene and other women try to alert the men, but "these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them." Eventually they came around.

Discrepancies notwithstanding, the net impression is of a woman of substance, brave and smart and devoted, who plays a crucial — perhaps irreplaceable — role in Christianity's defining moment. So where did all the juicy stuff come from? Mary Magdalene's image became distorted when early church leaders bundled into her story those of several less distinguished women whom the Bible did not name or referred to without a last name. One is the "sinner" in Luke who bathes Jesus' feet with her tears, dries them with her hair, kisses them and anoints them with ointment. "Her many sins have been forgiven, for she loved much," he says. Others include Luke's Mary of Bethany and a third, unnamed woman, both of whom anointed Jesus in one form or another. The mix-up was made official by Pope Gregory the Great in 591: "She whom Luke calls the sinful woman, whom John calls Mary [of Bethany], we believe to be the Mary from whom seven devils were ejected according to Mark," Gregory declared in a sermon. That position became church teaching, although it was not adopted by Orthodoxy or Protestantism when each later split from Catholicism.

What prompted Gregory? One theory suggests an attempt to reduce the number of Marys — there was a similar merging of characters named John. Another submits that the sinning woman was appended simply to provide missing backstory for a figure of obvious importance. Others blame misogyny. Whatever the motivation, the effect of the process was drastic and, from a feminist perspective, tragic. Magdalene's witness to the Resurrection, rather than being acclaimed as an act of discipleship in some ways greater than the men's, was reduced to the final stage in a moving but far less central tale about the redemption of a repentant sinner. "The pattern is a common one," writes Jane Schaberg, a professor of religious and women's studies at the University of Detroit Mercy and author of last year's The Resurrection of Mary Magdalene: "the powerful woman disempowered, remembered as a whore or whorish." As shorthand, Schaberg coined the term "harlotization."

In 1969, in the liturgical equivalent of fine print, the Catholic Church officially separated Luke's sinful woman, Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene as part of a general revision of its missal. Word has been slow in filtering down into the pews, however. (It hasn't helped that Magdalene's heroics at the tomb are still omitted from the Easter Sunday liturgy, relegated instead to midweek.) And in the meantime, more scholarship has stoked the fires of those who see her eclipse as a chauvinist conspiracy. Historians of Christianity are increasingly fascinated with a group of early followers of Christ known broadly as the Gnostics, some of whose writings were unearthed only 55 years ago. And the Gnostics were fascinated by Magdalene. The so-called Gospel of Mary [Magdalene], which may date from as early as A.D. 125 (or about 40 years after John's Gospel), describes her as having received a private vision from Jesus, which she passes on to the male disciples. This role is a usurpation of the go-between status the standard Gospels normally accord to Peter, and Mary depicts him as mightily peeved, asking, "Did [Jesus] really speak with a woman without our knowledge?" The disciple Levi comes to her defense, saying, "Peter, you have always been hot-tempered ... If the Savior made her worthy, who are you to reject her? Surely, the Savior loves her very well. That is why he loved her more than us."

Them's fightin' words, especially when one remembers that the papacy traces its authority back to Peter. Of course, the Gnostic Gospels are not the Bible. In fact, there is evidence that the Bible was standardized and canonized precisely to exclude such books, which the early church leaders regarded as heretical for many non-Magdalene reasons. Nonetheless, feminists have been quick to cite Mary as evidence both of Magdalene's early importance, at least in some communities, and as the virtual play-by-play of a forgotten gender battle, in which church fathers eventually prevailed over the people who never got the chance to be known as church mothers. "I think it was a power struggle," says Schaberg, "And the canonical texts that we have [today] come from the winners."

Schaberg goes further. In her book, she returns to John in light of the Gnostic writings and purports to find "fragments of a claim" that Jesus may have seen Magdalene as his prophetic successor. The position is thus far quite lonely. But it serves nicely to illustrate the way in which any retrieval of Magdalene as a "winner" inevitably shakes up current assumptions about male church leadership. After Pope John Paul II prohibited even the discussion of female priests in 1995, he cited "the example recorded in the Sacred Scriptures of Christ choosing his Apostles only from among men ..." That argument would seem weakened in light of the "new" Magdalene, whom the Pope himself has acknowledged by the once unfashionable title "Apostle to the Apostles." Chester Gillis, chair of the department of theology at Georgetown University, says conventional Catholics still feel that Mary Magdalene's absence from many biblical scenes involving the male disciples, and specifically from the ordination-like ritual of the Last Supper, rule her out as a priest precedent. Gillis agrees, however, that her recalibration "certainly makes a case for a stronger role for women in the church."

Meanwhile, the combination of catholic rethinking and Gnostic revelations have reanimated wilder Magdalene speculations, like that of a Jesus-Magdalene marriage. ("No other biblical figure," Schaberg notes, "has had such a vivid and bizarre postbiblical life.") The Gnostic Gospel of Philip describes Magdalene as "the one who was called [Jesus'] companion," claiming that he "used to kiss her on her [mouth]." Most scholars discount a Jesus-Magdalene match because it finds little echo in the canonical Gospels once the false Magdalenes are removed. But it fulfills a deep narrative expectation: for the alpha male to take a mate, for a yin to Jesus' yang or, as some neopagans have suggested, for a goddess to his god. Martin Luther believed that Jesus and Magdalene were married, as did Mormon patriarch Brigham Young.

The notion that Magdalene was pregnant by Jesus at his Crucifixion became especially entrenched in France, which already had a tradition of her immigration in a rudderless boat, bearing the Holy Grail, his chalice at the Last Supper into which his blood later fell. Several French kings promoted the legend that descendants of Magdalene's child founded the Merovingian line of European royalty, a story revived by Richard Wagner in his opera Parsifal and again in connection with Diana, Princess of Wales, who reportedly had some Merovingian blood. (The Wachowski brothers, those cultural magpies, named a villain in The Matrix Reloaded Merovingian, filming him surrounded by Grail-like chalices. His wife in that film was played by Italian actress Monica Bellucci, who will also play Magdalene in Mel Gibson's upcoming Jesus film ... Sorry, this stuff is addictive.) The idea that Magdalene herself was the Holy Grail — the human receptacle for Jesus' blood line — popped up in a 1986 best seller, Holy Blood, Holy Grail, which inspired Brown's Da Vinci Code. When Brown said recently, "Mary Magdalene is a historical figure whose time has come," he meant a figure with a lot of mythic filagree. . . .

SOURCE: David van Biema, "Mary Magdalene: Saint or Sinner?" TIME (5 August 2003). Retrieved 24 January 2009.

Mary Magdalene by Jan van Scorel

2009-01-23T17:01:00.000-08:00

Jan van Scorel. Mary Magdalene (1528). Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Image courtesy of Art and the Bible.

I first noticed this picture in Margaret Starbird's book, Mary Magdalene: Bride in Exile (Plate 5) where she comments on the pearl "X"s on her sleeve (symbolic of the Grail heresy and the hidden church; see Starbird's earlier book, The Woman with the Alabaster Jar, 95) and the gold brocade in her lap (symbolic of the Messiah's royal bride).

Recently others have pointed out some additional interesting features in this painting. Ordained Gnostic Priest Jordan Stratford and his sister Avielah Barclay, an Orthodox Jewish scribe, noticed that there were Hebrew letters embroidered on the collar of her dress (See detail below). As far as I know, no one has been able to decipher them yet.

Detail of Mary Magdalene by Jan van Scorel. Image courtesy of Ecclesia Gnostica in Nova Albion.

Corjan de Raaf and Andrew Gough point out that the rock in the upper left hand corner resembles the Rock of the Magdalene near Rennes-le-Château as well as some other interesting features:

The dramatic rock on her left is only one of many remarkable features. There’s an old bearded man walking, reminding us of the old bearded man / woman walking across the west wall fresco over the confessional in the church of Rennes-le-Château. A man, woman and child are sitting calmly at the foot of the Rock. . . .

The Art and the Bible website adds the following description:

Italian influences are visible in the landscape and in the figure of Mary Magdalene, who resembles a Venetian courtesan. The tree springing from the decayed trunk symbolizes a new life after a bad start: Mary Magdalene has converted to become a follower of Jesus. In the background, in front of the overhanging rock, Mary is being borne up to Heaven. The top plank of this panel, with the sky and tree branches, was added in the second half of the 16th century. That part was not painted by Van Scorel.

SOURCES: Corjan de Raaf and Andrew Gough, "The Rock of the Magdalene," andrew gough's arcadia (Retrieved 23 January 2009).

"Jan van Scorel: Mary Magdalene," Art and the Bible (Retrieved 23 January 2009).

Jordan Stratford and Avielah Barclay, "Hebrew Code in 16th C. Painting of Mary Magdalene," Ecclesia Gnostica in Nova Albion (13 June 2006).

Ecstasy of Mary Magdalene

2009-01-22T14:06:00.000-08:00

Historiated Initial D with the Ecstasy of Mary Magdalene. Nuns' Prayer Book Germany, Cologne (c. 1450). Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Philadelphia, MS Codex 141, fol. 1.
Image courtesy of Leaves of Gold Gallery.

Came across this recently. The long hair covering most of her body is reminiscent of the images of Mary of Egypt:

This small prayer book was used by nuns of the Order of Saint Mary Magdalene, probably in Cologne. Depicted with long blonde hair, Mary Magdalene reaches toward an angel in the opening initial of the book. The style of the initial—with its flat forms, ropelike hair, and disparities of scale and space—is related to Nonnenarbeit (nuns' work).

SOURCE: "Univ PA Library MS Codex 141, fol. 1," Leaves of Gold Gallery (Retrieved 23 January 2009).

Repentant Magdalene

2009-01-20T01:02:00.001-08:00

Repentant Magdalene (1809). Antonio Canova. Image courtesy of Paintings of Mary Magdalene and Jesus.

One of the most beautiful sculptures of the Magdalene there is.

Mary Magdalen and the Kings of France

2009-01-19T18:27:00.000-08:00

Susan Haskins suggests that the authors of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail and Dan Brown, who famously faced each in court earlier this year, are guilty of the same thing--writing bad fiction.

WHO WERE THE MEROVINGIANS? Today, because of The Da Vinci Code, millions of people who have read Dan Brown's novel or seen the film know--or at least think they do--who this 'Dark-Age' dynasty was. And they 'know' that Mary Magdalen apparently married Jesus, and bore his child, their marrying descendants into the French royal line and, after several generations, engendering the Merovingian dynasty. (In the seventh century, according to Brown's book, the Vatican attempted to eradicate the dynasty by murdering Dagobert II, but his son Sigisbert II survived, as did his bloodline down through history, ending up with Sophie [Sophia, Greek for wisdom, and Mary Magdalen's alter ego in the Pistis Sophia, a Gnostic text], heroine of the novel.) The 'historical' aspects of this tale were first told in The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail (1982), by Michael Baigent, Richard Leith and Henry Lincoln).

According to Luke's Gospel (8:2), Mary of Magdala was the leader of the group of Jesus's women followers, and had been healed; she was present at the crucifixion and, according to John and Mark, was the first to witness the risen Christ. In the commentaries of the Early Church Fathers her gospel figure became conflated with a nameless sinner in Luke, who wept on Christ's feet, wiping them with her hair and anointing them with spikenard (7:37-50), and Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus of Bethany (John, 11-12). This composite identification was disputed by Protestants from the sixteenth century, but it was only in 1969 that the Church of Rome distinguished the three separate figures. Baigent et al retain the link between Mary of Magdala and Mary of Bethany with specious and unhistorical arguments regarding the possible wife of Jesus. She was not however a whore. The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail uses the Gnostic texts of the Gospel of Mary, where Mary Magdalen is described as being loved by Jesus more than the other women and disciples, and the Gospel of Philip, which contains the symbolic imagery of the bridal chamber, to reinforce its hypothesis of a marriage between Christ and Mary Magdalen; The Da Vinci Code does the same.

The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail suggests that Jesus may have survived the crucifixion, and that Mary Magdalen, pregnant at that event, may have fled to France where she was protected by a Jewish kingdom at Narbonne. It continues:

According to other accounts, [the Grail] was brought by the Magdalene to France. As early as the fourth century legends describe the Magdalene fleeing the Holy Land and being set ashore near Marseilles--where for that matter, her purported relics are still venerated.

Further, 'according to medieval legends, she carried with her to Marseilles the Holy Grail. But the early legends say that the Magdalene brought the Grail into France, not a cup. In other words, the simple association of Grail and cup was a relatively late development'. We are then tantalized by another suggestion: that 'If our hypothesis is correct', the Holy Grail would have been both 'Jesus's bloodline and descendants--the 'Sang Raal' ... of which the Templars, were ... [the] guardians; and the receptacle or vessel containing Jesus's blood, the womb of Mary Magdalen'. The Da Vinci Code is of the same view.

The veracity of these hypotheses should be taken with a large dose of salt. There are no accounts or medieval legends of the Grail being brought by Mary Magdalen to France. The earliest legend of her fleeing the Holy Land is of the thirteenth century. The earliest account of Mary Magdalen's post-Ascension life appears in an Anglo-Saxon martyrology of c. 850, in which she retires as a hermit, hidden away in sorrow and love of Christ in a desert cave, a story that derives from the legend of the fifth-century penitent harlot St Mary of Egypt, who went into the desert to repent of her sins, naked to reject her worldly life, her hair growing down to cover her. As Mary Magdalen dies, a mass-priest gives her the last rites and buries her. By the eleventh century, this legend, known later as the Vita eremitica beatae Mariae Magdalenae ('Eremitical life') had become widespread, and Mary Magdalen's legend became one of the best-known saints' vitae, after the abbey of Vezelay in Burgundy claimed to possess her relics in 1050. Monsignor Victor Saxer (b.1918), doyen of Magdalenian scholarship, has traced the development of the legends. To the question of how her body had arrived in Gaul, the faithful were informed that it had been through the love of all-powerful God. Before long, however, Vezelay had to come up with something more concrete to explain its possession of the relics: this was the classic holy theft whereby various versions told of how a monk from Vezelay had been sent to near Aix to retrieve her body where it had been buried, before the Saracens invaded, and brought it back to the abbey for safe-keeping. The next step of the story related how the body had actually come to Provence. This was the vita apostolica, or apostolic life of Mary Magdalen, elements of which have been used in The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. Here Mary Magdalen and various companions, including one Maximinus, landed at Marseille, where they preached the gospel. Mary Magdalen converted the local prince and his wife to Christianity, and performed miracles such as helping the previously childless couple to conceive (thus becoming a patron saint of childbearing), and restoring the princess to life after being shipwrecked. In a later version, what The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail refers to as 'according to tradition, as well as certain early Church writers' and appears to treat as fact, she is accompanied by Martha and Lazarus, having been put to flight by the Jews in a leaky and rudderless vessel, which guided by God, also, arrives at Marseille--Martha goes to Tarascon to kill the wicked dragon, while Lazarus stays to become bishop of Marseille. The story is resumed in the compilation known as the Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine of 1276. All hagiographical material issued by one small Burgundian abbey, which prompted, as intended, a massive pilgrimage industry, particularly after the invention or discovery in 1259, of heaps of feminine hair (something that would to the medieval mentality confirm that the body was indeed that of Mary Magdalen). Then, in 1279, through the intervention of Mary Magdalen herself in a dream, the monks at St Maximin in Provence 'discovered' her relics in their church, turning the steps of the credulous faithful southwards. The instigator of the discovery of the Magdalen's relics at St Maximin was Charles of Anjou and Salerno, count of Provence.

So where do the Merovingians come in? Nowhere. In The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail we learn that if our hypothesis is correct, ... after fleeing the Holy Land, Jesus's wife and offspring found a refuge in the south of France, and in a Jewish community they preserved their lineage. During the fifth century this lineage appears to have intermarried with the royal line of the Franks, thus engendering the Merovingian dynasty.

There is no footnote to this amazing leap in historical speculation, although the occasional fact is referred to such as the assassination of Dagobert II in 679, and that 'despite all efforts to eradicate it, Jesus's bloodline--or at any rate, the Merovingian bloodline--survived ... in part through the Carolingians,.... who sought to legitimise themselves by dynastic alliance with Merovingian princesses'. Hard on the heels of the The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, Dan Brown follows.

Nor is there any link between Mary Magdalen and the French bloodline, as hypothesized by the authors of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail when they state that Louis XI (r.1461-83) regarded 'the Magdalene as a source of the French royal line', citing Sainte-Marie Madeleine (1860) by the Dominican H.D. Lacordaire, an apologist for the claims of St Maximin and the veracity of Mary Magdalen's sojourn in Provence. Either their French is bad or it is yet another instance of imagination running riot, for Lacordaire merely noted that the king was an 'example of limitless veneration' for Mary Magdalen, 'treating her as a daughter of France', and endowing his descendants 'with a pilgrimage proper to the French monarchy'. While it is true that the French monarchy, from Louis IX (r.1226-70), who attended the inventions both at Vezelay and St Maximin, to Francis I (r.1515-47), in particular, down to the eighteenth century, first supported and endowed Vezelay and then did the same for the convent at St Maximin and pilgrimage site at La Ste-Baume, it was not only the French royal house that did so. Royalty and nobility, as well as humbler pilgrims, from all over Europe came to the shrine of the most popular saint of Christendom after the Virgin Mary: among them Francis I, the emperor Charles V, his daughter-in-law Beatrice of Savoy, and princes such as Isabella d'Este, while several females of dynastic descent had themselves portrayed as the penitent in her grotto, such as the Archduchess Maria Magdalena of Tuscany in 1621.

Finally, it is interesting to note that after the loss to France of the duchy of Burgundy in 1477, the Burgundian Hapsburgs used the legendary apostolic life of Mary Magdalen to claim their prior right to the duchy. A manuscript of c.1486 now in the British Library, purporting to be a history of the house of Burgundy, states that Mary Magdalen converted their forebears, the king and queen of Burgundy (altering what in the legend had been the prince and princess 'of the province', or Provence), to Christianity. With the addition at the beginning of two apocryphal names, Trophime and Etienne (the king and his son), is a genealogical list that would have done The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail proud: Chilperic I and Sigismond IV of Burgundy, Clovis I, king of the Franks, converted by his wife Clothilde (of the Burgundian house which, according to the partisan historiographer was Christian 'long before there was a Christian king in France'), and Theuderic II, ending with the Archduke (later Holy Roman Emperor) Maximilian I (r.1477-82), and his son Philip the Handsome (r.1482-1506), father of Charles V.

Baigent and Leigh's recent case in the High Court against Dan Brown failed since using material both factual and in the public domain is not plagiarism. Had they claimed the stuff of their book to have been the authors' own invention, they might have got somewhere. That the central pivot to both The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail and The Da Vinci Code was a fiction could well have been established by the lack of connection between Mary Magdalen, Marseilles and the Merovingians.

SOURCE: Susan Haskins, "Mary Magdalen and the Kings of France," History Today (1 August 2006). Susan Haskins is the author of Mary Magdalen: Myth and Metaphor (HarperCollins, 1993). NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.

Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Mary Magdalen

2009-01-16T00:11:00.000-08:00

Reliquary with skull of Mary Magdalene. Basilica crypt, St. Maximin. Image courtesy of Magdalineage.com.

Mary Magdalen was so called either from Magdala near Tiberias, on the west shore of Galilee, or possibly from a Talmudic expression meaning "curling women's hair," which the Talmud explains as of an adulteress.

In the New Testament she is mentioned among the women who accompanied Christ and ministered to Him (Luke 8:2-3), where it is also said that seven devils had been cast out of her (Mark 16:9). She is next named as standing at the foot of the cross (Mark 15:40; Matthew 27:56; John 19:25; Luke 23:49). She saw Christ laid in the tomb, and she was the first recorded witness of the Resurrection.

The Greek Fathers, as a whole, distinguish the three persons:

the "sinner" of Luke 7:36-50;
the sister of Martha and Lazarus, Luke 10:38-42 and John 11; and
Mary Magdalen.

On the other hand most of the Latins hold that these three were one and the same. Protestant critics, however, believe there were two, if not three, distinct persons. It is impossible to demonstrate the identity of the three; but those commentators undoubtedly go too far who assert, as does Westcott (on John 11:1), "that the identity of Mary with Mary Magdalene is a mere conjecture supported by no direct evidence, and opposed to the general tenour of the gospels." It is the identification of Mary of Bethany with the "sinner" of Luke 7:37, which is most combatted by Protestants. It almost seems as if this reluctance to identify the "sinner" with the sister of Martha were due to a failure to grasp the full significance of the forgiveness of sin. The harmonizing tendencies of so many modern critics, too, are responsible for much of the existing confusion.

The first fact, mentioned in the Gospel relating to the question under discussion is the anointing of Christ's feet by a woman, a "sinner" in the city (Luke 7:37-50). This belongs to the Galilean ministry, it precedes the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand and the third Passover. Immediately afterwards St. Luke describes a missionary circuit in Galilee and tells us of the women who ministered to Christ, among them being "Mary who is called Magdalen, out of whom seven devils were gone forth" (Luke 8:2); but he does not tell us that she is to be identified with the "sinner" of the previous chapter. In 10:38-42, he tells us of Christ's visit to Martha and Mary "in a certain town"; it is impossible to identify this town, but it is clear from 9:53, that Christ had definitively left Galilee, and it is quite possible that this "town" was Bethany. This seems confirmed by the preceding parable of the good Samaritan, which must almost certainly have been spoken on the road between Jericho and Jerusalem. But here again we note that there is no suggestion of an identification of the three persons (the "sinner", Mary Magdalen, and Mary of Bethany), and if we had only St. Luke to guide us we should certainly have no grounds for so identifying them. St. John, however, clearly identifies Mary of Bethany with the woman who anointed Christ's feet (12; cf. Matthew 26 and Mark 14). It is remarkable that already in 11:2, St. John has spoken of Mary as "she that anointed the Lord's feet", he aleipsasa; It is commonly said that he refers to the subsequent anointing which he himself describes in 12:3-8; but it may be questioned whether he would have used he aleipsasa if another woman, and she a "sinner" in the city, had done the same. It is conceivable that St. John, just because he is writing so long after the event and at a time when Mary was dead, wishes to point out to us that she was really the same as the "sinner." In the same way St. Luke may have veiled her identity precisely because he did not wish to defame one who was yet living; he certainly does something similar in the case of St. Matthew whose identity with Levi the publican (5:7) he conceals.

If the foregoing argument holds good, Mary of Bethany and the "sinner" are one and the same. But an examination of St. John's Gospel makes it almost impossible to deny the identity of Mary of Bethany with Mary Magdalen. From St. John we learn the name of the "woman" who anointed Christ's feet previous to the last supper. We may remark here that it seems unnecessary to hold that because St. Matthew and St. Mark say "two days before the Passover", while St. John says "six days" there were, therefore, two distinct anointings following one another. St. John does not necessarily mean that the supper and the anointing took place six days before, but only that Christ came to Bethany six days before the Passover. At that supper, then, Mary received the glorious encomium, "she hath wrought a good work upon Me . . . in pouring this ointment upon My body she hath done it for My burial . . . wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached . . . that also which she hath done shall be told for a memory of her." Is it credible, in view of all this, that this Mary should have no place at the foot of the cross, nor at the tomb of Christ? Yet it is Mary Magdalen who, according to all the Evangelists, stood at the foot of the cross and assisted at the entombment and was the first recorded witness of the Resurrection. And while St. John calls her "Mary Magdalen" in 19:25, 20:1, and 20:18, he calls her simply "Mary" in 20:11 and 20:16.

In the view we have advocated the series of events forms a consistent whole; the "sinner" comes early in the ministry to seek for pardon; she is described immediately afterwards as Mary Magdalen "out of whom seven devils were gone forth"; shortly after, we find her "sitting at the Lord's feet and hearing His words." To the Catholic mind it all seems fitting and natural. At a later period Mary and Martha turn to "the Christ, the Son of the Living God", and He restores to them their brother Lazarus; a short time afterwards they make Him a supper and Mary once more repeats the act she had performed when a penitent. At the Passion she stands near by; she sees Him laid in the tomb; and she is the first witness of His Resurrection--excepting always His Mother, to whom He must needs have appeared first, though the New Testament is silent on this point. In our view, then, there were two anointings of Christ's feet--it should surely be no difficulty that St. Matthew and St. Mark speak of His head--the first (Luke 7) took place at a comparatively early date; the second, two days before the last Passover. But it was one and the same woman who performed this pious act on each occasion.

Subsequent history of St. Mary Magdalen

The Greek Church maintains that the saint retired to Ephesus with the Blessed Virgin and there died, that her relics were transferred to Constantinople in 886 and are there preserved. Gregory of Tours (De miraculis, I, xxx) supports the statement that she went to Ephesus. However, according to a French tradition (see SAINT LAZARUS OF BETHANY), Mary, Lazarus, and some companions came to Marseilles and converted the whole of Provence. Magdalen is said to have retired to a hill, La Sainte-Baume, near by, where she gave herself up to a life of penance for thirty years. When the time of her death arrived she was carried by angels to Aix and into the oratory of St. Maximinus, where she received the viaticum; her body was then laid in an oratory constructed by St. Maximinus at Villa Lata, afterwards called St. Maximin. History is silent about these relics till 745, when according to the chronicler Sigebert, they were removed to Vézelay through fear of the Saracens. No record is preserved of their return, but in 1279, when Charles II, King of Naples, erected a convent at La Sainte-Baume for the Dominicans, the shrine was found intact, with an inscription stating why they were hidden. In 1600 the relics were placed in a sarcophagus sent by Clement VIII, the head being placed in a separate vessel. In 1814 the church of La Sainte-Baume, wrecked during the Revolution, was restored, and in 1822 the grotto was consecrated afresh. The head of the saint now lies there, where it has lain so long, and where it has been the centre of so many pilgrimages.

SOURCE: Hugh Pope, "St. Mary Magdalen," The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910.) Retrieved 8 Feb. 2009 .

The Golden Legend

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Giotto. Mary Magdalene and Cardinal Pontano (c. 1320). Magdalen Chapel, Lower Church, San Francesco, Assisi. Courtesy Holy Mary Magdalene.

Mary is as much to say as bitter, or a lighter, or lighted. By this be understood three things that be three, the best parts that she chose. That is to say, part of penance, part of contemplation within forth, and part of heavenly glory. And of this treble part is understood that is said by our Lord: Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken from her. The first part shall not be taken from her because of the end, which is the following of blessedness; the second because of continuance, for the continuance of her life is continued with the contemplation of her country. The third by reason of perdurableness; and forasmuch as she chose the best part of penance, she is said: a bitter sea, for therein she had much bitterness. And that appeared in that she wept so many tears that she washed therewith the feet of our Lord. And for so much as she chose the part of contemplation withinforth, she is a lighter, for there she took so largely that she spread it abundantly. She took the light there, with which after she enlumined other, and in that she chose the best part of the heavenly glory, she is called the light. For then she was enlumined of perfect knowledge in thought, and with the light in clearness of body. Magdalene is as much as to say as abiding culpable. Or Magdalene is interpreted as closed or shut, or not to be overcome. Or full of magnificence, by which is showed what she was tofore her conversion, and what in her conversion, and what after her conversion. For tofore her conversion she was abiding guilty by obligation to everlasting pain. In the conversion she was garnished by armour of penance. She was in the best wise garnished with penance. For as many delices as she had in her, so many sacrifices were found in her. And after her conversion she was praised by overabundance of grace. For whereas sin abounded, grace overabounded, and was more, etc.

Mary Magdalene had her surname of Magdalo, a castle, and was born of right noble lineage and parents, which were descended of the lineage of kings. And her father was named Cyrus, and her mother Eucharis. She with her brother Lazarus, and her sister Martha, possessed the castle of Magdalo, which is two miles from Nazareth, and Bethany, the castle which is nigh to Jerusalem, and also a great part of Jerusalem, which, all these things they departed among them. In such wise that Mary had the castle Magdalo, whereof she had her name Magdalene. And Lazarus had the part of the city of Jerusalem, and Martha had to her part Bethany. And when Mary gave herself to all delights of the body, and Lazarus entended all to knighthood, Martha, which was wise, governed nobly her brother's part and also her sister's, and also her own, and administered to knights, and her servants, and to poor men, such necessities as they needed. Nevertheless, after the ascension of our Lord, they sold all these things, and brought the value thereof, and laid it at the feet of the apostles.

MARY MAGDALENE AND JESUS

Then when Magdalene abounded in riches, and because delight is fellow to riches and abundance of things; and for so much as she shone in beauty greatly, and in riches, so much the more she submitted her body to delight, and therefore she lost her right name, and was called customably a sinner. And when our Lord Jesu Christ preached there and in other places, she was inspired with the Holy Ghost, and went into the house of Simon leprous, whereas our Lord dined. Then she durst not, because she was a sinner, appear tofore the just and good people, but remained behind at the feet of our Lord, and washed his feet with the tears of her eyes and dryed them with the hair of her head, and anointed them with precious ointments. For the inhabitants of that region used baths and ointments for the overgreat burning and heat of the sun. And because that Simon the Pharisee thought in himself that, if our Lord had been a very prophet, he would not have suffered a sinful woman to have touched him, then our Lord reproved him of his presumption, and forgave the woman all her sins.

Giotto. Raising of Lazarus (c. 1320). Magdalen Chapel, Lower Church, San Francesco, Assisi. Courtesy Holy Mary Magdalene.

And this is she, that same Mary Magdalene to whom our Lord gave so many great gifts. And showed so great signs of love, that he took from her seven devils. He embraced her all in his love, and made her right familiar with him. He would that she should be his hostess, and his procuress on his journey, and he ofttimes excused her sweetly; for he excused her against the Pharisee which said that she was not clean, and unto her sister that said she was idle, unto Judas, who said that she was a wastresse of goods. And when he saw her weep he could not withhold his tears. And for the love of her he raised Lazarus which had been four days dead, and healed her sister from the flux of blood which had held her seven years. And by the merits of her he made Martelle, chamberer of her sister Martha, to say that sweet word: Blessed be the womb that bare thee, and the paps that gave thee suck. But, after St. Ambrose, it was Martha that said so, and this was her chamberer.

Giotto. "Noli me tangere" (c. 1320). Magdalen Chapel, Lower Church, San Francesco, Assisi. Courtesy Holy Mary Magdalene.

This Mary Magdalene is she that washed the feet of our Lord and dried them with the hair of her head, and anointed them with precious ointment, and did solemn penance in the time of grace, and was the first that chose the best part, which was at the feet of our Lord, and heard his preaching. Which anointed his head; at his passion was nigh unto the cross; which made ready ointments, and would anoint his body, and would not depart from the monument when his disciples departed. To whom Jesu Christ appeared first after his resurrection, and was fellow to the apostles, and made of our Lord apostolesse of the apostles, then after the ascension of our Lord, the fourteenth year from his passion, long after that the Jews had slain St. Stephen, and had cast out the other disciples out of the Jewry, which went into divers countries, and preached the word of God.

Giotto. Voyage to Marseilles (c. 1320). Magdalen Chapel, Lower Church, San Francesco, Assisi. Courtesy Mary Magdalen: Later Life in Provence.

MARY MAGDALENE GOES TO MARSEILLES WITH MARTHA AND LAZARUS

There was that time with the apostles St. Maximin, which was one of the seventy-two disciples of our Lord, to whom the blessed Mary Magdalene was committed by St. Peter, and then, when the disciples were departed, St. Maximin, Mary Magdalene, and Lazarus her brother, Martha her sister, Marcelle, chamberer of Martha, and St. Cedony which was born blind, and after enlumined of our Lord; all these together, and many other Christian men were taken of the miscreants and put in a ship in the sea, without any tackle or rudder, for to be drowned. But by the purveyance of Almighty God they came all to Marseilles, where, as none would receive them to be lodged, they dwelled and abode under a porch tofore a temple of the people of that country.

And when the blessed Mary Magdalene saw the people assembled at this temple for to do sacrifice to the idols, she arose up peaceably with a glad visage, a discreet tongue and well speaking, and began to preach the faith and law of Jesu Christ, and withdrew from the worshipping of the idols. Then were they amarvelled of the beauty, of the reason, and of the fair speaking of her. And it was no marvel that the mouth that had kissed the feet of our Lord so debonairly and so goodly, should be inspired with the word of God more than the other.

THE MIRACLE CHILD

And after that, it happed that the prince of the province and his wife made sacrifice to the idols for to have a child. And Mary Magdalene preached to them Jesu Christ and forbade them those sacrifices. And after that a little while, Mary Magdalene appeared in a vision to that lady, saying: Wherefore hast thou so much riches and sufferest the poor people our Lord to die for hunger and for cold?

And she doubted, and was afraid to show this vision to her lord. And then the second night she appeared to her again and said in likewise and adjousted thereto menaces, if she warned not her husband for to comfort the poor and needy, and yet she said nothing thereof to her husband.

And then she appeared to her the third night, when it was dark, and to her husband also, with a frowning and angry visage like fire, like as all the house had burned, and said: Thou tyrant and member of thy father the devil, with that serpent thy wife, that will not say to thee my words, thou restest now enemy of the cross, which hast filled thy belly by gluttony, with divers manner of meats and sufferest to perish for hunger the holy saints of our Lord. Liest thou not in a palace wrapped with clothes of silk. And thou seest them without harbour, discomforted, and goest forth and takest no regard to them. Thou shalt not escape so ne depart without punishment, thou tyrant and felon because thou hast so long tarried.

And when Mary Magdalene had said thus she departed away. Then the lady awoke and sighed. And the husband sighed strongly also for the same cause, and trembled. And then she said: Sir, hast thou seen the sweven that I have seen?

I have seen, said he, that I am greatly amarvelled of, and am sore afraid what we shall do.

And his wife said: It is more profitable for us to obey her, than to run into the ire of her God, whom she preacheth.

For which cause they received them into their house, and ministered to them all that was necessary and needful to them.

Then as Mary Magdalene preached on a time, the said prince said to her: Weenest thou that thou mayst defend the law that thou preachest?

And she answered: Certainly, I am ready to defend it, as she that is confirmed every day by miracles, and by the predication of our master, St. Peter, which now sitteth in the see at Rome.

To whom then the prince said: I and my wife be ready to obey thee in all things, if thou mayst get of thy god whom thou preachest, that we might have a child.

And then Mary Magdalene said that it should not be left, and then prayed unto our Lord that he would vouchsafe of his grace to give to them a son. And our Lord heard her prayers, and the lady conceived. Then her husband would go to St. Peter for to wit if it were true that Mary Magdalene had preached of Jesu Christ. Then his wife said to him: What will ye do sir, ween ye to go without me? Nay, when thou shalt depart, I shall depart with thee, and when thou shalt return again I shall return, and when thou shalt rest and tarry, I shall rest and tarry.

To whom her husband answered, and said: Dame, it shall not be so, for thou art great, and the perils of the sea be without number. Thou mightest lightly perish, thou shalt abide at home and take heed to our possessions.

And this lady for nothing would not change her purpose, but fell down on her knees at his feet sore weeping, requiring him to take her with him. And so at last he consented, and granted her request. Then Mary Magdalene set the sign of the cross on their shoulders, to the end that the fiend might not empesh ne let them in their journey. Then charged they a ship abundantly of all that was necessary to them, and left all their things in the keeping of Mary Magdalene, and went forth on their pilgrimage.

And when they had made their course, and sailed a day and a night, there arose a great tempest and orage. And the wind increased and grew over hideous, in such wise that this lady, which was great, and nigh the time of her childing, began to wax feeble, and had great anguishes for the great waves and troubling of the sea, and soon after began to travail, and was delivered of a fair son, by occasion of the storm and tempest, and in her childing died.

And when the child was born he cried for to have comfort of the teats of his mother, and made a piteous noise. Alas! what sorrow was this to the father, to have a son born which was the cause of the death of his mother, and he might not live, for there was none to nourish him. Alas! what shall this pilgrim do, that seeth his wife dead, and his son crying after the breast of his mother? And the pilgrim wept strongly and said: Alas! caitiff, alas! What shall I do? I desired to have a son, and I have lost both the mother and the son.

And the mariners then said: This dead body must be cast mto the sea, or else we all shall perish, for as long as she shall abide with us, this tempest shall not cease.

And when they had taken the body for to cast it into the sea, the husband said: Abide and suffer a little, and if ye will not spare to me my wife, yet at least spare the little child that cryeth, I pray you to tarry a while, for to know if the mother be aswoon of the pain, and that she might revive.

And whilst he thus spake to them, the shipmen espied a mountain not far from the ship. And then they said that it was best to set the ship toward the land and to bury it there, and so to save it from devouring of the fishes of the sea. And the good man did so much with the mariners, what for prayers and for money, that they brought the body to the mountain. And when they should have digged for to make a pit to lay the body in, they found it so hard a rock that they might not enter for hardness of the stone. And they left the body there lying, and covered it with a mantle.
And the father laid his little son at the breast of the dead mother and said weeping: O Mary Magdalene, why camest thou to Marseilles to my great loss and evil adventure? Why have I at thine instance enterprised this journey? Hast thou required of God that my wife should conceive and should die at the childing of her son? For now it behoveth that the child that she hath conceived and borne, perish because it hath no nurse. This have I had by thy prayer, and to thee I commend them, to whom I have commended all my goods. And also I commend to thy God, if he be mighty, that he remember the soul of the mother, that he by thy prayer have pity on the child that he perish not.

Then covered he the body all about with the mantle, and the child also, and then returned to the ship, and held forth his journey. And when he came to St. Peter, St. Peter came against him, and when he saw the sign of the cross upon his shoulder, he demanded him what he was, and wherefore he came, and he told to him all by order. To whom Peter said: Peace be to thee, thou art welcome, and hast believed good counsel. And be thou not heavy if thy wife sleep, and the little child rest with her, for our Lord is almighty for to give to whom he will, and to take away that he hath given, and to reestablish and give again that he hath taken, and to turn all heaviness and weeping into joy.

Then Peter led him into Jerusalem, and showed to him all the places where Jesu Christ preached and did miracles, and the place where he suffered death, and where he ascended into heaven. And when he was well-informed of St. Peter in the faith, and that two years were passed sith he departed from Marseilles, he took his ship for to return again into his country.

And as they sailed by the sea, they came, by the ordinance of God, by the rock where the body of his wife was left, and his son. Then by prayers and gifts he did so much that they arrived thereon. And the little child, whom Mary Magdalene had kept, went oft sithes to the seaside, and, like small children, took small stones and threw them into the sea. And when they came they saw the little child playing with stones on the seaside, as he was wont to do. And then they marvelled much what he was. And when the child saw them, which never had seen people tofore, he was afraid, and ran secretly to his mother's breast and hid him under the mantle. And then the father of the child went for to see more appertly, and took the mantle, and found the child, which was right fair, sucking his mother's breast. Then he took the child in his arms and said: O blessed Mary Magdalene, I were well happy and blessed if my wife were now alive, and might live, and come again with me into my country. I know verily and believe that thou who hast given to me my son, and hast fed and kept him two years in this rock, mayst well re-establish his mother to her first health.

And with these words the woman respired, and took life, and said, like as she had been waked of her sleep: O blessed Mary Magdalene thou art of great merit and glorious, for in the pains of my deliverance thou wert my midwife, and in all my necessities thou hast accomplished to me the service of a chamberer.

And when her husband heard that thing he amarvelled much, and said: Livest thou my right dear and best beloved wife?

To whom she said: Yea, certainly I live, and am now first come from the pilgrimage from whence thou art come, and all in like wise as St. Peter led thee in Jerusalem, and showed to thee all the places where our Lord suffered death, was buried and ascended to heaven, and many other places, I was with you, with Mary Magdalene, which led and accompanied me, and showed to me all the places which I well remember and have in mind. And there recounted to him all the miracles that her husband had seen, and never failed of one article, ne went out of the way from the sooth.

And then the good pilgrim received his wife and his child and went to ship. And soon after they came to the port of Marseilles. And they found the blessed Mary Magdalene preaching with her disciples. And then they kneeled down to her feet, and recounted to her all that had happened to them, and received baptism of St. Maximin. And then they destroyed all the temples of the idols in the city of Marseilles, and made churches of Jesu Christ. And with one accord they chose the blessed St. Lazarus for to be bishop of that city.

And afterward they came to the city of Aix, and by great miracles and preaching they brought the people there to the faith of Jesu Christ. And there St. Maximin was ordained to be bishop.

Giotto. Mary Magdalen taken up in the air (c. 1320). Magdalen Chapel, Lower Church, San Francesco, Assisi. Courtesy Mary Magdalen: Later Life in Provence.

MARY MAGDALENE IN THE DESERT

In this meanwhile the blessed Mary Magdalene, desirous of sovereign contemplation, sought a right sharp desert, and took a place which was ordained by the angel of God, and abode there by the space of thirty years without knowledge of anybody. In which place she had no comfort of running water, ne solace of trees, ne of herbs. And that was because our Redeemer did do show it openly, that he had ordained for her refection celestial, and no bodily meats. And every day at every hour canonical she was lifted up in the air of angels, and heard the glorious song of the heavenly companies with her bodily ears. Of which she was fed and filled with right sweet meats, and then was brought again by the angels unto her proper place, in such wise as she had no need of corporal nourishing.

A Priest is Granted a Vision of St. Mary Magdalene

It happed that a priest, which desired to lead a solitary life, took a cell for himself a twelve-furlong from the place of Mary Magdalene. On a day our Lord opened the eyes of that priest, and he saw with his bodily eyes in what manner the angels descended into the place where the blessed Magdalene dwelt, and how they lifted her in the air, and after by the space of an hour brought her again with divine praisings to the same place. And then the priest desired greatly to know the truth of this marvellous vision, and made his prayers to Almighty God, and went with great devotion unto the place.

And when he approached nigh to it a stone's cast, his thighs began to swell and wax feeble, and his entrails began within him to lack breath and sigh for fear. And as soon as he returned he had his thighs all whole, and ready for to go. And when he enforced him to go to the place, all his body was in languor, and might not move.

And then he understood that it was a secret celestial place where no man human might come, and then he called the name of Jesu, and said: I conjure thee by our Lord, that if thou be a man or other creature reasonable, that dwellest in this cave, that thou answer me, and tell me the truth of thee.

And when he had said this three times, the blessed Mary Magdalene answered: Come more near, and thou shalt know that thou desirest.

And then he came trembling unto the half way, and she said to him: Rememberest thou not of the gospel of Mary Magdalene, the renowned sinful woman, which washed the feet of our Saviour with her tears, and dried them with the hair of her head, and desired to have forgiveness of her sins?

And the priest said to her: I remember it well, that is more than thirty years that holy church believeth and confesseth that it was done.

She Sends the Priest to St. Maximin

And then she said: I am she that by the space of thirty years have been here without witting of any person, and like as it was suffered to thee yesterday to see me, in like wise I am every day lift up by the hands of the angels into the air, and have deserved to hear with my bodily ears the right sweet song of the company celestial. And because it is showed to me of our Lord that I shall depart out of this world, go to Maximin, and say to him that the next day after the resurrection of our lord, in the same time that he is accustomed to arise and go to matins, that he alone enter into his oratory, and that by the ministry and service of angels he shall find me there.

And the priest heard the voice of her, like as it had been the voice of an angel, but he saw nothing; and then anon he went to St. Maximin, and told to him all by order.

St. Maximin’s Vision of St. Mary Magdalene

Then St. Maximin was replenished of great joy, and thanked greatly our Lord. And on the said day and hour, as is aforesaid, he entered into his oratory, and saw the blessed Mary Magdalene standing in the quire or choir yet among the angels that brought her, and was lift up from the earth the space of two or three cubits. And praying to our Lord she held up her hands, and when St. Maximin saw her, he was afraid to approach to her. And she returned to him, and said: Come hither mine own father, and flee not thy daughter.

And when he approached and came to her, as it is read in the books of the said St. Maximin, for the customable vision that she had of angels every day, the cheer and visage of her shone as clear as it had been the rays of the sun.

Her Soul is Taken to Heaven

And then all the clerks and the priests aforesaid were called, and Mary Magdalene received the body and blood of our Lord of the hands of the bishop with great abundance of tears, and after, she stretched her body tofore the altar, and her right blessed soul departed from the body and went to our Lord.

And after it was departed, there issued out of the body an odour so sweet-smelling that it remained there by the space of seven days to all them that entered in. And the blessed Maximin anointed the body of her with divers precious ointments, and buried it honourably, and after commanded that his body should be buried by hers after his death.

The Witness of Hegesippus and Josephus

Hegesippus, with other books of Josephus accord enough with the said story, and Josephus saith in his treatise that the blessed Mary Magdalene, after the ascension of our Lord, for the burning love that she had to Jesu Christ and for the grief and discomfort that she had for the absence of her master our Lord, she would never see man. But after when she came into the country of Aix, she went into desert, and dwelt there thirty years without knowing of any man or woman. And he saith that, every day at the seven hours canonical she was lifted in the air of the angels. But he saith that, when the priest came to her, he found her enclosed in her cell; and she required of him a vestment, and he delivered to her one, which she clothed and covered her with. And she went with him to the church and received the communion, and then made her prayers with joined hands, and rested in peace.

MIRACLES OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE

The Duke of Burgundy and the Translation of Her Relics

In the time of Charles the great, in the year of our Lord seven hundred and seventy-one, Gerard, duke of Burgundy might have no child by his wife, wherefore he gave largely alms to the poor people, and founded many churches, and many monasteries. And when he had made the abbey of Vesoul, he and the abbot of the monastery sent a monk with a good reasonable fellowship into Aix, for to bring thither if they might of the relics of St. Mary Magdalene.

And when the monk came to the said city, he found it all destroyed of paynims. Then by adventure he found the sepulchre, for the writing upon the sepulchre of marble showed well that the blessed lady Mary Magdalene rested and lay there, and the history of her was marvellously entailed and carved in the sepulchre. And then this monk opened it by night and took the relics, and bare them to his lodging. And that same night Mary Magdalene appeared to that monk, saying: Doubt thee nothing, make an end of the work. Then he returned homeward until he came half a mile from the monastery. But he might in no wise remove the relics from thence, till that the abbot and monks came with procession, and received them honestly. And soon after the duke had a child by his wife.

The Pilgrim Knight Revived

There was a knight that had a custom every year to go a pilgrimage unto the body of St. Mary Magdalene, which knight was slain in battle. And as his friends wept for him Iying on his bier, they said with sweet and devout quarrels, why she suffered her devout servant to die without confession and penance. Then suddenly he that was dead arose, all they being sore abashed, and made one to call a priest to him, and confessed him with great devotion, and received the blessed sacrament, and then rested in peace.

The Mother Saved from Shipwreck

There was a ship charged with men and women that was perished and all to-brake, and there was among them a woman with child, which saw herself in peril to be drowned, and cried fast on Mary Magdalene for succour and help, making her avow that if she might be saved by her merits, and escape that peril, if she had a son she should give him to the monastery. And anon as she had so avowed, a woman of honourable habit and beauty appeared to her, and took her by the chin and brought her to the rivage all safe, and the other perished and were drowned. And after, she was delivered and had a son, and accomplished her avow like as she had promised.

The Story of Mary Magdalene and St. John

Some say that St. Mary Magdalene was wedded to St. John the Evangelist when Christ called him from the wedding, and when he was called from her, she had thereof indignation that her husband was taken from her, and went and gave herself to all delight, but because it was not convenable that the calling of St. John should be occasion of her damnation, therefore our Lord converted her mercifully to penance, and because he had taken from her sovereign delight of the flesh, he replenished her with sovereign delight spiritual tofore all other, that is the love of God. And it is said that he ennobled St. John tofore all other with the sweetness of his familiarity, because he had taken him from the delight aforesaid.

She Helps a Blind Man See Her Church

There was a man which was blind on both his eyes, and did him to be led to the monastery of the blessed Mary Magdalene for to visit her body. His leader said to him that he saw the church. And then the blind man escried and said with a high voice: O blessed Mary Magdalene, help me that I may deserve once to see thy church. And anon his eyes were opened, and saw clearly all things about him.

The Man Whose Sins Were Erased

There was another man that wrote his sins in a schedule and laid it under the coverture of the altar of Mary Magdalene, meekly praying her that she should get for him pardon and forgiveness, and a while after, he took the schedule again, and found all his sins effaced and struck out.

The Man in Debtors’ Prison

Another man was holden in prison for debt of money, in irons. And he called unto his help ofttimes Mary Magdalene. And on a night a fair woman appeared to him and brake all his irons, and opened the door, and commanded him to go his way; and when he saw himself loose he fled away anon.

The Sinful Clerk of Flanders

There was a clerk of Flanders named Stephen Rysen, and mounted in so great and disordinate felony, that he haunted all manner sins. And such thing as appertained to his health he would not hear. Nevertheless he had great devotion in the blessed Mary Magdalene and fasted her vigil, and honoured her feast.

And on a time as he visited her tomb, he was not all asleep nor well awaked, when Mary Magdalene appeared to him like a much fair woman, sustained with two angels, one on the right side, and another on the left side, and said to him, looking on him despitously: Stephen, why reputest thou the deeds of my merits to be unworthy? Wherefore mayst not thou at the instance of my merits and prayers be moved to penance? For sith the time that thou begannest to have devotion in me, I have alway prayed God for thee firmly. Arise up therefore and repent thee, and I shall not leave thee till thou be reconciled to God.

And then forthwith he felt so great grace shed in him, that he forsook and renounced the world and entered into religion, and was after of right perfect life. And at the death of him was seen Mary Magdalene, standing beside the bier with angels which bare the soul up to heaven with heavenly song in likeness of a white dove.

Then let us pray to this blessed Mary Magdalene that she get us grace to do penance here for our sins, that after this life we may come to her in everlasting bliss in heaven. Amen.

SOURCE: Jacobus de Voragine, "The Life of St. Mary Magdalene," The Golden Legend (c. 1275). Englished by William Caxton, 1st Ed., (1483). From the Temple Classics, Edited by F.S. Ellis (1900).

This text was taken from the Internet Medieval Source Book. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted texts related to medieval and Byzantine history. Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for educational purposes and personal use. If you do reduplicate the document, indicate the source. No permission is granted for commercial use. E-text © Paul Halsall, September 2000.

De Vita Beatae Mariae Magdalenae Et Sororis Ejus Sanctae Marthae

2009-01-14T23:37:00.001-08:00

Found a link to De Vita Beatae Mariae Magdalenae Et Sororis Ejus Sanctae Marthae originally attributed to Rabanus Maurus (788-856). The text is from Migne, ed., Patrologia Latina 112, Cols. 1431-1507.

Homily 33

2009-01-11T21:33:00.000-08:00

Pope Gregory I declared in 591 that:

She whom Luke calls the sinful woman, whom John calls Mary, we believe to be Mary from whom seven devils were ejected according to Mark. And what did these seven devils signify, if not all the vices? … It is clear, brothers, that the woman previously used the unguent to perfume her flesh in forbidden acts.

Gosple of Phillip

2009-01-11T10:34:00.000-08:00

The following excerpts are from two translations of the Gospel of Phillip.

There were three who always walked with the Lord: Mary, his mother, and her sister, and Magdalene, the one who was called his companion. His sister and his mother and his companion were each a Mary. . . .

And the companion of the [...] Mary Magdalene. [...] loved her more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often on her mouth. The rest of the disciples [...]. They said to him "Why do you love her more than all of us?" The Savior answered and said to them,"Why do I not love you like her? When a blind man and one who sees are both together in darkness, they are no different from one another. When the light comes, then he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in darkness.

SOURCE: Wesley W. Isenberg, trans., "The Gospel of Phillip," The Nag Hammadi Library (Retrieved 8 June 2009).

------------------------------
36. There were three Mariams who walked with the Lord at all times: his mother and [his] sister and (the) Magdaleneº— this one who is called his Companionº. Thus his (true¹) Mother and Sister and Mate is (also called) ‘Mariam’. (¹i.e. the Sacred Spirit; Mk 3:35, Th 101, Ph 59; hyperlinear) . . .

59. The wisdom which (humans) call barren is herself the Mother of the Angels. (Pro 8:12+32, Lk 7:35!!, Ph 40) And the Companion of the [Christ] is Mariam the Magdalene. The [Lord loved] Mariam more than [all the (other)] Disciples, [and he] kissed her often on her [mouth].¹ The other [women] saw his love for Mariam,² they say to him: Why do thou love [her] more than all of us? The Saviorº replied,² he says to them: Why do I not love you as (I do) her? (¹Pro 24:26, S-of-S 1:2 6:9, Ph 35 36 40; ²asyndeton; Th 61b; hyperlinear)
Companion (36 59); Greek ΚΟΙΝΩΝΟΣ (associate, partner; NB plural at Lk 5:10!); see Mate; the feminine of this Greek word does not mean ‘wife’; moreover, contrary to the claim made in the popular novel The Da Vinci Code (2003), neither does the underlying Aramaic, rbx (khaver: female companion), mean ‘spouse’; regarding Leonardo's famous painting, in his own highly secretive Notebooks I.665 he unambiguously refers to that figure as a male!: ‘Notes on the Last Supper’; see also the video presentation.

Magdalene (36 59): Hebrew ldgm (migdal: watchtower) Pro 18:10, Isa 5:1-2, Mic 4:8, Lk 8:2, Jn 20:1-18; it should be noted that ΑΠΤΩ in Jn 20:17 means not merely ‘touch, cling to’ but also ‘kindle, ignite’ (as in Lk 8:16) and thus ‘caress’, as also in Lk 7:39.

Mate (30 36 64 65 80 86 87 89 119 120 131 134 142): Coptic 6wtr (C 726b) = Greek ΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΑ (common-being); sexual union; cp. Israelite ‘concubinage’, non-marital sexual union (in which any offspring do not inherit), as Abraham with Hagar and Ketura (Gen 16 & 25:1-6) or King David (II-Sam 15:16)— forbidden neither by the Torah nor by Christ (Ex 20:14, Lev 20:10, Mt 5:28 refer only to the wife of another man, not to an unmarried woman or a widow); see Companion, Prostitution, Sacrament and Unite.

SOURCE: Paterson Brown, trans., "The Gospel of Phillip," Metalogos: The Gospels of Thomas, Philip and Truth (Retrieved 8 June 2009).

Gospel of Mary

2009-01-11T06:09:00.000-08:00

In this gnostic gospel, Mary Magdalene appears as a disciple, singled out by Jesus for special teachings. In this excerpt, the other disciples are discouraged and grieving Jesus' death. Mary stands up and attempts to comfort them, reminding them that Jesus' presence remains with them. Peter asks her to tell them the words of Jesus which she remembers. To his surprise, she does not reminisce about past conversations with Jesus, but claims that Jesus spoke to her that very day in a vision.

But they were grieved. They wept greatly, saying, "How shall we go to the gentiles and preach the gospel of the kingdom of the Son of Man? If they did not spare him, how will they spare us?" Then Mary stood up, greeted them all, and said to her brethren, "Do not weep and do not grieve nor be irresolute, for His grace will be entirely with you and will protect you. But rather let us praise His greatness, for He has prepared us and made us into men." When Mary said this, she turned their hearts to the Good, and they began to discuss the words of the [Saviour].

Peter said to Mary, "Sister, we know that the Saviour loved you more than the rest of women. Tell us the words of the Saviour which you remember - which you know (but) we do not, nor have we heard them." Mary answered and said, "What is hidden from you I will proclaim to you." And she began to speak to them these words: "I," she said, "I saw the Lord in a vision and I said to him, 'Lord, I saw you today in a vision.' He answered and said to me, 'Blessed are you that you did not waver at the sight of me. For where the mind is, there is the treasure.' I said to him, 'Lord, how does he who sees the vision see it through the soul or through the spirit?' The Saviour answered and said, 'He does not see through the soul nor through the spirit, but the mind which [is] between the two - that is [what] sees the vision...'

(the mid-section of the original text is missing)

"[S] it. And desire that, 'I did not see you descending, but now I see you ascending. Why do you lie, since you belong to me?' The soul answered and said, 'I saw you. You did not see me nor recognise me. I served you as a garment, and you did not know me.' When it had said this, it went away rejoicing greatly.

"Again it came to the third power, which is called ignorance. It (the power) questioned the soul saying, 'Where are you going? In wickedness are you bound. But you are bound; do not judge!' And the soul said, 'Why do you judge me although I have not judged? I was bound though I have not bound. I was not recognised. But I have recognised that the All is being dissolved, both the earthly (things) and the heavenly'.

When the soul had overcome the third power, it went upwards and saw the fourth power, (which) took seven forms. The first form is darkness, the second desire, the third ignorance, the fourth is the excitement of death, the

fifth is the kingdom of the flesh, the sixth is the foolish wisdom of flesh, the seventh is the wrathful wisdom. These are the seven [powers] of wrath. They ask the soul, "Whence do you come, slayer of men, or where are you going, conqueror of space?" The soul answered and said, "What binds me has been slain, and what surrounds me has been overcome, and my desire has been ended and ignorance has died. In a [world] I was released from a world, [and] in a type from a heavenly type, and (from) the fetter of oblivion which is transient. From this time on will I attain to the rest of the time, of the season, of the aeon, in silence."

When Mary had said this, she fell silent, since it was to this point that the Saviour had spoken with her. But Andrew answered and said to the brethren, "Say what you (wish to) say about what she has said. I at least do not believe that the Saviour said this. For certainly these teachings are strange ideas." Peter answered and spoke concerning these same things. He questioned them about the Saviour: "Did He really speak with a woman without our knowledge (and) not openly? Are we to turn about and all listen to her? Did He prefer her to us?"

Then Mary wept and said to Peter, "My brother Peter, what do you think? Do you think that I thought this up myself in my heart, or that I am lying about the Saviour? Levi answered and said to Peter, "Peter, you have always been hot - tempered. Now I see you contending against the woman like the adversaries. But if the Saviour made her worthy, who are you indeed to reject her? Surely the Saviour knows her very well. That is why He loved her more than us. Rather let us be ashamed and put on the perfect man and acquire him for ourselves as He commanded us, and preach the gospel, not laying down any other rule or other law beyond what the Saviour said." ... and they began to go forth [to] proclaim and to preach.

From The Nag Hammadi Library in English, J M Robinson, Harper Collins. See also: PBS' "From Jesus to Christ: The Gospel of Mary."

The Woman with the Alabaster Jar

2009-01-10T15:18:00.000-08:00

Margaret Starbird, The Woman with the Alabaster Jar (Santa Fe, NM: Bear & Co., 1993).

The previous six posts contain the only Biblical mentions of Mary Magdalene. But in Mark 14: 1-9, an unnamed woman with precious nard in an alabaster vial comes to the house of Simon the leper in Bethany in order to anoint Jesus:

1 Now the Passover and Unleavened Bread was two days off, and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to seize Him by stealth, and kill Him;

2 for they were saying, "Not during the festival, lest there be a riot of the people."

3 And while He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head.

4 But some were indignantly remarking to one another, "Why has this perfume been wasted?

5 "For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor." And they were scolding her.

6 But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me.

7 "For the poor you always have with you, and whenever you wish, you can do them good; but you do not always have Me.

8 "She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.

9 "And truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, that also which this woman has done shall be spoken of in memory of her."

SOURCE: Alfred Marshall, trans. "Mark 14: 1-9," The Interlinear NASB-NIV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993), pp. 147-148. NASB version.

The corresponding passage in Luke occurs in chapter 7 before the Magdalene is introduced:

36 Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him. And He entered the Pharisee's house, and reclined at the table.

37 And behold, there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume,

38 And standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet, and anointing them with the perfume.

39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner."

SOURCE: Alfred Marshall, trans. "Luke 7: 36-39," The Interlinear NASB-NIV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993), pp. 188-189. NASB version.

Then Jesus proceeds to tell the Parable of the Two Debtors and forgives the woman's sins. In Matthew 26 we have the following version:

6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper,

7 a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it upon His head as He reclined at the table.

8 But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, "Why this waste?

9 "For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor."

10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me.

11"For the poor you have with you always; but you do not always have Me.

12 "For when she poured this perfume upon My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial.

13 "Truly I say to you, whereever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done shall be spoken of in memory of her."
SOURCE: Alfred Marshall, trans. "Matthew 26: 6-13," The Interlinear NASB-NIV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993), p. 86. NASB version.

Following this episode we have the betrayal of Judas. How did the sinner get to be associated with the Magdalene? Susan Haskins (1993: 17-18) states that:

It may have been because the sinner rushed into the Pharisee's house with her alabastron to ask forgiveness for her sins and to anoint Christ in gratitude that she was associated with the female disciple who had seven devils cast from her, and who went to anoint Christ in his death. That the second woman, Mary Magdalen, is first described by Luke immediately after the scene in the Pharisee's house may have given rise to the idea that they were one and the same woman, and the fact that she was also numbered amongst the women "healed of evil spirits and infirmities" could have reinforced her identification with a sinner, despite the fact that possession by evil spirits is nowhere else equated with sin. It is because Mary Magdalen went to anoint Christ that she is also associated, as we shall see, with Mary of Bethany.

John 20: 1-18

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1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb.

2 And so she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him."

3 Peter therefore went forth, and the other disciple, and they were going to the tomb.

4 And the two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter, and came to the tomb first;

5 and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in.

6 Simon Peter therefore also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he beheld the linen wrappings lying there,

7 and the face-cloth, which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.

8 So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb entered then also, and he saw and believed.

9 For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.

10 So the disciples went away again to their own homes.

11 But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb;

12 and she beheld two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying.

13 And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him."

14 When she had said this, she turned around, and beheld Jesus standing there, and did not know it was Jesus.

15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away."

16 Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).

17 Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren, and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'"

18 Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and that He had said these things to her.

SOURCE: Alfred Marshall, trans. "John 20: 1-18," The Interlinear NASB-NIV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993), pp. 331-333.

John 19: 25-27

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25 Therefore the soldiers did these things. But there were standing by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!"

27 Then He said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her into his own household.

SOURCE: Alfred Marshall, trans. "John 19: 25-27," The Interlinear NASB-NIV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993), pp. 329-330.

Luke 24: 1-10

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1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, bringing spices which they had prepared.

2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,

3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

4 And it happened that while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling apparel;

5 and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead?

6 "He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee,

7 saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again."

8 And they remembered his words,

9 and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.

10 Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles.

SOURCE: Alfred Marshall, trans. "Luke 24: 1-10," The Interlinear NASB-NIV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993), pp. 255-256. NASB version.

Luke 8: 1-3

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1 And it came about soon afterwards, that He began going about from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God; and the twelve were with Him,

2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary, who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,

3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means.

SOURCE: Alfred Marshall, trans. "Luke 8: 1-3," The Interlinear NASB-NIV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993), p. 190. NASB version.

Mark 15:40-16:11

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40 There were also some women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, and Salome.

41 When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and minister to Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

42 When evening had already come, because it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,

43 Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus.

44 Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead.

45 And ascertaining this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.

46 Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.

47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were looking on to see where He was laid.

Mark 16

1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him.

2 Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.

3 They were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"

4 Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large.

5 Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed.

6 And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.

7 "But go, tell His disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.'"

8 They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

9 Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons.

10 She went and reported to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and weeping.

11 When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it.

SOURCE: Alfred Marshall, trans. "Mark 15: 40-16: 11," The Interlinear NASB-NIV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993), pp. 156-157. NASB version. NOTE: Some of the oldest manuscripts do not contain vs. 9-20.

Matthew 27:55-28:8

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55 And many women were there looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him,

56 among whom was Mary Magdalene, along with Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

57 And when it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.

58 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilated ordered it to be given over to him.

59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,

60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away.

61 And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave.

62 Now on the next day, which is the one after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate,

63 and said, "Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I am to rise again.'

64 "Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, lest the disciples come and steal Him away and say to the people, 'He has risen from the dead,' and the last deception will be worse than the first."

65 Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how."

66 And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.

Chapter 28

1 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.

2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled the stone and sat upon it.

3 And his appearance was like lightning, and his garment as white as snow;

4 and the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.

5 And the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.

6 "He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the the place where He was lying.

7 "And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going before you into Galilee, there you will see him; behold, I have told you."

8 And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.

SOURCE: Alfred Marshall, trans. "Matthew 27:55-28:8," The Interlinear NASB-NIV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993), pp. 96-98.