Mary Magdalene is mentioned in the Gospels as being among the women
of Galilee who followed Jesus and His disciples, and who was present at
His Crucifixion and Burial, and who went to the tomb on Easter Sunday
to anoint His body. She was the first to see the Risen Lord, and to
announce His Resurrection to the apostles. Accordingly, she is referred
to in early Christian writings as "the apostle to the apostles."
The Gospel relates that Mary Magdalene was present on Golgotha at the moment of the Lord's Crucifixion. While all the disciples of the Savior ran away, she remained fearlessly at the cross
together with the Mother of God and the Apostle John. All that and
amazingly enough, people don't want women to be Priests or Bishops, but
I digress. ;)
The Evangelists point out that among those standing at the cross
were also the mother of the Apostle James the Less, and Salome, and
other women followers of the Lord from Galilee itself, but all mention
first Mary Magdalene; but the Apostle John aside the Mother of God,
names only her and Mary Cleopas. This indicates how much she stood out
from amidst all the women gathered round the Lord.
She was faithful to Him not only in the days of His Glory, but also at the moment of His extreme humiliation and insult. As
the Evangelist Matthew relates, she was present at the burial of the
Lord. Before her eyes Joseph and Nikodemos went out to the tomb with
His lifeless body; before her eyes they covered over the entrance to
the cave with a large stone, behind which went the Son of Life.
Tradition testifies, that when the Apostles departed from Jerusalem
for preaching to all the ends of the earth, with them also went Mary
Magdalene to preach. A daring woman, whose heart was full of
reminiscence of the Resurrection, she went beyond her native borders
and set off to preach in pagan Rome. And everywhere she proclaimed to
people about Christ and His Teaching, and when many did not believe
that Christ is risen, she repeated to them what she had said to the
Apostles on the radiant morning of the Resurrection: "I have seen the
Lord!" With this preaching she made the rounds of all Italy.
Tradition relates, that in Italy Mary Magdalene visited the Emperor
Tiberius (14-37 AD) and proclaimed to him about Christ's Resurrection.
According to tradition, she took him an egg as a symbol of the
Resurrection, a symbol of new life with the words: "Christ is Risen!"
Then she told Tiberius that, in his Province of Judea, Jesus the
Galilean, an holy man, a maker or miracles, powerful before God and all
mankind, was executed on the instigation of the Jewish High-Priests and
the sentence affirmed by the procurator Pontius Pilate. Tiberias
responded that no one could rise from the dead, anymore than the egg
she had brought could turn red. The egg turned red immediately, as
testimony to what Mary was preaching.
Thanks to Mary Magdalene the custom to give each other paschal eggs
on the day of the Luminous Resurrection of Christ spread among
Christians over all the world.
Mary Magdalene continued her preaching in Italy and in the city of
Rome itself. Evidently, the Apostle Paul has precisely her in view in
Romans 16:6, where together with other ascetics of evangelic preaching
he mentions Mary (Mariam), who as he expresses "has done much for us."
Evidently, she extensively served the Church, being exposed to dangers,
and sharing with the Apostles the labors of preaching.
According to Church tradition, she remained in Rome until the
arrival of the Apostle Paul, and for two more years still, following
his departure from Rome after the first court judgment upon him. From
Rome, Saint Mary Magdalene, already bent with age, moved to Ephesus
where unceasingly labored the holy Apostle John, who with her wrote the
first 20 Chapters of his Gospel (John 1-9, John 10-20). There the saint
finished her earthly life and was buried.
*Many of the words and ideas above are from various sources around the web, not all my own.
O Almighty God, Who by Your Holy Spirit has made us one with Your saints in heaven and on
earth: Grant that in our earthly pilgrimage we may ever be supported by this fellowship of love
and prayer, and know ourselves to be surrounded by their witness to Your power and mercy. We
ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ, in Whom all our intercessions are acceptable through the
Spirit, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
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