Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene [traditionally Greek=of Magdala ], Christian saint, a woman widely venerated in Christendom. The name Madeleine is a French form of Magdalene. She appears in the New Testament as a woman whose evil spirits are cast out by Jesus, as a watcher at the Cross, as an attendant at Jesus' burial, and as one of those who found the tomb empty (Mat. 27.56,61; 28; Mark 15.47; 16; Luke 8.2; 24; John 19.25; 20). Long-standing tradition identifies her with the repentant prostitute who anointed Jesus' feet (Luke 7.36-50). Some also identify her with the sister of Martha (Luke 10.38). Because of the legend (held completely improbable by the Roman Catholic Church) that St. Mary Magdalene lived in penitence at Sainte-Baume, W Var dept., France, the grotto there became a place of pilgrimage. The principal aspect of her cult is as the penitent, hence the word Magdalen. In many of the Gnostic gospels (see Gnosticism ), Mary Magdalene is favored by Jesus and is among the most prominent of his disciples. Artistic representations deal particularly with her repentance, with her bathing of the feet of Jesus, and with her meeting with Jesus after the resurrection. She appears in representations of Jesus' crucifixion and burial. Frequently she is shown with red hair. Feast: July 22.

Mary Magdalen The leader of a group of women who supported Jesus in his itinerant ministry (Luke 8: 1–3). Her home according to some MSS was in Magdala, probably to be identified with Tarichaea, where there was a Hellenistic fishing industry, and she had been healed of a serious disease (‘seven demons’). She was apprised of the resurrection at the empty tomb and gave the news to the disciples (Matt. 28: 5–9), though at first she was disbelieved (Luke 24: 11, 22–48). An appearance to her alone is recorded by John 20: 11–18. There has been much modern speculation about the relation between Jesus and Mary Magdalen, but this says more about the authors' imagination than about the biblical text.

Mary Magdalen(e). A follower of Jesus out of whom he cast seven devils, who ministered to him in Galilee (Luke 8. 2). She remained close to the Cross (Mark 15. 40) with other women (when the male disciples had fled), and she was the first to meet the risen Christ, being charged to proclaim the resurrection to the eleven. For that reason, she was called (first by Hippolytus of Rome, early 3rd cent.) ‘the apostle to the apostles’. However, Gregory I merged Mary Magdalene with two other Marys, the sinner who anointed Jesus (Luke 7. 37) and Mary of Bethany who also anointed him (John 12. 3), thus producing the composite figure of the sexually aberrant penitent. From this, ‘Magdalens’ became a term for prostitutes who had turned to Christ, and for the Houses which took them in, sometimes as specific religious orders. There is, however, no ground for Gregory's identifications, and they have been abandoned even by the Roman Catholic Church where they had great emotional importance.