Feast day: 22 July
St Mary Magdalene is one of the most mysterious characters in the New Testament. There is only one mention of her before the crucifixion: "Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven devils had gone out.” (Luke 8:2)
It would seem that she followed Jesus with the other women disciples, who provided for him out of their own resources. The mention of the seven devils appears again in the longer version of Mark (16:9). Apart from Luke's brief mention, Mary Magdalene - like Joseph of Arimathea - appeared out of nowhere and - again like him - disappeared into legend after the Resurrection. This being said, Mary Magdalene seems to have played a leading role at the crucifixion and death of Jesus and at his Resurrection. Three of the evangelists name her as being with Jesus at the cross (Matthew, Mark and John), and the same three state that she was the first to see the risen Lord, while Luke mentions her being sent to the apostles by angels to bring the Good News.
There is no evidence for her having been a prostitute. It is said that the place which she took her name from, Magdala, had a bad reputation, which may explain the connection. Mary of Magdala became merged into the "composite Mary" which included the unnamed sinful woman (Lk 7:36-50) and Mary of Bethany, friend of Jesus (John 12:3-4), both of whom anointed him. It was Ephraim the Syrian in the fourth century who first merged the women, and later Gregory the Great in 591 declared that all three women were one. It was only in 1969 that Mary Magdalene was recognised as being a separate person. Pope John Paul II, in his Dignitatam Mulieris, recognized Mary Magdalene as apostle to the apostles.
Unlike the others Mary followed as a faithful disciple till the end. She stood at the cross with Our Lady, the Beloved Disciple and the other women. Silently she witnessed Jesus' terrible suffering, staying with him till at last he yielded himself up to the Father. She was with Joseph of Arimathea as Jesus was buried, and on the third day came to anoint him. The sight of the empty tomb filled her with such desperation that she did not even recognise her Lord when he stood before her. Tenderly he called her by her name and she realised that he had risen as he said he would.
The passage following this encounter (Jn 20:14-18) is one of the most beautiful love scenes in the whole bible. Many theological insights have been read into the encounter; a simple explanation would be that Jesus was simply telling Mary that she had no need to cling to him as he hadn't gone away yet! Mary realised then that she would never lose him again and that now he would be closer to her than ever. At this point she was quite happy to leave him and run off to share the good news with her brothers.
Mary Magdalene would never fit into institutional structures. Her only motivation was her love for Jesus, she acted from the impulses of her heart and for this she became the model disciple following him to the end when others had abandoned him.
St Mary Magdalene, friend and companion of Jesus and apostle to the apostles, pray for us.