Thanks to Dan Brown, the name of Mary Magdalene has attracted the attention of modern society. Many became interested in the life of the saint, even without ever reading the Gospel story. However, the life of Mary Magdalene, her miracles and missionary activities are not the subject of fiction, but are confirmed by the apostolic books and testimonies of the first Christians and Roman historians.
She was one of the myrrh-bearing women, the disciples of Christ, who followed Him and the apostles even during the earthly life of the Lord. They "served their estate", that is, they helped in everyday life. They received the name “myrrh-bearing women” thanks to their main feat of fearlessness - they brought the precious myrrh to the Holy Sepulcher in order to complete the burial of Christ, despite the danger from the Roman guards.
Life of Mary Magdalene
In the Holy Gospel and throughout the New Testament, St. Mary Magdalene is mentioned more than once. Together with other myrrh-bearing women, she followed Christ and the apostles, “serving with her possessions,” that is, helping in everyday life. They received the name “myrrh-bearing women” thanks to their main feat of fearlessness - they brought the precious myrrh to the Holy Sepulcher in order to complete the burial of Christ, despite the danger from the Roman guards. The nickname "Magdalene" indicates that she came from the city of Magdala, which is north of Jerusalem.
In the Gospel of Luke, the evangelist mentions that Christ cast out seven demons from Mary Magdalene, but does not say how and when this happened. The well-known researcher and writer, Archpriest Nikolai Agafonov, in the novel The Myrrh-Bearing Women, suggests that Maria's father was killed by robbers, ruining the family home, and therefore she went crazy with grief.
There is no mention in any Gospel, in any of the early Christian testimonies or Roman historical annals that the Lord Jesus Christ was married or was in connection with Mary Magdalene. This should be recognized as an invention of later historians.
It is known that Mary Magdalene, along with other myrrh-bearing women, stood at the Cross of the Lord on Golgotha at the time when all the apostles fled. Seeing the death of Christ, all the apostles, afraid to approach His Cross, betrayed the Lord. Christ, except for the apostles and His Mother, had no relatives - and now, abandoned by almost all the apostles, the Lord was dying on the Cross. Perhaps that is why only one of the apostles who remained with Christ at the time of His death, the Apostle John the Theologian, died of old age; the rest, in order to achieve holiness, atone for their sin and sit on the throne in the Kingdom of Heaven, had to testify to their loyalty to God. They died a martyr's death, while the myrrh-bearing women were at the Cross, not being afraid of the Roman soldiers, and subsequently peacefully carried the teachings of Christ to people.
All the Gospels also tell that it was St. Mary Magdalene that Christ was one of the first to appear after the Resurrection. Together with Maria Cleopova, Salome, Maria Jacobleva, Susanna and Joanna (the exact number of myrrh-bearing women is unknown), she wanted to go to the tomb of Christ, but she came first, and it was to her after His Resurrection that He appeared alone. At first she mistook Him for a gardener, apparently not recognizing him after the Resurrection, but then she fell on her knees and exclaimed: “My Lord and my God!” realizing that Christ is before her. Interestingly, the apostles, actually the closest disciples of Christ, for a long time did not believe the myrrh-bearing women that Christ had risen until He Himself appeared to them.
Then Saint Mary Magdalene went around many cities preaching the word of the Lord. One of the most important episodes of her apostolic activity was a sermon before the emperor of Rome, Tiberius himself. Note that other apostles did not come to the emperor, only a weak woman - St. Mary. It was customary to come to the emperor with gifts, while the poorest people brought at least chicken eggs. Saint Mary told Tiberius about Christ, His death and Resurrection, but he did not believe her, saying that the egg she brought as a gift would sooner turn red than a person would be resurrected after three days in the tomb. When the saint handed the egg to the emperor, it turned red - since then, the scarlet color has become the symbolic color of Easter and the Easter vestments of priests.
In her declining years, she settled in a community of Christians led by the holy Apostle John the Theologian in the city of Ephesus. (However, according to Catholic tradition, the last years of St. Mary were spent in Marseille - in Italy). It was revealed to her by the Lord Himself when her last hour would come. She died happy.
Shrines and churches in honor of St. Mary Magdalene
Since the saint is known not only for her missionary work, but also for her miraculous help to people, a number of hospitals, shelters and schools in Russia were named after her even before the revolution. Today the name of St. Mary is again remembered. So, the most famous temples in her honor
- In Moscow: in South Butovo, at the Imperial Commercial School, in Lyubertsy.
- In St. Petersburg: at the Mariinsky Hospital and the Children's Hospital of St. Mary Magdalene, named after her.
- In Minsk, there is a youth community that conducts active missionary and charitable activities, makes pilgrimage trips.
Image of Saint Mary
The strength of the spirit, the scale of the personality of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary are reflected on each of her icons.
Every Orthodox Christian knows and reveres many saints. Prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ and His Most Pure Mother is a common petition that accompanies the life of a believer. But often it seems to us that our requests are small for God, and doubts overcome: will He hear us, will He have mercy ... In such cases, they pray to spiritual patrons - saints. Traditionally, it is customary to pray in different areas of life to different saints. In addition, every Christian has his own patron - the namesake saint. Find the patron saint by date of birth.
Women with one of the most common names in our country, Mary, will have no difficulty in determining the patron saint - you can choose your saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene. Every Orthodox Christian can also pray to St. Mary: she is an example of courage, service to God and people, willpower.
The iconography, that is, the composition of the icon, the clothes and attributes of the image of St. Mary Magdalene are traditional for all saints glorified in the guise of the Equal-to-the-Apostles, and are also supplemented by a vessel of holy ointment.
Equal-to-the-Apostles are people who became like the apostles and served the Lord by constantly preaching the gospel word, converting people to Christianity. In the face of Equal-to-the-Apostles there are many holy rulers who converted their subjects to the faith of Christ.
On icons, Mary Magdalene is traditionally depicted standing, with a cross - a symbol of preaching in her right hand and a small vessel of holy ointment in her left.
Saint Mary Magdalene is one of only six Equal-to-the-Apostles women in history. In addition to her, this face includes the martyr Apphia, the first martyr Thekla, Tsarina Elena, the Russian princess Olga and the enlightener of Georgia Nina. Interestingly, Equal-to-the-Apostles Empress Helena was the mother of Equal-to-the-Apostles Tsar Constantine the Great, who enlightened the Byzantine Empire, and Princess Olga was the grandmother of Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, Enlightener of Russia.
The expression of the face of the saint on the images is interesting: often it is strict, even severe - the saint courageously walks with a vessel of peace towards the possible danger of being killed by Roman soldiers for the teachings of Christ. However, today there are more and more icons that inherit the tradition of iconography created by Viktor Vasnetsov. This early 20th-century icon painter created a sketch for a mosaic for the Darmstadt Cathedral in the birthplace of the Holy Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Nicholas II. Vasnetsov depicted the saint as a spiritualized woman walking forward, perhaps even at the moment when she saw the Risen Christ.
Mary Magdalene in world culture
It should be noted that at some point, St. Mary Magdalene became associated in culture with a penitent harlot, despite the fact that the Gospel does not say anything about her sins, only that Christ cast out demons from out of nowhere.
In the Middle Ages, according to researchers, three female images dominated: a woman-tempter, a woman-repentant and forgiven sinner, and a woman-Queen of Heaven, Mother of God. Saint Mary Magdalene appeared in the form of a penitent sinner. It was she who became the most revered saint among ordinary parishioners, believers who did not dare to compare themselves with the Mother of God, but did not want to tempt. Christian women found an analogy of their earthly life in the penitent Magdalene.
Memorial Day of Mary Magdalene
The feast of the myrrh-bearing women is not as widespread in Russia as, for example, the Trinity. Before the revolution, it was called "Indian Week". On the eve of the week of the myrrh-bearing women, Radonitsa was celebrated - they commemorated the dead. The Week of the Myrrh-bearing Women itself is celebrated two weeks after Easter.
Today, the feast of the Myrrh-Bearing Women has become an international Orthodox Women's Day. On this day, performances about saints are staged, many parishes have started a good tradition, during which priests give flowers and small icons to all parishioners. Sunday school students give their mothers and teachers handmade gifts.
A separate day of remembrance of St. Mary Magdalene is celebrated on the day of her repose to the Lord - July 4, according to the new style (July 22, old).
On this day, they pray to her with a special prayer with glorification - magnificence:
We magnify you, Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene, and we honor your holy memory, O saint, who enlightened the whole world with her teachings and led people to Christ.
Through the prayers of St. Mary Magdalene, God bless you!
She was born and raised in the city of Magdala on the shores of Lake Gennesaret, which is why she got her nickname. The Gospel does not tell us anything about Mary's early years, but Tradition tells us that Mary of Magdala was young, beautiful, led a sinful life and fell into a frenzy. The Gospel says that the Lord cast out seven demons from Mary. Through the illness of Mary Magdalene, the glory of God appeared, and she herself acquired the great virtue of complete trust in the will of God and unshakable devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. From the moment of her healing, Mary began a new life, became a faithful disciple of the Savior.
The Gospel tells that Mary Magdalene followed the Lord when He and the Apostles passed through the cities and villages of Judea and Galilee preaching the Kingdom of God. Together with pious women - Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Susanna and others, she served Him from her estates (Lk. 8, 1-3) and, undoubtedly, shared with the apostles evangelistic works, especially among women.
Obviously, she, along with other women, is meant by the evangelist Luke, telling that at the time of Christ's procession to Golgotha, when, after the scourging, He carried the heavy Cross on Himself, exhausted under its weight, the women followed Him, weeping and sobbing, and He comforted them. The Gospel tells that Mary Magdalene was also on Golgotha at the time of the crucifixion of the Lord. When all the disciples of the Savior fled, she fearlessly remained at the Cross along with the Mother of God and the Apostle John. The Evangelists list among those standing at the Cross also the mother of the Apostle James the Less, and Salome, and other women who followed the Lord from Galilee itself, but everyone calls Mary Magdalene the first, and the apostle John, except for the Mother of God, mentions only her and Mary Cleopova. This indicates how much she stood out from among all the women who surrounded the Savior.
Holy Mary Magdalene accompanied the Most Pure Body of the Lord Jesus Christ during His transfer to the tomb in the garden of the righteous Joseph of Arimathea, she was at His burial (Mt 27:61; Mk 15:47).
Faithful to the law in which she was brought up, Mary, along with other women, remained all the next day at rest, for the day of that Sabbath was great, coinciding that year with the feast of Easter. But still, before the day of rest, the women managed to stock up on fragrances so that on the first day of the week they would come at dawn to the tomb of the Lord and Teacher and, according to the custom of the Jews, anoint His body with funeral aromas. It must be assumed that, having agreed to go to the Sepulcher on the first day of the week early in the morning, the holy women, dispersing on Friday evening to their homes, did not have the opportunity to meet each other on the Sabbath day, and as soon as the light of the next day dawned, they went to the tomb not together, but each from his own house. The Evangelist Matthew writes that the women came to the tomb at dawn, or, as the Evangelist Mark puts it, very early, at sunrise; Evangelist John, as if supplementing them, says that Mary came to the tomb so early that it was still dark. Apparently, she was looking forward to the end of the night, but, not waiting for dawn, when darkness still reigned all around, she ran to where the body of the Lord lay.
She came to her senses and again ran to the apostles in order to fulfill the will of the One who sent her to preach. Again she ran into the house, where the apostles were still in confusion, and proclaimed to them the joyful news: " Saw the Lord!" So Mary became the world's first preacher of the Resurrection, an evangelist to the evangelists.
Holy Scripture does not tell about the life of Mary Magdalene after the resurrection of Christ, but one can think that if in the terrible moments of the crucifixion of Christ she was at the foot of His Cross with His Most Pure Mother and John, then she remained with them all the near future after the resurrection and ascension Lord. So St. Luke writes in the book of the Acts of the Apostles that all the apostles with one accord remained in prayer and supplication with some women and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
Holy Tradition tells that when the apostles left Jerusalem to preach to all parts of the world, Mary Magdalene went with them to preach. The brave woman left her native land and went to preach in Rome. Everywhere she proclaimed to people about Christ and His teachings, and when many did not believe that Christ had risen, she repeated to them the same thing that she had said to the apostles on the bright morning of the Resurrection: " I saw the Lord". With this sermon, she went around all of Italy.
Tradition says that in Italy, Mary Magdalene appeared to the emperor Tiberius (14-37) and preached to him about the Risen Christ. She brought him a red egg as a symbol of the Resurrection, a symbol of new life with the words: " Christ is risen!"Then she told the emperor that in his province of Judea, Jesus the Galilean, a saintly man who worked miracles, strong before God and all people, was innocently condemned, executed at the slander of the Jewish high priests, and the sentence was approved by the procurator appointed by Tiberius Pontius Pilate. Mary repeated the words of the apostles that those who believe in Christ are redeemed from a vain life, not with corruptible silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ as a spotless and pure Lamb.
Obviously, it is Mary Magdalene that the apostle Paul has in mind in his Epistle to the Romans (Rom. 16:6), where, along with other ascetics of the preaching of the gospel, he mentions Mary (Mariam), who " worked hard for us Evidently, she was among those who wholeheartedly served the Church both with their own means and with their labors, being exposed to dangers, and shared with the apostles the labors of preaching.
According to Church tradition, she stayed in Rome until the arrival of the Apostle Paul there and two more years after his departure from Rome after the first trial of him. From Rome, Saint Mary Magdalene, already in her old age, moved to Ephesus, where the holy Apostle John worked tirelessly, who wrote the 20th chapter of his Gospel from her words. There the holy earthly life ended and was buried.
Relics and veneration
The Church canonized Saint Mary Magdalene as a Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles. The Orthodox Church sacredly honors the memory of St. Mary Magdalene, who, being called by the Lord Himself from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, showed an example of complete conversion, began a new life and never hesitated on this path. She loved the Lord and remained with Him both in honor and in dishonor, which is why, knowing her fidelity, He was the first to appear to her, rising from the tomb, and it was she who was worthy to be the first preacher of His Resurrection.
The holy relics of Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary were in - years, under Emperor Leo VI the Philosopher (886-912), transferred from Ephesus to Constantinople and laid in the temple
", we continue to collect and link together the scattered information about the mysterious, covered with ancient legends, secrets and sacred venerations of the name. Why delve into the legends of a thousand years of antiquity, when you do not know for sure what happened just a century ago, the reader will ask. is it easier to leave it as it is and habitually be content with generally recognized versions of the Orthodox and Catholic traditions?In this habitual and indifferent contentment, we admit, after all, humanity has spent truly terrible two thousand years, having gone through bloody wars, conquests and crusades, milestones of economic enslavement, as a result, having built everything - a technocratic model of a consumer society in which knowledge about the nature of man and the purpose of his short stay on this small beautiful planet is completely lost. And today, even if someone does not believe, but we have come close to the verge beyond which another global destruction is possible. Why? and we will try to answer through a deep consideration of the essence of such a grandiose, seemingly fantastic and unthinkable phenomenon for ordinary mediocre consciousness, like. Indeed, behind this name, believe me, there is much more than the story of one of the devoted disciples of one of the Teachers of mankind.
Let us not at all doubt the historical fact of the coming of the Savior as the Son of God in those distant times and in his epoch-making mission. Worryingly, there is a well-founded suspicion that true teachings of Christ was distorted, rewritten and adapted to create a new powerful, more advanced religious institution, the purpose of which is ordinary power and manipulation of the consciousness of the masses. We will certainly highlight in the near future the striking paradoxicality of the fanatical conviction of the religious consciousness of Christians in their own exclusivity and ambitions for the Truth, while the officially recognized and objective point of view of modern historians tritely casts doubt on almost all the basic sources, which for some reason are unshakable and unshakable for the billionth church electorate. untouchable phenomena of "manifestations of divine revelation". Not in order to encroach on the dignity of believers of one of the revered religions, but in order to look at the situation from a slightly different angle, in order to still see the truth through the deceitful dustiness of centuries-old snows. Judging by the information found in the Gnostic works of the Nag Hammadi library, there is good reason to believe that the true Teaching of Christ went with her, Mary Magdalene, to the circles of the early Gnostic Christians, while the other branch, the apostolic "through Peter and Paul" created what we see today. Further confrontation or struggle for power divided the followers of Christ into DISCISENTS and APOSTOLIC CHRISTIANS. As a result, the second simply destroyed the first. Read more about this in.
So, not unreasonably continuing to assume that Mary Magdalene is That, thanks to which our human civilization has been “floating” for two millennia, let's take a closer look at the form in which information about her has come down to our days through the Orthodox and Catholic tradition. We will use the most authoritative information from Wikipedia.
Mary Magdalene(Hebrew מרים המגדלית, other Greek Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνή, lat. Maria Magdalena) - a devoted follower of Jesus Christ, a Christian saint, myrrh-bearer, who, according to the gospel text, followed Christ, was present at his Crucifixion and was a witness to his posthumous apparition. In the Orthodox and Catholic churches, the veneration of Magdalene differs: Orthodoxy honors her according to the gospel text - exclusively as a myrrh-bearing woman cured of seven demons and appearing only in a few episodes of the New Testament, and in the tradition of the Catholic Church for a long time it was customary to identify with her image of a penitent harlot and Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus, and to include extensive legendary material.
In the New Testament, her name is mentioned only in a few episodes:
- She was healed by Jesus Christ from being possessed by seven demons (Luke 8:2; Mark 16:9)
- Then she began to follow Christ, serving him and sharing her property (Mark 15:40-41, Luke 8:3)
- Then she was present at Golgotha at the death of Jesus (Matt. 27:56, etc.)
- After that, she witnessed his burial (Mt. 27:61, etc.)
- She also became one of the myrrh-bearing women to whom the angel announced the Resurrection (Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1-8)
- She was the first to see the resurrected Jesus, at first she mistook him for a gardener, but when she found out, she rushed to touch him. Christ did not allow her to do this (Do not touch Me), but instead instructed the apostles to announce his resurrection (John 20:11-18).
In the Orthodox tradition
In Orthodoxy, Mary Magdalene is revered as a saint Equal to the Apostles, relying only on the gospel testimonies listed above. In Byzantine literature, you can find a continuation of her story: after spending some time in Jerusalem, some time after the Crucifixion, Mary Magdalene went to Ephesus with the Virgin Mary to John the Theologian and helped him in his labors. (It is worth noting that it is John who provides the most information about Magdalene out of the four evangelists).
It is believed that Mary Magdalene preached the gospel in Rome, as evidenced by the appeal to her in the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Romans: "Greet Miriam, who worked hard for us" (Rom. 16:6). Probably, in connection with this journey, an Easter tradition associated with her name arose later. The death of Mary Magdalene, according to this current of Christianity, was peaceful, she died in Ephesus.
Orthodox tradition, unlike Catholicism, does not identify Mary Magdalene with the unnamed evangelical sinner, and venerates her exclusively Equal-to-the-Apostles holy myrrh-bearer. There is no mention of fornication in her Akathist. In addition, Orthodoxy did not identify the Magdalene with several other evangelical women, which happened in Catholicism, it traditionally honored these women separately. Dimitry of Rostov emphasizes: “The Eastern Greek-Russian Orthodox Church now, as before, recognizes all these three personalities, mentioned in the Gospels with different signs, as different, special ones, not wanting to base historical information on arbitrary, only probable interpretations.”
Relics in Orthodoxy.
According to Demetrius of Rostov's Readings of the Menaion, in 886, during the reign of Emperor Leo VI the Philosopher, the relics of the saint who had died in Ephesus were solemnly transferred to the monastery of Saint Lazarus in Constantinople. Their further fate is not described. At present, the relics of Mary Magdalene are known to be found in the following Athos monasteries: Simonopetra (hand), Esfigmen (foot), Dochiar (particle) and Kutlumush (particle).
In the Catholic tradition
In the Catholic tradition, Mary Magdalene, called directly by name only in the New Testament testimonies listed above, was identified with several other gospel characters:
- Mary, mentioned in the Gospel of John as the sister of Martha and Lazarus, who received Jesus at their home in Bethany (John 12:1-8)
- unnamed woman who anointed the head of Jesus in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper (Matt. 26:6-7, Mark 14:3-9)
- a nameless sinner (harlot) who washed the feet of Christ with ointment in the house of Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:37-38) (for more details, see Anointing of Jesus with ointment).
Thus, Magdalene, identifying with these characters (as well as borrowing some plots from the life of the non-evangelical repentant sinner of the 5th century, St. Mary of Egypt), acquires the features of a penitent harlot. Its main attribute is a vessel with incense.
According to this tradition, Magdalene earned fornication, after seeing Christ, she left the craft and began to follow him, then in Bethany she washed his feet with the world and wiped them with her hair, was present at Golgotha, etc., and then became a hermit in the territory of modern France.
Opinion of the Fathers of the Church. The image of a harlot.
One of the main reasons for identifying Magdalene with a harlot is the recognition by the Western Church that she was the nameless woman who washed the feet of Jesus with the world.
And behold, a woman of that city, who was a sinner, having learned that He was reclining in the house of the Pharisee, brought an alabaster vessel of ointment, and, standing behind at His feet and weeping, she began to pour her tears over His feet and wipe her hair with her head, and kissed His feet. , and smeared with peace. (Luke 7:37-38).
The problem of reconciling the gospel stories about the anointing of Jesus by an anonymous woman was solved by the Fathers of the Church in different ways (for more details, see Anointing of Jesus with Chrism). In particular, St. Augustine believed that all three anointings were performed by the same woman. Clement of Alexandria and Ambrose of Milan also admitted that we could be talking about the same woman.
Indirect evidence of the identification of Mary of Bethany with Mary Magdalene is first found in the Commentary on the Song of Songs by Hippolytus of Rome, indicating that the first to whom the resurrected Jesus appeared were Mary and Martha. This is obviously about the sisters of Lazarus, but placed in the context of the morning of the Resurrection, in which Mary Magdalene actually appears in all four Gospels. The identification of all the women appearing in the gospel stories about the anointing of Jesus with Mary Magdalene was finally made by the Pope, St. Gregory the Great (591): “The one whom Luke calls a sinful woman, whom John calls Mary (from Bethany), we believe is that Mary, from whom seven demons were expelled according to Mark ”(23 omily). The unspecified sin of Mary Magdalene/Mary of Bethany was interpreted as fornication, that is, prostitution.
In the popular consciousness of the inhabitants of medieval Europe, the image of the penitent harlot Mary Magdalene gained extreme popularity and colorfulness and has been entrenched to this day. This myth found reinforcement and literary processing in the "Golden Legend" by Yakov Voraginsky - a collection of the lives of the saints, the second most common book in the Middle Ages after the Bible.
In the 20th century, the Catholic Church, in an effort to correct possible errors of interpretation, softens the wording - after the reform in the Novus Ordo calendar of 1969, Mary Magdalene no longer appears as a "repentant". But, despite this, the traditional perception of her as a repentant harlot by the mass consciousness, which has developed over the centuries due to the influence of a large number of works of art, remains unchanged.
SUMMARY
And again we are faced with an impenetrable "sacred" fog, cast in the early Christian centuries by the brilliant "architects" of human history. Do not let it go then, who knows what creative path our civilization would have taken and what heights it could have reached. In the meantime, nothing is known for certain about Mary Magdalene from official sources, but on a subconscious level, the vast majority formed an erroneous opinion: " this story doesn't look very clean, so don't go into too much detail ". This is at least what the author of these lines thought until now. And given that 90% of the parishioners have no idea who is depicted on the icons, just a slight unobtrusive hint of "impurity" is enough to compare with the "most holy church fathers" the name of Magdalene was bypassed.
To be fair, let's sum up a little intermediate result:
- Mary Magdalene was not a harlot possessed by demons- because there is no direct indication of this anywhere.
- Mary Magdalene was the most favorite student Jesus Christ, of which the testimonies are:
- - Gospels of Philip
- - Gospel of Mary
- - the mysterious painting by Leonardo da Vinci "The Last Supper",
- - the version of Rigden Djappo himself (!!!), about it later...
- Pure Knowledge from Jesus went with Mary to the early Gnostic groups, which were subsequently ruthlessly destroyed by representatives of apostolic Christianity (here we can draw a tragic analogy with the Cathars, in the XII century).
- It was Mary Magdalene that Jesus Christ entrusted secret of the holy grail(more on this in our next posts).
- In addition, the history of the Knights Templar deserves special consideration, who worshiped her as the greatest shrine ...
In conclusion, we can say the following, in our opinion, the fog was not thrown by chance, and it is far from accidental that the name of Mary today is indirectly defamed, and defined in the church shadow. They try not to mention her, she is not on revered icons, they do not know about her. In Orthodox churches, her image can be seen near the crucifixion of Christ - hunched back, with a darkened face, downcast eyes. This is how I see her from those ancient and memorable times, when I first crossed the threshold of an Orthodox church. Neither in the large-circulation Orthodox literature that I read later, nor in the "soul-saving conversations" with confessors later, have I ever heard any mention of either her life or her spiritual feat.
Consciously or unknowingly, the Church diligently keeps silent about Mary Magdalene. And we already know why.
Prepared by: Dato Gomarteli (Ukraine-Georgia)
In the last decade, the entire publishing industry has taken to writing about Mary Magdalene. But instead of seeing the saint as she was understood in the Christian tradition, for some modern writers she has become the "Goddess of the Gospels", the "wife of Jesus", the Holy Grail or the true founder of Christianity. But what do the ancient Christian records tell us about Mary Magdalene?
Among the women who appear in the Gospel, after the Mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene stands out the most. No doubt, because it had a special place in the memoirs of the life of Jesus that were transmitted. First of all, she is presented as an important witness to the death and resurrection of the Lord. In the records of Matthew, Mark and Luke, she is always mentioned as the first of a group of women who watched the crucifixion from afar (Mk 15, 40-41), saw where Jesus was buried (Mk 15, 47) and, according to St. Matthew, remained sitting against the tomb ( Matthew 27:61). It is also told that early on Sunday morning Mary Magdalene and the other women returned again to anoint the body with the fragrances they had bought (Mk 16:1-7), and that they then received word from an angel about the resurrection and an order to go and proclaim it to the disciples (Mk 16, 1-7).
Saint Luke, and only he, moreover, gives information that many women who were delivered from diseases and from evil spirits followed Jesus in Galilee and served Him with their property, among them Mary, called Magdalene, from whom they came seven demons (Lk 8:2-3; Mk 16:9).
Saint John tells things differently. Magdalene appears at the foot of the cross, and she is mentioned last after the Mother of Jesus, her sister, and Mary of Cleopas (Jn 19:25). Then she tells that on Sunday, when it was still dark, she went to the tomb and, seeing a stone slab rolled off, she ran to tell Peter and her beloved disciple (John), thinking that someone had taken away the body (John 20, 1-2). Then she returned to the tomb and we read that she wept at the tomb, and then the scene where the Risen Jesus appears to her, instructing her to convey to the disciples the message that He ascends to the Father (John 20, 11-18). In St. John, the figure of Magdalene is filled with symbolism and represents the Church seeking and finding, finding her Master Risen, and can exclaim "I have seen the Lord."
Three women
It does not follow from the gospel stories that Mary Magdalene was a sinner who, according to Lk 7:36-49, anointed Jesus and wiped His feet, which she poured with her tears. This vision was spread in the Latin Church at the end of the 6th century by St. Gregory the Great. This came about as a result of a process of interpreting the gospels, which is logical, but not 100 percent accurate.
In the Gospels, under various circumstances, women anointed Jesus three times: Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus (Jn 12:1-8), another whose name is not mentioned (Mt 26:6-13; Mk 14:3-9), and the woman whom they are simply called the sinner of whom Luke 7:36-50 speaks. Since 200, some Holy Fathers and church writers from Alexandria and North Africa (for example, Clement of Alexandria and later St. Ambrose of Milan and St. Augustine) have said that in all three cases it could be the same woman. And the next step was to identify this woman as Mary Magdalene.
Thus, various gospel stories lined up in one picture and many things were simplified. With such an identification, her image was not defiled, but was even praised: both St. Peter denied the Teacher, and St. Paul was a persecutor of Christians, and many great saints were great sinners before their conversion.
Other writers, primarily in the East, have retained the distinction between the three (for example, St. Ephren the Syrian and St. John Chrysostom).
Successor of secret revelations
Later texts use the figure of the Magdalene to proclaim the secret revelations of Jesus. We are talking about works whose teaching is at odds with the apostolic tradition collected in the New Testament. These texts belong to some of the Gnostic teachings existing in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Although these works were distributed under the name "gospel", they do not really belong to this literary genre, since they do not contain stories about the life of Jesus, and their authors are not interested in it. The disciples usually appear only as questioners and as recipients of revelations made after the Resurrection.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Mary Magdalene was one of the favorite figures in these texts as the recipient of a secret revelation, since the Lord appeared to her after the Resurrection. Usually they do not call her Mary Magdalene, as happens in the Gospels, but calls her Maryam or Mariamne. This is a sign that her personality is not important; the important thing is that she is a gnostic.
In Gnostic texts, Maryam is practically the only woman who, along with the apostles, listens to secret revelations from Jesus. So we see her in Gospel of Thomas, Dialogue of the Savior,PistisSofia and other writings where she questions the Savior; sometimes more questions than any of the apostles.
AT Gospel of Mary only she receives the revelation made by Jesus when He ascends into heaven. This appeal to the Marys was a way to justify the Gnostic teachings by resorting to these revelations.
Another feature that stands out in the Gnostic texts is the opposition to Mary by the apostles, especially Peter. This reflects the negative attitude of some Gnostics towards everything feminine, at the same time they had to admit that Maryam was a student. In the end Gospels of Mary it is narrated that Peter and Andrew accuse Mary, telling her that she invented the revelation that she had just told them; But Levi accuses Peter of saying this out of jealousy.
These data are usually interpreted as a reflection of the official polemic of the Church against the spiritual leadership of a woman, which was supported by some of the groups that wrote these works. But it can also be understood as a way to stand out among these groups by saying that the apostolic teaching given in the name of Peter or the other apostles was contrary to what they expressed in the name of Mary.
Very far from those Gnostic teachings that disappeared in the 4th century, legends were gradually created in the Church aimed at praising the figure of Magdalene. It was said in the Greek Church that after the Resurrection of Jesus, she went to Ephesus with the Blessed Virgin and Saint John, and that she died there, and then her ashes were transferred to Constantinople. In France, in the middle of the 11th century, a legend arose, embellished with many details, that Magdalene, Lazarus and some others went to Marseilles and evangelized Provence, that she later died in Aix, and that her remains were finally transferred to Beselai.
Gonzalo Aranda Perez Professor of Old Testament at the University of Navarra.
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Mary Magdalene in The Da Vinci Code
Various books that have been analyzed to what extent The Da Vinci Code worthy of trust in relation to the history of Christianity, are faced with what is said about Mary Magdalene. In the book " Deciphering da Vinci(Ed. Palabra, 2004) Amy Welborn ( He is also the author of the novel Deciphering Mary Magdalene. Truth, legends and lies) writes:
Let's quickly review what Dan Brown tells us about Mary Magdalene. According to Brown, this was a Jewish woman from the tribe of Benjamin, who married Jesus and gave birth to a son from Him. Jesus tried to give the Church into her hands, this Church was supposed to return the "feminine divinity" of human life and the general consciousness. After the crucifixion of Jesus, Mary Magdalene withdrew to the Jewish community of Provence, where she and her daughter Sarah took refuge. Her belly is the "Holy Grail". Her bones rest under a pyramid of glass at the entrance to the Louvre. The Priory of Sion and the Knights Templar are dedicated to protecting her history and her ashes. The Priory worships her "as a Goddess...and as a Divine Mother".
Bearing in mind that the Gospels mention Mary Magdalene on few occasions, then where do these ideas come from? The answer lies right in the novel itself, when Theabing, "our eminent polymath" shows his library. And he quotes: Revelations of the Templars and the Sacred Mystery(two works of pedantic pseudo-history and conspiracy theory), Thegoddesinthegospels (Goddesses in gospel) and TheWomanWiththeAlabasterJar, novel Margaret Strabird, who, among other means, uses numerology - the sum of the digits of her name - to conclude that Mary Magdalene was worshiped as a goddess in primitive Christianity.
Good; Let's take a few moments to reflect on what we have been told in this novel: that the Gospels cannot be read literally, and that we must not for a moment believe that they tell the truth about the events they tell. The novel also tells that they convey by the method of code that the first Christians considered Mary Magdalene to be a goddess.
Good; if they considered her a goddess, why didn't they spread it? Why suffer with this good Jesus crucified-risen, when they could worship Magdalene if they so desired?
Was Magdalene slandered by the Church?
This is of great importance in da vinci code, where Mary Magdalene is often referred to as a prostitute as part of an evil conspiracy orchestrated by the Church to thwart any suspicion, or even historical evidence, of Mary Magdalene's leadership in primitive Christianity.
Two points: First, Mary Magdalene's association with prostitution has spread over the centuries in Western Christianity (although not in Eastern Christianity). However, there is no evidence that this was - as Brown and his sources say - out of malice, misogyny, or fear of women's power.
Brown strongly hints that Mary Magdalene was a fringe and obsessed with traditional Christianity, and portrayed her as a promiscuous woman, a prostitute, etc.; with the intention, presumably, to downplay its importance.
Like almost everything we find in Brown, it's not only wrong...it's just plain absurd.
Christianism, both Eastern and Western, honored Mary Magdalene as a saint. Christians gave her name to churches, prayed in front of her grave, where her ashes are supposed to be kept, and attributed miracles to her. Can this be called slander?
And as for the topic of prostitution, even those who associate Mary Magdalene with Luke's "woman... who was a sinner" (7, 37) do not delve into her sins after her repentance. Christianity does not emphasize sin after repentance. This is the result of faith in Jesus. Not; Mary Magdalene is remembered mainly for her role as a witness to the resurrection of Jesus.
Before the Renaissance, the images of Mary Magdalene were quite calm. Only since then do we find her remorseful, unkempt, half-naked and with her hair loose. The Renaissance masters showed a growing interest in a more naturalistic and human form of representation, and in the most overt way of expressing emotions. These images of Mary Magdalene have more in common with the vision of the artists than with what the Church had to say about her.
Magdalene Party
The scholar Jane Schaberg and other contemporary feminist experts like Karen King used the prominence of Mary Magdalene in some 2nd century Gnostic texts later on to make clear that there was a struggle between the parties of Peter and Mary Magdalene within Christianity.
Now let's look at the logical inconsistencies that follow from here, as they are expressed in the novel. If the party of Peter—which we may take as the winner, as Brown repeatedly says in his novel—was so powerful in lowering the importance of Mary, why then was it necessary to highlight her primary role in the resurrection stories, and also how the first person to receive the Good News?
Brown told us earlier that before Constantine completed his heinous deed in 325 AD, the Christians of the area considered Jesus to be a "mortal man." In this case, who exactly participated in the party of Peter? Supposedly they were "overcomers", which means that they had to believe in the divinity of Jesus, because this is the doctrine that won. But if the divinity of Jesus wasn't invented before 325 AD, where have they been all along?
Is there any evidence that a section of Christians fought for supremacy against the Magdalen party and reduced its importance during this process?
No. This is pure speculation based on reading, ideologically motivated, texts dated at least a hundred years after the life of Jesus. So did some of the Gnostic-Christian sects which appeared at the end of the second century and which attributed to Mary Magdalene the leading role. There are no data in passages of 1st century Gnostic texts that indicate closeness between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, and no theological arguments that support their version of Christianity and that downplay the role of Peter and the apostles.
Wife of Christ?
The Da Vinci Code says that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and that this is "historically recorded". AT Deceit da Vinci(Ed. Palabra, 2006), Mark Shea and Edward Sri say:
Among the thousands of pages written by the early Christians, not a single text appears that says that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. It is not found in the Gospels of the New Testament, nor in the letters of St. Paul, nor in the Church Fathers. And even in the Gnostic gospels!
All evidence points in the opposite direction: that Jesus never married. For example, if Jesus had a wife, surely the gospels would have plenty to talk about. Although they often mention His relatives (His father, His mother, His cousins), they never talk about his wife. It would be very strange if Jesus really was married.
Also, the New Testament never mentions Mary Magdalene as the "wife of Jesus". Women in the gospels are often associated with important men who are close to them when those men exist in their lives. It is noteworthy that the name of Mary Magdalene is usually associated with other women who are associated with famous men, such as "Mary (Mother) of Jesus" and "Mary Cleopova" (wife of Cleopas) (Jn 19, 25) and "John, wife of Chuza" (Lk 8, 3). But what makes Mary Magdalene stand out is that her name is usually associated with her birthplace, Magdala, but never with a man. This little detail says it all. Indicates that Mary Magdalene was not married, much less married to Jesus Christ.
Mary Magdalene in Orthodoxy is a person revered as a saint equal to the apostles. She was a myrrh-bearing woman who followed Christ until His Crucifixion. Mary Magdalene was the one before whom the resurrected Messiah first appeared. It is mentioned not only in Orthodoxy, but also in Catholicism and Protestantism. The saint is considered the patroness of preachers and teachers, and Renaissance masters admired her image.
The role of the Magdalene in Christianity
The description of her activities is inscribed in only a few fragments. The veneration of this woman is different in the traditions of Catholicism and Orthodoxy. For the latter, she appears exclusively as a myrrh-bearing woman cured of demonic obsession. The Catholic Church speaks of Mary as an extraordinary beauty and repentant harlot, sister of the resurrected Lazarus. In addition, the Western tradition attaches colossal mythical material to the gospel texts.
Icon of the holy myrrh-bearing Mary Magdalene
The Equal-to-the-Apostles saint was born and raised in a city called Magdala. Today, in its place stands the small village of Mejdel. In the Holy Scriptures there is no story about the young years of Magdalene, but it is said that Jesus Christ healed her from the invasion of seven demons. This radical change in her fate stimulated the woman to follow in the footsteps of the Great Teacher and Savior.
- Mary was the inseparable companion of God's Son during the period when He and His chosen apostles preached Christianity in the settlements of Judea and Galilee.
- Along with Magdalene, other pious women also served Christ: Joanna, Susanna, Solomia, and others. These myrrh-bearing women shared the labors of the apostles, spreading the good news about the coming of the Savior.
- Mary Magdalene was the first to follow Christ when He was led to Golgotha. Luke claims that the myrrh-bearing women wept when they saw the suffering of Jesus, but He consoled them and reminded them of the Kingdom of God. Mary was with the Mother of God and John at the Cross at the time of the Crucifixion of the Messiah.
- Magdalene showed fidelity to Jesus not only in the period of His exaltation, but also in the days of utter humiliation. She attended the funeral of God's Son and saw with her own eyes how His body was carried into the tomb. Further, the saint Equal to the Apostles witnessed the closing of this cave with a large stone.
- Mary, faithful to God's law, along with other myrrh-bearing women, remained, coinciding with the feast of Easter, in complete peace. On the first day of the week, the faithful disciples planned to come to the tomb and anoint the body of Christ with incense. The myrrh-bearing women reached the burial place at sunrise, and Mary arrived when the darkness of the night still reigned.
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The Equal-to-the-Apostles saint saw that the stone that closed the entrance had been rolled away. In fear, she rushed to the apostles Peter and John, who lived closer than the others. Arriving at the place, they were surprised to see a folded shroud and shrouds. The apostles left the cave without saying anything, but Magdalene remained and wept, yearning for her Lord.
Mary Magdalene and Angels in the Holy Sepulcher
Wanting to make sure that there really was no body, she went to the coffin. Suddenly, a divine light shone in front of the woman, and she saw two angels in snow-white robes.
- When she answered the question of the heavenly messengers about the cause of her grief and turned away in the other direction, the Risen Christ appeared at the entrance to the grotto. However, the disciple did not recognize God's Son until He spoke to her. This voice initially became a great ray of light for Mary after being healed from a demonic disease. She said with great joy, "Master!" In this exclamation, respect and love, grandiose reverence, recognition and tenderness merged together.
- Magdalene threw herself at the feet of Christ to wash them with tears of divine joy, but Jesus did not allow them to touch her, for "the Son has not yet ascended to the Father."
- After everything she had seen, Mary went to the apostles and told the news that everyone was looking forward to. This is how the first sermon about the divine Resurrection of the Savior took place.
- When the apostles dispersed around the world to tell people about the great teachings of the Savior, the brave Mary Magdalene went with them. The saint, in whose heart the fire of love for the Lord did not subside, was on her way to pagan Rome. She announced the Resurrection, but a small number of people took the words of the preacher for the truth.
Walking in Italy and death
Scripture states: the first disciple of Christ appeared in the palace of Emperor Tiberius and presented him with a red egg - a symbol of the Resurrection. She told the story of the innocently condemned Christ, who worked miracles and was executed on the evil slander of the high priesthood.
Red egg - a symbol of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
She recalled that salvation from worldly fuss comes through the blood of a pure Lamb, and not through gold or silver items.
- Mary continued to spread the good news in Italy. The apostle Paul praised her labors in the Epistle to the Romans, recognizing her extraordinary courage and selfless devotion to the Almighty. The Scripture says: Magdalene left Rome at an advanced age after Paul had been judged for the first time. The Equal-to-the-Apostles saint went to Ephesus to help the Apostle John preach. Here she quietly and peacefully left the mortal world.
- Her imperishable relics were transferred from Ephesus to Constantinople in the 9th century. Some researchers suggest that the remains were transported to Rome during the Crusades. The relics were placed in the church of John Lateran, which was soon renamed and consecrated in honor of the most reverend Mary Magdalene.
- Some of the remains are in France, near Marseilles, as well as the monasteries of Mount Athos and Jerusalem. A huge number of pious pilgrims come to venerate the relics of the saint.
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On a note! Thanks to the preacher, the custom of giving Easter eggs with exclamations: “Christ is risen! He is truly Risen!" After the apostolic period, prayers were read in churches for the consecration of eggs and cheese. The brethren and parishioners heard laudatory songs to the glory of Magdalene, who was the first to set an example of a joyful sacrifice.Orthodox church in honor of St.
The church is located in an area called Gethsemane, in East Jerusalem. Nearby is the tomb of the venerable Virgin Mary. This church was erected by the Orthodox community of Palestine at the expense of the imperial family and was consecrated in 1888. Since 1921, the remains of the Great Martyrs Elizabeth and Barbara have been kept here.
The Church of St. Mary Magdalene is part of the complex of the Gethsemane Orthodox Monastery
- The idea of building and choosing the area on the slope of the Mount of Olives belongs to Archimandrite Antonion. The first stone of the Church of Mary Magdalene was laid in 1885. In 1934, an Orthodox women's community was organized on the territory, the abbess of which was the nun Mary, who was of Scottish origin.
- The icon “Hodegetria” is kept in the monastery. Here, parishioners worship the miraculous image of Mary Magdalene.
- The seven-domed Jerusalem temple was built of white stone and made in the style of Moscow architecture. The bell tower is small, and the iconostasis is made of marble with a bronze ornament.
Icons and images of Mary Magdalene
The images of the Equal-to-the-Apostles saint demonstrate to believers an example of the greatest love and devotion to the Most High Father. The holy faces of Magdalene point to the true path and require patience and spiritual stamina from a person.
- Orthodox iconography depicts Mary with a red Easter egg, as well as a vessel in which myrrh is concentrated.
- Often on the canvases she is shown together with the Mother of God and John the Theologian next to the crucifix. The saint can be observed on icons with a plot demonstrating the position of Christ in the tomb. In the Orthodox tradition, she is depicted among the myrrh-bearing women who came, who saw the emptiness in the cave and the evangelizing angels.
- The scene of the appearance of Christ after the Resurrection for the domestic church is a rare occurrence. It can only be seen in examples of later Greek-style icons.
- Before the holy face, they ask for gaining the true faith and getting rid of harmful habits, flattering temptations. Prayers before the image relieve bodily and mental ailments.
In Catholicism, Mary Magdalene appears as a “repentant harlot”, who at the end of her life journey retired to a desert area and indulged in severe asceticism, regretting her sins. Her robe fell apart from decay, and her hair covered her entire body in a miraculous way. After divine healing, she was taken up by angels to the Kingdom of Heaven. This legend has had a huge impact on Western art.
- Many works where Magdalene is the main character are made in the Vanitas (Vanity) genre. A skull is shown next to the woman, symbolizing the awareness of frailty and understanding of the importance of the true path. Additional attributes are a lash and a wreath of thorns. The scene of the action is a cave in France: here the saint meditates, reads the Scriptures or repents, looking up to heaven.
- In Western European icon painting, Magdalene is depicted washing the Messiah's feet and wiping them with her luxurious hair.
- In the Catholic tradition, the myrrh-bearing woman is depicted with loose hair and holding a vessel with fragrant oils.
- In other variations, she is supported above the ground by winged angels. This story has been found in Western art since the 16th century.
- Very rarely in Catholicism and Protestantism is depicted the last communion of Mary and her death.
- On some canvases, she mournfully hugs the leg of the Savior, crucified on the cross of Golgotha. On the icons of “mourning”, she holds the feet of the Savior and mourns for the loss.
This woman showed divine love for her Teacher, remained forever devoted to Him and carried the good news along with the apostles. In the Orthodox tradition, Mary Magdalene is considered a saint, cured by Jesus Christ of the disease of "seven demons", and following Him until the Resurrection. Little is said about her in orthodox texts, but various legends with the participation of the Equal-to-the-Apostles student have gained popularity in Catholicism.
Video about the life of Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene