St. Mary Magdelene
"The Penitent"
St. Mary Magdelene
"The Penitent"
She is called "the Penitent". St. Mary was given the name 'Magdalen' because, though a Jewish girl, she lived in a Gentile town called Magdale, in northern Galilee, and her culture and manners were those of a Gentile. St. Luke records that she was a notorious sinner, and had seven devils removed from her. She was present at Our Lords' Crucifixion, and with Joanna and Mary, the mother of James and Salome, at Jesus' empty tomb. Fourteen years after Our Lord's death, St. Mary was put in a boat by the Jews without sails or oars - along with Sts. Lazarus and Martha, St. Maximin (who baptized her), St. Sidonius ("the man born blind"), her maid Sera, and the body of St. Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin. They were sent drifting out to sea and landed on the shores of Southern France, where St. Mary spent the rest of her life as a contemplative in a cave known as Sainte-Baume. She was given the Holy Eucharist daily by angels as her only food, and died when she was 72. St. Mary was transported miraculously, just before she died, to the chapel of St. Maximin, where she received the last sacraments.
More about this saint: St. Mary Magdalen (Feast day - July 22) Mary Magdalen was well known as a sinner when she first saw Our Lord. She was very beautiful and very proud, but after she met Jesus, she felt great sorrow for her evil life. When Jesus went to supper at the home of a rich man named Simon, Mary came to weep at His feet. Then with her long beautiful hair, she wiped His feet dry and anointed them with expensive perfume. Some people were surprised that Jesus let such a sinner touch Him, but Our Lord could see into Mary's heart, and He said: "Many sins are forgiven her, because she has loved very much." Then to Mary He said kindly, "Your faith has made you safe; go in peace." From then on, with the other holy women, Mary humbly served Jesus and His Apostles. When Our Lord was crucified, she was there at the foot of His cross, unafraid for herself, and thinking only of His sufferings. No wonder Jesus said of her: "She has loved much." After Jesus' body had been placed in the tomb, Mary went to anoint it with spices early Easter Sunday morning. Not finding the Sacred Body, she began to weep, and seeing someone whom she thought was the gardener, she asked him if he knew where the Body of her beloved Master had been taken. But then the person spoke in a voice she knew so well: "Mary!" It was Jesus, risen from the dead! He had chosen to show Himself first to Mary Magdalen, the repentent sinner.
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My Sweet Mary Magdalene,
Today, Friday 25 January 2013, is my mother's birthday. Mama Stanislava was born in Serbia in a middle of a viscious winter the early hours of Wednesday morning, 25 January 1938, in a small mud house. The village of less than 200 people is located in the mountainous region of Serbia, near the border of Bosnia.
I visited the irreparable mud house in 2009 and the only thing it is fit for are the chooks and a few roosters. I wanted to spend several solid hours alone meditating and soaking up the aura of the sentimentally rich site, a site where my mother breathed her first breath. Out of the eleven born only four lived passed their teens. Death claimed seven of them before they reached their teens due to the lack of medical facilities and the horrors of war and summary executions. Mum's dad and two brothers were forced to dig their graves and shot. In fact, it was NAZI policy to liquidate the male population in partizan dominated areas.
Mama Stanislava survived the war with her three sisters and all three are still alive. Two are living in Serbia and one in Vienna, Austria whereas mum is the only one living in Australia. Life has been very harsh for my mother and she harbours many memories of severe deprivations and mens cruelty to fellow men. My mother managed to survive the many trials and tribulations of life.
We came to Australia to start a new life in 1970 and we've never looked back. This is our home and here is where we want to die and be buried, and covered by Australian soil. What greater gift can a son give his mother for her birthday than to invite you, Mary Magdalene, to pray for my mama Stanislava.
Love is All
Beautiful article, though inconclusive. But one underlying fact ST. MARY MAGDALENE IS A LEGEND IN FAITH. May the Lord Almighty continuing inspiring her and US to follow Christ wherever He is. Even at the foot of the Cross, we are there every moment of our lives.
St. Mary Magdeline, Pray to the Lord to grant me a penitent heart like yours, so that I may know him more dearly, see him more clearly, and follow him more closely.
happy feast day St. Mary Magdalene. please help all those women and girls trapped in prostitution. please help them escape that life and give them a second chance
Today is the Feast of St. Mary Magdaline. I was confirmed in 1971 at St. Francis Xavier Church in St. Louis, MO. Going through the Confirmation process, I was told I needed to choose a patron saint. I chose Mary Magadaline without much thought. At the time she seemed to me to best represent me because she was real and I could identify with her. She was not a perfect woman, but a woman who had challenges and maybe even sin. But Jesus forgave for all of her sins and she became his disciple.
Today also I was scheduled to lecture at Mass this morning, and the main teaching of the word I proclaimed today was the lost sheep and God appointing new shepards to shepard gathered and lost sheep once he reclaimed them. And she has sheppard me many times home to his Church.
I believe in my hearts of hearts - he who is without sin, cast the first stone!!
an excellent article.Thank you!
Dear Saint Mary Magdalene,
May my devotion to Our Lord approach that of yours.
St. Mary Magadalen, one year ago on your feast day, I spent a good hour or so speaking of your goodness, your love and your life to my dying mother. She passed away as I hoped at a time when I was near. She passed away 7 months later. Her slow death gave us, her children many moments of intimate conversations, during which she shared her living faith and her counsels, her reminiscences and her recounts. We were blessed. I thank God for it. St. Mary Magadalen, commend Victoria Gonzales' soul to God. Let the angels minister to her. May she be in the presence of the Blessed Trinity, Mary and Joseph. Amen.
As you know, the gospels of Mary, Phillip, and Thomas mentioned above are in part of the Catholic bible and the words quoted from those books here DO NOT line up with what the gospels in the Catholic bible say. The apostles would never say to Mary Magdalen, "Jesus loved you more than any other woman." He loved His mother more than any other woman. And Mary Magdalen was not with the apostles and Jesus. The mystics such as Mary of Agreda (whose body is incorrupt) said that the woman stayed together and far behind Jesus and the apostles. And, they took care of the Inns, supplying them with things they had made with their hands so that Jesus and the apostles and Jesus' other followers would have places to stay. The women were not with Jesus all the time. And that includes Mary.
I don't see by what criteria she was sainted. No mention of miracles, unless i missed it.
We are sinners at first, I can remember the times that I was doing things that was not pleasing in The Eyes of God. It was times, was going to churches that, I should not have been going to. I always believed in The Heavenly Father and one thing that I come learn, not every church is teaching the right scripture. I wanted to find Him because, I wanted him in my life and when I did, I found Him in the Catholic Church. I changed the scripture that I was reading, begin the correct practice of having Faith in the Heavenly Father, I started Commion with Him and now, I'm His Bride of Christ and I'm Very happy to do His Will in the Catholic Church.
st. mary magdalene is my patron saint... in fact during the holy week we have her statue procession in our town... i am the fifth generation who received her, for she was given to us from our great great grandfather, i just want to know more about her life, what had happen to her, for i cannot read her real history in the holy bible... for i want to tell my children, and my children's children the story of saint mary magdalene.. thank you... god bless us!
Wish people would stop seeing Mary Magdalene as a sinner or prostitute it's lies made up by male deciples who where jelious of Jesus and mary's relationship. She is my patron saint too I chose her because she has in Jewish version my name and my sisters birthday is her feast day. I have to say I'm proud she's my patron, she's an amazing saint.
This did not really provide me with what i wanted. When was she born? What year? When did she die? Other than that i thought the information was terrific.
i like her
There was a documentary on TV regarding the TRUTH about who Mary Magdelene
really was. It was on in 2004.
SHE WAS NEVER A PROSTITUTE. Vicious lies were MADE UP about her to ruin her
reputation so that other male religious officials could take over and influence the people
to follow and listen to only them.
I grew up believing all of the movies on TV depicting stories of Jesus and how
Mary Magdelene was described.
I was led to that program containing the truth about Mary.
I find it highly disturbing that a site which presumes to an authoritative source for information on Catholic doctrine would publish such blatantly false information. The Church has stated for DECADES now that Mary of Magdala was NOT the penitent sinner, the woman with the alabaster jar, a prostitute.... She was released from seven demons, but demons are not associated with sin, they are associated with ailment. She was SICK.
I'm disgusted that your site is perpetuating false doctrine and I would pray that either it is corrected or the Church disavows any connection to whatever groups publishes. it.
it was really helpfull because it helped me choose my saint name and im going for mary magdelene
After reading this article, I have to post that I had a supernatural experience just after I awakened one morning. A sweet, loving, male voice said my name in the most tender way. Like Mary, I was a great sinner, and I was very vain about my appearance. I read of other people's supernatural experiences all the time, and I can only say that scripture is coming to pass, as in Joel 2:28-32. And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy,your old men will dream dreams,your young men will see visions.Even on my servants, both men and women,I will pour out my Spirit in those days.I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth,blood and fire and billows of smoke.The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Please READ HIS WORD people, for many are being led astray. Jesus did not die so that we can sin, He died to save us from sin. Can't stop sinning? Of course not, not without His power. Call on Jesus and repent, and you will receive a remission of your sins through His merits, not your own, lest any man or woman should boast. If you still cannot break chains of sin, find a church where people will lay hands on you and anoint you, just as the first apostles did. Through His power, so many of my chains were broken. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for saving me.)
St.Mary Magdelene Please Pray for me to Have the Lord's Guidance and Provisional Blessing in all that I am to do now. Whether to stay where I am or to go where the Lord desires me to. Please pray for my discernment and wisdom! Thank You and God Bless all of you!