Saint Mary Magdalene

Life story

Mary was called Magdalene, usually understood to mean that she came from Magdala, a village on the Sea of Galilee. Luke's Gospel says she was one of the women who followed Jesus and supported him and his disciples out of their own means, and that seven demons had been cast out of her. All four Gospels mention her, usually at the head of the lists of women.

Matthew, Mark and John name her among the women at the crucifixion, and all four Gospels place her at the tomb on Sunday morning. According to John's Gospel, she was the first to meet the risen Jesus and was sent to tell the disciples. For this reason, from the time of the Church Fathers she has often been called the apostle to the apostles. In 2016 Pope Francis raised her day in the liturgical calendar to the rank of a feast.

Centuries later she was often merged with the sinful woman in Luke's Gospel and with Mary of Bethany. The New Testament does not support these identifications, and historians today regard them as a confusion in tradition. A medieval tradition in France says she went to live in Provence, while an Eastern tradition says she died at Ephesus. Neither claim has firm historical evidence. Her feast is kept on 22 July. She is mentioned in the Gospels more often than most other women of the Gospel narrative.

Works and witness

• One of the women who followed and supported Jesus, per Luke
• Named at the crucifixion by Matthew, Mark and John
• First to meet the risen Jesus, according to John's Gospel
• Called apostle to the apostles by the Church Fathers
• Her day was raised to the rank of a feast in 2016

Saints from the same country

Saint Peter, Saint Andrew the Apostle, Saint James the Greater, Saint John the Apostle

References

• Tân Ước: bốn sách Tin Mừng (New Testament: the four Gospels)
• Martyrologium Romanum
• Decree Apostolorum Apostola, Congregation for Divine Worship (2016)

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.