A blessed and happy Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles
St. Mary Magdalene, pray for us.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord.” (John 20:15-16, 18)
Tradition in the West links Mary Magdalene with the unnamed woman in the Pharisee’s house who wets the feet of Jesus with her tears and dries them with her hair (Lk 7:36-50). She stands by the open tomb after the disciples have left, weeping. “She was still seeking the one she had not found, and while she sought she wept; burning with the fire of love, she longed for him who she thought had been taken away” (Saint Gregory the Great). Jesus appears to her in this moment. He calls her by name: “Mary!” (Magnificat, July 22, 2024)