Who was St. Mary?

Mary Magdalene

For centuries, Mary Magdalene’s name has been linked to numerous theories, stories, and interpretations of the Gospels.

Who was Mary Magdalene, really? Is the whole story of Mary & Jesus a concocted and divined as a wonderful story?  So where does this idea come from? Well, blame Pope Gregory. Back in the 6th century, he said that the prostitute, Mary Magdalene and Mary (Lazarus’ sister) were all the same person.

It's believed she came from a fishing village. Mary Magdalene was pretty independent for Biblical times, and it has been suggested that she had money and a high social status.

Mary Magdalene is likely the most misunderstood Biblical figure. One of the main misconceptions about Mary Magdalene is that she was a sex worker, who repented and then started following Jesus.

Indeed, the Gospel of Luke mentions a prostitute who washes Jesus' feet with her hair. But nowhere is it mentioned the name of this woman. And certainly, there is no link in the Bible between her and Mary Magdalene.

It was not until 1969 that the Catholic Church admitted the mistake. Nonetheless, the damage was done, as the idea that Mary Magdalene was a sex worker had become cemented throughout the centuries. The Gospels have slightly different versions of the same people and events, but Mary Magdalene’s presence remains fairly consistent throughout them all.

Both the Gospels of Mark and Luke confirm that Mary Magdalene started following Jesus after he cast seven demons out of her. Whatta! All four Gospels state that Mary Magdalene was present in pretty key moments of Jesus’ life (and death), including his crucifixion and subsequent resurrection. And if all of this wasn’t enough, Mary Magdalene was actually the first disciple to see Jesus when he resurrected and hence is called in some Christian traditions the “apostle to the apostles”.

The Gospel of Mary was discovered by a German scholar in Cairo, Egypt, in 1896. Scholars estimate that this non-canonical text was written sometime in the 2nd century or earlier. The Gospel of Mary has been interpreted as a Gnostic text, as it follows the same writing style.

Did Mary Magdalene and Jesus get married and have children? This is one of the most popular and controversial theories, which has gained a lot of popularity thanks to books such as Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’. The tale speculation started based on a 6^th century document called ‘The Story of Joseph and Aseneth’, which Simcha Jacobovici and Barrie Wilson who translated the text claim is about Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Jacobovici and Wilson went on to publish a book named ‘The Lost Gospel: Decoding the Ancient Text that Reveals Jesus’ Marriage to Mary Magdalene. ‘No church supports this theory’. What a theory!

The Last Supper

Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece ‘The Last Supper’ has led many to speculate whether or not John the apostle, sitting next to Jesus, was in fact Mary Magdalene. In ‘The Last Supper’, the looks of long hair and feminine facial features have led to this theory. What do you think?

Remember what the prostitute Mary Magdalene was mistaken for? Well, she washed Jesus’ feet and then dried them with her long hair. This is why we often find Mary Magdalene depicted with very long hair. But there is also another version. Mary Magdalene isolated herself in the wilderness after Jesus died and resurrected, and her hair grew long during this period. Except this too was also the story of another Mary, St. Mary of Egypt. Yes, the Church did get all Marys’ mixed up.

Another story says that Mary Magdalene ended up on a boat with other Christians. They were supposed to be pushed into the sea to die, but divine intervention had them reach France safe and sound. Mary Magdalene and others went on to spread the Gospel, until she got old and went to live in seclusion in a cave, where she sadly ended up dying. Charles II eventually found some bones there in 1279, which are believed to belong to Mary Magdalene. The bones were then given to Dominican monks, who adorned her skull with gold and put it on display. The skull can be found in a basilica at Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume in southern France.

The Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches have two stories that connect Mary Magdalene with Easter eggs. One story says that Mary Magdalene was carrying a basket of hard-boiled eggs when she visited Jesus' tomb. When he appeared to her after resurrecting, the eggs changed color. Please, don’t laugh! The other story is about Mary Magdalene going to Rome and seeing Emperor Tiberius. Everyone visiting the emperor was supposed to bring him something, so she brought an egg. Mary Magdalene proceeded to explain that Jesus resurrected, to which the emperor replied that what she was saying would be just as impossible as an egg changing color. This is when the egg turned red. Please, don’t laugh, again!

Mary Magdalene’s name was associated with Magdalene Laundries also known as asylums, which were present in England, Ireland, and the US. These were supposedly safe spaces for sex workers and women who became pregnant out of wedlock, etc. Hey, sad, but you can laugh, now! Though these were essentially penitentiary workhouses, these fallen women would be imprisoned and subjected to atrocious conditions. Surely Mary Magdalene wouldn’t have liked to have her name linked to such places.

July 22 is the day Mary Magdalene is celebrated in the Catholic Church special day calendar, though until recently this was just a memorial day. It was not until 2016 that Pope Francis declared it a feast day. What feast sir? And this consecrates Mary Magdalene as the apostle of the apostles and places her on the same level of the other apostles.

Pope Francis called Mary Magdalene a true and authentic evangelizer. The feast day was meant to “highlight the relevance of this woman who showed great love for Christ and was much loved by Christ” and the celebration was a way for Christians to “reflect more deeply on the dignity of women, the new evangelization and the greatness of the mystery of divine mercy”, said another archbishop.

Wow! What a story of olden time concocted fortitudes, braveries with kindness and love to be admired & appreciated, but never to be worshipped by another being.