Holy Week Saint

Mary Magdalene (first century) was a witness of the Resurrection and is patron saint of repentant sinners, hairdressers, and the contemplative life. Known also as Mary of Magdala, she was, according to Luke 8:2, healed of seven demons by Jesus. She was also among the women who accompanied and supported Jesus and the twelve apostles and was present at the Crucifixion and burial (Matthew 27:56; Mark 15:40; John 19:25). 

Mary Magdalene is mentioned in five of the six Resurrection narratives in the Gospel tradition: Mark 16:1–8; Matthew 28:1–20; Luke 23:56b–24:53; John 20:1–29; and Mark 16:9–20 (she is not mentioned in John 21:1–23). Peter is mentioned in four of the six narratives and is linked with Mary Magdalene in three. He is not mentioned in Matthew 28, the chapter that announces both the Resurrection and the post-Resurrection command to evangelize the world. In Matthew, John, and the appendix to Mark’s Gospel, she, not Peter, is the primary witness to the Resurrection. Peter is the primary witness in the tradition of Paul and Luke (1 Corinthians 15:5; Luke 24:34). These facts do not undermine the authority of Peter in any way, but they do underscore the complementary roles of women, Peter, and the other disciples as witnesses to the Risen Christ. Among the women, Mary Magdalene is clearly portrayed in Scripture as having the primary role. Later traditions erroneously equated Mary with both the sinful woman of Luke 7:36–50, who anointed Jesus, and with Mary of Bethany, who also anointed Jesus (John 11:1–12:8; Luke 10:38–42).

Her feast, which has been observed in the West since the eighth century, is on the General Roman Calendar and is celebrated on this day across the ecumenical spectrum: by the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches, the Church of England, the Episcopal Church in the USA, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Both Oxford and Cambridge Universities have colleges named after her, and there are many famous representations of her in art: for example, Giotto’s Crucifixion and Titian’s Noli Me Tangere (Latin, “Do not touch me”), which depicts her meeting with the Risen Christ in the garden (similarly depicted by Rembrandt). Her reputed burial place was at Saint-Maximin in modern-day France. The Benedictine church was destroyed by Saracens in the eighth century and later rebuilt by Dominicans in 1295. Her alleged relics are contained in a splendid bronze casket in the crypt. Her feast is also on the Dominican and Cistercian liturgical calendars for this day.
 

McBrien, Richard P. Lives of the Saints: from Mary and St. Francis of Assisi to John XXIII and Mother Teresa. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 2001. 290–91.

St. Mary Magdalene,
who witnessed the Crucifixion and Resurrection and is the Apostle to the Apostles,
pray for us.

St. Mary Magdalene,
who models for us a life of humility, repentance, discipleship,
pray for us.

St. Mary Magdalene,
whose hunger for God led you to Christ,
pray for us.