St. Mary Magdalene

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Being almost Lent and all, I wanted to get an icon of a saint that exemplifies repentance and turning from sin. Felt drawn to St. Mary Magdalene so I looked up my favorite Orthodox icon website to see if they had icons of her.

Turns out the Orthodox don’t believe St. Mary Magdalene was the sinful woman who washed the feet of Jesus with her hair.

Now I’m confused…:confused:

I remember reading somewhere that a pope has stated that St. Mary Magdalene is also the sinful woman and the sister of St. Martha and Lazarus. Was that an infallible statement or something pious worthy of belief?
 
I read somewhere that St. Mary Magdalene spent the rest of her life in a cave in current day-France (I think) doing penance. (Then there’s the miracle of the red egg.)

There have been at least a few saints who wrote about her conversion and instant attainment of fiery love of God.

The main important theme is repentance…I just hope I don’t get the people/events mixed up…

Has there been an official final statement by the Church?
 
On EWTN’s World Over Live, I saw an interview with
Bill O’Reilly(Of Fox News) who wrote a book on
the last days of Jesus(Killing Jesus- a History)
He portrayed Mary Magdalene as the prostitute
who washed Jesus’ feet with her hair!
He’s a well known CATHOLIC news reporter.
 
I was taught that Mary Magdalene was indeed a close friend of Jesus, a follower, but definitely NOT a prostitute.
Peace
pianist
 
DaddyGirl said:
Penance for what?
He “drove demons out of her” etc, etc (which could mean any number of ailments) and then she was totally devoted to him–followed him around, helped to fund his travels, stood by him at his death, went to the tomb, was the first to proclaim, went out and preached on her own after he died, was “the apostle to the apostles”…what did you read that she did penance for?

.
Click to expand...
There’s a belief that she was also the woman of many sins (which may or may not have involved prostitution).
 
Pax Christi!

No infallible statement has been made; it’s simply pious tradition that she had demons driven out, washed our Lord’s hair, was beautiful, had long hair and money (and vanity).

All the saints and all the angels, pray for us!

God bless.
 
In the East the Sundays of Lent are all connected with a saint who exemplifies repentance and striving for holiness. The first saint that came to mind for your desire is St. Mary of Egypt.

St. Mary Magdalene is called Equal-to-the-Apostles. We believe, if I recall correctly, that she was a very wealthy woman who had the exorcism of seven demons and then spent much of her fortune funding new churches, missionaries, and evangelism. She met someone very high up and brought about the miracle of the egg.

But the weeks of Lent go as follows:

1: Sunday of Triumph of Orthodoxy
2: St. Gregory Palamas
3: Veneration of the Cross
4: St. John of the Ladder
5: St. Mary of Egypt

An Icon of any of these events or Saints would be good for veneration during Great Lent.
 
Rawb said:
In the East the Sundays of Lent are all connected with a saint who exemplifies repentance and striving for holiness. The first saint that came to mind for your desire is St. Mary of Egypt.

St. Mary Magdalene is called Equal-to-the-Apostles. We believe, if I recall correctly, that she was a very wealthy woman who had the exorcism of seven demons and then spent much of her fortune funding new churches, missionaries, and evangelism. She met someone very high up and brought about the miracle of the egg.

But the weeks of Lent go as follows:

1: Sunday of Triumph of Orthodoxy
2: St. Gregory Palamas
3: Veneration of the Cross
4: St. John of the Ladder
5: St. Mary of Egypt

An Icon of any of these events or Saints would be good for veneration during Great Lent.
Click to expand...
On some of the Lutheran calendars, St Mary Magdalene is referred to as an “Apostle”
 
Rawb said:
The first saint that came to mind for your desire is St. Mary of Egypt.
Click to expand...
Yes, I do admire her great ascetic life in the desert after repenting her colorful past.

I have an icon of her as my wallpaper on my work computer screen.
 
Mary Magdalene was a woman of importance. Note that she is listed ahead of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the Gospels. The tradition in the writing of that time was to list people in order of social standing. She would also be about the age of Mary, mother of Jesus. This gives the lie to the idea that she was a prostitute or the lover/wife of Jesus.

The story I have heard about the conflation of the three women was what DaddyGirl stated. The conflation was quite influential in artistic representation of of Mary Magdalene. I think particularly of Goya’s depictions of her.

A possible source of thinking her a great sinner in need of repentance was the Jewish belief that possession or illness was the result of sinning. To have seven demons would then mean that she or her parents had sinned greatly. The number seven also symbolized completeness, so it could also be understood that she was absolutely possessed.
 
Pax Christi!

You’re right - it’s definitely Scriptural. My mistake!

God bless.
 
RebeccaJ, I thought about that too after I posted and have not had a chance to get back and add it. Excellent point.
 
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