Was Maria Magdalena a prostitute?

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mrsdizzyd said:
Do you have references for this?
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"It started with an Easter homily by Pope Gregory the Great in the year 591, in which he juxtaposed the repentant sinner of Luke 7:37 with Mary of Bethany (Luke 10:38-42), and with Mary Magdalene, from whom Jesus had expelled seven demons (Luke 8:1), as if they were all the same woman.

Many people still identify Mary Magdalene as the repentant sinner who appears in the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Luke. She is also identified sometimes as the adulterous woman who appears in the Gospel of John (chapter 8), but we don’t even know that woman’s name.

From that moment on, the common misconception that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute, also identified with the repentant sinner who appears in Luke’s Gospel, started to appear in art, preaching, and the liturgy."

From Redirect Notice
 
You make a very good point.

And yes, what an amazing saint and a wonderful example for us all.
 
In mostly the West it seems. The icons for Mary in the East never changed (Mary with Red Egg, from the story about her preaching the emperor). edit: Actually there was one variation with a staff… but mostly the same.
 
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Magnificant said:
From that moment on, the common misconception that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute, also identified with the repentant sinner who appears in Luke’s Gospel, started to appear in art, preaching, and the liturgy."
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The misconception continues, but you said she was in fact the prostitute.
 
Agathon said:
Not necessarily a misconception.
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I was referring to the articles he offered as a reference for the belief that she was a prostitute. The article he quotes says the idea that she is a prostitute is a misconception.
 
No. There are different “Mary’s” There is only one Mary Magdalene.
 
Well, technically it’d be semitic Myriam 😛

I imagine the OP is Italian/Spanish/etc…
 
Roseeurekacross said:
What is a malicious dress?
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I used that word to picture a showy dress that would possibly lead her to danger. In that case, her looks that can taunt others to be attracted and do stuffs and in this way, she’s going in devil or in danger.
 
Demon possessed in the New Testament showed signs of madness and/or torment. I think these ideas that Mary Magdalene’s demons were the seven deadly sins is a bit… sophisticated. And maybe even a bit civilized. Why isn’t Jezebel or Salome demon possessed too? That’s the kind of image some of these prostitute depictions are going for with Mary Magdalene, but the scriptures don’t go anywhere near that.
 
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Magnificant said:
I used that word to picture a showy dress that would possibly lead her to danger. In that case, her looks that can taunt others to be attracted and do stuffs and in this way, she’s going in devil or in danger.
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A prostitute wouldn’t be too concerned about her dress , and no doubt would dress to attract the male. Kind of like a moth to the flame.
We cannot give clients of prostitutes a free pass and say oh well, your money fell out of your wallet and into that malicious dress!

I cant , no matter what way I look at this, equate a demon infestation directly as a cause for , or a definitive answer to if an individual - male or female, is selling sex.

We need different proofs.

Sacred Scripture tells us only that Mary was from Magdala and that she had a demon infestation. That guy who had his demon infestation driven into those pigs has never been called a prostitue. See what I mean. And he was naked!
 
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There is basis for the claim from Scripture.
Fr. Cornelius a’ Lapide
And behold a woman in the city. Behold, a wonderful thing, and a wonderful example of penitence. A woman called Mary Magdalene. S. Luke viii. 2. It is questioned whether this is the same woman who is mentioned by the two other Evangelists. S. Chrysostom thinks there were two; Origen, Theophylact, and Euthymius, three who thus anointed our Lord, and that each Evangelist wrote of a different person. S. Matt. xxvi. 7; S. John xii. 3.
But I hold that it was one and the same woman – Mary Magdalene, the sister of Martha and of Lazarus, who anointed our Lord, as we read in the Gospels, on two but not three occasions; and this is clear, –
  1. Because this is the general interpretation of the Church, who in her Offices accepts what is here written by S. Luke as referring to the Magdalene alone.
  2. Because S. John (xi. 2) writes, It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick, thus plainly alluding to this passage of S. Luke, and signifying that only one woman anointed the Lord. For if there had been more than one, the words just quoted would have insufficiently described her. But the meaning is, “when I say Mary, I mean the penitent who anointed the feet of the Lord, as recounted by S. Luke, whom all know to be Mary Magdalene.”
  3. Because the Mary mentioned by S. John (xii. 2, 3) is clearly the same Mary Magdalene, the sister of Martha and of Lazarus, who anointed Christ here, as described by S. Luke, and again at Bethany, six days before the passover. For S. Matthew (xxvi. 6) and S. John (xii. i) both refer to the same event, as is evident if the two accounts are compared together. Therefore it was Mary Magdalene who anointed Christ, not three times, as Origen would have us believe, but twice only, once as is recorded by S. Luke, and again six days before His death.
  4. The same thing is testified to by Church history and tradition, and also by the inscription on the tomb of the Magdalene, which Maximus, one of the seventy disciples, is said to have built.
 
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Brendan_64 said:
It is rather interesting, IMO, that she is named according to her town, rather than her relation to a male relative like most of the other NT Marys.
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Respectfully opinion only. Why I went in search a long time ago to learn the ancient History of Magdala!

Historically>> Mary Magadalene came from a family of vast riches who owned massive possession of land, castles and owned considerable land, possessions, in Jerusalem also>, thus we get the name>> Mary of Bethany!

As far as Mary Magdalene being a sinner are we not all sinners in need of salvation, why Jesus came?

Joseph from Arimathea own vast riches> seek out Historical writings on him, if this is true or not?
Joseph of Arimathea had vast amount of huge shipping vessels, more so then the Roman Empire vessels?>> would this not be true, historically?
Joseph of Arimathea, own massive shipping vessels which supplied and shipped, what valuable raw materials for the Roman Empire, for other Nations, is this not written within writings Historically by other Nations leaders etc?
Simon of Cyrene?

Historically Magdala is near present day Migdal ( which means fish tower) place of salted fish, located on the eastern coast of Galilee( kinneret) largest urban city 19ce 1st century, is this not written and known Historically?. St Peter was a fisherman? Sea of Galilee huge fishing industry in ancient times was it not?

Mary Magdalene Father and Mother were who?>
Her Father >Syrus, is this not historically known?
Her Mother was Eucharia, is this not historically known?
Parents were known as Nobles?
Own vast riches, possessions of land think they would be Historically known and written about? Mary Magdalene parents, their vast riches, land possessions, castles etc were equally distributed among their children, were they not? Owning castles, land 2 miles from Galilee?

Magdala>>Birth place of Mary Magdalene, who is named 12 times in the Gospels, is this not true?> Matthew 15:39 indirect ones Mark 16:19 Luke 8:2

Magdala>Birthplace of Yosef ben Matityahua >> known as Roman Historian Joseph Flavis. Governor of Galilee from (66-73CE) during the great Jewish revolt, is this not all True?

Was Mary Magdalene the sister of Mary and Martha and sister to Lazarus, whom Jesus rose from the dead?

Recent discoveries found in Magdala by archaeology calling it incredible, found many synagogues and 4 ritual baths have been unearthed and graved stone depicting the manoria discovered. Thinking Jesus taught in all of them, Matt 4:23, Luke 4:14-15.

Pondering on that most of Jesus 3 year ministry was in Galilee ( wedding in Cana etc? went down to Jerusalem what 2 or 3 times recorded in Gospels? Where Jesus tells Mary Magdalene to go to Galilee and tell the Apostles he had risen?

So matters not to me what sins or sin Mary M committed>>>but as preached by Jesus >>we all committed sins all throughout our own journey through our own life time, have we not?

Mary M being known also as the >Apostle among the Apostles<, whom Jesus chose, good enough for me also, today Mary M is a Saint!! 🙂

Peace 🙂
 
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If a Pope said it, should we believe it or since he didn’t speak ex cathedra?
 
I’ve been to the excavations in magdala. There is actually only one synagogue which has been unearthed. The others which were originally thought to have been synagogues were not actually synagogues, but now found out to have most likely been rabbis’ homes with semi-enclosed meeting spaces. What were originally thought to have been four ritual baths were excavated and there are infact many, many more. The archaeologists have discovered that there were in fact used as holding tanks for fish while they prepare them for drying as they found that dried fish was one of the main industries of the town. The archeologists have theorized that they may have been used for ritual washing, but there was no concrete evidence.

As to the identity of Mary of Magdala as Mary of Bethany, the jury is out. The earliest accounts from the Greek Fathers of the Church explain that Mary of Magdala, Mary of Bethany and the prostitute were three different people. Only later do the Western Fathers come up with the equivocation between two or all three of them.
 
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I’ve heard somewhere her seven demons were the seven deadly sins. Was she possessed or mentally ill?
 
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