St. Mary Magdalene

Memorial (1969 Calendar): July 22
Double (1955 Calendar): July 22

Today the Church remembers the life of St. Mary Magdalene, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. According to the Latin Rite in the Roman Catholic Church, Mary Magdalene is mentioned in Lk 7:36-50, Lk 10:38-42, and Jn 20:11-18. The Catholic Church believes these references all refer to Mary Magdalene. As the article "A Retrieval of the Traditional View of Mary Magdalene From the Fringes of Theology" summarizes, after carefully and thoughtfully analyzing the Scriptures and historical evidence:

Thus retrieved, Mary Magdalene shines forth once more as the one who loved much (Luke 7:47), the one from whom seven demons were cast out (Luke 8:2), the one who grasped the one thing necessary (Luke 10:42), the one who moved the God-Man to tears (John 11:33–35), the one who did a beautiful thing for Him (Mark 14:6), the one whose deed would be proclaimed throughout the world (Mark 14:9), and the one who first saw the Risen Lord and believed (John 20:18).

The New Liturgical Movement writes:

From the time of St Gregory, the Western Church accepted that Mary Magdalene was also the sinful woman who anoints Christ’s feet in the house of Simon the Pharisee, as recounted in Luke 7, 36-50, the Gospel for her feast. This connection was probably made from the words that immediately follow this passage, or at least reinforced by them, Luke 8, 1-3. “And it came to pass afterwards, that he travelled through the cities and towns, preaching and evangelizing the kingdom of God; and the twelve with him: And certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities; Mary who is called Magdalen, out of whom seven devils were gone forth, And Joanna the wife of Chusa, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who ministered unto him of their substance.” (Mark 16, 9 also refers to the seven devils.)

Because of her faith and repentance, she was privileged to be the first person after the Blessed Virgin Mary that Jesus appeared to after His Resurrection (John 20:1-18).

What about the Da Vinci Code?

The Da Vinci Code - while a work of fiction is considered factual by the author - teaches that Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus, the mother of Jesus’ child, a participant at the Last Supper, His prophetic successor and a priestess. These claims have absolutely no support in Church Tradition or Holy Scripture. All references to "gnostic gospels" add nothing to the debate since these "gospels" were rejected from the official canon of Sacred Scripture because they were heretical and lacked apostolic authorship. Hence these claims are utterly void of any truth whatsoever and are condemned.

Prayer:

May we be helped by the intercession of blessed Mary Magdalen, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Who in answer to her prayers didst raise her brother Lazarus to life after he had been dead four days: Who livest and reignest.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal