From the desk of the Tar Heel disciple:
July 21, 2025
Mary Magdalene has been a popular figure of great interest to the faithful of the Catholic Church and many others for centuries. Her place in the New Testament is there for anyone to read. Nevertheless, there has been anything but universal agreement as to her identity, destiny, or ultimate significance in the Gospel story. In addition to the mentions of her in the four Gospels, there were various apocryphal gospels, largely produced by Gnostic (heretical) sects and never accepted by the Church, with unsupported stories of her place among the disciples. And throughout the Middle Ages numerous legends about her developed that greatly influenced subsequent devotion to her in the Church. Some modern portrayals in theological writings, fiction, and cinema have taken even more divergent, and at times even scandalous, interpretations.
Pope St. Gregory I, in a sermon preached in 591, identified her as the unnamed “sinful woman,” mentioned in Luke (7:36-50), who anointed the feet of Jesus, and also as Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus (see John 11:1-12 and Luke 10:38-42). Though not accepted by everyone, this interpretation/conflation gave rise, in preaching, art, and in devotion to the image of Mary Magdalene as a penitent prostitute. The Roman Missal marked her feast day, July 22, with these (mis)understandings, until 1969, when while maintaining the traditional feast day, the Church indicated that there were three separate individuals and changed the Gospel reading for the Memorial celebration to that of John 20, which related the appearance of the risen Christ to Mary Magdalene. The Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches have from ancient times maintained that these are three separate women.
In 2016, Pope Francis mandated that the celebration of the Memorial of St. Mary Magdalene be elevated to the liturgical rank of a Feast, thus requiring the Gloria and three readings at the Mass of the day. A new preface to the Eucharistic prayer was also included with these changs, emphasizing her role a “an apostle to the Apostles,” as she was sent by the Lord himself to give the news of Christ’s resurrection to the Apostles. This designation has roots in the writings of many saints.
The feast day of St. Martha had been celebrated for many centuries on July 29. In 2021, Pope Francis added the names of her siblings, Saints Mary and Lazarus of Bethany, to this observance, further emphasizing the separate identity of these “Mary’s.”
See books, images, statues, and medals of St. Mary Magdalene:
https://inhisname.com/search?q=mary+magdalene&_pos=1&_psq=mary+mag&_ss=e&_v=1.0
…and a St. Martha medal:
https://inhisname.com/collections/st-martha?_pos=1&_psq=st+martha&_ss=e&_v=1.0
