Posted on 07/22/2006 4:55:28 PM PDT by Salvation
I had a discussion with a friend of mine who read The Da Vinci Code who said that St. Mary Magdalene was neither a sinner nor a prostitute. Instead the Church made up that story to discredit her. What can I say to her? |
So, why would Pope St. Gregory fuse the three "characters" together? First, we need to examine the specific references to the woman named "Mary Magdalene" recorded in the Gospels. She was one of the women who accompanied Jesus and the Apostles: "The Twelve accompanied Him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and maladies: Mary called the Magdalene, from whom seven devils had gone out, Joanna, the wife of Herods steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who were assisting them out of their means" (Lk 8:1-3). (The Gospel of St. Mark confirms that our Lord had expelled seven demons from Mary Magdalene (16:9).)
Mary Magdalene also stood at the foot of the cross during the crucifixion (confer Mk 15:40, Mt 27:56 and Jn 19:25). She also witnessed Christs burial, and on Easter was the first to discover the empty tomb and then the first to see the risen Lord (confer Jn 20:1-18).
Given the specific references to "Mary Magdalene," the second step is to examine whether Mary Magdalene may also be the penitent woman found in the Gospel of St. Luke (7:36-50). Remember the penitent woman entered the home of Simon the Pharisee. She wept, and her tears fell upon our Lords feet. She anointed His feet with perfumed oil and dried them with her hair. Simon the Pharisee said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, He would know who and what sort of woman this is that touches Him that she is a sinner," an obvious reference to her being "untouchable" because of such a serious sin as adultery, fornication, or promiscuity. In the end, Jesus forgives the penitent woman.
Lastly, the book cites several individuals who have accused the Church of "a smear campaign" to discredit Mary Magdalene so as to disempower a powerful woman. Oh please! What greater honor could the Church grant than by recognizing Mary Magdalene as a saint and a model for every sincere Christian who struggles for holiness? |
This scene is part of Jesus ministry in the area of the Sea of Galilee. Also, right after the declaration of forgiveness in the seventh chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke, Mary Magdalene is mentioned by name as a follower of Jesus and identified as the one "from whom seven devils had gone out" (Lk 9:1-3). Keep in mind that Magdalene is derived from Magdala. Magdala, located along the Sea of Galilee near Tiberias, was a wealthy city known for its prosperous fisheries. The Romans destroyed the town because of its moral depravity and its participation in the Jewish revolt. Interestingly, in the Talmud, from the word Magdalene is derived the expression "curling womens hair," which means "adulteress." Even though the penitent woman of Luke 7 is not specifically identified as the Mary Magdalene "from whom seven devils had gone out" of Luke 8, one could easily draw the conclusion, as did Pope St. Gregory. Moreover, the early Church tradition has also upheld this connection.
The third and more difficult step to the investigation is to see if Mary Magdalene could indeed be Mary of Bethany. Following Luke 8, the gospel in the ninth and 10th chapters relates such stories as the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, the Transfiguration, the exorcism of a possessed boy and teachings about discipleship. Our Lord then traveled to "a village" (i.e. Bethany, although not specified by Luke) to the home of Martha, who "had a sister named Mary" (confer Lk 10:38-42). There Martha prepared a meal for our Lord.
While the Gospel of St. Luke does not specifically identify Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany, the Gospel of St. John helps resolve the issue. In John 12:1-11, Jesus arrived at Bethany, "the village of Lazarus whom Jesus had raised from the dead." Martha served a meal. Mary anointed our Lords feet with perfume and dried his feet with her hair. Keep in mind this is a different scene than the anointing by the penitent woman in the home of Simon the Pharisee in Luke 7; nevertheless, the same kind of action in both scenes helps suggests the same actor, namely Mary Magdalene.
Moreover, in John 11, the earlier scene where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the Gospel reads, "There was a certain man named Lazarus who was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary whose brother Lazarus was sick was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and dried His feet with her hair" (Jn 11:1-2). Here Mary is identified as "the one who anointed the Lord." While some speculate that this identification in John 11 refers to the subsequent anointing in John 12, why would John need to make such a reference when the story of John 11 flows right into the story of John 12? More likely, the identification refers to a previous action, namely the story at the home of Simon the Pharisee.
If this argument holds, then Mary Magdalene, the penitent woman, and Mary of Bethany are the same. Granted, we are still left with a little mystery. Nevertheless, I personally agree with Pope St. Gregory, who concluded, "She whom Luke calls the sinful woman, whom John calls Mary [of Bethany], we believe to be the Mary from whom seven devils were ejected according to Mark" (Homilies on the Gospels). St. Mary Magdalene, the repentant sinner, who found both forgiveness and friendship with our Lord, who stood faithfully at the foot of the cross, and who saw the risen Lord, is a powerful example for each believer.
As far as The Da Vinci Code is concerned, what one cannot construe is some of the misconceptions they erroneously present: for instance, 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. Such conclusions, despite the best efforts of historical revisionists who distort the Gospel to meet their political objectives, have no foundation in sacred Scripture, sacred tradition or factual history.
While the revisionists cite the "gnostic gospels," these were rejected from the official canon of sacred Scripture because they lacked apostolic authorship, were heretical and contained fictitious stories. One cannot counter Church tradition with spurious evidence from the gnostic gospels.
Lastly, the book cites several individuals who have accused the Church of "a smear campaign" to discredit Mary Magdalene so as to disempower a powerful woman. Oh please! What greater honor could the Church grant than by recognizing Mary Magdalene as a saint and a model for every sincere Christian who struggles for holiness? Pope St. Gregory realized Mary Magdalenes beautiful example: a woman who found new life in Christ, not a woman who found a self-empowered political agenda. Frankly, more people ought to spend their time reading the Bible, the fathers of the Church and the Catechism instead of such bogus print as The Da Vinci Code.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Saunders, Rev. William. "Mary Magdalene." Arlington Catholic Herald.
This article is reprinted with permission from Arlington Catholic Herald.
THE AUTHOR
Fr. Saunders is pastor of Our Lady of Hope Parish in Potomac Falls and a professor of catetchetics and theology at Notre Dame Graduate School in Alexandria. The above article is a "Straight Answers" column he wrote for the Arlington Catholic Herald. Father Saunders is also the author of Straight Answers, a book based on 100 of his columns and published by Cathedral Press in Baltimore
Any thoughts?
Mary Magdalene's only "sin" was having seven demons. No where does it say she was a prostitute and I doubt she was Lazarus' sister, Mary.
As I recall from something I heard or read, if the Church was trying to "discredit" St. Mary Magdalene, they did a really poor job doing it.
I think we'll never really know the whole truth about her and I'm fine with that. Jesus is still Jesus and that's all that really matters to me.
+ Bernard of Clairvaux called her "the apostle to the Apostles". Satis est.
How many people sympathetic to Jesus Christ were under the Cross when he died? I am not challenging who was there, I am only curious. I recall Mary the Mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
"Oh please!"
My response would be considerably more vulgar, but "oh, please!" captures the sense of it.
I think that the sentiment he had! LOL!
Since we don't know what behaviors the "seven demons" caused in Mary, being promiscuous does not seem unlikely. To be cured of mental affliction that caused such behaviors and shunning by civil society...must have been a wondrous blessing indeed. No wonder MM devoted the rest of her life to following Jesus. However, it does seem a stretch to assume she was the same Mary who was the sister of Martha and Lazarus. If the sister Martha sought out Jesus to raise Lazarus, why would she not have sought him to heal her sister Mary?
Unfortunately there were many "Mary's" in the circle of families and followers of the disciples.
The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Saint John --
an interesting thing is that those three didn't suffer martydom. All the other apostles suffered painful martyrdoms, except the three that witnessed the Crucifixion. Something to contemplate.
In the Church of the Sepulchre is referenced the site where "the three Marys" stood together and watched the crucifixion.
As strange as it seems, I wonder what local lore says about Mary Magdalene. The locals throughout Israel have great familiarity with Holy sites and events and talk about the people and what happened as if it occurred last week instead of 2000 yrs ago.
Furthermore, I don't believe Jesus would have had a child out of wedlock with her because he was without sin and that would have negated his mission completely.
People really *want* to believe that stuff. I don't want to believe it, but if it should turn out to be true, that would be ok, too. It just seems so unlikely.
I admit to a wee bit of curiosity if any close relatives of Jesus have descendants who are alive today. That we cannot know.
Thank you for posting this. My mother's confirmation name is Magdalena and she's always been sensitive about it, I've always guessed because of the "prostitute" connotation. I'm in the dark really on the reason why she took the name because she never wants to explain it.
God bless!
Knowing that there is no definitive answer, what does everyone think He was writing in the dirt with His finger when they were going to stone her?
IMO, he was writing how many times each of the men in the stoning crowd had commited adultery and with whom...or other Ten Commandment breaking Sin ;)
No where does the Bible say that the woman in that story was Mary Magdalene. It says "a woman caught in adultery." Not even in the surrounding context does it hint that the person was Mary of Magdala.
Again my opinion, but I think Mary was well-to-do and was one of the women who supported Jesus' ministry from her own funds.
I agree with you about what He wrote, for what that's worth. Some others have said that He was writing scripture. I prefer to think He was calling others out on their hypocrisy. But who knows?
Actually when you look at the behaviors of all the other demon afflicted recorded in the New Testament it seems rather unlikely.
They were violent (Matthew 8:28-34) threw their host into water and fire (Matthew 17:14-18) lived among tombs and cut themselves with sharp rocks (Mark 5)
None of this seems very conducive to being a prostitute.
Hope you pass this on to her in an email.
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