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Today, July 22nd is the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene. The Gospels tell us that she was the first person to see the resurrected Christ (Mark 16:9-10, John 20:14-17). She stood next to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the disciple John at the cross as Jesus died. This trio of Saints, according to the visions of St. Bridget of Sweden, have reserved a special place in the affections of Christ.
The Gospel also tells us that Jesus cast 'seven devils' out of Mary Magdalene (Luke 8:2). The Fathers have stated that these seven devils represent all vices summed up in the seven deadly sins.
"The Fathers tell us that Magdelene is a type of the Gentile Church called from the depth of sin to perfect holiness; and indeed, better than any other, she personifies both the wanderings and the love of the human race, espoused by the Word of God. Like the most illustrious characters of the law of grace, she has her antitype in past ages. Let us follow the history of this great penitent as traced by unanimous tradition: Magdalene’s glory will not be thereby diminished..."
Luke 7:37-38: And behold a woman that was in the city, a sinner, when she knew that he sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment; and standing at his feet, she began to wash his feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
"'Who is this woman? Without doubt it is the Church,' answers St. Peter Chrysologus in his 95th Sermon, 'the Church, weighed down and stained with sins committed in the city of this world. At the news that Christ has appeared in Judea, that he is to be seen at the banquet of the Pasch, where he bestows his mysteries and reveals the divine Sacrament, and makes known the secret of salvation: suddenly she darts forward; despising the endeavors of the Scribes to prevent her entrance, she confronts the princes of the Synagogue; burning with desire she penetrates into the Sanctuary, where she finds him whom she seeks, betrayed by Jewish perfidy even at the banquet of love; not the passion, nor the Cross, nor the tomb can check her faith, or prevent her from bringing her perfumes to Christ...
While Israel was expecting from the Messias nought but perishable goods, when the very Apostles, including John the beloved, were looking for honors and first places, she was the first to come to Jesus for himself alone, and not for his gifts....
Albert the Great assures us that, in the world of grace as well as in the material creation, God has made two great lights, to wit two Marys, the Mother of our Lord, and the sister of Lazarus: the greater, which is the Blessed Virgin, to rule the day of innocence; the lesser, which is Mary the penitent beneath the feet of that glorious Virgin, to rule the night by enlightening repentant sinners. As the moon by its phases points out the feast days on earth, so Magdalene in heaven gives the signal of joy to the Angels of God over one sinner doing penance. Does she not also share with the Immaculate One the name of Mary, Star of the sea, as the Churches of Gaul sang in the Middle Ages, recalling how, though one was a Queen and the other a handmaid, both were causes of joy to the Church: the one being the Gate of salvation, the other the messenger of the Resurrection?"
Don`t believe that Magdalene was the woman in Luke 7;37-38........ plus the part of Magdalene visiting Jesus for Him never seen that idea in the New Testament, as the de Vinci novel was a fiction ........... See there were many women in the bible with the name Mary
Don`t believe that Magdalene was the woman in Luke 7;37-38........ plus the part of Magdalene visiting Jesus for Him never seen that idea in the New Testament, as the de Vinci novel was a fiction ........... See there were many women in the bible with the name Mary
I think you completely missed the points in EscAlaMike's post.
He certainly did not allude to the "deVinci novel", lol.
"'Who is this woman? Without doubt it is the Church,' answers St. Peter Chrysologus in his 95th Sermon, 'the Church, weighed down and stained with sins committed in the city of this world. At the news that Christ has appeared in Judea, that he is to be seen at the banquet of the Pasch, where he bestows his mysteries and reveals the divine Sacrament, and makes known the secret of salvation: suddenly she darts forward; despising the endeavors of the Scribes to prevent her entrance, she confronts the princes of the Synagogue; burning with desire she penetrates into the Sanctuary, where she finds him whom she seeks, betrayed by Jewish perfidy even at the banquet of love; not the passion, nor the Cross, nor the tomb can check her faith, or prevent her from bringing her perfumes to Christ...
She's a real person who also serves as an antetype for the Church.
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