Day of Remembrance of the myrrh-bearer of Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene (04/08)





A woman was once born and raised in Magdal, whose name forever went down in gospel history. The Gospel tells us nothing about the young years of Mary of Magdala, but tradition reports that Mary was young, beautiful and led a sinful life. The Gospel says that the Lord cast out seven demons from Mary. From the moment of healing, Maria began a new life. She became a faithful disciple of the Savior.

Mary was faithful to Him not only in the days of His glory, but also in the moment of His extreme humiliation and reproach. She, as the evangelist Matthew narrates, was also present at the burial of the Lord. Before her eyes, Joseph and Nicodemus brought His lifeless body into the tomb. Before her eyes, they blocked the entrance to the cave where the Sun of Life had set with a large stone...

Faithful to the law in which she was brought up, Mary, along with other women, remained alone all the next day, for the day of that Saturday was great, coinciding that year with the holiday of Easter.

Mary Magdalene continued her gospel in Italy, in the city of Rome itself. Obviously, this is exactly what the Apostle Paul means in his Epistle to the Romans, where, together with other ascetics of the gospel sermon, he mentions Mary (Mariam), who, as he puts it, has worked hard for us«. Obviously, she selflessly served the Church both by her means and by her labors, exposed to dangers, and shared the works of preaching with the Apostles.

According to Church tradition, Mary stayed in Rome until the arrival of the Apostle Paul there and two more years after his departure from Rome after his first trial. From Rome, Saint Mary Magdalene, already in old age, moved to Ephesus, where the Holy Apostle John worked tirelessly, who, from her words, wrote the 20th chapter of his Gospel. There Saint Mary ended her earthly life and was buried.

In the 9th century, her holy relics were transferred to the capital of the Byzantine Empire, — Constantinople, and were placed in the monastery's temple in the name of Saint Lazarus. During the era of the Crusades, they were moved to Italy and placed in Rome under the altar of the Lateran Cathedral. Some of the relics of Mary Magdalene are located in France near Marseille, where a magnificent temple was erected above them at the foot of a steep mountain in honor of Mary.

The Orthodox Church also celebrates the memory of Mary Magdalene on the second Sunday after Easter — on the Day of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women. And the Catholic and Lutheran churches celebrate the memory of Mary Magdalene on July 22.

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