Mary Magdalene Was The First Person To See Christ’s Resurrection By Christine Weerts for The Federalist
On July 22, Western and Eastern Orthodox churches, historians, and Christians around the world celebrate the feast day of saint Mary Magdalene.
Saint Mary Magdalene,
you came with springing tears
to the spring of mercy, Christ;
from him your burning thirst was abundantly refreshed;
through him your sins were forgiven;
by him your bitter sorrow was consoled.
—St. Anselm, 1033–1109, prayer about St. Mary Magdalene
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On July 22, Western and Eastern Orthodox churches, historians, and Christians around the world celebrate the feast day of saint Mary Magdalene, a faithful follower of Jesus Christ and the first witness to the Resurrection, according to the gospels.
Mary Magdalene, cured of seven demons (Luke 8:3), followed her healing savior on His earthly ministry from Galilee to Jerusalem to that final fateful Golgotha Hill where He was crucified. On the first Easter Sunday, carrying myrrh to anoint his body, Mary stood at the empty grave weeping. The risen Jesus appeared to her, called her by name, and commanded her to share the Good News of his resurrection. (John 20: 1-18).
“I have seen the Lord!” Mary told the disciples, earning her title from the early church fathers, “Apostle to the Apostles.”
Her tears at Christ’s empty tomb are a reminder that “sometimes in our lives, tears are the lenses we need to see Jesus,” preached Pope Francis, who elevated Mary Magdalene’s memorial day to a major feast day in 2016. “St. Mary Magdalene’s feast day is a call for all Christians to “reflect more deeply on the dignity of women, the new evangelization and the greatness of the mystery of divine mercy.” A new pilgrimage site dedicated to her has just been announced in France.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a liturgy for the July 22 Mass recognizing the saint, who is also recognized by the Eastern Orthodox Church and many Protestant denominations including the Lutheran church.
Last year’s tributes from around the world demonstrate the breadth of her significance: there were tweets from Westminster Abbey, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, French poet Antre Fascinante, Welsh author Mark Rees, art historian Elizabeth Lev of Rome, the Library of Birmingham Museums Trust, and even Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board of Barrie, Ontario.
Where Did Mary Magdalene Come From?
In the town of Magdala, along the shore of the Sea of Galilee where Mary was born, commemorative services are held each year, recognizing her key role in sharing the good news of the gospel.
“At the beginning of the Gospel, we have a woman, the Virgin Mary….who consents and accepts to become the Mother of the Lord and welcomes him in her womb, beginning the history of redemption. At the end of the Gospel, we have a woman, Mary of Magdala, who enters first into a relationship with the Risen Lord…She is a figure of the Church, made of sinners, who are at the same time reconciled with the Father by the presence of the risen Christ,” said Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, patriarch of Jerusalem of the Latins, in his homily.
