SAINT MARY MAGDALEN
July 22
from The Golden Legend1


Mary is interpreted amarum mare, bitter sea, or light-giver, or enlightened. By these three things are understood the three best parts which she chose, namely the part of penance, the part of inward contemplation, and the part of heavenly glory. Hence we understand the Lord's words: 'Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her.' The first part indeed shall not be taken away from her by reason of its end, which is the pursuit of blessedness, nor the second, by reason of its continuousness, because it will be continued in the contemplation of Heaven, nor the third by reason of its eternity. Since therefore she chose the best part of penance, she is called 'bitter sea,' because in her repentance she had much bitterness, as is manifest, because she shed so many tears that she washed the Lord's feet therewith. Since she chose the best part of interior contemplation, she is called 'light-giver,' because therein she drank avidly that which afterward she poured out in abundance; therein she received the light, with which afterward she enlightened others. And since she chose the best part of heavenly glory, she is called 'enlightened,' because already she is enlightened with the light of perfect knowledge in her mind, and she will be enlightened with the light of glory in her body.

Magdalen is the same as manens rea, remaining in guilt, or means armed, or unconquered, or magnificent, and by these we understand what she was before her conversion, in her conversion, and after her conversion. For before her conversion she remained in her guilt, being laden with the debt of eternal punishment; in her conversion she was both armed and unconquered, by means of the armament of penance, because she put on the excellent armor of penance, devising an immolation of herself to atone for each of the pleasures she had enjoyed; after her conversion she was magnificent by the superabundance of grace, because where sin abounded, grace did more abound.

Mary Magdalen was bom of parents who were of noble station, and came of royal lineage. Her father was called Syrus, and her mother Eucharia. Together with her brother Lazarus and her sister Martha, she was the possessor of the fortified town of Magdala near Genezareth, of Bethany close by Jerusalem, and of a large section of Jerusalem itself; but these vast possessions were so divided that Lazarus held the section of Jerusalem, Martha retained Bethany, and Magdala belonged to Mary, who thus came by the surname of Magdalen. And since Magdalen gave herself wholly to the pleasures of the senses, and Lazarus served in the army, the prudent Martha was entrusted with the stewardship of her brother's and sister's properties. All three, moreover, sold their goods after Lord's Ascension, and laid the price at the feet of the apostles.

As rich as Mary was, she was no less beautiful; and so entirely had she abandoned her body to pleasure that she was no longer, called by any other name than 'the sinner.' But when Jesus was journeying about the country preaching, she learned one day, by divine inspiration, that He sat at meat in the house of Simon the Leper. Thither she ran at once, but, not daring to mingle with His disciples, she stayed apart. And she washed the Lord's feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and anointed them with precious ointment: for the warmth of the climate compelled the people of this region to use water and ointment several times a day. And when Simon the Pharisee was astonished to see that a prophet suffered himself to be touched by a woman of evil life, Our Lord reproached him for his proud righteousness, and said, that all this woman's sins were forgiven her, because she loved much.

And thenceforward there was no grace that He refused her, nor any mark of affection that He withheld from her. He drove seven devils out of her, admitted her to His friendship, condescended to dwell in her house, and was pleased to defend her whenever occasion arose. He defended her before the Pharisee who accused her of being unclean, and before her sister Martha, who charged her, with idleness, and before Judas, who reproached her for her prodigality. And He could not see her in tears without Himself weeping. For love of her, He restored her brother to life after he had been dead four days. He cured Martha of an issue of blood which had suffered for seven years, and He chose Martha's serving-maid, Martilla, to utter the memorable words: 'Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee suck!' Magdalen also had the honour of being present at the death of Jesus, standing at the foot of the Cross: and it was she that anointed His body with sweet spices after His death, and who stayed at the sepulchre when all the disciples went away. And to her first the risen Jesus appeared, and made her apostle to the apostles.

In the fourteenth year after the Passion and Ascension of Our Lord, the disciples went out into the divers regions of the earth to sow the word of God; and Saint Peter entrusted Mary Magdalen to Saint Maximinus, one of the seventy-two disciples of the Lord. Then Saint Maximinus, Mary Magdalen, Lazarus, Martha, Martilla, and Saint Cedonius, the man born blind who had been cured by Jesus, together with still other Christians, were thrown by the infidels into a ship without a rudder and launched into the deep, in the hope that in this way they would all be drowned at once. But the ship was guided by the power of God, and made port in good estate at Marseilles. There no one would give shelter to the newcomers, who were forced to take refuge beneath the porch of a pagan temple. And when Mary Magdalen saw the pagans going into their temple to offer sacrifice to their gods, she arose with calm mien and prudent tongue, and began to draw them away from the worship of the idols and to preach Christ to them. And all wondered at her, not only for her beauty but for her eloquence, which eloquence was not indeed a matter of surprise on lips that had touched the Lord's feet.

Now the ruler of the province came to the temple to sacrifice to the idols, hoping to obtain a child, for his marriage had been without fruit. But Magdalen, by her preaching, deterred him from offering sacrifice to the false gods. And some days later she appeared to the ruler's wife and said to her: 'Why do you, who are rich, leave the servants of God to die of cold and hunger?' And she threatened her with the wrath of God if she did not persuade her spouse to be more charitable. But the woman was afraid to speak of this vision to her husband. Again Magdalen appeared to her on the following night, and again she failed to speak of it to her husband. Finally, on the third night, Magdalen appeared with her face aflame with just ire, and upbraided the woman vehemently for her hardness of heart. The woman awoke all atremble, and saw that thier spouse trembled likewise. 'My lord,' she said to him, 'hast thou also seen the dream that I have seen?' And he replied: 'I have seen the Christian woman, and she has reproached me for my want of charity, and threatened me with the wrath of God. What shall we do?' 'It were better to obey her,' said the woman, 'than to bring down upon us the anger of her God!' They therefore gave welcome to the Christians, and promised to provide for all their needs.

One day when Magdalen was preaching, this same ruler said to her: 'Thinkest thou that thou canst give proof of the faith which thou preachest?' And she answered: 'Of a certain I can defend a faith that is confirmed day by day through miracles, and through the preaching of Peter, my master, the bishop of Rome!' Then the ruler and his wife said: 'We shall obey thee in all things if thou succeedest in obtaining from thy God that a son be born to us.' And Mary Magdalen besought the Lord for them, and her prayer was granted, for in a little time the woman was with child.

Then the ruler determined to go to Saint Peter, in order to know whether all that Magdalen said of Christ were true. And his wife said to him: 'Wouldst thou, my husband, go off without me? Think not of it. If thou go, I shall go also; if thou return, I shall return with thee; when thou restest, I shall rest in like wise ' 'How then can I take thee with me,' he answered, 'since thou art heavy with child, and the perils of the sea are great?' But she importuned him so much, as women know how to do, and threw herself at his feet with so many tears, that in the end she had her wish. Magdalen placed the sign of the cross upon their mantles to protect them from the snares of the Devil, and they set out, leaving in Magdalen's care all that they did not take with them in the ship. But after a day and a night had passed the sea rose, and the storm resounded; and the ruler's wife, stricken with fear and rudely shaken by the tempest, brought forth a son before the natural term, and died in her pangs, The new-born infant groped about seeking the comfort of his mother's breasts, and wept piteously. Ah woe! The child is born alive but has done his mother to death! It befits him but to die, since none there is to give him the food of life. And what will the pilgrim do, seeing his spouse dead, and the mewling babe hungering for the breast with plaintive cries? Loudly therefore the father mourned, and said: 'Alas, wretch that I am, what shall I do? I desired a son, and have lost both the son and the mother!' Meanwhile the seamen shouted: 'Into the sea with this corpse, before we all perish together! As long as it is with us, this fury will not abate!' They laid hands on the body, and were about to throw it into the sea, when the pilgrim said: 'Spare me, spare me! And if ye be unwilling to spare me and my wife, have mercy at least on the wailing babe! Wait but a little, and see if perchance my wife may not be in a faint from pain, and may yet breathe!' Then all at once, a hilly coast was seen not far off, and the pilgrim thought it better that the dead woman and the infant be borne thither, than that they be given to be devoured by the monsters of the deep. By pleas and by bribes he persuaded the mariners to put him ashore. Then,being unable to dig a grave because the earth was too hard, he spread out his cloak in a sheltered part of the hill, and laid the corpse thereon, and placed the infant upon its mother's breast, and wept, and said: '0 Mary Magdalen, It was to my ruin that thou didst land upon the shore of Marseilles! Why did I, unhappy man that I am, set out upon this journey at thy behest? Was it for this that thou didst petition God, that my wife should conceive and perish? She conceived a child indeed, and lost her life in giving birth-, and the child is born only to die, for there is no one to suckle it. Behold what thy prayer has obtained for me! I commended my all to thee, and still commend me to thy God! If thou art powerful, be mindful of the mother's soul, and may God answer thy prayers with mercy, lest the infant perish!' Then he wrapt the corpse and the child all about with his cloak, and returned to the ship.

When he arrived at the place where Peter was, the apostle came forth to meet him, and seeing the cross on his cloak, asked him who he was and whence he came. The pilgrim then told him his whole story. And Peter said: 'Peace be to thee, and bear thy ills in patience! Thy wife sleeps, and thy child with her. But God is powerful: He can take away and He can restore. And if He wills it, He can change thy sorrow into joy.' Peter then took him to Jerusalem, and showed him all the places where Our Lord had preached and worked miracles, and the place of His Passion and the scene of His Ascension; and for two years he instructed him in the faith. Thereafter the pilgrim embarked again to return to his own land. And when, by God's ordaining, the wind had again blown the ship toward the island whereon the dead woman and the child had been set down, the pilgrim won leave from the mariners to go ashore.

Now the little boy, whom Mary Magdalen had taken into her care, watching over him from afar to keep him alive, came often to play in the sand of the beach, as children do, and when the pilgrim drew near the land, he was much astonished to see the child in such a place. And the child was affrighted, never having seen a man, and took refuge beside his dead mother, whose breast he began to suckle, as was his wont. And the pilgrim came up, and saw his wife, who seemed to be asleep, and the fair child suckling her breast. Then he took the child in his arms and cried: '0 blessed Mary Magdalen, how great would be my joy if only my wife were still alive and could go back with me to our country! And I know that thou, who didst give me this child, and for two years hast watched, over him, hast also the power to obtain from Heaven that his mother come back to life!' Scarcely had he spoken these words when his wife opened her eyes, as if she had just wakened, and said: 'Blessed art thou, Mary Magdalen, who didst serve me as midwife in my travail, and hast succoured me in all my needs!' And the pilgrim was dumfounded, and exclaimed: 'Art thou alive, my beloved spouse?' And she said: 'Yes, certes, and I too am returning from the pilgrimage which thou thyself hast made. And when Saint Peter led thee about Jerusalem, showing thee the scenes of Christ's life and death, I too was there, with Mary Magdalen as my guide.' The pilgrim, carried away with joy, went back to the ship with his wife and child, and shortly thereafter they sailed into the port of Marseilles. There they found Mary Magdalen busy at preaching with her disciples. Falling at her feet, they told her all that had befallen them: and Saint Maximinus baptized them with all solemnity.

Then the citizens of Marseilles core down all the temples of the idols, and built Christian churches in their stead; and by common consent they chose Lazarus to be bishop of Marseilles. Then Mary Magdalen and her followers went to Aix, where by many miracle they converted the people to the faith of Christ; and Saint Maximinus was elected bishop.

In the meantime Saint Mary Magdalen, moved by her wish to live in contemplation of the things of God, retired to a mountain cave which the hands of angels had made ready for her, and there she dwelt for thirty years, unknown to anyone. There she found neither water nor herb nor tree, whereby she knew that Jesus wished, to sustain her with naught but heavenly meats, allowing her no earthly satisfaction. But every day the angels bore her aloft at the seven canonical hours, and with her bodily cars she heard the glorious chants of the heavenly hosts. Then, being filled with this delightful repast, she came down to her grotto, and needed no bodily food. Now a certain priest who wished to live in solitude had built a cell at a distance of twelve stadia from Magdalen's grotto. And one day Our Lord opened his eyes and made him to see the angels entering the grotto, lifting the saint into the air, and bearing her back after the space of an hour. Thereupon the priest, desiring to be sure that his vision was real, ran to the place where she had appeared to him. But when he came within a stone's throw of the spot, all his members were paralyzed. He was able to use them to withdraw from the place, but when he sought to go toward it, his legs refused to carry him. Thus he understood that here was a sacred mystery, surpassing human ken. Calling upon Christ, he cried out: 'I adjure thee by the Lord, if thou who dwellest in this grotto art a human being, answer me and tell me the truth!' And after he had thrice repeated his adjuration, Saint Mary Magdalen responded: 'Come nearer, and thou shalt know what thou desirest to know!' Then, when the favor of Heaven had allowed the priest to take some steps forward, the saint said: 'Dost thou recall having read in the Gospel the story of Mary, the notorious sinner who washed the Saviour's feet, wiped them with the hairs of her head, and obtained pardon for all her sins?' And the priest replied, 'Well do I recall it! And for thirty years our holy Church has honored her memory!' Then said the saint: 'I am that sinner. For thirty years I have lived here unknown to anyone. And every day the angels bear me up to Heaven seven times, where for my joy I hear the songs of the heavenly company with my own cars. But now the moment is at hand when I shall leave this earth forever. Go therefore to the bishop Maximinus, and say to him that on the day of the Resurrection, as soon as he rises he is to go to his oratory; and there he shall find me, led thither by the angels.' And while she spoke, the priest could not see her, but only heard a voice of angelic sweetness.

He ran straight to Maximinus, to whom he related all that he had seen and heard. On the appointed day and hour the holy bishop repaired to his oratory, and there saw Mary Magdalen, as yet surrounded by the angels who had brought her thither. She was raised two cubits above the earth, and held her arms extended. And as Saint Maximinus feared to draw near, she said to him: 'Father, do not flee thy daughter!' And Maximinus himself tells in his writings that the saint's visage, long used to the sight of the angels, had become so radiant that one might more easily have looked into the rays of the sun than into her face. Then the bishop, summoning the aforesaid priest and his clergy, gave the Body and Blood of the Lord to Saint Mary Magdalen: and no sooner had she taken the Communion than her body fell lifeless before the altar, and her soul took its flight to the Lord. And such was the perfume of her sanctity that for seven days the oratory was filled with it. Saint Maximinus caused her body to be interred with great pomp, and commanded that he himself be buried near her after his death.

The book which some attribute to Hegesippus, and others to Josepbus, tells the story of Mary Magdalen in no very different way, adding only that the priest found the saint enclosed in her cell; then, at her request, he gave her a cloak, and with him she went to the church, received Communion, and expired in peace before the altar.

In Charlemagne's time, namely in the year 769, Gerard, duke of Burgundy, chagrined that he could not have a son, performed great works of charity in behalf of the poor, and built a goodly number of churches and monasteries. When he had erected the monastery of Vezelay, the abbot of this monastery, at his request, sent a monk to Aix with a company, to try, if it were possible, to bring back the body of Saint Mary Magdalen from that city. Arriving in Aix, the monk found the city razed to the ground by the pagans. But a happy chance allowed him to discover a marble tomb which he took to be that of the saint, for her whole history was wondrously graven thereon. The following night, therefore, the monk broke open this tomb, took out the bones which were contained within, and bore them to his hostel. And that same night Saint Mary Magdalen appeared to him, and told him to be without fear, and to carry out his work. The monk returned to his monastery with the precious relics. But when he had come within a half-league of the monastery, neither he nor his companions could carry the relics farther, until the abbot and the monks had come to meet them, and bore them the rest of the way in solemn procession.

A soldier who was wont to go every year in pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint Mary Magdalen, was slain in combat. His parents, mourning around his coffin, reproved the saint piously for allowing him to die unshriven. And all at once, to the astonishment of all, the soldier arose and asked for a priest. Then, after he had confessed his sins and received the last unction, he again fell asleep in the Lord.

On a storm-tossed ship, a woman who was with child invoked Saint Mary Magdalen, and made a vow that if she were saved and gave birth to a son, she would give the child to the monastery of the Magdalen. Then a woman of venerable bearing appeared to her, and holding her by the chin, brought her in safety to the shore, while all the others perished. In return for this, the woman, when she had brought forth a son, faithfully carried out her vow.

Certain authors relate that Mary Magdalen was betrothed to Saint John the Evangelist, and that he was about to take her to wife when Christ, coming into the midst of the nuptials, called the Evangelist to Him; whereat the Magdalen was so wroth that she abandoned herself to sinful pleasure. But this is held to be a false and frivolous tale: and Friar Albert, in his preface to the Gospel of Saint John, declares that the espoused wife whom the apostle left behind to follow Jesus remained a virgin all her life, and later lived in the company of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

A blind man was on a pilgrimage to the monastery of Vezelay. When the man who was leading him told him that already the church was in sight, the blind man exclaimed: '0 Saint Mary Magdalen, would that I might at some time see thy church!' And at once he recovered his sight.

A man who was in prison for extortion called upon Mary Magdalen for assistance. And in the night an unknown woman appeared to him, broke his bonds, opened the door of the prison, and ordered him to take his freedom.

A clerk of Flanders named Stephen had fallen into such depravity that he abandoned himself to every vice, and could not even suffer to hear of the things of salvation. Nevertheless he kept a great devotion to Mary Magdalen, and did not fail to fast on the vigil of her feast. But when he visited her tomb, the saint appeared to him all in tears, and held up on both sides by angels. And she said to him: 'Stephen, why behavest thou in a fashion so unworthy of me? Why art thou not moved to compunction by my insistent prayers? For from the day that thou didst begin to pray to me, I have always besought the Lord for thee! Now therefore arise and do penance, and I shall not forsake thee until thou be reconciled with God!' And Stephen felt such a fulness of God's grace within him that he renounced the world, entered a monastery, and lived a life of perfection thenceforth. At his death Saint Mary Magdalen was seen standing at his bier, with an angel at either side, and she took his soul, in the form of a white dove, and bore it to Heaven amid chants of praise,


1. From: The Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine, trans. and adapted by Ryan, Granger and Helmut Ripperger. (Arno Press: Longmans, Green & Co) 1941. pp. 355-364.