This is my depiction (oil on canvas) of the Magdalena (the original version of the name Magdalene) or, as she is better known in the British Isles, Mary Magdalene.
Mary Magdalene lived in a Gentile town called Magdale, in northern Galilee, and her culture and manners were those of a Gentile. She was present at Our Lords' Crucifixion, and with Joanna and Mary, the mother of James and Salome, at Jesus' empty tomb. Fourteen years after Our Lord's death, Mary Magdalene was put in a boat by the Jews without sails or oars - along with Saints Lazarus and Martha, St Maximin (who baptised her), St Sidonius ("the man born blind"), her maid Sera, and the body of St Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin.
They were sent drifting out to sea and landed on the shores of Southern France, where Mary Magdalene spent the rest of her life as a contemplative in a cave known as Sainte-Baume. She was given the Holy Eucharist daily by angels as her only food, and died when she was seventy-two. St Mary Magdalene was transported miraculously, just before she died, to the chapel of St Maximin, where she received the last sacraments.
When Our Lord was crucified, she was there at the foot of His cross, unafraid for herself, and thinking only of His sufferings. No wonder Jesus said of her: "She has loved much."
After Jesus' body had been placed in the tomb, Mary went to anoint it with spices early Easter Sunday morning. Not finding the Sacred Body, she began to weep, and seeing someone whom she thought was the gardener, she asked him if he knew where the Body of her beloved Master had been taken. But then the person spoke in a voice she knew so well:
"Mary!"
It was Jesus, risen from the dead! He had chosen to show Himself first to Mary Magdalene.
Mary Magdalene lived in a Gentile town called Magdale, in northern Galilee, and her culture and manners were those of a Gentile. She was present at Our Lords' Crucifixion, and with Joanna and Mary, the mother of James and Salome, at Jesus' empty tomb. Fourteen years after Our Lord's death, Mary Magdalene was put in a boat by the Jews without sails or oars - along with Saints Lazarus and Martha, St Maximin (who baptised her), St Sidonius ("the man born blind"), her maid Sera, and the body of St Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin.
They were sent drifting out to sea and landed on the shores of Southern France, where Mary Magdalene spent the rest of her life as a contemplative in a cave known as Sainte-Baume. She was given the Holy Eucharist daily by angels as her only food, and died when she was seventy-two. St Mary Magdalene was transported miraculously, just before she died, to the chapel of St Maximin, where she received the last sacraments.
When Our Lord was crucified, she was there at the foot of His cross, unafraid for herself, and thinking only of His sufferings. No wonder Jesus said of her: "She has loved much."
After Jesus' body had been placed in the tomb, Mary went to anoint it with spices early Easter Sunday morning. Not finding the Sacred Body, she began to weep, and seeing someone whom she thought was the gardener, she asked him if he knew where the Body of her beloved Master had been taken. But then the person spoke in a voice she knew so well:
"Mary!"
It was Jesus, risen from the dead! He had chosen to show Himself first to Mary Magdalene.
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