Next Tuesday, July 22nd, the Eastern and Western Churches (Catholics are part of the Western Church for those new to the reference) celebrate the Feast Day of St. Mary Magdalene – the Apostle of the Apostles.
This year I was challenged to recalibrate my understanding of St. Mary Magdalene by taking the concept of ‘mere figure of feminist theology’ and moving beyond that typecast to appreciate her deeper value.
I am old enough to remember when we stopped referring to Mary Magdalene as a prostitute. Not comprehending at a young age what a colossal shift in perception that must have been for our Church and believers, I took it as a simple matter of mistaken identity, if not mistaken history. Mistakes happen – as we are all humanly fallible.
When I touched upon Mary Magdalene some 20 years later, albeit briefly during Catholic theological studies, I came to perceive that our understanding of Mary Magdalene may not have been a ‘mistake’ after all, but an act of misconception, if not outright deception or calumny, created around a female Biblical figure that was too powerful to control, too strong in her beliefs, and too central to the source. Feeling emotionally and spiritually shortchanged, I had to ask why a woman would need to be religiously and publicly discredited for the sake of religious perception when she should be celebrated, venerated and revered. Then, sadly I moved on with other studies that did not focus on feminist theological ideals, and the historical case of Mary Magdalene returned to the periphery of my theological existence… until now.
It is sometimes joked that if you want to see change in the Catholic Church you must first wait a minimum 50 years, and over 100 years if you are seeking lasting change. We are a slow burn as a religion, and the incorrect doctrine on Mary Magdalene was as slow to renounce as it was easy to introduce.
As a brief timeline: Pope Gregory the 1st gave a conflated homily in 591 AD (between the Age of the Christian Empire and the rise of the Medieval Church) in which he incorrectly correlates Mary Magdalene to the unnamed sinner in Luke’s Gospel. We continue for another 14 centuries to paint Mary Magdalene as a repentant and healed formerly demon possessed sinner and woman of disrepute until around 1969 (following the Second Vatican Council) when she is finally recognised for what she truly is and always was: the ‘Apostle of the Apostles,’ the ‘Witness of Divine Mercy’ – the myrrh-bearer at the Resurrection – which, again was only officially elevated to ‘Festivity’ aka Catholic Feast Day by Pope Francis in 2016 another 47 year wait for recognition after Vatican II.
I became good friends with an Eastern Orthodox deacon while studying theology. When we met, he was a generation older than me, married with children, completing a double Master Theology degree when I was barely beginning my first, and in formation to become an Eastern Orthodox priest. Married priests were a concept completely foreign to my understanding of religion and Christianity at that time, and I was fascinated by his depth of knowledge and understanding which seemed to push far beyond the boundaries of Catholic sensibilities. Ignorance on my part, was not bliss.
On our hour-long train commute to and from Uni we would discuss our various similarities and differences as budding theological scholars and Christian brothers and sisters in Christ(ology). As a Biblical scholar in training, I am sure he despaired at my Biblical ignorance. I in turn happily imparted as much Catholic Social Doctrine as a 1-hour train ride could afford. We would debate and not always agree, but I would calmly remind him during disagreements, that he was attending a Catholic Theological College to complete his degree and not the other way around. I was reassured by this fact that we (Catholics) must be doing something right. We would finally settle into friendly, if sometimes heated discussion about our many religious travails since the Great Schism. Not familiar with this term either? It’s when our churches historically parted-ways. You can read more about the Great Schism here.
Looking back at our younger selves as a post-graduate over a decade later, I can see ours was a friendship almost 1000 years in the making. Orthodox and Catholic under the same roof, learning from the same theological history. He spoke with a genuine knowledge, love, respect and passion for the women of the Bible, for Mary Magdalene, Anna – Mother of Mary and the Nativity of the Virgin Mary alongside their various Feast Days and extraordinary Icon depictions in the Eastern Orthodox Tradition. When I asked what I thought to be daring and outlandish questions, statements or by the retelling of stories I had heard about Biblical heroines, he would simply smile, shake his head and say ‘Catholics – you’ve missed out on a lot since the Schism, haven’t you?’
Perhaps we have missed out on a lot, but in this age of technology we have no excuse to be uninformed. Yes, there is a lot of misinformation and misdirection out there, but it is not 591 AD, we no-longer have any excuse to follow or believe in ignorance.
Who is Mary Magdalene to me in 2025?
She is the first to carry the light of the Resurrection into the world. The first witness and first woman to herald a new age.
In this age, where gender is neutral or fluid, where politics quickly morph into petty social media bullying, where artificial intelligence hallucinates, or war and peace are used as commodities, and religious belief is becoming increasingly transient – St. Mary Magdalene is the rising sun in the East, and the hope that truth in all its forms whether Biblical, historical, spiritual or metaphysical – that truth will out in the end. It may take another century for us to get to the truth of who and what Mary Magdalene is for our Tradition, then, now, and forevermore, but truth is always worth the wait.
St. Mary Magdalene, patron saint of women… (as to the patron of contemplative life, converts, hairstylists, penitents, and perfume makers, that of course is still somewhat debatable depending on which version of events and interpretations you subscribe to). St. Mary Magdalene, may you continue to shine your truth-light and witness for all ages: past, present and future. Amen.
Peace out!
🕊
Kathleen.
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