Homily for the 11thSunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C)
Based on Lk 7:36-8:3 (Gospel), 2 Sm
12:7-10,13 (First Reading) and Gal 2:16, 19-21 (Second Reading)
From the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”
THE
MAGDALENE LEGEND
“He said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved
you; go in peace’’ (Lk. 7:50)
The Gospel narrative
for this 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time is taken from Lk 7:36-8:3. It
concerns about the episode on Mary Magdalene supposedly. The title
of this episode is ‘The woman who was a sinnerg”. Footnote g
says: “Lk only. This episode is not the
same as the anointing at Bethany.”
Verse 36 of this narrative says: One
of the Pharisees invited him to a meal. When he arrived at the Pharisee’s house
and took his place at table…
Parallel texts for this verse 36 are:
1.
Lk 11:37 - He had just finished speaking when a Pharisee invited him to dine
at his house. He went in and sat down at the table.
2.
Lk 14:1 - On a Sabbath day he had gone for a
meal dine to the house of one of the leading Pharisees; and they watched him
closely.
Verses 37 and 38 say: …a womanh came in, who had a bad
name in the town. She had heard he was dining with the Pharisee and had brought
with her an alabaster jar of ointment. She waited behind him at his feet,
weeping, and her tears began fell on his feet, and she wiped them away with her
hair; then she covered his feet with kisses and anointed them with the ointment. Footnote h says “Most probably not Mary of Magdala, 8:2, and still less, Mary, sister of
Martha, 10:39; Jn 11:1,2,5; 12:2-3”.
Parallel text for v. 37 says:
1.
Mt 21:32 - For
John came to you, a pattern of true righteousness,f but you did not believe him; and yet the tax
collectors and prostitutes did. Even after seeing that, you refused to think
better of it and believe in him. Footnote f says “Lit. ‘in the way of righteousness’. Biblical
expression: John practiced and preached that conformity with the divine will
which makes a man ‘righteous’.”
2.
Jn 8:4 - They said to Jesus, “Master, this woman
was caught in the very act of committing adultery.
Verses 39 to 46 says When the Pharisee who had invited him saw
this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who this
woman that is touching him and what a bad name she has. “Then Jesus took him up
and said, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ ‘Speak, Master,’ was his
reply. ‘There was once a creditor who had two men in his debt; one owed five
hundred denarii, the other fifty. They were unable to pay, so he pardoned them
both. Which of them will love him more? ‘The one who was pardoned more, I suppose’
answered Simon.” Jesus said, ‘You are right.’ Then he turned to the woman.
‘Simon,’ he said “you see this woman? I came into your house, and you poured no
water over my feet, but she has poured out her tears over my feet and wiped
them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she has been covering my feet with
kissing ever since I came in.i You
did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment.
Footnote i on verse 45 says “Var. ‘ever since she came.’”
Parallel texts for verse 39 are:
1.
Mt 16:14 - And they said, “Some say he is John
the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
2.
Jn 4:18-19 - For although you have had five, the
one you have now is not your husband. You spoke the truth there.
Verses 47, 48 and 49 say: For
this reason I tell you that her many sins, must have been forgiven her; or she
would not have shown such great love.j It is the man who is forgiven
little who shows little love. Then he
said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.’ Those who
were with him at table began to say to themselves, “Who is this man, that he
even forgives sins?”’ Footnote j
says “Not, as is usually
translated, ‘her many sins are forgiven her because she has shown such great
love’. The context demands the reverse: she shows so much affection because she
had so many sins forgiven.”
Parallel texts for verse 47 are:
1.
Mt 21:31 - Which of the two did the father’s
will?” “The first” they said. Jesus said to them, “I tell you solemnly, tax
collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before
you.
2.
Mt 9:2 - Then
some people appeared, bringing him a paralytic stretched out on a bed. Seeing
their faith, Jesus he said to the
paralytic, “Courage, my child, your sins are forgiven’.b Footnote
b says “Jesus puts the cure of the soul before that
of the body; when he heals the body it is because he has the good of the soul
in mind. Nevertheless his words in this verse contains a promise of bodily
healing since sickness was regarded as a result of a sin committed either by
the sufferer or by his parents, cf. 8:29+; Jn. 5:14; 9:2.”
Verse
50 says: But he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace’.
Parallel text for verse 50 says: When
Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, ‘I tell you
solemnly, nowhere in Israel have I found faithb like this. Footnote
b says “The
faith that Jesus asks for from the outset of public life (Mk. 1:15) and
throughout his subsequent career, is that act of trust and
self-abandonment by which people no longer rely on their own strength and
policies but commit themselves to the power and guiding word of him in whom
they believe (Lk. 1:20,45; Mt. 21:25p,32). Christ asks for this faith
especially when he works his miracles (8:13; 9:2p; 22p,
28-29; 15:28; Mk 5:36p;10:52p; Lk 17:19) which are not so much acts of mercy as
signs attesting his mission and witnessing to the kingdom (8:3+; cf. Jn 2:11+),
hence he cannot work miracles unless he finds the faith without which the
miracle lose their true significance (13:58p; 12;38-39; 16:1-4). Since the
faith demands the sacrifice of the whole man, mind and heart, it is not an easy
act of humility to perform; many decline it, particularly in Israel (8:10p;
15:28; 27:42p; Lk 18;8), or are half-hearted (Mk 9;24; Lk 8;13). Even the
disciples are slow to believe (8:26p; 14;31; 18;8; 17:20p) and are still
reluctant after the resurrection (28;17; Mk 16:11-14; Lk 24;11,25,41). The most
generous faith of all, of the ‘Rock’ (16:16-18), the disciples leader, was
destined to the shaken by the outrage of the Passion (26:69-75p) though it was
to triumph in the end (Lk 22:32). When faith is strong it works wonders
(17:20p; 21:21p; Mk 16:17) and its appeal is never refused (21:22p; Mk 9:23)
especially when it asks for forgiveness of sin (9:2p; Lk 7:50) and for that
salvation of which it is the necessary condition (Lk 8;12; Mk 16:16, cf. Ac
3:16+).”
Verse 1 of Chapter 8 says: No
after this he made his way through towns and villages preaching, and
proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom of God. With him went the Twelve…
Parallel
texts are:
1.
Mt 4:23 - He went round the whole of Galilee, teaching in their
synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom,e and curing
all kinds of diseases and sickness among the people.f Footnote e
says “The etymological sense of the word euaggelion (gospel) is ‘Good News’.
The news is of the impending coming of the kingdom of God, v. 17 and 3:2”;
and Footnote f says “Miraculous
cures are the distinctive sign that the messianic age has dawned, cf. 10:1,7f;
11:4f.”
2.
Mt 9:35 - Jesus made a tour through all the
towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of
the kingdom, and curing all kinds of
disease and sickness.
3.
Mk 1:39 - And he went all through Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out devils.
Verse 2 says: as well as
certain women who had been cured of evil spirits and ailments: Mary, surnamed
the Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out.
Parallel texts are:
1.
Lk 4:43-44 - But he answered, “I must proclaim
the Good News of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is what I was sent to do.” And he continued his preaching in the
synagogues of Judaeal. Footnote l says “Mk reads ‘Galilee’. Lk uses ‘Judaea’ in the
wide sense: the land of Israel. So also in 7:17; 23:5 (?); Ac. 10:37; 28:21”.
2.
Mt 8:29 - They cried out, “What have you to do
with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the appointed timej? Footnote j says “Until
the day of Judgment, the demons are to some extent free to work their mischief
on earth, Rv. 9:5; they do this normally by taking possession of men,
12:43-45+. Such possession brings disease with it because disease- consequence
of sin, 9:2+- is another manifestation of Satan’s dominion, Lk. 13:16. It is
for this reason that the gospel exorcism though sometimes described simply as
expulsions, cf. 15:21-28p; Mk. 1:23-28p; Lk. 8:2, often take the form of cures,
9:32-34; 12:22-24p; 17:14-18p; Lk. 13:10-17. By his power over the devils Jesus
destroys Satan’s empire, 12:28p; Lk. 10:17-19; cf. Lk.4:6; Jn. 12:31+, and
inaugurates the messianic era of which, according to the prophets, the gift of
the Holy Spirit is the distinctive mark, Is. 11:2+; Jl. 3:1f. Man may refuse to
recognize it, 12:24-32, but the demons see it all too well, cf. this passage
and Mk. 1:24p; 3:11p; Lk. 4:41;Ac. 16:17; 19:15. This power to exorcise is
given by Jesus to his disciples simultaneously with the power of miraculous
healing, 10:18p, with which it is connected, 8:3+; 4:24; 8:16p; Lk. 13:32.
3.
Mt 12:45 - It then goes off and collects seven
other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and set up house there, and
the man end up by being worse than he was before. That is what will happen to
this evil generation.’
Verse 3 says: Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward
Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their own resources.
Parallel texts are:
1.
Mt 27:55-56 - And many women were there,
watching from a distance, the same women who had followed Jesus from Galilee,
and looked after him (v.55). Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother
of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons (v. 56).
2.
Mk 15:40-41 - There were some women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary
Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joses, and Salome.f
(v. 41). These used to follow him and look after him when he was in Galilee.
And there were also many other women there who had come up with him to
Jerusalem with him (v. 41). Footnote f says “Probably
the woman whom Mt (27:56) calls ‘the mother of the sons of Zebedee’.”
3.
Lk 23:49 - All his friends stood at a distance;
so all did the women who accompanied him from Galilee, and they saw all this
happen.
4.
Lk 24:10 - The women were Mary of Magdala,
Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. The other women with them also told the apostles…
5. Jn
19:25 - Near the cross of Jesus stood
his motherj and his mother’s sister,k Mary the wife of
Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Footnote j says “Her presence is mentioned only by John. Cf.
2:1+”; and Footnote k says “Either
Salome, mother of the sons of Zebedee (cf Mt 27:56p) or else if the phrase
refers to what follows, ‘Mary, the wife of Clopas’.”
The First Reading is
taken from 2 Sm 12:7-10,13.
Verses 9-10, and 13
says: Then Nathan said to David: “You
are the man. “Yahweh the God of Israel
says this, “I anointed you king over Israel; I delivered you from the hands of
Saul. I gave you your master’s house to you ,his wives into your arms; I gave
you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if this were not enough, I would up
as much again for you. Why have you shown contempt for Yahweh,b
doing what displeases him? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the
sword, taken his wife for you took, and killed him with the sword of the
Ammonites. So now, the sword will never far from your House,c since
you have shown contempt for me and taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be
your wife. David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against Yahweh’. Then Nathan
said to David, ‘Yahweh, for his part, forgives your sin; you are not to die. Footnote b says “Yahweh’ versions: ‘the word of ‘Yahweh’ Hebr.”;
and Footnote c says “Allusion to the violent death of Amnon and
of Absalom.”
Parallel texts for
verse 13 of 2 Sam 12 are:
1.
1 K 21:29 - Have you seen how Ahab has humbled
himself before me? Since he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the
disaster in his days; I will bring the
disaster down on his House in the days
of his son.’
2.
Ps 32:5 - At last I admitted to you I have sinned;
No longer concealing my guilt, I said, “I will go to Yahweh and confess my
fault”. And you, you have forgiven the wrong I did, have pardonedd
my sin. Footnote d says ‘have pardoned’ corr.; ‘Selah’ (i.e. Pause)
Hebr.
The Second Reading is
taken from Gal 2:16, 19-21.
Verse 16 says: We
acknowledge that what makes a man righteous is not obedience to the Law, but
faith in Jesus Christ no less than you had, and now we hold that faith in
Christ rather than fidelity to the Law is what justifies us, and that no one
can be justified by keeping the Law.
Parallel texts are:
1.
Ac 10:28 - and Peter said to them, “You know it
is forbidden unlawful for Jews to mix
with people of another race and visit them, but God has made it clear to me
that I must not call anyone profane or unclean.
2.
Rm 3:22 - Since it is the same justice of God
that comes through faith to everyone, Jew and pagan alike, who believes in
Jesus Christ.
3.
Ph 3:9 - …and
be given a place in him, I am no longer trying for perfection by my own
efforts, the perfection that comes from the Law, but I want only a
perfection that comes through faith in
Christ, and is from God and based on faith.g Footnote
g says “The
difference between these two sorts of perfection form the entire subject of
Paul’s letters to the Christians of Galatia and Rome.”
Verse 19 says: In other words,
through the Law I am dead to the Law,l so that now I can live for
God. Footnote l says “So laconic as to be obscure: there have been
various explanations: 1, Christians, crucified with Christ, are dead with
Christ and therefore, like Christ, dead to the Mosaic Law, cf. Rm 7:1f- and
indeed in virtue of that Law, Ga 3:13; this why Christians already share the
life of the risen Christ, Rm 6:4-10; 7:4-6 with notes. 2. Christians only renounced
the Law for deeper obedience to the OT.,
Ga 3:19.24; Rm 10:4. 3. Christians are only dead to the Mosaic Law in obedience
to a higher law, the law of faith and of the Spirit, Rm 8:2.”
Parallel texts of verse 19 are:
1.
Rm 6:11 - And
in that way, you too must consider
yourselves to be dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus.f Footnote f says “Text. Rec and Vulg. ‘Christ Jesus our Lord’.”
2.
Rm 7:1 - Are you unaware, brothers (for I am
speaking to people who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over one as
long as one lives?
Verse 20 says: …and I live now not with my own life but
with the life of Christ who lives in me.m The life I now live in
this bodyn I live in faith; faith in the Son of God,o who
loved me and who sacrificed himself for my sake. Footnote m says
“The living acts of a Christian becomes
somehow the acts of Christ”; Footnote n says “Lit ‘in my flesh’. Though still physically
alive, cf. Ep 3:17+; on this paradox, cf Rm 8.”; and Footnote o
says “Var. ‘faith in God and in Christ’.”
Parallel texts of verse 20 are:
1.
Rm 8:10-11 - Though your body may be dead it is because of sin, but if Christ is
in you then spirit is life itself because have been justifiedf (v.
10); And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to
your own mortal bodies through his Spirit living in youg (v. 11).
Footnote f says
“Because of sin 5:12+, the body is doomed
to physical death and is the instrument of spiritual death also; but the Spirit
is life, a power of resurrection; see following note.”; and Footnote g
–says “The resurrection of the Christian is intimately dependent on that of
Christ, 1 Th 4:14; 1 Co 6:14; 15:20f; 2 Co 4:14; 13:4; Rm 6:5; Ep 2:6; Col
1:18; 2:12f; 2 Tm 2:11. It is by the same power and the same gift if the
Spirit, cf. Rm 1:4+, that the Father will raise them to life their turn. This operation is already being prepared: a
new life is making the Christians into sons (v.14) in the likeness of the Son himself,
8:29+, and they are being incorporated into the risen Christ by faith, 1:16+,
and baptism, 6:4+.”
2.
Ph 1:21 - Life to me, of course, is Christ, but
then death would bring me something more;
3.
Col 3:3-4 - Because you have died, and now the
life you have is hidden with Christ in God (v. 3). But when Christ is revealed
– and he is your life - you too will be revealed in all your glory with him b
(v. 4). Footnote b says “Through union with Christ in baptism, 2:12,
his followers already live the identical life he lives in heaven, cf. Ep 2:6+,
but this spiritual life is not manifest and glorious as it will be in the parousia.”
4.
2 Co 5:14
- And this is because the love of Christ overwhelms us when we reflect
that if one man has died for all, then all have men should be dead;
5.
Ep 5:2,25 - and follow Christ by loving as he
loved you, giving himself up in our place as a fragrant offering and a
sacrifice to God (v. 2). Husbands should love their wives just as Christ loved
the Church and sacrificed himself for her
(v. 25).
Verse 21 says: I cannot bring myself to give up God’s gift:p if the
Law can justify us, there is no point in the death of Christ. Footnote p
says “By
returning to the Law, cf. 3:18.”
Parallel texts of verse 21 are:
1.
Ga 5:2 - It is I, Paul, who tell you this: if
you allow yourselves to be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you at
all.
2.
Jn 15:13 - A man can have no greater love than to
lay down his life for his friends.
There are so many important legends about Mary Magdalene that are
circulating in the internet now a-days. One of them is what had been said by
Laurence Gardner in the article
“Bloodline of the Holy Grail – Hidden Lineage of Jesus Revealed” at www.bibliotecapleyades.net. He
said:
“Readers of the 1st
century would have been fully conversant with the two-part ritual of the sacred
marriage of a dynastic heir. Jesus, as we know, was a Messiah, which means
quite simply an ’Anointed One’. In fact, all anointed senior priests and
Davidic kings were Messiahs; Jesus was not unique in this regard. Although not
an ordained priest, he gained his right to Messiah status by way of descent
from King David and the kingly line, but he did not achieve that status until
he was ritually anointed by Mary Magdalene in her capacity as a bridal high
priestess.
The word ’Messiah’
comes from the Hebrew verb mashiach: ’to anoint’, which derives from the
Egyptian messeh: ’the holy crocodile’. It was with the fat of the messeh that
the Pharaoh’s sister-brides anointed their husbands on marriage, and the
Egyptian custom sprang from kingly practice in old Mesopotamia. In the Old
Testament’s Song of Solomon we learn of the bridal anointing of the king. It is
detailed that the oil used in Judah was the fragrant ointment of spikenard (an
expensive root oil from the Himalayas) and it is explained that this ritual was
performed while the kingly husband sat at the table.
In the New Testament,
the anointing of Jesus by Mary Magdalene was indeed performed while he sat at
the table, and specifically with the bridal ointment of spikenard. Afterwards,
Mary wiped Jesus’s feet with her hair and, on the first occasion of the
two-part ceremony, she wept. All of these things signify the marital anointing
of a dynastic heir.
Other anointings of
Messiahs (whether on coronation or admission to the senior priesthood) were
always conducted by men: by the High Zadok or the High Priest. The oil used was
olive oil, mixed with cinnamon and other spices, but never spikenard. This oil
was the express prerogative of a Messianic bride who had to be a ’Mary’ - a
sister of a sacred order. Jesus’s mother was a Mary; so too would his wife have
been a Mary, by title at least if not by baptismal name.
Messianic marriages
were always conducted in two stages. The first (the anointing in Luke) was the
legal commitment to wedlock, while the second (the later anointing in Matthew,
Mark and John) was the cementing of the contract. In Jesus and Mary’s case the
second anointing was of particular significance for, as explained by Flavius
Josephus in the 1st-century Antiquities of the Jews, the second part of the
marriage ceremony was never conducted until the wife was three months pregnant.
Dynastic heirs such
as Jesus were expressly required to perpetuate their lines. Marriage was
essential, but community law protected the dynasts against marriage to women
who proved barren or kept miscarrying. This protection was provided by the
three-month pregnancy rule. Miscarriages would not often happen after that
term, subsequent to which it was considered safe enough to complete the
marriage contract.
When anointing her
husband at that stage, the Messianic bride was said to be anointing him for
burial, as confirmed in the Gospels. From that day she would carry a vial of
spikenard around her neck, throughout her husband’s life, to be used again on
his entombment. It was for this very purpose that Mary Magdalene would have
gone to Jesus’s tomb, as she did on the Sabbath after the Crucifixion.
After the second Bethany anointing, the
Gospels relate that Jesus said:’Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached
throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for
a memorial of her’.But did the Christian Church authorities honour Mary
Magdalene and speak of this act as a memorial? No they did not; they completely
ignored Jesus’s own directive and denounced Mary as a whore.
To the esoteric Grail
Church and the Knights Templars, however, Mary Magdalene was always regarded as
a saint. She is still revered as such by many today, but the interesting fact
of this sainthood is that Mary is the recognized patron saint of wine-growers:
the guardian of the Vine. Hence, she is the guardian of the sacred Bloodline of
the Holy Grail.
The article ‘Mary Magdalene” from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,
says:
According to medieval
legend (Mary Magdalene) had spent a period of repentance as a desert hermit
after leaving her life as a follower of Jesus.
Various versions of
the Legend of Mary Magdalene circulated in the south of France and Germany. Odo of
Cluny wrote a version in the 900s AD that described Mary's family
as nobility, and in the Golden
Legend they are magnates of royal descent, lords of Bethany and owning
much property in Jerusalem. Her sinning is entirely non-commercial.
According to Harvard
theologian Karen King, Mary Magdalene was a prominent disciple
and leader of one wing of the early Christian movement that promoted women's leadership. King
cites references in the Gospel of John that the risen Jesus gives Mary special
teaching and commissions her as an "Apostle to the Apostles". Mary is
the first to announce the resurrection and to fulfill the role of an Apostle─someone sent by Jesus with a special
message or commission, to spread the gospel ("good news") and to lead
the early church. The first message she was given was to announce to Peter and
the others that "He is risen!"(Mt. 28:7 Mk. 16:9-11 Lk.
24:10 Jn. 20:2) Although the term is not specifically used of her in the New
Testament,Eastern
Christianity refers to her
as "Equal to the
Apostles"), and later
traditions name her as "the apostle to the apostles". King writes
that the strength of this literary tradition makes it possible to suggest that
historically Mary was a prophetic visionary and leader within one sector of the
early Christian movement after the death of Jesus.
Most of the later
legends speak of a Mary who after the Ascension of
Jesus lived as a hermit in a
cave for thirty years, communicating with angels. Single
"portrait" figures of the Magdalene typically depicted her as the
"Penitent Magdalene" in this period of her life (see above). In the
words of William Caxton's English translation of the Golden Legend:...the blessed Mary
Magdalene, desirous of sovereign contemplation, sought a right sharp desert,
and took a place which was ordained by the angel of God, and abode there by the
space of thirty years without knowledge of anybody. In which place she had no
comfort of running water, ne solace of trees, ne of herbs. And that was because
our Redeemer did do show it openly, that he had ordained for her refection
celestial, and no bodily meats. And every day at every hour canonical she was
lifted up in the air of angels, and heard the glorious song of the heavenly
companies with her bodily ears. Of which she was fed and filled with right
sweet meats, and then was brought again by the angels unto her proper place, in
such wise as she had no need of corporal nourishing.
According to Eastern
traditions, she retired to Ephesus with
the Theotokos (Mary,
the Mother of God) and there she died. Her relics were transferred
to Constantinople in 886 and are preserved there.
The elaborately
detailed (and conflicting) legends that brought Mary to Western Europe after
Jesus's life on earth were very widely accepted in the Western church, though
not at all by Eastern Orthodoxy, which had her retiring with the Virgin Mary,
and dying in Ephesus. In the Golden Legendthe "right sharp desert" where Mary
retires to repent is located near Aix-en-Provence in the South of France.
But for most of the
Middle Ages the Western church believed that after her period as a disciple of
Jesus Mary Magdalene had travelled to the south of France, and died there.
The French tradition
of Saint Lazarus of
Bethany is that Mary, her
brother Lazarus, and Maximinus,
one of the Seventy
Disciples and some
companions, expelled by persecutions from the Holy Land, traversed the Mediterranean in a frail boat with neither rudder nor mast and landed at the
place called Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer near Arles. Mary Magdalene
came to Marseille and converted the whole of Provence. Magdalene is said to
have retired to a cave on a hill by Marseille, La Sainte-Baume ("holy cave" baumo in Provençal), where she gave herself up to a life of
penance for thirty years. When the time of her death arrived she was carried by
angels to Aix and into the oratory of Maximinus, where she received the viaticum; her body was then laid in an oratory constructed by St. Maximinus at
Villa Lata, afterwards called St. Maximin.
According to another
legend, on the way they were shipwrecked on the island of Malta, where Dingli,
Rabat, Madliena (Maltese
for Magdalene), andValletta all have chapels or other dedications.
Madliena in Gozo also
had a chapel dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, but this was demolished.
One tradition
concerning Mary Magdalene says that, following the death and resurrection of
Jesus, she used her position to gain an invitation to a banquet given by
the Roman Emperor Tiberius. When she met him, she held a plain egg in her hand and exclaimed,
"Christ is risen!" The Emperor laughed, and said that Christ rising
from the dead was as likely as the egg in her hand turning red while she held
it. Before he finished speaking, the egg in her hand turned a bright red, and
she continued proclaiming the Gospel to the entire imperial house.
In “The Legends of
Mary Magdalene” at http://www.thenazareneway.com , the following are said:
Legend:
Mary Magdalene was of
the district of Magdala, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where stood her
families castle, called Magdalon; she was the sister of Lazarus and of Martha,
and they were the children of parents reputed noble, or, as some say, royal
descendants of the House of David. On the death of their father, Syrus, they
inherited vast riches and possessions in land, which were equally divided
between them. Lazarus betook himself to the military life; Martha ruled her
possessions with great discretion, and was a model of virtue and propriety, -
perhaps a little too much addicted to worldly cares; Mary, on the contrary,
abandoned herself to luxurious pleasures and became at length so notorious for
her extravagant lifestyle that she was known through all the country round only
as 'The Sinner.'
Philo's Enigmatic
Interpretation of Ancient Texts:
Sinners were people
devoted to the moon-god, Sin. Moses spent 38 of 40 years in the Wilderness of
Sin, the land where the god, Sin, was worshipped. Sinai is the feminine form of
Sin; therefore, Mount Sinai can be called "the mountain of the
goddess," feminine counterpart of Sin. "Mary Magdalene"
represented the Great-Goddess-Mother-Queen, wife of "Jesus."
Historically, she can be found in several prominent Roman families: (1) She was
the daughter of Juba II, the King of Mauretania and wife, Queen Cleopatra
Selene (daughter of Antony and Cleopatra). (2) She was also known as Agrippina
the Elder; her sister was Julia the Younger and her step-brother was Drusus
Germanicus, the secret younger son of Emperor Tiberius. (3) She was known as
Livilla, mother of twins whose grandfather was Emperor Tiberius. And, she can
be found disguised as a man: Philo of Alexandria and Emperor Claudius' powerful
freedman Pallas.
Legend:
Mary's discreet sister, Martha, frequently
rebuked her for these disorders and at length persuaded her to listen to the
exhortations of Jesus, through which her heart was touched and converted. The
seven demons which possessed her, and which were expelled by Jesus, were the
seven deadly sins common to us all. The struggles of these seven principal
faults are; first, Gluttony or the pleasures of the palate; secondly,
Fornication; thirdly, Covetousness, which means Avarice, or, the love of money,
fourthly, Anger; fifthly, Dejection; sixthly, "Accidie," which is the
sin of spiritual sloth or sluggishness; and seventhly, kenodocila which means
ego, foolish pride or vain glory.On one occasion Martha entertained the Saviour
in her house, and, being anxious to feast him worthily, she was 'cumbered with much serving.' Mary,
meanwhile, sat at the feet of Jesus, and heard his words, which completed the
good work of her conversion; and when, sometime afterwards, he supped in the
house of Simon the Pharisee, she followed him thither and she brought an
alabaster box of ointment and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe
them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with
ointment - and He said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.'
Fact:
The word translated
as "demons" can be, and is, translated as "Angels" in other
biblical verses. Seven in Hebrew is Shabbat. Shabbat Hamalka represented the
feminine side of Yahweh - his consort, and she is of extremely ancient origin.
Sometimes called Asherah, Shekhina, etc., this goddess is a combination of
Queen, Bride, and Goddess.
Philo's Enigmatic
Interpretation of Ancient Texts:
The referenced
"anointing scene" harkens to the Old Testament, Song of Solomon. King
Solomon and his "Sister-Bride" sing a love song as they profess their
everlasting love. Many myths of "gods and goddesses" describe them as
"Sister-Bride, Brother-Groom." The king of Libya, Juba II, first
married Cleopatra Selene, daughter of Antony and Cleopatra. However, he married
a second time: his second wife was Glaphyra, widow of Alexander III, son of
Herod the Great and Jewish princess, the Hasmonean Mariamme. With that
marriage, Juba's children with Selene and Glaphyra's children with Alexander
became "Brothers and Sisters." When Juba's eldest daughter married
Glaphyra's eldest son, they became, "Sister-Bride, Brother-Groom."
Legend:
Tradition relates
that after the Crucifixion, Mary traveled to Italy, met with the Emperor
Tiberias (14-37 AD) and proclaimed to him about Christ's Resurrection.
According to tradition, she took him an egg as a symbol of the Resurrection, a
symbol of new life with the words: "Christ is Risen!" Then she told
Tiberias that, in his Province of Judea, Jesus the Nazarene, a holy man, a
maker of miracles, powerful before God and all mankind, was executed on the
instigation of the Jewish High-Priests and the sentence affirmed by the
procurator Pontius Pilate. Tiberias responded that no one could rise from the
dead, anymore than the egg she held could turn red. Miraculously, the egg
immediately began to turn red as testimony to her words. Then, and by her
urging, Tiberias had Pilate removed from Jerusalem to Gaul, where he later
suffered a horrible sickness and an agonizing death.
Philo's Enigmatic
Interpretation of Ancient Texts:
After the
"Passover-Passion Pageant," designed to merge the Jewish
"Messiah" with the Greco-Roman and Egyptian
"Dying-and-Resurrected Savior" (Dionysus, Osiris, Serapis, etc.), the
woman who played the role of "Mary Magdalene" accompanied her
husband, the man who portrayed "Jesus," to Alexandria, Egypt.
"Jesus" became the Alabarch of Alexandria; "Mary Magdalene"
assumed one of the names carried by her famous grandmother, Cleopatra Thea
Philo Pater (wife of Marc Antony), which were probably the names she also
carried. Using the name, Philo, and claiming to be a man, "Mary
Magdalene" became famous as the philosopher and chief proponent of merging
of Judaism with Greek Philosophy. She also promoted the allegorical
interpretation of scripture, the only method by which their story could be
told.
Legend:
Suggestions of
commentators and legend continues Mary's story. Fourteen years after the
ascension, Lazarus with his two sisters, Martha and Mary; with Maximin, one of
the seventy-two disciples, from whom they had received baptism; Cedon, the
blind man whom our Saviour had restored to sight; and Marcella, the handmaiden
who attended on the two sisters, were by the Jews set adrift in a vessel
without sails, oars, or rudder; but, guided by Providence, they were safely
borne over the sea till they landed in a certain harbor which proved to be
Marseilles, in the country now called France. The people of the land were
pagans, and refused to give the holy pilgrims food or shelter; so they were
fain to take refuge under the porch of a temple and Mary Magdalene preached to
the people, reproaching them for their senseless worship of idols; and though at first they would not
listen, yet being after a time convinced by her eloquence, and by the miracles
performed by her and by her sister, they were converted and baptized. And
Lazarus became, after the death of the good Maximin, the first bishop of
Marseilles. These things being accomplished, Mary Magdalene retired to the
cliffs not far from the city. It was a frightful barren wilderness and in the
midst of horrid rocks she lived in the caves of Sainte-Baume; there for thirty
years she devoted herself to solitary penance for the sins of her past life,
which she had never ceased to bewail bitterly. During this long seclusion, she
was never seen or heard of, and it was supposed that she was dead.
Mary fasted so
rigorously, that but for the occasional visits of the angels, and the comfort
bestowed by celestial visions, she might have perished. She was given the Holy
Eucharist by angels as her only food. Every day during the last years of her
penance, the angels came down from heaven and carried her up in their arms into
regions where she was ravished by the sounds of unearthly harmony, and beheld
the glory and the joy prepared for the sinner that repenteth.
One day a certain
hermit, who dwelt in a cell on one of those wild mountains, having wandered
farther than usual from his home, beheld this wondrous vision-the Magdalene in
the arms of ascending angels, who were singing songs of triumph as they bore
her upwards; and the hermit, when he had a little recovered from his amazement,
returned to the city of Marseilles, and reported what he had seen.
Philo's Enigmatic
Interpretation of Ancient Texts:
"Mary
Magdalene" spent the remainder of her life in various locations including:
Alexandria, Rome, Emesa, and Greece using a variety of aliases. Inscriptions in
Athens, dedicated to "Juba's Daughter," were in recognition of all
she did for the Roman Empire as the Freedman, Pallas. A tongue-in-cheek letter
written by Pliny the Younger to his friend Montanus enumerates some of her many
accomplishments. Mary Magdalene Pallas.htm
Legend:
According to Church
tradition, Mary Magdalene remained in Rome until the arrival of the Apostle
Paul, and for two more years still, following his departure from Rome after the
first court judgment upon him.
Philo's Enigmatic
Interpretation of Ancient Texts:
Paul was never an
"apostle" but remained the arch-enemy of Jesus and all he attempted
to teach and to do. "Jesus" and "Mary Magdalene," using the
aliases Narcissus and Pallas lived in Rome from 41 until 54. They filled
powerful positions under Emperor Claudius and were responsible for the many
innovations that improved the lives of Roman citizens, including the poorest
and most vulnerable. Both their sons served as "Procurator of Judea."
(One from 46 to 48; the other from 51 to 60.)
Legend:
From Rome, Mary
Magdalene, moved to Ephesus where she unceasingly labored the holy Apostle
John, who with her wrote the first 20 Chapters of his Gospel (John 1-9, John
10-20). There the saint finished her earthly life and was buried. Mary was
transported miraculously, just before she died, to the chapel of St. Maximin,
where she received the last sacraments. She died when she was 72.
Allegorical
interpretation of scripture: "Mary Magdalene" and "Jesus"
traveled to Ephesus and may have lived there when she wrote "The Gospel of
John." However, her work was "over-written" by a later author
who called himself "John" and corrupted much of her original work.
"Mary Magdalene" was also known as "Io Anna," the feminine
form of "John." Io and Anna
are both names of goddesses. She died in 74 CE at the age of 84, just as Luke
reported (Luke 2:36-7). She was using the alias "Caenis" and
purported to be Vespasian's "mistress." She was, in fact, his
co-ruler and his aunt. Vespasian was her sister's son.
Legend:
In 899 the Emperor
Leo VI transported her alleged relics to a monastery in Constantinople. It was
not until the tenth century that devotion to Mary Magdalene, the composite
saint, took root in the west.
Philo's Enigmatic
Interpretation of Ancient Texts:
"Mary
Magdalene" may have been buried in her family's mausoleum in Mauretania as
the inscribed "Roman Woman." The mausoleum is called, "the tomb
of the Christian woman," which can also be translated as, "the tomb
of the Feminine Christ."However, other locations are possible. Mary
Magdalene was also known as "Queen Helena" of Adiabene," who
built three tombs in the shape of pyramids not far from Jerusalem. They were to
hold the remains of the Queen and her two sons, "Monobazeus, Jr." and
"Isiszeus."A third possibility is one of the Pyramids of Rome. Two
were built but only remains. The other was destroyed and the marble used for
St. Peter's Cathedral. The two Pyramids were constructed in 17 BCE to hold the
remains of the family of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, identified as the family
of Cestius.
