Saint Mary Magdalene, Penitent
S. Mariae Magdalenae Poenitentis
Saint Mary Magdalene, the loving penitent who stood by the Cross and was the first to behold the risen Lord, is honoured by the Church as a model of conversion, of love, and of faithful devotion to Christ.
Saint Mary Magdalene holds a singular place among the friends of the Lord in the Gospels. Delivered by Christ, who cast out from her seven devils, she followed him faithfully, ministered to him of her substance, stood near the Cross when others had fled, and came early to the tomb on Easter morning, where she was honoured to be the first to see the risen Saviour and to be sent to announce his rising to the Apostles.
The loving penitent
In the long tradition of the Latin Church, which the 1962 Missal follows in giving her the title Penitent, the figure of Mary Magdalene was joined with that of the sinful woman who washed the feet of Jesus with her tears and dried them with her hair, and with Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus of Bethany. Drawn together in the Church’s prayer and preaching, these scenes present a single luminous portrait: a soul that had wandered far, that was forgiven much, and that therefore loved much, as the Lord himself declared.
So venerated, Saint Mary Magdalene became for countless Christians the very emblem of repentance and of the boundless mercy of God. The collect of her feast recalls that Christ, moved by her prayers, raised her brother Lazarus, four days dead, alive from the tomb — and asks that her intercession may avail for us. In her the Church beholds both the depth of human frailty and the greater depth of divine forgiveness, which lifts the fallen and makes of the penitent a saint.
Apostle to the Apostles
Because she was sent by the risen Christ to bear the news of the Resurrection to his Apostles, ancient tradition has honoured Mary Magdalene with the title “Apostle to the Apostles.” Her feast on the twenty-second of July celebrates the triumph of grace in a human heart: the one who had been bound is set free, the one who weeps at the tomb is the first to rejoice, and the one forgiven much becomes a herald of the risen Lord. She remains a sure encouragement to every sinner that no soul is beyond the reach of Christ’s mercy.
The Collect
May the prayers of blessed Mary Magdalene help us, O Lord, we beseech thee: for it was moved by them that thou didst call her brother Lazarus, four days dead, back living from the tomb.
Beátæ Maríæ Magdalénæ, quæsumus, Dómine, suffrágiis adjuvémur: cujus précibus exorátus, quatriduánum fratrem Lázarum vivum ab ínferis resuscitásti.
Patronage
She is the patroness of penitents and converts, of contemplatives, and of those who seek God’s mercy; she is honoured as the “Apostle to the Apostles.”
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar her celebration on 22 July was raised in 2016 from a memorial to a feast.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene?
Her feast is kept on 22 July in both the 1962 Roman Missal (Third Class) and the modern calendar. In 2016 the modern celebration was raised from a memorial to a feast.
Who was Saint Mary Magdalene?
She was a faithful follower of Jesus in the Gospels, freed by him from seven devils, who stood by the Cross and was the first to see the risen Lord and to be sent to announce his Resurrection to the Apostles. The Church honours her as a model of conversion and love.
Why is she called the ‘Penitent’?
In the long tradition of the Latin Church, which the 1962 Missal reflects in this title, Mary Magdalene was associated with the repentant sinful woman who anointed the feet of Jesus, and so became an enduring image of penance and of God’s mercy toward those who turn to him in love.
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