Mary Magdalene an important, enigmatic saint

Published: 2006-05-01

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- St. Mary Magdalene was a leading disciple of Jesus and used her resources to support him and the apostles. She was a woman from whom Jesus cast out seven demons. She was a firsthand witness to his crucifixion and burial and the first person to witness his resurrection and proclaim it to the apostles. That is what the Gospels say about her. Was she also the unnamed repentant sinner (often thought to be a prostitute) in Luke's Gospel, who anointed Jesus' feet and washed them with her tears? Or the Mary who was the sister of Martha and Lazarus of Bethany? In the West, Christian teaching and preaching made those identifications for centuries. But modern scholars say these were three distinct women, not one. Eastern Christianity has consistently regarded the three as distinct individuals. Was she the wife of Jesus? Did she bear his child? Were she and Jesus ancestors of the Merovingian dynasty of early French kings? Even ancient heretical sects and fantasy-laden medieval Christian legends that exalted Mary Magdalene did not make those claims, though Dan Brown's best-selling novel "The Da Vinci Code" does. When the book comes out as a movie in May, it will almost certainly draw new attention to Mary Magdalene, one of the most prominent women in the New Testament but an enigmatic figure about whom nothing is known apart from the references found in the Gospels.

Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .