Kathleen Rushton highlights Mary Magdalene's role in the Gospels and her commission by the Risen Jesus to be the "Apostle to the Apostles".

The woman whom we know as Mary Magdalene or Mary of Magdala has been a figure of religious and artistic inspiration for Christians for nearly 2,000 years. In the Gospels, she is a disciple of Jesus and a key witness at his crucifixion and resurrection. In the Western Church, her role and character changed and she became known as a penitent prostitute. In art, she is often portrayed naked, covered only with her long hair. In the history of biblical interpretation, Sandra Schneiders points out that there is tendency to "sexualise, demonise and trivialise biblical women.” I offer the following reflections on Mary whose feast day is 22 July.

“Mary called Magdalene”

We associate Mary with a town. There is, however, no archaeological evidence, at the time of Jesus of the existence on the shore of the Lake of Galilee, of a village called Magdala. The village, on the site known as Magdala today, came into existence only during the 4th-5th centuries as the Christian pilgrimage movement grew.

Until the 6th century, there is no mention in early Christian writings that Mary came from Magdala. “Magdalene” does not indicate location — rather it is a nickname.

In Luke-Acts, when people are “called” by such nicknames which express a quality or attribute regarded as characteristic of the person, it is because they are named in a special way by Jesus or others. In Luke, she is “Mary, called Magdalene” (Lk 8:2). This title is similar to “Simon, called Peter" (petra, Acts 10:18, 11;13). Petra means rock in Greek.

Historians Elizabeth Schrader and Joan Taylor draw on early church writings where, in Aramaic and Hebrew, migdala means a fortress, watchtower, stronghold or elevated pulpit. Gadal (Hebrew) means to be great/large, to grow, become great or important, promote, make powerful, praise, magnify, do great things.

Early theologian Origen of Alexandria (c185–253), refers to Magdala as meaning "Mary magnifying" and to her "magnification". In 412, Jerome wrote: “And Mary, properly ‘the Magdalene’ — who, because of diligence and ardent faith received the name ‘of the tower/tower-ess’ — deserved to see the risen Christ before the Apostles.”

Mary the Tower (Maria ē Magdalenē) is a witness to the crucifixion (Mt 27:55-56; Mt 14:40-4; Jn 19:25) and, either alone or with other women, she is the first to experience the resurrected Jesus (Mt 28:1-10; Mk 16:1-11; Jn 21:1-18). Luke names her as the Magdalene Mary (ē Magdalenē Maria, 24:10). So we are better to avoid translations which presume that Magdala is Mary’s place of origin.

Women Ministering

In the four Gospels, Mary the Tower, and other women in the movement, “ministered” to Jesus and the disciples. In Luke 8:3, for example, we read about Mary and other women “who ministered (diakoneō) for them out of their resources.” The Greek word diakoneō means “to minister.” In the context of women, its meaning is obscured as when the NRSV translates diakoneō not as "ministered by" but as “provided for them".

Many Christians today are uninformed about Mary’s faithful discipleship and ministry. Among the reasons for this is a common misreading of Luke 8:1-3 which states that “the seven demons had gone out her." For first-century people, this meant that she had been healed of a serious illness. It did not mean that she was sinful, let alone that she was a sexual sinner. Illness was often attributed to evil spirits in the way that we talk about germs or viruses today. The number “seven” symbolised that her illness was either very severe or chronic.

Religion of the Empire

When Emperor Constantine made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire in 312, a cultural conflict emerged for the Christian community which had been meeting and worshipping in the private space of house churches where women’s leadership was acceptable.

Constantine's change freed Christians to worship in public, but it also meant that women’s leadership would violate Roman social codes of honour and shame.

The Council of Laodicea (363–364), a regional synod of about 30 clerics, suppressed women leaders. The memory of Mary the Tower as a strong, faithful disciple and proclaimer of the resurrection began to degrade into describing her as a repentant prostitute and public sinner.

In the Western Church, Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) conflated Mary with Luke’s unnamed sinner (Lk 7:36-50) and Mary of Bethany (Jn 11). He placed emphasis on her role as a sinner which paved the way for the denigration of the female body as well as for distancing Mary from her apostolic commission and ministry.

In contrast, in the Eastern Church, Gregory, Patriarch of Antioch (571-593) made no such conflation. He emphasised Mary’s witness to the resurrection and has poetic praise and recognition of the apostolic commission given to her by Jesus.

Liturgical Texts Today

Both the revised post-Vatican II Roman Missal and Lectionary present Mary Magdalene as witness to the resurrection on her memorial day 22 July. The Gospel proclaimed on that day is John 20:1-2, 11-18.

There are no references to Mary being a repentant sexual sinner as there were in the 1962 edition of the Missal of Pope John XXIII. In that edition the Gospel proclaimed was Luke 7:36-50, the story of the unnamed anointing woman whose sins Jesus forgives.

While the official liturgical texts no longer “sexualise, demonise and trivialise” Mary Magdalene, traditional artworks and uninformed preaching can keep this denigration of Mary alive in the popular imagination.

Apostle to the Apostles

In 2016 Pope Francis elevated the July memorial of Mary Magdalene to that of a Feast, to enable her "to be celebrated liturgically like the rest of the apostles" and evangelists.

The decree Mary Magdalene, Apostle of Apostles says: "Mary Magdalene is an example of a true and authentic evangeliser, that is an evangelist who announces the central joyful message of Easter ... It was with good reason that the Angelic Doctor [Thomas Aquinas] applied 'apostolorum apostola' to Mary of Magdala, for she is the first witness to the risen Christ and announces the message of the Lord’s resurrection just like the rest of the Apostles."

This links the church once again to the early Christian communities who knew Mary the Tower, as an important leader and as the first proclaimer of the resurrection. In those times she had been known as: "Apostola Apostolorum/Apostle to the Apostles”; “Companion of the Lord”; and "Isapostolas/Equal to the Apostles".

Our liturgy and contemporary scholarship are restoring our understanding of Mary the Tower as a significant early Christian leader. Many of us are ingrained with images and ideas about Mary the Tower which have neither historical nor scriptural foundation. But if we become aware of how the sexualising and demonising of her in artworks overshadows how she is presented in the four Gospels and in the Roman Missal and Lectionary, we will come closer to the truth: Mary the Tower as “Apostle to the Apostles”.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 294 July 2024: 24-25