22nd July Feast Day

Today, 22nd July, is the feast day of Saint Mary Magdalene. It was in very recent years (2016) that she has she been made into a 'saint' by the Vatican, as previously, she was only commemorated because since the early days of Roman Catholicism, she was regarded as a prostitute, a person extremely reviled in her time. 

Now the Vatican have realised - after 1,700 years - that the woman described in the gospels as having seven devils cast out of her by Jesus, two important things, firstly that prostitution might have had nothing to do with '7 devils', and also that this woman gave her money to support Jesus and his disciples in his 3 year ministry. So did the Church think that Jesus was living off immoral earnings! 

 

I was shocked as a child, that Mary, the Mother of Jesus was a virgin, and that Mary Magdalene, went to the other extreme sexually by being a woman of low sexual morals. In their time, there were extremely strict laws that prevented a woman from selling her body. Prostitution might have involved adultery, which carried the death penalty - and disease, so prostitutes were very undesirable and were often driven out of town. However, my mentor speaking today, said that it would be quite possible that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute, as we know Jesus kept the company of the broken and the outcasts, and this would show his great compassion for her. She was a women 'who loved much' and these words might have inspired the Chutrch to describe her as a prostitute. Maybe Jesus hoped that people would have compassion for prostitutes, as many had no other means to support themselves and their children. Later the Roman Catholic Church created ‘Magdalene Laundries’, where young females were abandoned by their family and made to work for the Church, sewing and mending, for many years, especially if they were accused of sexual activity.  

 

Some say the Magdalene was the wife of Jesus. Perhaps Mary of Bethany was the Magdalene and by anointing his head and feet with expensive oil, might have demonstrated a close relationship to him. The Magdalene is often mentioned in the gospels as first amongst the women, even before his mother, and that she was at his crucifixion and his burial, the role of the closest family members. 

She might have been a teacher of women, as she would not have been allowed to teach men. It is interesting that the Vatican takes its authority from both Peter and Paul who thought women were inferior and should not teach in church. Jesus would probably have taught men, thought he might have taught her if she was a close relative or his wife. It is suggested her title Magdala is a place, a tower, or a hairdresser.

We spoke today in the group about the passion plays. Oberammergau takes place every 10 years. 

We spoke also about Jesus Christ Superstar, The Last Temptation of Christ, the poetry of Malcolm Gite, and many other related Mary Magdalene stories, beliefs, ideas and associations. The Eastern Orthodox Church has a more holistic and healthy way of understanding this 'Apostle to the Apostles' on account of Jesus revealing himself to her after his resurrection when women were not believed as a witness as they were not thought intelligent enough. How she felt after witnessing the death of her beloved and going to the empty tomb after being exorcised, one can only imagine. Her role is one of loyalty. 

Please pray

2 women in the UK are killed each week by their current or former lover.  

1 in 3 women will suffer domestic abuse in their lifetime in the UK.

1.6 million women in the UK suffered domestic abuse in the year ending March 2019. 

From the Song of Solomon: 

By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

³ The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?

⁴ It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.

⁵ I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

⁶ Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?

⁷ Behold his bed, which is Solomon's; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel.

By Wendy Stokes   https://wendystokes.co.uk