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The most famous person not only in the Orthodox faith, but also in the Catholic faith, Mary Magdalene the Myrrh-Bearer. There are speculations and true facts about the life of this woman, which you will be interested to learn about from our article.
Disciple of Jesus Christ
The woman's name Magdalena comes from her place of birth in the city of Magdala, Syria. There is no information about the family, but before meeting Christ she led the sinful life of a harlot. Everyone knows the fact from the Bible when Jesus suggested throwing a stone at a woman to those who are sinless. According to legend, Christ cleansed the woman from evil demons, and she followed Christ as the myrrh-bearing wife.
Mary stood out among the women of Christ's teaching. She treated him with reverent love and tenderness. She was the only person who was close to Jesus when he was under guard. Love for the son of God was stronger than fear for his life.
Together with the Mother of God, the mother of Jesus, she stood at the crucified Christ on the cross. When his heart was pierced with a spear, Maria was visited by terrible heart and mental pain. The crucified body of Christ was wrapped in a shroud with incense according to Jewish custom and placed in a cave, and the entrance was surrounded by a large stone.
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Prayers before the icon
Oh, holy myrrh-bearer and all-praised Equal-to-the-Apostles Christ's disciple Mary Magdalene! To you, as the most faithful and powerful intercessor for us to God, we now diligently resort to sinners and unworthiness and in contrition of our hearts we pray. In your life you experienced the terrible wiles of demons, but by the grace of Christ you clearly freed them; and with your prayers deliver us from the snare of demons, so that in all our lives we may faithfully serve the one Holy Master God, as we were promised, in our deeds, words, thoughts and secret thoughts of our hearts. You have loved the sweetest Lord Jesus more than all the blessings of the earth, and you have followed this through all your good life; with His Divine teachings and grace you not only nourish your soul, but also bring many people from pagan darkness to Christ’s wonderful light: then we ask you knowingly: ask us Christ God has enlightening and sanctifying grace, so that we may be blessed by it in faith and piety, in the labors of love and self-sacrifice, so that those who earnestly strive to serve our neighbors in their spiritual and physical needs, remembering the example of your love for mankind. You, holy Mary, lived your life on earth cheerfully by the grace of God and peacefully departed to the heavenly abode: pray to Christ the Savior, that through your prayers He will grant us the ability to unfalteringly complete our journey in this vale of tears and in peace and repentance to end our life, so that Having lived in holiness on earth, we will be honored with eternal blissful life in heaven, and there with you and all the saints together we will praise the inseparable Trinity, we will glorify the One Divinity, the Father and the Son and the All-Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
Oh, holy myrrh-bearer, equal to the apostles Mary Magdalene! You, with your warm love for Christ God, trampled the evil machinations of the enemy and found the priceless beads of Christ and reached the Kingdom of Heaven. For this reason, I fall to you and with a tender soul and a contrite heart I cry out to you, unworthy: look down from the heights of heaven upon me, who fight sinful temptations; see, since the enemy besets me with many sins and troubles every day, seeking my destruction. Glorious and all-praised disciple of Christ, Mary! Beseech your beloved, and the one who loved you, Christ God, may he grant me forgiveness of many of my sins, strengthen me with his grace to soberly and cheerfully walk the path of His holy commandments, and may he make me a fragrant temple of the Holy Spirit: so that in the world I will unashamedly end my difficult life mine on earth and will dwell in the bright and blissful abodes of heavenly paradise, where you, with all the saints, unceasingly joyfully glorify the one-substantial Trinity, the Father, the Son and the All-Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Appearance of Christ to Mary
When the devoted student went the next day to the burial place, she did not see the body of Christ, but only the shroud. She began to cry bitterly and two angels appeared to her, and a man, a gardener, stood behind her. Mary did not recognize Christ in him, and only when he turned to her with the question of why she was crying, she realized that Jesus was in front of her in a different form.
This is how Christ appeared to Mary Magdalene after the resurrection. He told her not to touch him, but to go and tell everyone about the resurrection of the Son of God. After this, Mary set off with others to preach the teachings of Christ; her path lay in Italy, inhabited by unbelievers.
She told the story of the resurrection to the Emperor of Italy Tiberius. He didn’t believe it, then she took the egg with the words “Christ is Risen”; it turned red. This is how the custom of painting eggs on the Saturday before Easter appeared in the Orthodox world.
Description
Icons with a variety of images of the saint have survived to this day. In the classical interpretation, she is depicted with a vessel containing precious ointment. He is in her hands or standing near her feet. There are other images:
- With an Easter egg.
- With her hair down.
- In the group of patron saints of the family of Tsar Boris Godunov. This is explained by the special veneration of the icon by Queen Mary.
- Paired with Saint Alexander Nevsky. The thing is that they were the main patrons of the imperial couple - Alexander III and Maria Fedorovna.
In Western European iconography you can find images of a saint washing the feet of Jesus. The penitent Mary Magdalene is another famous image. On this icon the saint is depicted as a hermit living in a cave, constantly praying to God.
Western artists often paint her sobbing at the foot of the Cross or supporting his legs during the “Entombment.” She is present on various icons among the women who came to anoint the body of Jesus, but discovered an empty tomb and an angel who told them about the resurrection.
Saint's relics
When the saint reached old age, she settled in the city of Ephesus, which became the burial ground for a follower of the teachings of Christ. In Ephesus, she assisted the Apostle John the Theologian in preaching. The relics were taken to Constantinople, then to Rome.
Currently, you can bow at the holy remains in Paris, in four monasteries on Mount Athos and in Jerusalem. However, the Orthodox Church cannot give an exact answer as to where the relics of Mary Magdalene are. Catholics are convinced that they are kept in France. The holy basilica is located in the city of Vézelay. The remains were subsequently moved to the city of Saint-Maximin-la-Saint-Baume. According to Catholics, the saint lived in Marseille for the last years of her life.
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Catholics celebrate the feast of Mary Magdalene on July 22, in the new style on August 4, and Orthodox people on the second Sunday after Christ's resurrection.
Celebration dates
In the Christian Church there are two times for commemorating this shrine, namely August 4 and the third Sunday after Great Easter. I would also like to note that the third Sunday after the celebration of Great Easter is the day of veneration of all myrrh-bearing wives.
In the Orthodox Christian Church, during commemoration, it is customary to hold a festive liturgy, to which a Christian can come in order to offer an interrogative or thanksgiving prayer for himself or his loved ones in a holy manner.
Prayer to Mary Magdalene
The holy woman triumphed over the fear of death and got rid of the vice of the prodigal woman.
What they pray to the icon for:
- prayers in front of the icon help to receive mercy for committed sins;
- repent before the woman’s icon for having an abortion;
- they pray for deliverance from harmful attachments and temptations, alcoholism, drug addiction, promiscuity;
- she is revered as the benefactor of hairdressers and pharmacists;
- They ask for protection from the evil eye, damage, and curses.
Was Mary a harlot?
This Gospel is not reported; the version of fornication was proposed by Pope Gregory Dvoeslov. He believed that Magdalene was the woman who was almost stoned for adultery. However, Saint Dmitry of Rostov has a different version. He believes that this is a completely different woman.
If Mary had really committed fornication, then the Jewish priests would have reproached Jesus Christ for this: she followed him everywhere.
On a note! The information that Mary Magdalene and Christ were married is not reliable.
In the Orthodox tradition, Magdalene Mary is revered as the myrrh-bearer who brought aromatic oils to the Holy Sepulcher. In the Catholic tradition, this saint combines three personalities:
- the harlot who washed the feet of Christ with her tears;
- sisters of righteous Lazarus of four days;
- woman from whom Christ cast out 7 demons.
In the Orthodox tradition these are 3 different personalities, unlike the Catholic one.
How does the icon of Mary Magdalene help?
Praying to the icon helps strengthen one’s belief. An icon is an image through which one addresses God. Information is transmitted through a system of signs. Orthodox Christians do not pray to the image on the icon; through it they communicate with the Saints with a penetrating sense of the reality of the spiritual world.
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A person can come with any request and pray to enlighten the mind and strengthen faith. Orthodox and Catholics pray in front of the icon.
How the icon helps:
- protects from bad attachments of alcoholism, drug addiction and dissolute life, mental illness;
- forgives sins for women committing abortion;
- protects against witchcraft and magical effects of damage, curses, evil people and enemies;
- forgives the seven deadly sins;
- The icon of Mary Magdalene is a symbol of repentance.
Among Catholics, Magdalene is considered the patroness of the family. Therefore, she is asked to strengthen marriages, give birth to healthy children, and resolve family disputes. She is also revered as the patroness of monasticism and brides. They ask for the conversion of non-believers to the faith of Christ.
The saint was honored to be the first to see the resurrection of Christ. According to legend, she suffered from demons that the Lord cast out. Having acquired strong faith, she followed Christ along with other followers. After the crucifixion of Jesus, she preached his teachings until her death, living in solitude and tranquility.
Orthodox and Catholics venerate her image in the icon and turn to her in any troubles in life with requests for strength and patience.
The Lord is always with you!
Meaning of the icon
The significance of the icon of Mary Magdalene for the Orthodox people is enormous. All the disciples of Jesus Christ were men and only Mary Magdalene was one woman among them. She preached the Gospel along with them and endured a lot of difficulties, trials and tribulations.
If she really was a harlot, earning her living by selling her own body, one can only imagine the horror and hopelessness of her lot. Only the lazy did not spit after her. No one would ever sit next to her at the table, hug her or shake hands. And Christ showed mercy, love, compassion towards her.
Arriving at the Pharisee’s house, he did not receive the due respect that was given to all guests in those days. No one washed his feet, that is, did not give water to wash them from the road, nor did they drop fragrant oil on his head. Mary Magdalene did not spare the most dear world to wipe off the dusty feet of the savior, and with her hair.
She personifies all Jewish women of that time - resigned, silent, enduring abuse and beatings from men, not daring to stand up for themselves. Today, those who find themselves in difficult life situations, who are left without support and need the help of a heavenly intercessor, offer their prayers to her icon.
The meaning of the image in Christianity
You can read prayers before the face of the saint in any temple of God. If it is not possible to attend church, prayers can be read at home.
The Holy Equal to the Apostles helps:
- get rid of demons and be healed of mental and physical illnesses;
- eradicate bad habits;
- prevent sinful relationships and impious acts;
- provide protection from dark forces;
- return to the Christian faith.
Women often turn to the saint with prayers for forgiveness of earthly sins associated with termination of pregnancy.
Prayers to the Myrrh-Bearer help strengthen faith
Authentic figure of Mary
This woman was unable to compose her own life and generally leave behind any written sources, most likely due to illiteracy.
One way or another, this apostle of the apostles (as Mary is often called) does not leave behind a gospel or anything like that.
Therefore, the image is formed mainly by interpreters of Holy Scripture and other religious figures. It is also necessary to take into account the transformation of the image through the prism of the so-called folk culture, which in its own way assimilates some aspects of religious teachings.
Informative! Where is the cave of Simon the Canaanite and who does he patronize?
Here it is necessary to emphasize again who Saint Mary Magdalene is not according to Orthodox doctrine (in fact, based on the Gospel Scripture too) and with whom this image should not be confused:
- a sinner who repented and anointed Christ with chrism and washed His feet at Simon's table;
- a harlot stoned to death, talking about a situation with the words “who is without sin...”;
- sister of Martha and Lazarus of Bethany.
In fact, in Orthodoxy, all these images refer to different women, and if you read Scripture more carefully, the difference between them becomes clear. However, other traditions often combine these figures and also consider one or all of them to be Magdalene herself. The most common option is with a sinner who brought myrrh and anointed Christ’s feet.
Note!
Chronologically, the sinner comes to Jesus with peace after He casts out demons from Magdalene; accordingly, she could not come to Him again and use myrrh. By that time, she had joined the community and traveled with Christ and, of course, said goodbye to sin, that is, she could not be the sinner who came to the community again.
It is this image that is most common in art and popular consciousness - a crying sinner with a vessel of peace at the feet of Christ. However, in Orthodoxy this option is not considered canonical.
