who was St Mary Magdalene

[MarysLittleFlower]

I saw another post that talked about how she wasn't a prostitute. I have a book about her with visions from Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich and it talks about her living a vain/impure life but doesn't mention prostitution specifically, if I remember correctly (sorry if I'm mistaken).. I think it talks about having lived with a man. Anyways, we know how it turned out later and she became a Saint

but I'm wondering what else we know of her life?

As for who she is in the Gospels, I tend to go with this idea: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=6091

I also wanted to say St Mary Magdalene is one of my favourite Saints

[Basilisa Marie]

She had seven demons cast out of her. She was the first witness of the resurrection, and is thus sometimes called the Apostles to the Apostles.

Because she's referred to with a place instead of a person ("Magdala" vs "wife of Clopas" vs "mother of James") she may have been unmarried and independent. "Magdala" was a town on the Sea of Galilee. 

The idea that she was a prostitute or guilty of fornication or adultery was something that came up in the Middle Ages. They combined her story with the woman who anointed Jesus' feet with oil. Pope Gregory the Great was trying to do some exegesis and combine her with other Marys and unnamed women, and decided that her seven demons were the seven deadly sins. 

[Era Might]

Whoever she was she seemed to be one of the chief female disciples in Christ's circle, so a further question to understand who she was would be to ask what role women played in the life/ministry of Christ. John the Baptist had disciples, but I wonder if he had female disciples like Christ.

[Seven77]

 

The idea that she was a prostitute or guilty of fornication or adultery was something that came up in the Middle Ages. They combined her story with the woman who anointed Jesus' feet with oil. Pope Gregory the Great was trying to do some exegesis and combine her with other Marys and unnamed women, and decided that her seven demons were the seven deadly sins. 

  St. Pope Gregory the Great lived before the middle ages though… so wouldn't you say that it's an idea in the early church, since he was a early church father?

I like the idea that St. Mary Magdalene was also Mary of Bethany because she washes Jesus' feet a few days before the Last Supper-- I'm not sure why she did this unless she was the adulterous woman who did the same...  and I think Mary of Bethany is St. Mary Magdalene because St. Mary Magdalene went to anoint the body of Jesus on Easter morning-- she was the one who previously anointed him with oil, an action that Jesus connected with his death and burial. Maybe Bethany is her hometown and Magdala was where she was known to be a prostitute.  Just some thoughts…

[Basilisa Marie]

 

  St. Pope Gregory the Great lived before the middle ages though… so wouldn't you say that it's an idea in the early church, since he was a early church father?

I like the idea that St. Mary Magdalene was also Mary of Bethany because she washes Jesus' feet a few days before the Last Supper-- I'm not sure why she did this unless she was the adulterous woman who did the same...  and I think Mary of Bethany is St. Mary Magdalene because St. Mary Magdalene went to anoint the body of Jesus on Easter morning-- she was the one who previously anointed him with oil, an action that Jesus connected with his death and burial. Maybe Bethany is her hometown and Magdala was where she was known to be a prostitute.  Just some thoughts…

Depending on when you decide to date the Middle Ages, Pope Gregory the Great could be living in the beginning of it.  

I don't think there's anything wrong with what he did, I mean it's one of many interpretations. I just don't like the idea of unnecessarily conflating figures in the Bible. It makes it feel less true to me, I don't like the idea of blurring the line between what the text itself says, what really happened, and what someone's exegesis says. It's hard enough that we're over a thousand years removed from when these Gospels were written and when these events actually, historically happened. 

Plus it lowers the number of memorable women in the story. And we have a long history of associating women chiefly with sex, between virgins and mothers and prostitutes, it gets to the point where it seems that the most important thing about a woman is her relationship with sex and it's tiresome. Mary Magdalene had seven demons cast out of her... so of course it must have had to do with sex.  I'm not at all trying to paint some picture of Pope Gregory the Great as some nasty misogynist, not at all. I just think it's important to remember that we don't know if she was actually a prostitute, there's no evidence one way or the other, and yet that's the thing pretty much everyone thinks of when they think of her. Not that she was the first witness of the Resurrection. I bet that fact would be a bigger deal if it had been John. 

[MarysLittleFlower]

Hmm.. Personally I do believe what St Pope Gregory said.. I mean about some sort of impurity in her past- because I think it gives a beautiful picture of God's Mercy when He helped her and it can give a lot of hope to someone with that kind of past I also think its beautiful how she became a contemplative consecrated soul

[Credo in Deum]

Hmm.. Personally I do believe what St Pope Gregory said.. I mean about some sort of impurity in her past- because I think it gives a beautiful picture of God's Mercy when He helped her and it can give a lot of hope to someone with that kind of past

I agree and she does give me hope.  Her and Saint Augustine both!