Editing Mary Magdalene (section)

==Religious views==
[[File:Maria Magdalene icon.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] [[icon]] of Mary Magdalene as a [[Myrrhbearers|Myrrhbearer]]]]

===Eastern Orthodox===
The [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] has never identified Mary Magdalene with [[Mary of Bethany]] or the "sinful woman" who anoints Jesus in Luke 7:36–50{{sfn|Green|2014|pages=25–29}} and has always taught that Mary was a virtuous woman her entire life, even before her conversion.{{sfn|Green|2014|pages=25–29}} They have never celebrated her as a penitent.{{sfn|Green|2014|pages=25–29}} Mary Magdalene's image did not become conflated with other women mentioned in Biblical texts until Pope Gregory the Great's sermon in the sixth century, and even then this only occurred in Western traditions. Instead, she has traditionally been honored as a "[[Myrrhbearers|Myrrhbearer]]" (Μυροφόρος; the equivalent of the western [[Three Marys]]){{sfn|Green|2014|page=27}} and "[[Equal-to-apostles|Equal to the Apostles]]" (ἰσαπόστολος).{{sfn|Green|2014|page=27}} For centuries, it has been the custom of many Eastern Orthodox Christians to share [[Easter egg|dyed and painted eggs]], particularly on [[Easter|Easter Sunday]]. The eggs represent new life, and Christ bursting forth from the tomb. Among [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox Christians]] this sharing is accompanied by the proclamation [[Paschal greeting|"Christ is risen!"]] One folk tradition concerning Mary Magdalene says that following the death and resurrection of Jesus, she used her position to gain an invitation to a banquet given by the [[Roman emperor]] [[Tiberius]] in Rome. When she met him, she held a plain egg in her hand and exclaimed, "Christ is risen!". The emperor laughed, and said that Christ rising from the dead was as likely as the egg in her hand turning red while she held it. Before he finished speaking, the egg in her hand turned a bright red and she continued proclaiming the Gospel to the entire imperial house.<ref>Abernethy and Beaty, ''The Folklore of Texan Cultures'', Denton University of North Texas Press, 2000, p. 261.</ref>

===Roman Catholicism===
[[File:Erhart-madalena.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Saint Mary Magdalene (Erhart)|Mary Magdalene]]'' by [[Gregor Erhart]] (died 1525)]]

During the [[Counter-Reformation]] and Baroque periods (late 16th and 17th centuries), the description "penitent" was added to the indication of her name on her feast day, July 22. It had not yet been added at the time of the [[Tridentine calendar]] of 1569 and is no longer found in the present [[General Roman Calendar]] but, once added, it remained until the [[General Roman Calendar of 1960]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://magdalineage.com/so.html |title=Deborah Rose, "So, Really ... Who was She?" |publisher=Magdalineage.com |access-date=August 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304035447/http://magdalineage.com/so.html |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Gospel (liturgy)|Gospel reading]] in the [[Tridentine Mass]] was Luke 7:36–50<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|7:36–50}}</ref> (the sinful woman anointing the feet of Jesus), while in the present version of the [[Roman Rite]] of [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] it is John 20:1–2, 11–18<ref>{{bibleverse|John 20:1–2, 11–18|multi=yes}}</ref> (meeting of Mary Magdalene with Jesus after his resurrection).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thecompassnews.org/compass/2007-07-20/foundations.shtml |title=Patricia Kasten, "A great saint with a big case of mistaken identity" |publisher=Thecompassnews.org |date=July 20, 2007 |access-date=August 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808065455/http://www.thecompassnews.org/compass/2007-07-20/foundations.shtml |archive-date=August 8, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://wwrn.org/articles/3488/?&section=general |title=John Rivera, "Restoring Mary Magdalene" in "Worldwide Religious News", ''The Baltimore Sun'', April 18, 2003 |publisher=Wwrn.org |date=April 18, 2003 |access-date=August 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808042949/http://wwrn.org/articles/3488/?&section=general |archive-date=August 8, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="McLaughlin">Mclaughlin, Lisa and David Van Biema. "Mary Magdalene Saint or Sinner?" [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1005391,00.html timeonline.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408160034/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1005391,00.html |date=April 8, 2008 }}, August 11, 2003. Accessed June 7, 2009</ref>

[[File:The Holy Women at the Sepulchre by Peter Paul Rubens.jpg|thumb|''The [[Three Marys]] at the Tomb'' by [[Peter Paul Rubens]], with Mary Magdalene in red]]
According to [[Darrell Bock]], the title of ''apostola apostolorum'' first appears in the 10th century,{{sfn|Bock|2004|pages=143–144}} but Katherine Ludwig Jansen says she found no reference to it earlier than the 12th century, by which time it was already commonplace.{{sfn|Jansen|2001|p=63}} She mentions in particular [[Hugh of Cluny]] (1024–1109), [[Peter Abelard]] (1079–1142), and [[Bernard of Clairvaux]] (1090–1153) among those who gave Mary Magdalene the title of ''apostolorum apostola'' (apostle of the apostles). Jane Schaberg adds [[Geoffrey of Vendôme]] ({{Circa|1065}}/70 – 1132).{{sfn|Schaberg|2004|p=88}}

The equivalent of the phrase ''apostolorum apostola'' may have appeared already in the 9th century. Chapter XXVII of the ''Life of Mary Magdalene'' attributed to [[Hrabanus Maurus]] (c. 780 – 784 February 856) is headed: ''Ubi Magdalenam Christus ad apostolos mittit apostolam'' (Wherein Christ sends Magdalene as an apostle to the apostles).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/stream/patrologiaecurs22goog#page/n742/mode/2up |title=''Patrologia Latina'', vol. 112, col. 1474B |year=1878 |publisher=Garnier fratres |access-date=August 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314094112/https://archive.org/stream/patrologiaecurs22goog#page/n742/mode/2up |archive-date=March 14, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> The same chapter says she did not delay in exercising the office of apostolate with which he had been honored (''apostolatus officio quo honorata fuerat fungi non distulit'').<ref>PL 112, 1475A</ref> [[Raymond E. Brown]], commenting on this fact, remarks that Hrabanus Maurus frequently applies the word "apostle" to Mary Magdalene in this work.{{sfn|Brown|1979|p=190}} However the work is actually no earlier than the 12th century.<ref>{{cite web|date=July 22, 2014|title=Pseudo-Rabanus Maurus' Life of Mary Magdalene and her sister Martha – Magdalen College Oxford|url=https://www.magd.ox.ac.uk/libraries-and-archives/illuminating-magdalen/news/pseudo-rabanus/|access-date=December 5, 2020|work=[[Magdalen College]], [[University of Oxford]]}}</ref> Because of Mary Magdalene's position as an apostle, though not one of those who became official witnesses to the resurrection, the [[Catholic Church]] honored her by reciting the [[Gloria in excelsis Deo|Gloria]] on her feast day – the only female saint so honored apart from Mary, the mother of Jesus.{{sfn|Brown|1979|pp=189–190}} In his [[Ecclesiastical letter|apostolic letter]] ''[[Mulieris Dignitatem]]'' ("On the dignity and vocation of women", parts 67–69) dated August 15, 1988, [[Pope John Paul II]] dealt with the Easter events in relation to the women being present at the tomb after the Resurrection, in a section entitled 'First Witnesses of the Resurrection':
{{blockquote|The women ''are the first at the tomb''. They are the first to find it empty. They are the first to hear 'He is not here. ''He has risen'', as he said.'<ref>{{Bibleverse|Mt|28:6}}</ref> They are the first to embrace his feet.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Mt|28:9||cf. Mt 28:9}}</ref> The women are also the first to be called to announce this truth to the Apostles.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Mt|28:1–10}} {{Bibleverse|Lk|24:–11}}</ref> The Gospel of John<ref>cf. also {{Bibleverse|Mk|16:9}}</ref> emphasizes ''the special role of Mary Magdalene''. She is the first to meet the Risen Christ. [...] Hence she came to be called "the apostle of the Apostles". Mary Magdalene was the first eyewitness of the Risen Christ, and for this reason she was also ''the first to bear witness to him before the Apostles.'' This event, in a sense, crowns all that has been said previously about Christ entrusting divine truths to women as well as men.|John Paul II<ref>{{cite web |url=https://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1988/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_15081988_mulieris-dignitatem.html |title=Mulieris Dignitatem, John Paul II, 15 August 1988 – Apostolic Letter |publisher=Vatican.va |date=August 15, 1988 |access-date=November 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161004121521/https://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1988/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_15081988_mulieris-dignitatem.html |archive-date=October 4, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>}} On June 10, 2016, the [[Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments]] issued a decree which elevated Mary's liturgical commemoration from an obligatory memorial to a [[Calendar of saints|feast day]], like that of most of the Apostles (Peter and Paul are jointly commemorated with a [[solemnity]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/07/22/st--mary-magdalene--disciple-of-the-lord-.html|title=St. Mary Magdalene, Disciple of the Lord – Information on the Saint of the Day|date=July 22, 2016|website=Vatican News|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200427135800/https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/07/22/st--mary-magdalene--disciple-of-the-lord-.html|archive-date=April 27, 2020|access-date=April 13, 2020}}</ref> The [[Mass (Catholic Church)|Mass]] and [[Liturgy of the Hours]] (Divine Office) remain the same as they were, except that a specific [[Preface (liturgy)|preface]] was added to the Mass to refer to her explicitly as the "Apostle to the Apostles".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2016/06/10/160610b.html|title=The liturgical memory of Mary Magdalene becomes a feast, like that of the other apostles, 10.06.2016|last=Holy See Press Office|author-link=Holy See Press Office|date=June 10, 2016|website=The Holy See|access-date=June 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160613081120/http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2016/06/10/160610b.html|archive-date=June 13, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Protestantism===
[[File:Vasnetsov Maria Magdalene.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Icon]] of Saint Mary Magdalene depicted as one of the [[Myrrhbearers]] with the words "[[Paschal greeting|Christ is Risen]]" in Greek at the top, depicting her discovery of the empty tomb]]

The 1549 ''[[Book of Common Prayer]]'' had on July 22 a feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, with the same Scripture readings as in the [[Tridentine Mass]] and with a newly composed [[collect]]: "Merciful father geue us grace, that we neuer presume to synne through the example of anye creature, but if it shall chaunce vs at any tyme to offende thy dyuine maiestie: that then we maye truly repent, and lament the same, after the example of Mary Magdalene, and by lyuelye faythe obtayne remission of all oure sinnes: throughe the onely merites of thy sonne oure sauiour Christ." The 1552 edition omitted the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, which was restored to the Book of Common Prayer only after some 400 years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jfrankhenderson.com/pdf/Disappearance_Feast_MaryMagdalene.pdf |title=J. Frank Henderson, "The Disappearance of the Feast of Mary Magdalene from the Anglican Liturgy" (2004), pp. 1–4 |access-date=August 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131011213904/http://www.jfrankhenderson.com/pdf/Disappearance_Feast_MaryMagdalene.pdf |archive-date=October 11, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Modern Protestants honor her as a disciple and friend of Jesus.<ref>H.D. Egan, ''An Anthology of Christian mysticism'', Pueblo Publishing Co. (1992), pp.407ff.; cf. also, C. Bourgeault, ''The Meaning of Mary Magdalene: Discovering the Woman at the Heart of Christianity'', Shambhala Publ. (2010), ''passim''.</ref> Anglican Christians refer to her as a saint and may follow her example of repentance;{{sfn|Coletti|2013|p=}}{{sfn|de Boer|1997|pp=94f}} While some interpret the [[Thirty-Nine Articles]] as forbidding them to call upon her for intercession,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thirtyninearticles.org/#XXII._Of_Purgatory. |title=39 Articles of Religion – XXII. Of Purgatory. |access-date=November 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130040103/http://www.thirtyninearticles.org/#XXII._Of_Purgatory. |archive-date=November 30, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> other Anglicans, citing the Episcopal burial service, say they can ask the saint to pray for them.{{sfn|Markham|2009|p=67}}

The [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in America]] honors Mary Magdalene on July 22 as an apostle.<ref>Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 2006, p. 57</ref>  Her feast day is marked as a lesser festival, which are defined as "days when we celebrate the life of Christ, the witness of those who accompanied and testified to him, and the gifts of God in the church".<ref>Evangelical Lutheran Worship (Leaders Desk Edition), Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 2006, p. 55</ref>

[[Presbyterianism|Presbyterians]] honor her as the "apostle to the apostles"{{sfn|Geneva Press|2008|page=139}} and, in the book ''Methodist Theology'', [[Kenneth Wilson (theologian)|Kenneth Wilson]] describes her as, "in effect", one of the "first missionaries".{{sfn|Wilson|2011|page=99}}

Mary Magdalene is [[Calendar of saints (Church of England)|remembered]] in the [[Church of England]] with a [[Festival (Anglicanism)|Festival]] and in the [[Calendar of saints (Episcopal Church)|Episcopal Church]] with a Major Feast on July 22.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Calendar|url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/calendar|access-date=March 27, 2021|website=The Church of England}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bEq7DwAAQBAJ |title=Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018 |date=December 17, 2019 |publisher=Church Publishing, Inc. |isbn=978-1-64065-235-4 }}</ref>

===Baháʼí Faith===
There are many references to Mary Magdalene in the writings of the [[Baháʼí Faith]], where she enjoys an exalted status as a heroine of faith and the "archetypal woman of all cycles".<ref>Juliet Thompson, I, Mary Magdalene, Foreword</ref> [[`Abdu'l-Bahá]], the son of the founder of the religion, said that she was "the channel of confirmation" to Jesus's disciples, a "heroine" who "re-established the faith of the apostles" and was "a light of nearness in his kingdom".<ref>`Abdu'l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 420</ref> `Abdu'l-Bahá also wrote that "her reality is ever shining from the horizon of Christ", "her face is shining and beaming forth on the horizon of the universe forevermore" and that "her candle is, in the assemblage of the world, lighted till eternity".<ref>`Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'í World Faith – `Abdu'l-Bahá Section, p. 385</ref> `Abdu'l-Bahá considered her to be the supreme example of how women are completely equal with men in the sight of God and can at times even exceed men in holiness and greatness.<ref>`Abdu'l-Bahá in London, p. 105</ref> Indeed he said that she surpassed all the men of her time,<ref>`Abdu'l-Bahá, ''Divine Philosophy'', p. 50</ref> and that "crowns studded with the brilliant jewels of guidance" were upon her head.<ref>`Abdu'l-Bahá, ''Tablets of the Divine Plan'', pp. 39–40</ref>

The [[Baháʼí literature|Baháʼí writings]] also expand upon the scarce references to her life in the [[Development of the New Testament canon|canonical Gospels]], with a wide array of extra-canonical stories about her and sayings which are not recorded in any other extant historical sources. `Abdu'l-Bahá said that Mary traveled to Rome and spoke before the emperor Tiberius, which is presumably why Pilate was later recalled to Rome for his cruel treatment of the Jews (a tradition also attested to in the Eastern Orthodox Church).<ref>`Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablets of `Abdu'l-Bahá Vol.2, p. 467</ref> Baháʼís have noted parallels between Mary Magdalene and the Babí heroine-poet [[Táhirih]]. The two are similar in many respects, with Mary Magdalene often being viewed as a Christian antecedent of the latter, while Táhirih in her own right could be described as the spiritual return of the Magdalene; especially given their common, shared attributes of "knowledge, steadfastness, courage, virtue and will power", in addition to their importance within the religious movements of Christianity and the Baháʼí Faith as female leaders.<ref>{{cite web | first = Peter | last = Mazal | title = Selected Topics of Comparison in Christianity and the Baháʼí Faith | access-date = June 25, 2006 | date = October 21, 2003 | url = http://bahai-library.com/mazal_comparison_christianity_bahai&chapter=2 | publisher = bahai-library.org }}</ref>