Saint Mary Magdalene | Biography & Facts (2024)

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What are some interesting facts about Mary Magdalene? ›

Mary Magdalene was a disciple of Jesus. According to the Gospel accounts, Jesus cleansed her of seven demons, and she financially aided him in Galilee. She was one of the witnesses of the Crucifixion and burial of Jesus and, famously, was the first person to see him after the Resurrection.

For years she worked among the poor and sick in hospitals and in their homes, and also among delinquent and abandoned girls. In her mid-20s, Magdalene began offering lodging to poor girls in her own home. In time she opened a school, which offered practical training and religious instruction.

Saint Mary Magdalen is the patron saint of the contemplative life, converts and penitent sinners, people ridiculed for their piety, as well as glove makers, hairstylists, perfumers, and pharmacists.

Various traditions compete to tell the story of what happened to Mary Magdalene in her later life. One legend has it that she retired to Ephesus with Jesus' mother, Mary. Another has it that she was transported to France with others and evangelized that area.

When the story picks up again on page 15, Mary is talking about a soul ascending past seven adversarial Powers with ominous names: Darkness; Desire; Ignorance; Zeal for Death; the Kingdom of the Flesh; the Foolish “Wisdom” of Flesh; and the “Wisdom” of Anger.

There is no biblical or historical evidence that Mary Magdalene ever had children. However it is possible that she did get married and perhaps had several children. Or perhaps she dedicated her life to serving the church and remained unmarried and childless.

These texts portray her as an apostle, as Jesus's closest and most beloved disciple and the only one who truly understood his teachings.

Much of the literature of this type has a more specific emphasis, on a claimed marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. There are indications in Gnosticism of the belief that Jesus and Mary Magdalene shared an amorous, and not just a religious relationship.

But neither theory — penitent prostitute or devoted spouse — actually matches what can be said about Mary Magdalene from what's written in the Bible: She was a woman from Magdala, a small Galilean town known for its fishing, who became a female disciple and was first witness to Jesus' resurrection, the cornerstone of ...

In art and in literature, Mary Magdalene is often used to illustrate the miraculous, transcendent power of grace. She is the sinner redeemed and the weeping woman whose sorrow is transformed into joy. She reminds us of the darkness of near-dawn and the blinding light of redemption. She is a symbol of hope.

Which saint left his wife? ›

You could also have mentioned St. Nicholas of Flüe, who left his wife and 10 children to live as a hermit — with the wife's permission, it's said.

Just as in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the Jesus of Mary, Called Magdalene performs miracles such as curing blindness, lameness, and leprosy.

In the original Greek, she's never actually called Mary Magdalene, but “Mary the Magdalene,” “the Magdalene Mary” or “Mary called Magdalene.” Some scholars speculate that she may have been from a town called Magdala, which makes sense since there is one on the coast of Galilee.

Serving God is never in vain. Even after Jesus was crucified, Mary did not give up her position of service to God. Like others, Mary Magdalene was discouraged and sad, but she still believed that Jesus was the Messiah. Mary was the first to see Jesus alive because she continued to serve God.

Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to...my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” So Mary of Magdala went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her.