Saint Mary Magdalene

She is called "the apostle to the Apostles."  St. Mary Magdalene was given the name 'Magdalen' because, though a Jewish girl, she lived in a Gentile town called Magdale, in northern Galilee, and her culture and manners were those of a Gentile.  St. Luke records that she had seven devils removed from her.   She was present at Our Lords' Crucifixion, and with Joanna and Mary, the mother of James and Salome, at Jesus' empty tomb.  

Tradition holds that fourteen years after Our Lord's death, St. Mary was put in a boat by the Jews without sails or oars - along with Sts. Lazarus and Martha, St. Maximin (who baptized her), St. Sidonius ("the man born blind"), her maid Sera, and the body of St. Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin.  They were sent drifting out to sea and landed on the shores of Southern France, where St. Mary spent the rest of her life as a contemplative in a cave known as Sainte-Baume.  She was given the Holy Eucharist daily by angels as her only food, and died when she was 72.  St. Mary was transported miraculously, just before she died, to the chapel of St. Maximin, where she received the last sacraments. 

After having "7 devils" exercised from her by the Lord, she and the other holy women humbly served Jesus and His Apostles.  When Our Lord was crucified, she was there at the foot of His cross, unafraid for herself, and thinking only of His sufferings. No wonder Jesus said of her: "She has loved much."  After Jesus' body had been placed in the tomb, Mary went to anoint it with spices early Easter Sunday morning.  Not finding the Sacred Body, she began to weep, and seeing someone whom she thought was the gardener, she asked him if he knew where the Body of her beloved Master had been taken.  But then the person spoke in a voice she knew so well: "Mary!"  It was Jesus, risen from the dead!  He had chosen to show Himself first to Mary Magdalen, the "apostle of the Apostles."

One thing that characterizes Mary Magdalene's life is that she always sought the One whom she could not find.  Her presence at the cross and the tomb are evidence of this.  This longing caused her love for the Lord to grow ever stronger.

We, in our lives, may often wonder why the Lord isn't present to us or doesn't reveal Himself to us.  Perhaps, like with St. Mary Magdalene, the Lord merely desires that, by our seeking, our desire for Him would increase all the more.  Let us ask St. Mary Magdalene's intercession that we might never cease looking for the Lord - and that, through our longing, our love for Him would always grow deeper.

Saint Mary Magdalene, pray for us!