HOLY MYRRHBEARER AND EQUAL-TO-THE-APOSTLES MARY MAGDALENE

July 22nd

Troparion Tone 1
O holy Mary Magdalene, thou didst keep Christ's commandments/ and follow Him Who for our sakes was born of a Virgin./ Today we celebrate thy memory/ and receive forgiveness through thy prayers.


Kontakion Tone 4
When the transcendent God was incarnate/ He received thee as a true disciple in thy great love, O Myrrhbearer./ Then thou thyself didst work many healings/ and art now translated to heaven/ where thou ever intercedest for the world.


Another Kontakion Tone 3
With others standing before the Savior's Cross,/ weeping and suffering with the Mother of God,/ glorious Mary Magdalene offered praises saying:/ What is this strange wonder?/ He chooses to suffer Who upholds the whole creation!/ Glory to Thy Power.

Life of Saint Mary Magdalene

from: Orthodox America

Little is known of the early life of St. Mary. She was called "Magdalene" because she lived in the town of Magdala on the shore of the sea of Galilee, In the Bible we read that she was afflicted with an incurable disease: she was possessed by seven devils (Lk. 8:2). This was allowed by God's Providence so that in curing her the Lord Jesus Christ could show forth the power and glory of God.

Helpless in her sufferings and hearing about the miracle-working power of Christ, Mary hastened to Him and asked to be delivered from her infirmity. Through her faith in, His almighty power, Christ cast the seven devils out from her. Her heart became filled with thanksgiving and pure love for her Divine Healer. From that time-forth She dedicated her whole life to her Saviour Jesus Christ and became one of his most devoted disciples. She took every opportunity to listen to His teachings and to serve Him. Her example encouraged other women to do likewise.

Particularly remarkable was the determination and unusual courage which Mary Magdalene showed toward her Saviour. At the time of His greatest suffering, while He hung on the Cross and when even His apostles had abandoned Him, Mary, Magdalene stood at the foot of the Cross together with the Mother of God and the-Lord's beloved disciple, John. They mourned and wept,, but even in their weeping they comforted the Saviour with their undying love and the knowledge that He had not been utterly forsaken. That night, Mary Magdalene came with Joseph of Arimathea and Nikodemos when they took the Body of her beloved Lord down from the Cross and laid It in a tomb. Together with the other women disciples, she returned to prepare myrrh and other ointments with which to anoint the precious Body of Christ, according to the Jewish custom. Very early in the morning on the first day of the week, While it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the sepulchre (tomb) carrying the ointments. (For this reason the Church calls her "Myrrh-bearer".) Coming close she saw that the large stone that had been placed at the entrance of the tomb had been rolled away. She thought that perhaps someone had already come and taken the Body to another rplace. Hurrying back to Jerusalem she told the apostles Peter and John: "They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, 'and we know not where they have laid Him." Together with them she went again to the tomb and. stood there weeping. When they had left she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre. There she saw two angels who asked why she was crying. She told them and then,. turning around, she saw Jesus, but in her grief she did not recognize Him, and thinking -He was the gardener, told Him also the reason for her weeping. It was only Then He said her name: "Mary!" that she recognized Him as her beloved Lord. Not believing her ; own ears, she cried out with joy, "Master ! Then quickly following his His instructions, she ran quickly to announce the good news to the disciples: “Christ is risen!” (Because she was the first, sent by the Lord Himself, to proclaim the Resurrection, the Church also calls her "Equal-to-the--Apostles".

Even after Christ’s Ascension into heaven, Mary Magdalen continued to preach the good news of Christ's glorious Resurrection, not only in Jerusalem, but also in other countries. She spent her last years in Ephesus helping St, John the Evangelist in missionary labors. There she died peacefully.

In the 9th century her incorrupt relics were taken to Constantinople and placed in the church of St. Lazarus' Monastery.

St. Mary Magdalen zealously fulfilled the first and greatest commandment: Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind and with all thy strength. Her life is an example for us tolove and serve God above all, not fearing what others may say or do to us. Let us too, be apostles of the faith and tell everyone the good news which St. Mary Magdalene was first to proclaim: "Christ is Risen! In Truth He is Risen!"