Although this series is always dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, today I am going to depart from writing about her today and focus on another important Mary, known by our formal title the Apostle to the Apostles – Saint Mary Magdalene. I have come to know more about this saint over the nearly six years since I have been working at a parish that is named after her, but last year after reading the book, Saint Mary Magdalene: Prophetess of Eucharistic Love written by Fr. Dean Davidson, my knowledge of this fantastic saint was turned upside down. If you have never read this book, I would highly encourage you to read it.

Below are some quotes from the book to entice your spiritual appetite to purchase it today and begin reading it once it arrives at your doorstep –

1. “It has been said that Saint Mary Magdalene was once a prostitute, but this is nowhere stated in the biblical texts that mentioned her. Since she seems to be a wealthy woman and a friend of the wife of Herod’s steward, some have suggested that rather than being an ordinary prostitute she may have been a courtesan or some other kind of prominent member of the corrupt court of King Herod.”

2. “There comes a moment of grace in every sinner’s life, when he must make some choice upon which his salvation depends. At times it is something very simple, and perhaps in the case of Magdalene it was not more than the acceptance of an invitation to hear the new rabbi of whom all Galilee was talking.”

3. “Thus it was that Jesus Christ corrected our understanding of the relationship between God and man. Contrary to what the Pharisees may think, sinners can truly become saints!”

4. “The Lord allowed the sinful woman to approach him because it is in this contact with the real bodily presence of the Word made flesh that one is sanctified.”

5. “Saint Thomas Aquinas said that Christ’s head symbolizes his divinity and his feet symbolize his humanity; when we adore both we accomplish today a mystical anointing of the Lord.”

6. “We need ‘Magdalenes of the Eucharist’ whose example of ‘wasting’ their time and energy in prolonged adoration will teach others that Christ is really present and that he deserves the perpetual presence of his Church before him.”

7. “Mary Magdalene’s mission in life was to love Jesus Christ with all of the strength of her passionate heart. This was what she had been created for, to be there for Jesus in his hour of darkness. This was all she had to concentrate on doing and divine providence would take care of everything else for her. She began to learn how to live this vocation a long time before the Passion, back in peaceful Galilee.”

As we celebrate this holy Solemnity of Saint Mary Magdalene, may we have the courage to sit at Our Lord’s feet in the Holy Eucharist and bring to the world the one true flesh who is Jesus Christ.

Saint Mary Magdalene…Pray for Us 

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