Today we celebreate Mary Magdalene, The Holy Myrrh-bearer and Equal to the Apostles
Reading from the Synaxarion ( which is a term relating to the compilations, lectionaries, and indexes that been compiled over the centuries. In the Orthodox Church, the Synaxarion is an abridged collection of the “Lives of the Saints,” intended for reading in public worship and to nourish the personal prayer life of the faithful).
Saint Mary was from Magdala in Galilee on the Sea of Tiberias, which was a major port at the time. It is still active today. For this reason, she was named Magdalene.
When the Lord Jesus cast out seven demons from her, from which she had been suffering, she became His faithful and inseparable disciple, following Him and ministering unto Him even to the time of His crucifixion and burial.
Then, returning to Jerusalem together with the rest of the Myrrh-bearers, she prepared the fragrant spices for anointing the body of the Lord.
After the Lord Jesus cast out the seven demons from her, from which she had been suffering, she became His faithful and inseparable disciple, following Him and ministering unto Him even to the time of His crucifixion and burial.
And on the Lord’s day they came very early to the tomb, even before the Angels appeared declaring the Resurrection of the Lord. When Mary Magdalene saw the stone taken away from the tomb, she ran and proclaimed it to Peter and John.
And returning immediately to the tomb and weeping outside, she was deemed worthy to be the first of the Myrrh-bearers to behold the Lord arisen from the dead, and when she fell at His feet, she heard Him say, “Touch Me not.”
After the Lord’s Ascension, nothing certain is known concerning her. Some accounts say that she went to Rome and later returned to Jerusalem, and from there proceeded to Ephesus, where she ended her life, preaching Christ.
Although it is sometimes said that Saint Mary Magdalene was the “sinful woman” of the Gospel, this is nowhere stated in the tradition of the Church, in the sacred hymnology, or in the Holy Gospels themselves, all of which only say that our Lord cast seven demons out of her. There is no mention of any “sinfulness”.
“Madeleine” is a form of Magdalene.
In my anguish... 