Although
there is a long-standing tradition in the Latin Church of regarding her as a penitent
sinner, I still find St. Mary Magdalen to be an especially meaningful saint for
me in my life as a consecrated virgin.
The
Gospel accounts portray St. Mary Magdalen as one of Christ’s closest follows. She
was one of the small handful of Jesus’ friends who remained with Him during His
passion and death on the cross, and she was privileged to be the first disciple
to announce the good news of the Resurrection.
The
Church expresses the depth of St. Mary Magdalen’s love for Christ in the almost
bridal overtones in the liturgy for her feast day. For example, one of the antiphons
for Lauds (Morning Prayer) reads:
“My
heart burns within me; I long to see my Lord; I look for him, but I cannot find
where they have put him, alleluia.”
But
perhaps most strikingly, one of the options for the first reading at today’s
Mass is taken from the Song of Songs (and this is one of the very few instances
where the Song of Songs is included in the lectionary):
On my bed at night I sought himwhom my soul loves—I sought him but I did not find him.“Let me rise then and go about the city,through the streets and squares;Let me seek him whom my soul loves.”I sought him but I did not find him.The watchmen found me,as they made their rounds in the city:“Him whom my soul loves—have you seen him?”Hardly had I left themwhen I found him whom my soul loves. (Songof Songs 3:1-4a)
1 comment:
Dear Jenna,
Thank you for this wonderful post about St Mary Magdalene and for all the posts on your blog! I recently discovered your blog a few months ago and love reading it and find that I learn so much about the life of consecrated virginity which I never knew about until reading your blog. Your posts about it are so in-depth and full of good theology, it is a treat to read them! I am a young woman who although not called to consecrated virginity, I am living out private vows, and I find so much on your blog so helpful in inspiring me with my own vocation! I have recently started to pray the Liturgy of the Hours whenever possible based on your comments about it on your blog and that has been a really wonderful thing in my life! I am surprised to never have heard more about consecrated virginity in the past, and i think not as many people know about it as those who know about monks and nuns...so having a blog about consecrated virginity is extremely helpful for all of us in learning more about that vocation. And of course it takes great bravery to live out such a vocation in our culture and be able to explain and profess it, and I admire tremendously your courage and wisdom about your vocation and your openness to sharing about it with others. Our world and the Church need more people like you! Thank you for all the good that you do through your blog, your vocation, and your witness! The life of a consecrated virgin is a truly beautiful vocation, one that deserves more attention than it often receives. I keep you and other consecrated virgins in my regular prayers!
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