St Mary Magdalene, Brampton 
Cambridgeshire 

 www.stmarym.co.uk 

St Mary Magdalene

Mary, called "Magdalene" almost certainly came from the small village of Magdala, by the lake of Galilee between Tiberias and Capernaum. Today "Migdal" is small, but still there, at the junction where the road from Nazareth comes down to the lake.

Mary Magdalene has been associated with the woman we read about in Luke's Gospel who followed Jesus and had been healed of various infirmities; in her case, Jesus had cast "seven demons" out of her. For this reason, she has by tradition come to be associated with the penitent sinner of the previous chapter - a woman who anoints Jesus' feet and washes them with her loose hair. Such behaviour suggests that the woman's virtue had been compromised and Mary Magdalene has, therefore, traditionally been regarded as rescued from a promiscuous lifestyle.

However, that may not be the real Mary Magdalene; it is likely that Luke's penitential sinner was in fact another woman. The root of the confusion may be from a sermon of Pope Gregory the Great's in the 6th century in which he stated that that the woman described by Luke, Mary, the sister of Martha, and Mary Magdalene, were one and the same person. It was not until 1969 that the Roman Catholic Church disassociated itself from that view.

One thing that is clear is that Mary Magdalene is present with the other women, including Jesus' mother Mary, at the crucifixion.  Above all, to her is given the joy of being the first to witness the risen Jesus by the garden tomb.  She does not recognise him until he addresses her by name.

Her feast day is celebrated on 22nd July. 

Click here to read more information about Mary Magdalene from the BBC website.  .