Today we honor Mary Magdalene, patroness of the Dominican Order.
It has been ten years since Pope Francis raised the liturgical celebration of the Memorial of Saint Mary Magdalene to the dignity of a Feast, the same rank given to the liturgical celebration of the Apostles. A special Preface was created for the feast, highlighting her unique place in the Roman Martyrology of saints. As we will hear in a few minutes, it proclaims that Christ honored Mary Magdalene with the office of being an apostle to the Apostles, so that the good news of new life might reach the ends of the earth.
Mary Magdalene, the first preacher of the good news of Christ’s resurrection— an excellent reason for her being named patroness of the Dominican Order, the Order of Preachers.
I daresay that everyone in this Chapel this morning has reflected on Mary Magdalene many times over the years. We have all been inspired by the Scriptures that tell of Mary’s place in the life of Jesus, by portrayals of her story in plays and films, or even by the haunting song from Jesus Christ Superstar, "I don’t know how to love him.”
We have also heard many interpretations and inaccurate speculations of who she was—and, no, she was not a prostitute!
Mary does, however, have quite a résumé. Mary was the one whom Jesus allowed to anoint him before his imminent Passion and Death; she was the faithful witness who stood with his mother Mary beneath the cross; and, thanks to groundbreaking biblical scholarship over the last six years by Elizabeth Schrader-Polczer, New Testament scholar from Villanova University, there is a good argument to be made that Mary Magdalene might actually be the one to have made the central confession of Jesus as the Christ in John’s gospel—but that’s a story for another day.
As we just heard in John’s gospel [John 20:1-2,11-18], Mary Magdalene was the first to see the empty tomb and then tell Peter and John about it. And she was the first to encounter the risen Christ and was commissioned by Christ to proclaim the news of his resurrection to the apostles—the first preacher of the Good News who stands as a model for all Dominican preachers.
Suffice it to say that all this would make Mary Magdalene more than one of many women interacting with Jesus, but rather a prominent figure in the entire second half of the Gospel of John.
But I’d like to focus for a moment on Mary’s name. Have you ever noticed that the New Testament give us lots of nicknames: James and John, the “Sons of Thunder”; Joseph known as Barnabas (Son of Encouragement/ Exhortation); Simon Peter the Rock; John, the Beloved Disciple; Simon the Zealot; Thomas the Twin; Jude Thaddeus (big-hearted, generous). We could go on…
Nicknames… What nickname would you give to Mary Magdalene? Mary the lover, Mary the faithful friend, Mary the astute, Mary the preacher, Mary the bold and fearless…
The gospels actually tell us the nickname for this amazing woman. You see, it’s not at all clear that Mary came Magdala (as is often assumed). Early Christian authors (like Origen and Eusebius) did not pinpoint Mary's origins to the specific, well-known Sea of Galilee city of Magdala. In fact, the city of Magdala had a completely different name in 1st-century Galilee: Taricheae. Indeed, Hippolytus of Rome (3rd century) and Ambrose of Milan (4th century) thought that Mary of Bethany was the one we have come to know as Mary Magdalene.
Based on its Aramaic and Greek roots, the word Magdalene means “Tower” and tells us something profound about this woman Mary. It is far more likely that “Magdalene” did not indicate Mary’s birthplace but was an honorific title: Mary the Tower.
The great 4th-century biblical scholar Saint Jerome assumed that Magdalene was a nickname: Mary Magdalene—Mary the “tower” (or perhaps in this case, tower-ess). He believed that Mary received the name "Magdalene" as a reward for her faith and actions, a nickname like others Jesus gave to his closest apostles.
So just as we think of Simon Peter as the rock of faith on which the Church is built, perhaps we might think of Mary Magdalene as Mary the Tower: a tower of faithful witness that rises up over the city of God, guarding the residents, a shining example of what faith can build, a guidepost that points the way.
I’ve been thinking that God may have a nickname for each of us. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we knew those names? if we could look around the Chapel and see each other as: Ann the Spiritual Pathfinder, Barbara the Guile-less, Catherine the Courageous, Eileen the Faithful, Elizabeth the Open-Hearted, Grace the Grace-filled, Helen the Merciful, Jeanne the Beacon of Hope, Kathleen the Cheerful, Margaret the Beloved, Mary the Spirit-filled, Maureen the Steadfast, Nora the Cherished, Patricia the Selfless, Paz the Peace-filled, Virginia the Tender-Hearted…
So on this Feast day, let us take courage from our patroness Mary Magdalene and claim our own nickname. Let us be bold, daring to grow into the name that God has for us, as did Mary Magdalene as she grew into the Tower of Faith and Witness who, 2000 years later, continues to inspire us to be preachers of hope in our world that needs hope so very much!
Saint Mary Magdalene, Tower of Faith and Witness, pray for us!
– Sister Margaret Palliser, OP
With expertise in Theology, Music, Education, and Liturgy,
Sister Margaret shares her gifts through the Office of Dominican Life.