Saint Mary Magdalene Version 2

Mary Magdalene (original Greek Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνή), or Mary of Magdala and sometimes The Magdalene, is a religious figure in Christianity. In the New Testament, Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons",[Lu 8:2] [Mk 16:9] sometimes interpreted as referring to complex illnesses. She became Jesus' close friend. She was most prominent during his last days. When Jesus was crucified by the Romans, Mary Magdalene was there supporting him in his final terrifying moments and mourning his death. She stayed with him at the cross after the male disciples (except John the Beloved) had fled. She was at his burial. In all four New Testament Gospels, Mary Magdalene is the first (either alone or with a group of women) to arrive at Jesus' tomb, where she encounters an angel (or a pair of angels) who instructs her to go tell the disciples that Jesus has risen. She was the first person to see Jesus after his Resurrection according to both John 20 and Mark 16:9. She was there at the "beginning of a movement that was going to transform the West". Mary was the "apostle to the apostles," an honorific that Augustine, one of the greatest orthodox theologians, actually gave her. Mary Magdalene's image has been tarnished through history by being linked with the unnamed sinner (commonly thought to have been a prostitute) in Luke 7:36-50. This identification stems from a homily given by Pope Gregory around the year 600, where he identified Magdalene not only with the anonymous sinner but also with Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. However, the 14 times that Mary Magdalene is mentioned in the Gospels, never once is she identified as a prostitute or a sinner. Mary Magdalene is considered by the Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran [ELCA only] churches to be a saint, with a feast day of July 22. The Eastern Orthodox churches also commemorate her on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers, the Orthodox equivalent of the Western Three Marys.