Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene takes her name from Magdala (modern Migdal), a prosperous fishing town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Luke 8.2 introduces her as one of a group of women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, noting that seven demons had been cast out of her. She became a devoted follower and, with other women, used her own resources to support Jesus and the twelve disciples as they traveled through Galilee. All four Gospels place Mary Magdalene at the crucifixion, while most of the male disciples had fled. She watched where Jesus was buried. Early on the first day of the week she came to the tomb while it was still dark and found the stone rolled away. John's account gives the most vivid scene: she saw two angels and then turned to find a man she supposed to be the gardener. He spoke her name — 'Mary' — and she recognized him: 'Rabboni.' Jesus instructed her to go and tell the brothers that he was ascending to his Father (Joh.20.17). For this reason she has been called in Christian tradition the 'apostle to the apostles.' She is distinct from Mary of Bethany and from the unnamed sinful woman of Luke 7, though centuries of tradition conflated them.