An epitome of courage, she followed Jesus to Calvary, unmindful of indignant Jews, high-strung Roman soldiers, edgy crowds with volatile emotions that can crush her to death.
Steadfast, she was at the foot of the cross with the Blessed Mother and John the Beloved. On the first day of Sabbath, she went to the tomb, carrying species for Jesus’ body to be accorded the proper care and honors.
Her indomitable spirit was crushed to the core to see an empty tomb. In sobs, she pleaded to Jesus, whom she mistook as the gardener. “Sir if you carried Him away, tell me where you laid Him and I will take Him” (John 20:15).
Saint Mary Magdalene, First Mystic of the Church, was honored as the second-most important woman in the New Testament, after the Blessed Mother. She was dubbed as the Apostle of the Apostles.
Mystic of La Sainte Baume
After the Resurrection, the apostles and disciples went on their separate ways to spread the Gospel in Greece, Italy, Spain, France and countries within the Roman empire.
Mary Magdalene with Martha, Lazarus, Mary Salome, Mary Jacobe and two of the 70 disciples of Christ, Maximin and Sidonius, crossed the Mediterranean and went to Gaul (France). Tradition maintains that the boat without oars, sails and steering device arrived safely in Rha (Saintes Maries de la Mer). Then the group went on separate ways.
Mary Magdalene, Lazarus and Sidonius preached in Massilla (Marseilles), a Roman-occupied city. After six months Lazarus became the first bishop of Massilla. Magdalene and Sidonius left for La Sainte Baume (Saint Maximin Provence-Alpes-Cote d’ Azur, France).
Mary Magdalene settled in a grotto alone for 30 years. In Mystics of the Church it was narrated that seven times a day she ascended to the hilltop to hear music and songs of heaven. She was presumed as ecstatic, neither ate nor drank and made sacrificial offerings. Her sacrifices were beneficial to the church.
’Noli me tangere’
After three decades, Mary Magdalene went down to the village and was met by Maximin who was divinely directed. Lead to his church, she received Holy Communion and fell lifeless on the altar. Latin documents in the fifth century to sixth century noted that she died on the 11th day before Kalends of August, which is July 22, around 72 AD.
Her body was embalmed in aromatic herbs. Many miracles took place in her tomb. When the Saracens from Arabia arrived, her remains were moved to another place and the entire chapel was buried in sand.
In 1279, Prince Charles II of Salerno, nephew of King Louis IV of France, resolved to find Magdalene’s tomb. On May 5, 1280, the prelates and nobles of the kingdom of Provence and France and the Town of Maxim rejoiced. Her tomb was found.
On the identification cork was written: “Year of the Lord 710, 6th day of December, in fear of the Saracens, the body of well-loved and venerable Mary Magdalene has been transferred to be better concealed from the alabaster tomb to the one in marble out of which the body of Sidonius had been removed…. Hic requiescit corpus Mariae Magdalenae [Here lies the body of Mary Magdalene].”
A distinct feature is the “tongue adhered to the mouth cavity and from it had grown an aromatic plant. Also, on her brow is smooth, clear skin lighter than the remainder of the body, the size of two small fingertips…which resembled live skin, and was named Noli me tangere (Do not touch me). It was believed to have been the touch of the Lord on the brow of Mary Magdalene.”
Damo-Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris Collegium in Calauan, Laguna, and of Mater Redemptoris College in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.