St Mary Magdalene
Mary is often called "the penitent". It is believed she was given the name 'Magdalene' because, although a Jewish girl, she lived in a Gentile town called Magdala in northern Galilee and so her culture and manners were those of a gentile.
St Luke tells us she was a notorious sinner, who had seven devils removed from her. She was present at The Crucifixion, standing at the foot of the Cross, and with the other women, at the empty tomb. After Mary Magdalene met Jesus, she felt real sorrow for her previous life.
When Jesus went to supper at the house of a rich man, Mary came and wept at his feet. With her hair, she wiped his feet dry and anointed them with expensive perfumed oil. Many people were surprised that Jesus let such a well-known sinner touch him, but He could see into her heart and He said that her many sins had been forgiven because of her great love.
When Our Lord was crucified, Mary Magdalene was there at the foot of the cross – unafraid for herself and thinking only of His suffering.
After Jesus' body had been placed in the tomb, Mary went to anoint it with spices early on Easter Sunday morning. Not finding the body in the tomb, she began to look around her for who might have moved the body, and seeing a man she thought must be the gardener, she asked where Jesus had been moved to. But when the man spoke her name, "Mary", she realised that it was Jesus Himself. Risen from the dead, he had shown himself first to Mary Magdalene.
Her feast day is the 22nd of July
“Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
Luke 7:47