Saint Mary Magdalen

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AHERN, CATHERINE, formerly of Archbald, today, 9 a.m., Harrison Funeral Home, 374 Main St., Archbald. Mass, 9:30, Christ the King Church, Church Street, Archbald. Interment, parish cemetery.

BALL, DORIS, Moscow, no public visitation. Memorial service, Tuesday, 2 p.m., Duffy & Snowdon Funeral Home, Church Street, Moscow. No flowers. Contributions: St. Mary's Villa Nursing Home, 675 St. Mary's Villa Road, Elmhurst, PA 18444; or to LIFE Geisinger, 2300 Adams Ave., Scranton, PA 18509.

BARBOUR, MARCILLE E. MUNLEY, today, Brennan & Brennan Funeral Home Inc., 55 Lincoln Ave., Carbondale. Mass, 10:30 a.m., St. Rose of Lima Church, Carbondale. Interment, Our Mother of Sorrows Cemetery, Finch Hill. Memorials: Tunnell Cancer Center, 18947 John J. Williams Highway, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 or Delaware Hospice Center, 100 Patriots Way, Milford, DE 19963. Condolences: www.brennanfuneralhomes.com.

BATES, RAYMOND J. JR., Factoryville, today, 7 p.m., Lawrence E. Young Funeral Home, 418 S. State St., Clarks Summit, by the Rev. Terry Drost, senior pastor, Peckville Assembly of God. Interment, private. Calling hours today, 4 until service. Condolences: www.lawrenceeyoungfuneralhome.com.

BRADY, JOHN P., formerly of Owen Street, Swoyersville, today, 9:30 a.m., Wroblewski Funeral Home Inc., 1442 Wyoming Ave., Forty Fort. Mass, 10, Holy Trinity Church, Swoyersville, by the Rev. Daniel J. Yenkevich, former pastor, St. Mary's Annunciation Church. Interment, with military honors, St. Mary's Cemetery, Pringle. Condolences: wroblewskifuneralhome.com. Contributions: Little Flower Manor, 200 S. Meade St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702.

DAVIS, WILLIAM ALAN, memorial service, Sept. 20, 3 p.m., Moscow United Methodist Church. Donations: American Heart Association or a charity of their choice. Condolences: jgfuneralhome.com.

DEITZER, HERMAN, Bethlehem, viewing today, 9 to 10:30 a.m., John F. Herron Funeral Home, 458 Center at Market Street, Bethlehem. Service, 11, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 1607 W. Union Blvd., Bethlehem. Memorials: Hospice House of St. Luke's, 1510 Valley Center Parkway, Suite 200, Bethlehem, PA 18017; or the American Cancer Society, 3893 Adler Place, Suite 170, Bethlehem, PA 18017.

ENNIS, GRACE CRAIG, today, 10 a.m., First Presbyterian Church of Elmhurst. Interment, Fairview Memorial Park, Elmhurst. Arrangements: Duffy & Snowdon Funeral Home, Church Street, Moscow. Memorials: First Presbyterian Church of Elmhurst, Maple Street, Elmhurst Twp., PA 18444; the Gideons International, Lackawanna County Camp, Box 83, Chinchilla, PA 18410; or donor's choice.

Liberation and St. Mary Magdalene | Regnum Novum

From the start here distinguishing remarks should be made about who this woman was. We have the story in Sacred Scripture of the woman who, Pharisees watching on, bathed the feet of Christ with her tears before she covered them in expensive ointment (Luke 7:37-50). She is not named but only referred to as “a sinful woman in the city.” A little later we are introduced by St. Luke to Martha and her sister Mary, who sits at the feet of our dear Lord much to the chagrin of Martha. This Mary seems quite at ease by Jesus’ feet. Then of course there is St. John’s account in 20:10-18 of the Mary of Magdala who witnessed Christ’s resurrection and was sent first to spread the Good News.

These three women, according to tradition, are all the same woman whom we call Mary Magdalene, though there is no ironclad reason to believe this is the case. The association is due to many things. One of the more interesting is the fact that each of these three women at some point do a great deal of weeping. Indeed, it is from this fact that we get the English word “maudlin.” You see the old English for Magdalene was Mawdelyn hence our word today which refers to one who is overly tearful or sentimental. In fact the word has an association with excesses in alcohol, a reference perhaps to the “sinful woman in the city.”

The Sinful Woman

Regarding that woman, she provides for us the perfect response to Christ.

Here you have a woman, a sinner in the city of Nain, who from the deep sorrow of that sin comes to Christ. St. Luke tells us that she came because she had heard he was there in the home of a Pharisee. Our Lord’s reputation had preceded him after he had raised a young man from the dead. With the kind of interior impulse of love’s infinite possibilities running through her mind, then, she rushed to see this prophet. Perhaps he could heal the dead part of her lost to temptation? Perhaps he could raise her from the slow death of sin?

When she sees him, he is reclined at table. There is no conversation, no pleading, not even a chance for someone from the Pharisee’s household to throw her out, notoriously sinful woman that she is. No, she is unstopped as she approaches Jesus. She stands behind Him at first, says St. Luke. Then she begins to weep and finally she collapses at His feet as the weeping turns into sobbing, the tears streaming over his feet. She can do nothing but try to dry them with her hair.

Saint Mary Magdalen, a poem

Saint Mary Magdalen

Saint Mary Magdalen

Saint Mary Magdalen, a drama

The Life of Saint Mary Magdalen