Who is Mary Magdalene in the bible. "The wife of Christ" or the main apostle? Mysteries of the Life of Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene remains the most enigmatic and mysterious figure.

Throughout church history, it has been the subject of many different theories and myths. Of the Scriptures regarding this woman, about whom all four Gospels say that she was present both at the crucifixion of Christ and at the empty tomb on the morning of the Resurrection, we know nothing more about her.

The Bible nowhere specifically says that Mary Magdalene was a harlot at any time in her life. Luke does not mention her name in his account of the "repentant harlot" wiping Christ's feet with her hair.

Neither is she named as a woman who was caught in an act of adultery and saved by Jesus from being stoned. She is mentioned only once, as being possessed by a demon.

However, the assumption that her sinful past represented primarily sexual sin is an assumption that is not usually made for previously sinning men.

"Magdalene" is traditionally deciphered as "a native of the city of Migdal-El." The literal meaning of this toponym is “tower”, and since the tower is a feudal, knightly symbol, in the Middle Ages this noble connotation of meaning was transferred to the person of Mary and she was given aristocratic features.

In the ancient Greek language of medieval writers, "Magdalene" can be interpreted as "constantly accused" (Latin manens rea), etc.

The Orthodox tradition does not identify Mary Magdalene with the evangelical sinner, but honors her exclusively Equal-to-the-Apostles holy myrrh-bearer from which demons were simply cast out.

AT Catholic tradition Magdalene takes on the features of a penitent harlot. Its main attribute is a vessel with incense.

According to this tradition, Magdalene earned fornication, after seeing Christ, she left the craft and began to follow him, then in Bethany she washed his feet with the world and wiped them with her hair, was present at Golgotha, etc., and then became a hermit in the territory of modern France.

One of the main reasons for identifying Magdalene with a harlot is the recognition by the Western church that she was the nameless woman who washed the feet of Jesus with the world.

And behold, a woman of that city, who was a sinner, having learned that He was reclining in the house of a Pharisee, brought a vessel of ointment, and, standing behind at His feet and weeping, she began to pour her tears over His feet and wipe them with the hair of her head, and kissed His feet, and smeared with peace. (Luke 7:37-38).

The many positive contributions made by women to the development of the early church have been minimized throughout history.

But women, especially Mary Magdalene, were the main witnesses to the resurrection of Christ. The prominent role of female disciples was an early and deeply ingrained part of a tradition that quickly became a hindrance to the male leaders of emerging church institutions.

Jesus taught the disciples by example how to treat everyone with equal dignity and respect, including the sick, the poor, the oppressed, outcasts, and women. Jesus certainly did not object to men and women sharing the power and position of leaders. Some of his followers, however, were not brave enough to be so radical. Thus, in the case of the Gospel of John, the beloved female disciple had to become a man.

Today, most bibliologists, both Catholic and Protestant, argue that St. John Zebedee did not write the gospel that bears his name. They attribute authorship to an anonymous "beloved student".

There is no doubt that the "beloved disciple" in the canonical version of the Fourth Gospel is the anonymous male disciple. Yet, as we have seen, the scriptures repeatedly refer to Mary Magdalene as the disciple whom Jesus loved.

The relationship between Peter and the "beloved disciple" in the Fourth Gospel is very similar to the relationship between Peter and Mary Magdalene.

This suggests that the editor of the Fourth Gospel replaced Mary Magdalene with an anonymous male disciple.

If Mary Magdalene was the leader and hero of the Fourth Gospel community, then she was probably recognized as an Apostle within that community. Indeed, given the fact that she was the first to announce the Resurrection of Christ, the Roman Catholic Church honored her with the title "apostola apostolorum", which means "apostle over the apostles."

Why Mary Magdalene is known as the world's most promiscuous woman when the Bible nowhere says she was ever a prostitute

The evidence supporting the view that Mary Magdalene is the author of the Fourth Gospel is much stronger than that which established John Zebedee as its author for nearly two thousand years.

The church has no problem with mainstream lore, which says that a man whose name we don't even know wrote one of the most sacred Christian documents.

Imagine - even a nameless person is preferable to a woman. Despite gnostic documents and structural inconsistencies, the church, as a system that has developed by now, will probably never recognize Mary Magdalene the author of the New Testament.

The legend of Magdalene has many parallels or even possible direct borrowings from the life of St. Mary of Egypt, her namesake and late contemporary, who, unlike Magdalene, is directly evidenced that she was a harlot.

The researchers note that the borrowing probably took place in the 9th century and the attributes merged with the plot of both saints. That is, the harlot Mary of Egypt is another woman whose image was combined with Magdalene and contributed to the perception of her as a sinner.

Mary was born in Egypt in the middle of the 5th century and left her parents at the age of twelve, going to Alexandria, where she became a harlot.
Once Mary, seeing a group of pilgrims heading to Jerusalem for the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord, she joined them, but not with pious thoughts, but "so that there would be more with whom to indulge in debauchery."

In Jerusalem, Mary tried to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, but some kind of force held her back. Realizing her fall, she began to pray in front of the icon of the Mother of God, which was in the porch of the temple. After that, she was able to enter the temple and bow to the Life-Giving Cross. Coming out, Mary again turned with a prayer of thanksgiving to the Virgin Mary and heard a voice that said to her - “If you cross the Jordan, you will find blissful peace.”

Having listened to this command, Mary took communion and, having crossed the Jordan, settled in the desert, where she spent 47 years in complete solitude, fasting and prayers of repentance.

After these many years of temptations, passions left her, the food taken from Jerusalem ended, and her clothes decayed from decay, but, as her life tells, “since that time… the power of God has transformed my sinful soul and my humble body in everything.”

They also mention the influence of the legend of the harlot of St. Taisia ​​of Egypt, a famous courtesan, converted by abbot Paphnutius.

According to the life, Taisia ​​was the daughter of a harlot who taught the girl, who was distinguished by her beauty, her craft.

Taisia ​​became a highly paid courtesan who ruined men and played with them. Hearing about this, the Monk Paphnutius the Great came to her. After a conversation with him, Taisia ​​burned all the treasures she had earned in the city square. Then she went after Paphnutius to a convent, where she closed herself in a cell for three years, eating food only once a day.

Three years later, Paphnutius went to Anthony the Great to find out if God had forgiven Taisia ​​or not. Anthony ordered his disciples to pray in order to receive an answer, and one of them, Paul the Simple, had a vision in heaven of a bed covered with robes of inimitable beauty and guarded by three divas with bright and beautiful faces. Paul enthusiastically said, "That's right, it's ready for my father Anthony." Then a voice announced to him: “No, this is not for Anthony, but for the harlot Taisia.”

So Paphnutius learned the will of God about Taisia.

Paphnutius returned to the monastery and decided to take Taisia ​​out of her cell, which she resisted. But he still said that the Lord forgave her and brought her outside. 15 days later, Taisiya fell ill and died three days later.

Researchers analyze the development of the cult of Magdalene, arguing that the thoughts of churchmen about women in the Middle Ages began with the opposition of Eve and the Virgin Mary.

The first personified ordinary women, the second was an unattainable ideal. And in the XII century, the foremother Eve turned into an object of even more fierce criticism (up to the definition of “daughter of the devil”).

Matryal from "Mary Magdalene: Author of the Fourth Gospel?" by Ramon K.Jusino, M.A.
published in the journal "Knowledge of Reality" in 1998.

Thus, Mary Magdalene, or rather, her cult, arose "from the yawning abyss between two diametrically opposed symbols
Magdalene begins a new life. But who needed this new Mary Magdalene? Women for whom the road to heaven was thorny and almost endless. The sinner woman pointed the way to possible salvation. She gave a small but real hope associated with confession, repentance and penance; hope that opened the middle path between eternal life and eternal damnation.

Thus, for the next five hundred years, church culture was dominated by three female images: woman temptress, woman forgiven sinner and woman queen of heaven. Magdalene occupied the psychological niche necessary for ordinary parishioners who did not have the courage to compare themselves with the Mother of God and desires with the temptress; and found the closest analogy to their earthly life in the repentant Magdalene.
In the popular consciousness of the inhabitants of medieval Europe, the image of the penitent harlot Mary Magdalene gained extreme popularity and colorfulness and has been entrenched to this day.
In the 20th century, the Catholic Church, in an effort to correct possible errors of interpretation, softened the wording - after the reform of 1969, Magdalene no longer appears as a "repentant" in the Novus Ordo calendar.
But despite this, the traditional perception of her as a repentant harlot by the mass consciousness, which has developed over the centuries due to the influence of a large number of works of art, remains unchanged.

Icon of the Cathedral of Saints named after the family of Tsar Alexander III: Alexander Nevsky, Mary Magdalene, Nicholas the Wonderworker, George the Victorious, Princess Olga, Prince Mikhail of Chernigov, Saint Xenia. 1888. On the lower field of the icon there is an inscription: “In memory of the miraculous salvation of the Sovereign Emperor and all of His Most August family from the danger that threatened them during the train crash on October 17, 1888 on the Kursk-Kharkov-Azov railway between the Taranovka and Borki stations.” Comes from the church of the village of Znamenka, Irbit district. Now it is located in the Holy Trinity Church in Irbit.

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Thanks to Dan Brown, the name of Mary Magdalene has attracted attention modern society. Many became interested in the life of the saint, even without ever reading the Gospel story. However, the life of Mary Magdalene, her miracles and missionary activities are not the subject of fiction, but are confirmed by the apostolic books and testimonies of the first Christians and Roman historians.

She was one of the myrrh-bearing women, the disciples of Christ, who followed Him and the apostles even during the earthly life of the Lord. They "served their estate", that is, they helped in everyday life. They received the name "myrrh-bearing women" thanks to their main feat of fearlessness - they brought the precious myrrh to the Holy Sepulcher in order to complete the burial of Christ, despite the danger from the Roman guards.

Life of Mary Magdalene

In the Holy Gospel and throughout the New Testament, St. Mary Magdalene is mentioned more than once. Together with other myrrh-bearing women, she followed Christ and the apostles, “serving with her possessions,” that is, helping in everyday life. They received the name "myrrh-bearing women" thanks to their main feat of fearlessness - they brought the precious myrrh to the Holy Sepulcher in order to complete the burial of Christ, despite the danger from the Roman guards. The nickname "Magdalene" indicates that she came from the city of Magdala, which is north of Jerusalem.

In the Gospel of Luke, the evangelist mentions that Christ cast out seven demons from Mary Magdalene, but does not say how and when this happened. The well-known researcher and writer, Archpriest Nikolai Agafonov, in the novel The Myrrh-Bearing Women, suggests that Maria's father was killed by robbers, ruining the family home, and therefore she went crazy with grief.

There is no mention in any Gospel, in any of the early Christian testimonies or Roman historical annals that the Lord Jesus Christ was married or was in connection with Mary Magdalene. This should be recognized as an invention of later historians.

It is known that Mary Magdalene, along with other myrrh-bearing women, stood at the Cross of the Lord on Golgotha ​​at the time when all the apostles fled. Seeing the death of Christ, all the apostles, afraid to approach His Cross, betrayed the Lord. Christ, except for the apostles and His Mother, had no relatives - and now, abandoned by almost all the apostles, the Lord was dying on the Cross. Perhaps that is why only one of the apostles who remained with Christ at the time of His death, the Apostle John the Theologian, died of old age; the rest, in order to achieve holiness, atone for their sin and sit on the throne in the Kingdom of Heaven, had to testify to their loyalty to God. They died a martyr's death, while the myrrh-bearing women were at the Cross, not being afraid of the Roman soldiers, and subsequently peacefully carried the teachings of Christ to people.

All the Gospels also tell that it was St. Mary Magdalene that Christ was one of the first to appear after the Resurrection. Together with Maria Cleopova, Salome, Maria Jacobleva, Susanna and Joanna (the exact number of myrrh-bearing women is unknown), she wanted to go to the tomb of Christ, but she came first, and it was to her that after His Resurrection He appeared alone. At first she mistook Him for a gardener, apparently not recognizing him after the Resurrection, but then she fell on her knees and exclaimed: “My Lord and my God!” realizing that Christ is before her. Interestingly, the apostles, actually the closest disciples of Christ, for a long time did not believe the myrrh-bearing women that Christ had risen until He Himself appeared to them.

Then Saint Mary Magdalene went around many cities preaching the word of the Lord. One of the most important episodes of her apostolic activity was a sermon before the emperor of Rome, Tiberius himself. Note that other apostles did not come to the emperor, only a weak woman - St. Mary. It was customary to come to the emperor with gifts, but the poorest people brought at least chicken eggs. Saint Mary told Tiberius about Christ, His death and Resurrection, but he did not believe her, saying that the egg she brought as a gift would sooner turn red than a person would be resurrected after three days in the tomb. When the saint handed the egg to the emperor, it turned red - since then, the scarlet color has become the symbolic color of Easter and the Easter vestments of priests.

In her declining years, she settled in a community of Christians led by the holy Apostle John the Theologian in the city of Ephesus. (However, according to Catholic tradition last years Mary were held in Marseille - in Italy). It was revealed to her by the Lord Himself when her last hour would come. She died happy.

Shrines and churches in honor of St. Mary Magdalene

Since the saint is known not only for her missionary work, but also for her miraculous help to people, a number of hospitals, shelters and schools in Russia were named after her even before the revolution. Today the name of St. Mary is again remembered. So, the most famous temples in her honor

• In Moscow: in South Butovo, at the Imperial Commercial School, in Lyubertsy.
• In St. Petersburg: at the Mariinsky Hospital and the Children's Hospital of St. Mary Magdalene, named after her.
• In Minsk, there is a youth community that conducts active missionary and charitable activities, makes pilgrimage trips.

Image of Saint Mary

The strength of the spirit, the scale of the personality of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary are reflected on each of her icons.

Every Orthodox Christian knows and reveres many saints. Prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ and His Most Pure Mother is a common petition that accompanies the life of a believer. But often it seems to us that our requests are small for God, and doubts overcome: will He hear us, will He have mercy ... In such cases, they pray to spiritual patrons - saints. Traditionally, it is customary to pray in different areas of life to different saints. In addition, every Christian has his own patron - the namesake saint. Find the patron saint by date of birth.

Women with one of the most common names in our country, Mary, will have no difficulty in determining the patron saint - you can choose your saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene. Every Orthodox Christian can also pray to St. Mary: she is an example of courage, service to God and people, willpower.

The iconography, that is, the composition of the icon, the clothes and attributes of the image of St. Mary Magdalene are traditional for all saints glorified in the guise of the Equal-to-the-Apostles, and are also supplemented by a vessel of holy ointment.

Equal-to-the-Apostles are people who became like the apostles and served the Lord by constantly preaching the gospel word, converting people to Christianity. In the face of Equal-to-the-Apostles there are many holy rulers who converted their subjects to the faith of Christ.

On icons, Mary Magdalene is traditionally depicted standing, with a cross - a symbol of preaching in her right hand and a small vessel of holy ointment in her left.

Saint Mary Magdalene is one of only six Equal-to-the-Apostles women in history. In addition to her, this face includes the martyr Apphia, the first martyr Thekla, Tsarina Elena, the Russian princess Olga and the enlightener of Georgia Nina. Interestingly, Equal-to-the-Apostles Empress Elena was the mother of Equal-to-the-Apostles Tsar Constantine the Great, who enlightened the Byzantine Empire, and Princess Olga was the grandmother of Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, Enlightener of Russia.

The expression of the face of the saint on the images is interesting: often it is strict, even severe - the saint courageously walks with a vessel of peace towards the possible danger of being killed by Roman soldiers for the teachings of Christ. However, today there are more and more icons that inherit the tradition of iconography created by Viktor Vasnetsov. This early 20th-century icon painter created a sketch for a mosaic for the Darmstadt Cathedral in the birthplace of the Holy Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Nicholas II. Vasnetsov depicted the saint as a spiritualized woman walking forward, perhaps even at the moment when she saw the Risen Christ.

Mary Magdalene in world culture

It should be noted that at some point, St. Mary Magdalene became associated in culture with a penitent harlot, despite the fact that the Gospel does not say anything about her sins, only that Christ cast out demons from out of nowhere.

In the Middle Ages, according to researchers, three female images dominated: a woman-tempter, a woman-repentant and forgiven sinner, and a woman-Queen of Heaven, Mother of God. Saint Mary Magdalene appeared in the form of a penitent sinner. It was she who became the most revered saint among ordinary parishioners, believers who did not dare to compare themselves with the Mother of God, but did not want to tempt. Christian women found an analogy of their earthly life in the penitent Magdalene.

Memorial Day of Mary Magdalene

The feast of the myrrh-bearing women is not as widespread in Russia as, for example, the Trinity. Before the revolution, it was called "Indian Week". On the eve of the week of the myrrh-bearing women, Radonitsa was celebrated - they commemorated the dead. The Week of the Myrrh-bearing Women itself is celebrated two weeks after Easter.

Today, the feast of the Myrrh-Bearing Women has become an international Orthodox Women's Day. On this day, performances about saints are staged, many parishes have started a good tradition, during which priests give flowers and small icons to all parishioners. Sunday school students give their mothers and teachers handmade gifts.

A separate day of remembrance of St. Mary Magdalene is celebrated on the day of her repose to the Lord - July 4, according to the new style (July 22, old).

On this day, they pray to her with a special prayer with glorification - magnificence:

We magnify you, Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene, and we honor your holy memory, O saint, who enlightened the whole world with her teachings and led people to Christ.

Through the prayers of St. Mary Magdalene, God bless you!

The Holy Grail is a symbol of immortality, spiritual purity, the door to heaven, the cosmic principle, inspiration, renewal and rebirth, a way to communicate with the spiritual world, the mystical center of the Earth. The search for the Grail symbolizes the desire for self-realization and merging with the Divine.

The mystery of the Holy Grail is one of those that will never be solved. You can only touch it. We don't even know what the Grail was. His image, vaguely shining through the veils of centuries, was presented to people of different eras in different ways: in the form of a vessel, a bowl, a casket, a precious stone.

The legend of the Grail arose in the 12th century, seemingly suddenly. Its appearance is associated with the chivalric novels of Chrétien de Troyes and Robert de Boron about King Arthur. A century later, at the beginning of the 13th century, Wolfram von Eschenbach took up the continuation and at the same time “correction” of them under the leadership of a certain Kiota, who allegedly found in Toledo the original source of the legend, written in Arabic by a pagan astrologer named Flegetan.

Earlier documentary references to the Grail dating back to the 8th century describe it as being strewn precious stones a vessel shining so dazzlingly that the flame of candles fades next to it.

. Descent from the cross. 15th century / DESCENDIMIENTO ARAGONES (S.XV)

In more ancient European legends, the Grail is said to be a sacred cup with divine blood. The vessel cut from a solid emerald, from which Jesus drank together with the disciples during the Last Supper with the words “this is My blood”, after the arrest of Jesus, was first handed over to Pilate, and later filled with the blood of the crucified Jesus Christ and preserved by Joseph of Arimathea.

According to the gospel text, a member of the Sanhedrin, Joseph of Arimathea, removed the body of Jesus from the cross and buried him in the tomb-tomb, which he had prepared for himself not far from Golgotha. According to the apocryphal "Nicodemus Gospel", Joseph served the Roman governor, and therefore he was not refused a request to remove the dead body, but at the same time they gave the found vessel.

. Giovanni di Paolo (c.1400-1482) Lamentation of Christ, 1445 / GIOVANNI DI PAOLO DI GRAZIA. Il Lomento. 1445.settemuse.it. Mary Magdalene in a red dress with flowing hair.

When Joseph, with the help of the gospel Nicodemus, removed the body of Jesus, blood flowed again from the wound inflicted by the spear of the centurion, and it was collected in this vessel.

. The Limburg brothers. Magnificent Hours of the Duke of Berry "Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry", 15th century / Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry, Folio 157r - The Entombment the Musée Condé, Chantilly. Clickable via

After the resurrection of Christ, the Jews accused him of secretly stealing the body and threw him into prison. According to legend, the resurrected Jesus came there and returned the vessel with precious blood to Joseph, calling it "the chalice of communion." Only after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, Joseph is released from prison: he spent all these years without food and drink, miraculously nourished from the Grail.

After being released from prison, Joseph gathers a community around him, and together they go to distant lands.

According to legend, Joseph of Arimathea arrived on the southern coast of France in 35 AD. He then crossed Gaul, crossed the strait and landed in England, where he settled at Glastonbury and founded a monastery. It preserved the legend about the miraculous vessel brought by Joseph and the famous Round Table created for him, which became the prototype of the Round Table of King Arthur.

. Joseph of Arimathea brings the Holy Grail to Britain. Miniature of the 14th century. / The Rochefoucauld Grail, a 14th century manuscript, Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica, MS 1 via1 via2
Joseph of Arimathea brings the Holy Grail to Britain by crossing the water. Followers of Joseph go to the Grail on the surface of the water on the cloak of Joseph. While the disbelievers drown

However, on the southern coast of France for many centuries there was a legend that the Grail was brought to Marseille by Mary Magdalene, her sister Martha, brother Lazarus and Dionysius the Areopagite. The locals revered Mary Magdalene as a close and devoted friend of Jesus, a myrrh-bearing wife who was the first to see Christ after the resurrection. They considered her the founder of true Christianity and the "mother of the Grail", which, according to an old legend, she hid in a cave until her death.

. Mary Magdalene carries a vessel with myrrh. Morning of the Day of the Resurrection of Christ.
Jean Colomb (1430/35 - 1493), The Magnificent Book of Hours of the Duke of Berry. Marginal miniature, 1485-1486.

. Mary Magdalene and Jesus. "Do not touch me!". Jean Colomb (1430/35 - 1493), The Magnificent Book of Hours of the Duke of Berry. Marginal miniature, 1485-1486. / NOLI ME TANGERE

About what happened to Mary Magdalene after the ascension of the Teacher, there are two versions - Greek and Latin.

According to the Greek authors of the 7th century, together with the Apostle John and the Mother of God, she settled in Ephesus, where she died and was buried. In 869, the Byzantine emperor Leo the Philosopher ordered the body of Mary Magdalene to be transferred from Ephesus to Constantinople to the church of St. Lazarus. In 1216, the crusaders who sacked Constantinople captured her remains and brought them to Pope Honorius III, who ordered them to be placed in the Lateran Cathedral under the altar in honor of the saint.

According to the Latin version, Mary Magdalene, together with Lazarus and sister Martha, fleeing persecution, reached Provence by sea to the south of France, where the travelers landed between Marseille and Nimes. Mary settled in a "grotto of solitude" among rocky steep cliffs near the village of Sainte-Baume - "Holy Fragrances". It was named after the incense with which Mary Magdalene anointed the body of Jesus during the Last Supper. [here I did not understand why "during the Last Supper", apparently, it means in the house of Simon - approx. gorbutovich]

. Christ in the House of Simon the Pharisee. Mary Magdalene wipes Jesus' feet with her hair after anointing them with myrrh. Giovanni da Milano, 14th century (active 1346-1369), Italy.

Here she preached Christianity and died here in 63. They buried Mary Magdalene in the Abbey of Sainte-Maximin, located 30 miles from Marseille.

In the 13th century, her tomb was opened, and, according to legend, an alabaster vessel was found containing the remains of dried blood, which became liquid on Good Friday. In that era, there was an opinion that this was the same incense vessel mentioned in the Gospel, with which Mary Magdalene anointed the feet of Jesus before wiping them with her hair.

. "Do not touch me!". Martin Schongauer (1448-1491), Germany / MAGDALENA MARTIN SCHONGAUER - NOLI ME TANGERE

The remains were transferred to the city of Wezelay, and a huge cathedral was erected in her honor on the site of a new burial. In 1267, King Louis the Saint was present at the transfer of the remains of the saint from one shrine to another, richer one. And later, during the French Revolution, they were barbarously destroyed.

This tradition in the south of France was stable. The Cluny Museum houses a 15th-century painting attributed to King René of Provence, Saint Mary Magdalene Preaching the Word of God in Marseille.

#ten . Carlo Crivelli (1430/35-1495), Italy. Mary Magdalene.

In the XIII century, many legends about St. Mary Magdalene were reflected in the famous "Golden Legend" - the lives of the saints, collected by the Genoese archbishop Jacopo de Voragini. First it was published in Latin, and later in French.

#eleven . Jan Gossaert, nicknamed Mabuse, Netherlands, circa 1530

Like early Christian authors, he identifies Mary Magdalene not with the gospel harlot, but with Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus, resurrected by Jesus. The Golden Legend says that “Mary Magdalene was born of noble parents who came from a royal family. Her father's name was Sirus, her mother was Eucharia. Together with her brother Lazarus and sister Martha, she owned the fortress of Magdala in the neighborhood of Gennesaret in Bethany, near Jerusalem, and a large part of this city. All this vast possession was divided in such a way that Lazarus had part of Jerusalem, Martha - Bethany, and Magdala proper belonged to Mary, and hence her nickname Magdalene came from.

“After the Ascension of the Lord,” writes Voragini, “the faithful to him were subjected to severe persecution, and the Jews, wanting to get rid of Lazarus, his sisters and numerous Christians, put them on a ship without a rudder and sails; but, led by an angel by the will of God, they moored at Marseilles.

#12 . Master of the German school. Ascension of Mary Magdalene. I pay attention to the clothes of the Saint.

In another place, it is indicated that Joseph of Arimathea was also on the ship, along with the sisters Mary and Martha and brother Lazarus.

Interestingly, this sea voyage is also depicted among other scenes from the life of Jesus' beloved disciple on the left side of the altar in the southern German city of Tiefenbronn. So, it would seem, the different stories of Joseph of Arimathea and Mary Magdalene merge into a single one.

In honor of St. Mary Magdalene, revered as the enlightener of Gaul and Francia, many temples and chapels were erected in different regions of southern France in the early Middle Ages. The majestic basilica, founded in 1096 in Vesel, also went down in history with the call of the abbot Bernard of Clairvaux to the Second Crusade. It was here that in 1146 he called on King Louis VII, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, the knights and the people to move east to protect Christian relics.

#13 . Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli (active 1495-1549), Italy. Reading Magdalene.

The cult of Mary Magdalene was especially widespread in the town of Rennes-le-Château in the province of Languedoc, where a large church built in her honor was painted with wonderful frescoes about the life of the saint. In the traditions of the Languedoc, Mary Magdalene is referred to as the "mistress of the waters" and "Mary on the sea".

#fourteen . Jan Massys (Jan Massys, Matsys or Metsys; c. 1509-1575), Flemish mannerist painter. Mary Magdalene in a cave with a vessel and a book.

The life of Mary Magdalene still excites the imagination of many scientists and writers. Recall at least the scandalous novel by Dan Brown "The Da Vinci Code". His intrigue is based on the fact that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and their descendants continued his lineage in Western Europe.

#fifteen . Mary Magdalene. Byzantine icon.

It can also be said that in her mysterious image the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe search for eternal femininity is captured, not without reason, according to some legends, she was also the earthly embodiment of Sophia the Wisdom of God.

Tatyana Mikhailovna Fadeeva - Candidate of Historical Sciences, Leading Researcher at the Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

#16 . Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) Galahad reaches the Holy Grail / Edward Burne-Jones. Achievement Galahad the Sang Graal. via

Image source, unless otherwise noted.

To the release of the film "Mary Magdalene" on April 5, 2018. Mary Magdalene is one of the most mysterious personalities of the Gospel. People formed an idea about it mainly from pictures on biblical themes. They, as a rule, depict a half-naked repentant sinner with beautiful long hair with which, according to the New Testament, she wiped the feet of Jesus. She became his most devoted follower. And Christ after the resurrection appeared to her before the others. It turns out that Jesus Christ preferred former harlot? The strange predilection of the Savior for Mary Magdalene made many scholars who studied the Bible and looked for evidence of events in history that occurred in it, take a closer look at this woman. But an explosion of interest in it occurred after the appearance of Dan Brown's book "The Da Vinci Code", and then the film, which triumphed on the screens of the world. It was then that for the first time the idea was voiced that Mary of Magdala was ... the wife of Jesus and the mother of his child, who became the ancestor of the dynasty of the Great Keepers of the Holy Grail.

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The following excerpt from the book Mary Magdalene. The Secret Wife of Jesus Christ (Sophia Benois, 2013) provided by our book partner - the company LitRes.

Great Whore

Magdalene, woman "from the castle tower"

AT“The Complete Orthodox Theological Encyclopedic Dictionary” writes about her: “Mary Magdalene is a myrrh-bearing wife from the city of Magdala. She led a dissolute life, and J. Christ, by his sermon, returned her to a new life and made her his most devoted follower. After the resurrection, I. Christ appeared to her before the others. Already in this short presentation there is a contradiction, or rather, a confrontation on which we decided to build the book. First of all, we meet two inconsistencies: she was a despicable whore and - after the death of Jesus the teacher - she was the first to whom he appeared ... Strange circumstances that make the believer a priori think that a dirty whore, even a repentant one, is more precious than a half-mother.

For several centuries, among the fathers of the church, disputes have not subsided about whether to consider Magdalene the harlot, the anointer of Christ, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, the same woman to whom the resurrected Jesus first appeared. In the VI century. with the blessing of Pope Gregory, the Western Church has recognized this identification. Whereas Orthodox Church, which strictly adhered to the information about Magdalene known from the New Testament, never recognized this identification. Despite the fact that the Western Church in the XVI century. will come to an agreement with the Eastern Church on this issue, in the minds of the people Mary Magdalene remains a “holy harlot”, anointing the feet of Christ, washing them with tears and wiping them with her beautiful hair.

On the western shore of the Lake of Gennesaret is the place Magdala, where Mary Magdalene was from.

Was this woman promiscuous? And did this woman, who bore the name Mary Magdalene, behaved indecently? Is there a mistake in the biblical narrative, or perhaps, among the falsified events, there lies the most mysterious secret, carefully hidden from the eyes of a simple man in the street, but visible only to the initiated?

According to official version, Mary Magdalene was born in the town of Magdala on the shores of Lake Gennesaret, in Galilee, in the northern part of the Holy Land, not far from the place where John the Baptist baptized. The middle name Magdalene is believed to point to Magdala, her hometown on the western shore of the Sea of ​​Galilee, and the name is believed by many to come from the Hebrew word "migdal", "migdol", which means "castle". Therefore, Magdalene is a Latinized form of the word meaning "from the tower", "from the castle tower". According to other sources, the small homeland of Mary Magdalene at the time of Christ was called Migdal-El or Migdal Nunnaya, which in Aramaic means “Tower” or “Tower of fish” (they caught and salted fish here). It is also believed that Magdala is translated as "almond".

It may seem strange that Mary Magdalene, unlike other biblical Marys, received her nickname from her place of birth - for women of that time it was quite unusual. As a rule, a woman was given a nickname by her husband or son; in the Bible we find that "Mary of Jacob" (Mark 16:1) and "Mary of Josiev" (Mark 15:47) were the mother - "Mary the mother of James the Lesser and Josiah" (Mark 15:40), and Maria Kleopova - the wife of Cleopas, who became one of the followers of Jesus Christ. Considering that the nickname of our Mary was given by the name of her native city, we can assume that: a) she led a rather independent way of life from men; b) was a rich woman living in a castle with towers (tower).

Church of St. Mary Magdalene in the Russian Orthodox Monastery in Magdala was built in 1962. The monastery was built on the spot where, according to legend, the Lord cast out demons from Mary Magdalene

It can be mentioned that in addition to Mary from Magdala, an image of Mary from Bethany also appears on the pages of the Bible. “What do we know about Mary Magdalene, and what do we know about Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus? Firstly, Magdala is located on the shores of the Lake of Galilee, not far from Capernaum and Bethsaida, where the first disciples of Christ were from. Martha and Lazarus lived in Bethany, which was located near Jerusalem, which is very far from Magdala. It seems that this circumstance should immediately cross out the commonality of these two names – Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany,” writes the author of the Christian Internet portal A. Tolstobokov. And he explains: “However, let's not rush, because it is not difficult to find a simple explanation for this, given two circumstances: 1) the Lord cast out seven demons from Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9; Luke 8:2), after which she others healed and cleansed followed Jesus through the cities and towns. 2) The woman from Bethany was a sinner who poured precious ointment on Jesus in Simon's house (Luke 7:37-50; Matt. 26:6,7; Mark 14:3). And in In. 11:2 and Jn. 12:1-3 says explicitly that Mary the sister of Lazarus "anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair." Of course, it can be assumed that there were two women who performed such a good deed towards Jesus in different time. But most likely we are talking about one woman. Then we see that “both” Marys, Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus, had an unenviable past of sin. Both Marys received great forgiveness from the Lord, and therefore followed Him. Is this why another nameless sinner, forgiven by Christ, is traditionally associated with Mary Magdalene? (John 8:11).”

So who is she, this strange stranger?! The sources that reveal the life story of a woman from Magdala are the writings of the authors of the Gospels - Matthew, Mark, John, Luke and some others. An excellent study on this topic was carried out by Catherine Ludwig Jansen, who published a book on Mary Magdalene based on her monograph. She rightly believes that any study about this character should begin with the New Testament - the oldest historical source confirming the existence of this devoted follower of Jesus. In total, in the four Gospels, this woman is mentioned twelve times, and only once not in connection with the story of the passion of Jesus of Nazareth. The Gospel of Luke (8:2-3) says that Mary, called Magdalene, is the woman from whom Jesus cast out seven demons. After he healed her, Mary of Magdala, along with Joanna, Susanna, and others, became one of his most faithful disciples.

Lazarus with sisters Martha and Mary

According to the New Testament, the disciple of Christ was present at the crucifixion of the Great Teacher (Mat. 27: 56; Mark 15: 40; John 19: 25), they noticed her when he was placed in the tomb (Mat. 27: 61; Mark 15: 47), as well as on the first day of Easter among those who came to the tomb to anoint his body with spices (Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1; Luke 24:10; John 20:1).

In the Holy Gospel of Mark, recognized by scholars as the oldest of the Gospels, the author tells that Mary Magdalene saw the resurrected Christ on the first day of Easter before others: Jesus "appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he cast out seven demons." Seeing him with her own eyes, she went and announced the resurrection to the other disciples, “but when they heard that he was alive, and she saw him, they did not believe” (Mark 16:9-11).

In the Gospel of Matthew, Mary Magdalene, on the way from the tomb, meets the resurrected Jesus, who instructs him to tell his brothers that they will see him in Galilee (Matt. 28: 1-10).

But the Evangelist Luke insists that even though Mary Magdalene came on the first day of Easter to the empty tomb of Jesus along with other women, Jesus did not first appear in front of her, but in front of two of his disciples who were going to the village of Emmaus (Luke 24:13– fifteen).

Catherine Ludwig Jansen's book about Mary Magdalene

The first day of Easter, described by John, differs little from the stories of Mark and Matthew, only he paid more attention to the meeting of Mary Magdalene with the resurrected Jesus. This, according to researchers, is the largest of the passages dedicated to her in the New Testament. John describes how Mary Magdalene, coming to the tomb and finding it empty, hurries to Peter and John and tells them that the body of the Lord has been carried away from the tomb. They immediately go to see everything with their own eyes, but soon come back. And only the faithful Mary Magdalene remains: she stands at the tomb, weeping bitterly. Suddenly, two angels appear to the woman, who ask why she is crying, and Mary answers. Then a man approaches her, whom she mistook for a gardener, who asks: “Whom are you looking for?” She answers by crying, mourning for her Lord. Then the man calls out to her: "Mary." Finally, she recognizes her Lord and turns to him (John reports: Mary addresses the Risen One with the Hebrew word "rabboni" - teacher). Jesus does not allow Mary to touch him, but only tells the good news of his resurrection to other disciples and followers of his teaching.

Summing up, we point out that according to the New Testament, Mary Magdalene is exactly the woman whom Jesus of Nazareth healed from demon possession and who became one of his devoted disciples; Mary served Christ during his lifetime, stood next to the cross on which he was crucified, was present at his position in the tomb, brought ointments and incense to the tomb after his martyrdom, was the first to see the risen Christ and became the one who first announced the rest of the resurrection Teachers (said in three of the four gospels).

To avoid a superficial account of the fate of the important heroine, we should also mention the Gnostics, who also wrote their revelations, and often long before the authors of the above holy tests. Gnosticism is a religious and philosophical trend, the adherents of which were separate Christian sects of the second century AD.

crucifixion. Artist Simone Martini

And they were united by their belief in gnosis (from the Greek: “knowledge”, “knowledge”), that is, in knowledge about God, the Universe, the fate of mankind, received from God (the Higher Cosmic Mind) or as a result of illumination. And in each of the three Gnostic texts that exist today, Mary Magdalene plays a significant role - the role of the closest and most beloved woman of Jesus, but we will talk about this later.

Fall. In the arms of Judas of Carioth

The many-sided figure of Mary Magdalene in our time has become more attractive than ever. But - as already emphasized - most researchers, based on biblical information, assign her the role of a sinful seductress who became a student of an extraordinary person who calls himself the Son of God.

Well, according to tradition, we will start with the most attractive image - with the usual version of blissful debauchery. Not forgetting that during late Middle Ages Mary Magdalene became the most revered saint after the Virgin Mary.

And if the most beautiful pictures of great artists depict an attractive sinner, then the most beautiful image, written out by the skill of a male writer, was precisely the image of a dissolute maiden in Gustav Danilovsky's book "Mary Magdalene". However, the church and society, accusing this biblical heroine of carnal sins, giving this woman only the right to be a repentant sinner, deprived the novel of the Polish writer of the right to life and success. Immediately after the publication of the book in 1912, it was confiscated, and in different countries Europe. And of course, the Pope put it on the list of banned books. Why was the church so afraid in the “contemptible novel”, no less fictional than all the brilliant canvases with portraits of this person, but which the church and museums of the world are so proud of?!

Mary Magdalene. Artist Carlo Crivelli

Based on a biblical story told by a Pole who lived a century before us, Mary grew up under the care of an older sister named Martha and brother Lazarus.

“Martha found an outlet for her violent vitality, a refuge from the heavy care of her sick brother and from the superstitious horror of her younger sister Mary Magdalene, who lives in a child of madness.

It was not for nothing that Mary's mother, when she was wearing it, dreamed just before the birth that wind mixed with fire would be born from her - her daughter from a very young age began to justify this prophetic dream.

Alive as a flame, impressionable, extraordinarily attractive, and at the same time reasonable, in her childhood she was the joy and light of her family. But as her chest developed, her home became cramped, stuffy and uncomfortable on the narrow mat of a girl's bedroom. Something unknown drove her to meadows, groves, free fields, to hillocks, to waters, where, together with the shepherds, she indulged in self-willed pranks, crafty running around, and then secret kisses and fleeting caresses, from which her beauty blossomed and her blood lit up. .

Why so much sensuality in the humble Catholic who wrote these lines? Was he inspired by the paintings of the beautifully-faced, red-haired Mary, or was he inspired by the biblical story with its oddly tucked into the pages of the Song of Song? It seems that the latter is much more truthful, for the description of the sinful Magdalene is made as if in unison with the well-known terms from the named love part of the Book of Books.

“Indeed, with her thin, regular nose, pink, small, like shells, ears, luxurious golden-reddish hair, Maria differed sharply from the general type of the Lazarus family - black-haired brunettes. And only her purple, oblong, sleepy and moist eyes in the hours of calm, and some lazy languor in movements, characteristic of the women of Galilee, famous for their beauty, reminded her mother.

Saint Martha

Despite such a bad reputation, everyone loved Mary. Slender, white, as if coming out of a milk font, turning pink from the slightest excitement, like a morning dawn, with purple lips, half-open, as if a bursting pomegranate flower, she struck with her irresistible beauty, disarmed with the charm of her pearly smile, and with long eyelashes and a long caressing look attracted the most severe. With liveliness of mind and fiery temperament, she knew how to capture and attract the simple-minded inhabitants of her native town so deeply that they forgave her her frivolity.

So, this author allows us to show doubt that the beauty was the legitimate daughter of Lazarus, he directly says that the girl’s mother cheated her from a visiting merchant. Such a biography seems to justify the obscenities that the heroine does in adulthood. All according to the Bible: for the sins of parents?!

Moreover: the author finds the culprit of her fall! He attributes the first adultery to Mary of Magdala with Judas of Carioth. Thoth, as we know, will also be one of the leading characters in the Bible. And since later we will avoid a lengthy citation of this author alone, now we will nevertheless give a description of the biblical character with whom our heroine dealt.

“Meanwhile, their guesses were in fact fair, but only they were mistaken in the personality of the seducer. It was not at all the young fisherman Saul, swarthy and flexible, like a reed, but the heavy, ugly, hairy Judas of Karioth, a ragged vagabond who wandered all over Palestine, reached the edge of both seas, wandered along the banks of the Nile, visited Alexandria and even lived not long in distant, mysterious Rome, the formidable seat of Caesar's iron legions.

Christ with Martha and Mary. Artist Henryk Semiradsky

Eloquent, cunning, keeping in his big red head a chaos of extraordinary thoughts, and in his chest under a patched cloak, scorpions of powerful desires and proud aspirations, strong and unprincipled, he managed to ignite the imagination of an exalted girl, mastered her thoughts, entangled them with clever sophisms, and youthful blood inflamed to such an extent that, having seized a moment, he overcame her resistance and, having mastered her strength, for a long time kept her under the spell of his power. Fearing the consequences, he soon disappeared as suddenly as he appeared.

Perhaps this is how we come to the most important thing: how it all began in the matter of involvement in sinfulness. And could it be, as the author claims, that the devil of debauchery Asmodeus so captured our hot beauty with a sheaf of magnificent hair that she even took “reclining” with a slave in the manner of Greek hetaeras for her innocent seductive tricks? Was it not enough for her the tender embraces of a patrician, the greedy embraces of merchants, or the strong embraces of fishermen and soldiers?

It is worth recalling once again that according to Christian tradition, Mary Magdalene is not a completely depraved girl, she is only “possessed by seven demons”, which Jesus will then successfully deal with. But what are these seven demons, and was the same Asmodeus, greedy to the heat of love, one of these invisible monsters? - about it bible story is silent.

According to the Bible Dictionary of the nineteenth-century Swedish biblical scholar Erik Nystrom, the word "Demon" (from the Greek Daimon or Daimonnon) denotes an evil spirit that serves its chief devil, the "prince of demons" (Matt. 9:34). According to the minister of the church and the author of the Christian Internet portal Andrey Tolstobokov, “John in the first epistle writes: “Whoever commits a sin is from the devil, because the devil first sinned. For this reason the Son of God appeared, to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). So, in Mary there were seven demons that controlled her way of thinking, her way of life. And this image was far from God's principles set forth in His Word, His law.

Judas Iscariot played by Luca Lionello in The Passion of the Christ

This indicates that she was full of sin. But Christ, having power over unclean spirits (Mark 1:27), can also free us from these spirits and their leader, just as He freed Mary. Jesus wants to do this, but by force, without our will, without our choice, He cannot free us from sin. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; if they are as red as purple, they will be as white as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). Having received forgiveness, liberation from many sins, Mary was full of special, quivering feelings for her Liberator. Her reciprocal love moved her to follow and serve Christ.”

Archpriest Gennady Belovolov, who visited the homeland of Mary Magdalene, said: “At the mention of Magdala, the image of the Equal-to-the-Apostles myrrh-bearing Christ immediately arises. This place is known throughout the world as the birthplace of Mary Magdalene. It is located on the shores of Lake Tiberias, 5 km from the city of Tiberias…

Russian monastery in honor of St. Mary Magdalene, which is a skete of the Gornensky monastery, is located not far from ancient Magdala on the shores of Lake Tiberias at the site of a source where, according to legend, the Lord expelled seven demons from Mary. A large plot of land was acquired in favor of the Russian Mission in 1908, and a church in the name of Mary Magdalene was erected on it in 1962.”

Paying tribute to the "classical" sinful image of Mary Magdalene, it should be mentioned once again that she could be associated with another woman bearing the same name - Mary. The second biblical heroine, Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus, also had a sinful past, and both of these Marys received the forgiveness of our Lord.

The woman convicted of adultery and brought to Christ, Mary, from whom seven demons were cast out, the woman who anointed Jesus with precious ointment, Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, who also anointed Jesus with ointment - traditionally Christians saw in all these women the same face. Preachers, theologians, poets, prose writers and artists attributed all these events to Mary Magdalene, about whom, according to Christ, should be proclaimed everywhere (Matt. 26:13; Mark 14:9).

The interior decoration of the church of St. Mary Magdalene in Magdala

I wonder if the Polish Catholic Gustav Danilovsky knew or thought about this when he colorfully wrote his novel about the biblical “fallen woman”?! Did the great artists of the Middle Ages think about this, leaving us dozens of portraits with the imperishable, indestructible image of Mary Magdalene - a repentant sinner? Or did all these men work the principle of complete trust in the fathers of the church, who affirmed this “truth”? ... or in all these men, together with the fathers of the church, was manifested in them the masculine, wild, ineradicable sin of contempt for the Woman as such?!

Perfeminam mors, perfeminam vita: death and life through a woman...

It is modern learned emancipe ladies who can exclaim with skill: “The problems of the soul that arise in women cannot be dealt with by inscribing them, women, into some form acceptable to the unconscious culture; neither can they be squeezed into the intellectual notions of those who claim to be the only sentient beings" (according to Clarissa Estes). Nevertheless, as we know, the Church Fathers "with knowledge of the matter" put women on a par with human sins themselves, for already belonging to female gender implied belonging to the "impure".

Opening the Bible, in the Old Testament we read in the "Book of Ecclesiastes": "I turned in my heart to learn, explore and seek wisdom and understanding, and to know the wickedness of stupidity, ignorance and folly - and I found that a woman is bitterer than death, for she is a snare, and her heart is a snare, her hands are shackles; the good before God will be saved from her, but the sinner will be caught by her.”

And here is St. Ambrose, who uttered the famous expression: perfeminam mors, perfeminam vita - through a woman, death, through a woman, life, was ready to classify all Eve's compatriots as sinners. Ambrose does not directly call Mary Magdalene a sinner, he makes it clear: belonging to the female gender - this is already her sin, for "she is a woman and therefore is involved in original sin." But it won't be long before Mary of Magdala is set against the "stupid" Eve!

Meanwhile, back in the 13th century, the Dominican monk and philosopher Aldobrandino da Toscanella, in his essay “On Animals,” thought of writing: “A woman is an underdeveloped man.”

As for the quoted phrase of St. Ambrose, its explanation was heard in the saint’s Paschal sermon, when he stated that since “mankind fell into sin through the feminine gender, then humanity was reborn through the feminine gender, since the Virgin gave birth to Christ, and the woman announced about his resurrection from the dead." According to him, “Mary honored Christ and therefore was sent to the apostles with the news of his resurrection, breaking the hereditary connection of the female sex with immeasurable sin. The Lord does this in secret: for where sin once abounded, grace now abounds more (Romans 5:20). And it is right that the woman was sent to the men, since she, who was the first to inform the man about sin, should also be the first to announce the mercy of God.

And how could any other man - unless he is Jesus Christ - take the sin of belonging to his male gender and the sin of copulation upon himself, freeing an earthly woman from this sin?!

Saint Ambrose was ready to classify all Eve's compatriots as sinners

It is also curious: what would the long-dead Ambrose say about a woman if, according to some other Bible, the resurrected Jesus appeared for the first time not to a woman, but to his male disciple? Perhaps then this saint would angrily point out: you see, my shepherds, our Lord despised sinful creatures, even those who followed him and served him, which I advise you too - stay away from this infection in the form of a temptress as far as possible. However, this is all the author's inventions ...

The topic is very interesting for its deep and almost eternal (by the standards of the time of the existence of Christianity) opposition, but we will not go too deep, because the author’s task is to consider and, if possible, explain the mystery of Mary Magdalene as simply and accessible as possible for each of us.

We must not forget that medieval philosophers claimed that women were inclined to suggestive knowledge: mysticism, inspiration, revelations and visions, while men were considered more rational creatures, inclined to acquired knowledge. Also, based on the logic of many medieval thinkers, "all women's sin was of a sexual nature." But these fabrications were based on early Christian dogmas. When Pope Gregory the Great, who was also called Gregory the Dialogist, (540-604) - the last pope of the ancient world and the first pope of the Middle Ages, whose name is associated with the origin of Gregorian chant, settled in the Vatican, he had to think about the question of personality Mary Magdalene. This was due to the frequent questions about the unclear interpretation of this image. And it was Gregory the Dialogist who had the opportunity to evaluate the devoted disciple of Christ. It can be said in the spirit of modern feminists: based on the fact that the pope was a man, he attributed to Mary Magdalene the features and characteristics of a fallen woman.

But this great saint, revered in the West and East, had another reason to give negative colors to the companion of Christ. During the papal reign of Gregory, the biblical city of Magdala acquired a reputation for being godless and depraved, a kind of follower of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the pope found it possible to take revenge on the townspeople by endowing the native of Magdala with the most unflattering qualities. Thus laying down these characteristics for many centuries to come. Here it is - the vector of history in action, when one word dictates the processes taking place in society even after millennia!

Grigory Dvoeslav had a chance to evaluate Mary Magdalene. He attributed to her the features of a fallen woman ...

So it is likely that it was external circumstances that made it possible to ascribe to Mary Magdalene the life of a harlot.

On September 21, 591, Pope Gregory the Great, during a sermon in the Basilica of St. Clement in Rome, presented to the Western Christian world a new image of Mary Magdalene, declaring: “We believe that this woman, whom Luke calls a sinner, whom John calls Mary Magdalene, and is the same Mary from whom, as Mark says, seven demons were cast out. As we can see, Gregory the Great could identify three different women mentioned in the Gospels with one, a dissolute one. The first on this list was a nameless sinner who showed up at the house of the Pharisee Simon, where Jesus was eating at that time. In this dramatic scene described by Luke, a woman poured her tears over the feet of the Lord, wiped them with her hair and smeared with myrrh. The second, as John reported, was Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha, at whose request Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. The third is the demon-possessed Mary Magdalene, cured by Jesus of her illness and later becoming his obedient disciple.

So Mary Magdalene, with very vague and little-proven facts of her biography, became the reason that the preachers turned their attention to the Woman and her nature, explaining in numerous sermons the questions that arise in society about the place and purpose of a woman, about the problem of prostitution, about the need for guardianship over a woman. (“it befits a man to be the ruler and master of a woman”; even the Lord is often called the Master of Mary Magdalene). As K. Jansen wrote, "preachers and moralists invented the image of Mary Magdalene in order to consider the problem that they considered purely feminine."

Basilica of St. Clement in Rome, where Pope Gregory the Great presented the world with a new image of Mary Magdalene

On the eve of Lent in 1497, the famous Italian Dominican priest and dictator of Florence (from 1494 to 1498), Savonarola, angrily appealed to the inhabitants of Florence: whose houses are bursting with vanity trinkets, paintings, obscene objects and harmful books ... bring them to me - we will burn them or sacrifice them to God. And you mothers who dress up your daughters in vain and ostentatious robes and adorn their hair with fancy ornaments, bring all these articles to us, and we will throw them into the fire, so that when the day comes Doomsday, the Lord God did not find them in your homes.”

In the above-mentioned sermon of the pontiff Gregory the Great, it was also directly stated that the seven demons of Magdalene are seven grave sins. It turned out that the possession of Mary Magdalene by demons is a disease of the soul called sinfulness, despite the fact that the physical symptoms of the disease were seen by the main appraiser of human sins in the form of external beauty, some nakedness, embellishment of the flesh and sexual incontinence. Medieval commentators on biblical texts also had no doubt that the sin of the woman from Magdala was sensual, and that she "was sinful of the flesh." Carnal female sin, of course, was associated with the sexual sphere. In the Gospel of John, if you wish, you can find confirmation that Mary Magdalene committed a sensual sin - in a place where there is a story about an unnamed woman taken in adultery. Jesus protected her, and having blessed her, commanded her not to sin again.

But the church fathers seemed much more intolerant of Jesus. In one of his public sermons, the Franciscan clergyman Luke of Padua calls for fulfilling the cruel law of Moses, who commanded to stone adulterers.

It is worth remembering how medieval preachers loved to quote that place from the canonical Book of Proverbs of Solomon, where it is said that a beautiful and reckless woman is essentially the same as a pig with a golden ring in her nose, because a beautiful woman will certainly wallow in the abomination of carnal sin, just like just like a pig is bound to wallow in the mud. For example, Bernardino of Siena, in one of his sermons, following the instructions of the named book, directly likened Mary Magdalene to a pig with a golden ring in his nose.

Sermon Savonarola in Florence. Artist Nikolai Lomtev

Preachers condemned almost everything that is somehow connected with a woman; even dancing and singing were among the taboos! For example, the medieval preacher Jacques de Vitry scourged “guilty” sinners in his furious sermons: “The woman leading the choir is the devil's chaplain; those who answer her are his priests.” Another of his fellow preachers spoke disapprovingly of the simple circle dance: "At the center of this dance is the devil, and everyone is moving towards destruction."

Or here's another: Dominican monk, Italian spiritual writer, author of the famous collection of the lives of the saints "The Golden Legend" Jacob Voraginsky in his sermon on the conversion of Mary Magdalene to the true path taught that beauty is false, for she deceived many. He compared female beauty to hot coals, a sparkling sword, a beautiful apple, for they also deceive imprudent young men. When touched, coals are burned, a sword hurts, and a worm hides in the middle of an apple ...

Isn't this the poverty of the masculine spirit, which does not allow for any adornment for a woman, any freedom, does not give the right to unique natural beauty and innocent, joyful entertainment? Certainly, individual temple servants were no less militant during the time of the "enlightenment" of Magdalene.

And only a curious woman, a woman exploring the world, can see in Mary Magdalene "the archetype of sacred femininity." Just as a nice remark on the topic: the author of the book “Secrets of Code. A guide to the mysteries of The Da Vinci Code, Dan Bernstein dedicated his research to Julia, "who every day of my life personifies the sacred feminine." How far progress has been made in the perception of women; and perhaps our heroine Mary Magdalene played an important role in this coming positive?

Jacob of Voraginsky argued in his sermon that beauty is false, for it has deceived many. A page from The Golden Legend

Unfortunately, the illusory balance in relation to the sexes is turning today into the humiliation of a man. In fact - in accordance with the well-known biblical expression: "With what measure you measure, it will be measured to you" ...

And on this path to illusory balance, the process is still going on, described by Clarissa Estes in such simple words: “Women who have lived for years the mythical life of the Primordial Woman silently scream:“ Why am I not like everyone else? …” Every time their life was about to blossom, someone sprinkled salt on the ground so that nothing would grow on it. They were tormented by various prohibitions that restricted their natural desires. If they were children of nature, they were kept within four walls. If they had a penchant for the sciences, they were told to be mothers. If they wanted to be mothers, they were told to know their hearth. If they wanted to invent something, they were told to be practical. If they wanted to create, they were told that a woman has a lot of housework.

Sometimes, trying to meet the most common standards, they only then understood what they really wanted and how to live. Then, in order to live their lives, they decided on a painful amputation: leaving a family, a marriage that they swore to keep until their death, a job that was supposed to become a springboard for another, even more stupefying, but also more highly paid. They left their dreams, scattering them along the way.

For "scattered dreams" and for more important - for classifying (without significant evidence) a beautiful, sweet, helpful and smart virgin - Mary Magdalene to a host of daughters walking, sinful - men as the main accomplices of the infringement of the female essence and now receive what they deserve when their role in society and the family is sharply reduced.

Clarissa Estes: “Women who have been living the mythical life of the Primordial Woman for years silently scream: “Why am I not like everyone else? ...”

"Are there not enough prophets who should be persecuted?"

However, let's move on to the moment when Mary of Magdala heard about the new prophet. How it really happened - we will never know, but it is worth assuming what could happen as follows.

Judas, who visited the family where the young Magdalene lived, said:

- Over the quiet Lake of Tiberias, nicknamed the Sea of ​​Galilee, a new light shone. Some extraordinary prophet casts out evil spirits and demons, heals lepers and the obsessed. And his name is Jesus, he is the son of the carpenter Joseph and Mary, the daughter of Joachim and Anna, originally from Nazareth.

Simon, who was nearby, objected: “How do you know that he is true, that he is a real prophet, whom he pretends to be?

And he lamented: “Were there really so few prophets who should have been driven out of our land?

To which Judas replied ardently: “The Heavenly Sage has not sent us great prophets for a long time, but this one truly works miracles.

Calmly accepting the news, Marfa interjected: - Come again, a new impudent charlatan, bringing confusion into our minds. Ugh, pervert.

“Be quiet, woman,” Judas remarked meaningfully with a sigh.

Sly eyes shone on those who spoke, only one silent Mary, she already knew what the words and promises of this new homeless vagrant, a homeless tramp who picked up various knowledge on the side, were worth.

Karl Anderson as Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar, based on the musical of the same name

Even the biblical portrait of Judas shows us a deceitful and sly person by nature, with a rich imagination and hot temperament, an intriguer who can commit rash misconduct, followed by repentance.

It is known that the real character of the time when Judea was a space squeezed by the iron ring of the Romans, Judas managed to live with the adherents of the stern order of the Essenes. But he could not stand the rule of expelling any pleasure from everyday life as evil and sinful, and decided to become a connoisseur and interpreter of Holy Scripture, but the dry scholasticism of the texts seemed to him insipid, devoid of sense for life's realities. In his search for truth and peace of mind, Judas found himself in the service of the Sadducee priests, but drew only doubts about the holiness of their harsh rites. His heart trembled with new joy when he joined the ranks of the zealous followers of John the Baptist, but he did not take root here either, rejecting both the ascetic teaching and the teacher himself.

But the meeting with the new prophet Christ made an extraordinary impression on Judas. The rabbi knew how to broadcast, completely capturing the minds of the listeners. He asserted, and this one wanted to believe, that the first would be last and the last first. He denounced the deceitful priesthood and reproved the Pharisees. He cared little about rituals and church prescriptions, he was ready to live to the fullest, enjoying life. The new prophet did not avoid incense, women, wine and fun, but at the same time, common people always gathered around him, ready to serve and listen, support and share his opinion, ready to follow him to the end. And the fact that the life of this strange rabbi prepares trials for his followers is so obvious: Jesus, who destroys the old and builds the new, is in fact an apostate from the law, and besides, he is too lenient towards the weak, sinful, erring, but too harsh and accusatory in relation to the strong and powerful.

Such a combination of intelligence and courage in one man captured Judas, and he easily fell under the influence of Jesus, sincerely believing that this Son of God is completely different from all the previous prophets.

Kiss Judas. Artist Cimabue

Surely he is the foreshadowed Savior whom the humiliated people of Israel have passionately called for for many decades. And then the teacher made Judas the guardian of the treasury, and he realized that the rabbi could be completely trusted not only with his future, but also with the future of his people. In addition, Jesus repeatedly assured that his kingdom was approaching, and his disciples, who are now suffering deprivation and persecution, will be in power, acting as shepherds to the lambs of men. And they will have to feed the sheep at a distance from sunrise to sunset, and rule in a capital more powerful than Rome itself. And their teacher, who is now naked and barefoot, will crown his forehead with a royal crown.

Returning to Jerusalem, Judas immediately began to talk everywhere about the new prophet, praising his talents and skills. And at the same time spread in secret that this just man Jesus comes from Bethlehem, from the house of David, as the Magi calculated. And, therefore, he is really the prophet whom the people of Israel have been secretly waiting for for a long time.

A little time will pass, and Pilate, the Roman procurator of Judea, Samaria and Idumea, will also talk about the new prophet, to whom the insolence uttered by Jesus, written down by people specially sent for surveillance, was reported. It turned out that in many places where he visits, he gathers crowds of people around him in order to openly condemn the lawyers and Pharisees, and he also says boldly:

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

But at the same time, the overseers sent on a secret mission noted, this prophet gives such surprisingly simple, but such evasive answers to all provocative questions that it becomes difficult to convict him of a crime.

– Seems smart, but a dangerous person, - the learned Pharisees also noticed, leading anxious conversations in their homes. - It would be necessary to send to him the most dexterous, most intelligent people who would be able to draw sedition out of him in the presence of numerous witnesses, so that, if necessary, be able to accuse him with evidence in hand.

Pontius Pilate on the fresco "The Flagellation of Christ" by Giotto di Bondone

Some of those denounced by Jesus only nodded their heads, hearing the name of their ill-wisher, and someone called:

- It would be necessary to ask about his plans several of his students, who were seen in the city the other day. They all rejoice that their teacher is near.

- How close is it? the household of the speaker asked uneasily.

- On the way to Jerusalem... Let him go, but let him not see and do not think that he is a great danger to us. We will be able to defeat all the arguments and thoughts of this Nazarene, we just need to try.

Already going to Jerusalem, the prophet sent two apostles accompanying him to the city, so that they would visit Simon, asking him for shelter. Martha, long overwhelmed with curiosity, encouraged by Lazarus, joyfully began to prepare for the coming of the messiah. It was assumed that during the day the prophet with his disciples would be in the city, and at night he would return to the suburbs, to Bethany. So Mary was destined to meet this amazing man, who was called the Son of God. However, the prepared meeting took place under the strangest, most unfavorable circumstances... So says most of the sources that tell about the life of Mary Magdalene, representing this golden-haired beauty as a harlot.

The origin of Jesus Christ: important or not?

Based on the official version, the name Jesus Christ is a “transposition” into the Greek way of the Hebrew name Yeshua Meshiya, who was supposedly called the strange Teacher, born during the reign of the Roman emperor Augustus (30 BC - 14 AD) in Palestinian city of Bethlehem in the family of Joseph the Carpenter, later called a descendant of King David, and his wife Mary. The birth of this baby (hence the holiday: the Nativity of Christ) answered the Old Testament prophecies about the birth of the coming Messianic king from the line of David and in the “city of David” Bethlehem. The appearance of an extraordinary baby was predicted by the angel of the Lord to his mother (hence: the Annunciation), and through her to her husband Joseph.

Jesus and Pilate. Artist Nikolai Ge

Yeshua (Joshua) Meshiya contains the concepts: God and salvation, the anointed messiah; however, this man entered the history of Christianity and the history of mankind under the name of Jesus. Some biblical critics emphasize that the New Testament confirms that Jesus was a Jew who was perceived as a healer and teacher, that he was baptized by John the Baptist, and at the end of his short life path was accused of incitement to rebellion against the Roman Empire and crucified in Jerusalem by order of the Roman procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate.

I hope many have heard of such a strange process as channeling, meaning receiving information from a certain Higher Mind (Messengers, etc.) through a “channel” through an earthly person. So-called contactees live among us, through whose mouths some higher powers speak. According to Pamela Kribe, she was in contact with Jesus, with Mary Magdalene and some other historical figures. Here is what the disembodied Jesus “said” to her (us) during the 2002 contact:

“I am the one who lived among you and whom you knew as Jesus. I am not the Jesus of church tradition, nor the Jesus of religious scriptures. I am Yeshuaben Joseph. I lived as a man of flesh and blood. And I reached the consciousness of Christ before you, but I was supported by forces beyond the current understanding. My arrival was space event and I put myself at his disposal. In my earthly incarnation, I carried the energy of Christ. This energy can be called Christ. In my terminology, Jesus is the name of a God-like person who came into existence as a result of the infusion of Christ energy into the physical and psychological reality of Yeshua.

View of Bethlehem. Lithograph by D. Roberts

Quite a curious explanation for those who like to reason and philosophize ... It is likely that such an explanation of the presence and role of Jesus on earth has a very real basis, only to us, ordinary people It's hard to understand and accept.

But let's give the floor to our contemporaries, arguing on the World Wide Web about the origin and deeds of Christ. After all, among the virtual debaters there are many well-read and thinking people. And they are worried about the same questions as many of us.

Evangelist: Why is Jesus Christ considered a Jew? After all, if you carefully delve into the genealogy, He was not a blood Jew: Mary was a Galilean both by her father and by her mother (Akim and Anna), who were not Jews. The names of the parents and the name Maria are by no means Jewish. Joseph was, as you all know, named father. The appearance of Christ was also by no means Jewish: he was tall, slender, with year-old or blue eyes and white skin, that is, he was of the Aryan race, so to speak. And the words in Scripture: "King of the Jews" do not at all indicate the national identity of Christ. I think that making Jesus a Jew was beneficial to the church, which is still based on the Old Testament.

blueberry: – I think that Jesus Christ is considered a Jew because through the Jews Jesus was revealed to the world.

Alex095: First, Mary's name was Miriam. She was Jewish, like all her relatives. From childhood to youth, she worked on decorating the Temple. Do you think a non-Jew could be admitted there? She was a Galilean where she lived.

Fedor Manov: - The real name of Yeshua's mother is Miriam, she is from the tribe of Levi, from the clan of Aaron. That is, from a priestly family. I think that you can guess that the priests at the Temple in Judea were only Jews. Joseph was not a named father, but the normal father of Yeshua.

Christmas. Artist Martin de Vos

Fea:– In Jesus the Divine and human Natures were united. He is God manifested in the flesh. And that's just according to the flesh He was a Jew; “that is, the Israelites, to whom belong the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the statute, and worship, and the promises; their fathers, and from them Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all, blessed forever, amen. (Rom 9:4,5)." But among His earthly ancestors there really were not only Jews. Ruth, for example, was a Moabite. Although it is close to the Jewish family.

Ahmed Ermonov: – Can God be of any nationality? Fear Him! Christ was not only a Jew, but also a Jew!

Yeshua: - Mary was from the family of David, the David whom God anointed to rule over all the Jews.

Evangelist: – If Joseph was a real father, then, therefore, you do not recognize the divine nature of Christ?! If so, then what is there to argue about ...

Antidepressant: - Judging by some well-known icons, Jesus and His mother were either Hindus or Negroes.

Kadosh2: – The Gospels state that Mary is a relative of the mother of John the Baptist Elizabeth, who was from the tribe of Levi, like his father Zechariah. And a Jew from the tribe of Judah Joseph could not marry a woman of another tribal affiliation. And here are the very first words of the New Testament: “Jesus Christ is the son of Abraham, the son of David” also speak of nationality.

KolyaN: - I have nothing against the Jews themselves. I am against their lies. My point of view is that Jesus is God not for the Slavs. And that's it! It is high time to clear the minds of some Christians who have lost their heads because of the "divinity" of the entire Jewish people.

Ivanpetja: Actually, Jesus was not a Jew. He was born and lived in a family that lived in Nazareth. As today, there was no Jewish spirit in this town. The inhabitants professed Judaism for mercenary reasons, since the territory was part of the Roman province of Judea. The ethnic composition of the population was mixed. These were immigrants from different territories of Assyria. And the official texts of the Bible about the origin of Jesus were written in the Middle Ages, and it is naive to consider them the ultimate truth. By the way, the names Yeshua (Jesus), Mariam (Mary) are not only Jewish, but also Syrian.

Panorama of Bethlehem from Jerusalem. Photo 1898

Troll: - I recognize as a divine creation every person who is created in His image and likeness. Including Yeshua of Nazareth. But in him the image and likeness were fully embodied. That's why He could say: "I and the Father are one."

Maria: – Everyone will figure out the Truth to the extent of his closeness to God.

The gospels present Jesus Christ as an extraordinary person throughout his entire life journey: from the miraculous birth to the amazing end of his earthly life. In the Bible, we read that the Archangel Gabriel, talking with the virgin Mary, speaks of the child miraculously conceived by her: “ He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father.” From these words it is clear that the ancestor of Jesus was indeed David. And since Gabriel talked with Mary, and not with Joseph, then there is reason to assume that Mary herself belonged to the family of David. For the father of the child was supposed to be the Holy Spirit, and not the husband of the woman.

However, in Luke we find information that the genealogy of Joseph is also traced back to the same king David - but nothing surprising, because among the Jews, family marriages have always been a common thing. A child in this family is born miraculously at an immaculate conception. As we all well know, the appearance of the exceptional baby Jesus, born in a stable, praised by a host of angels, is like a fairy tale. Shepherds and sorcerers come to bow to him, whose path to his dwelling is indicated by the bright Bethlehem star moving across the sky.

Upon learning of the appearance of the messiah, the Jewish king Herod the Great, in fear for his power, orders the extermination of all babies in Bethlehem and the surrounding area, but Joseph and Mary, warned by an angel, flee with Jesus to Egypt. After a three-year stay in Egypt, Joseph and Mary, having learned about the death of Herod, return to their hometown of Nazareth in Galilee, in Northern Palestine. Then, for seven years, Jesus' parents move with him from city to city, and everywhere behind him stretches the glory of miracles performed, among which are such: people were healed, died and were resurrected according to his word, wild animals humbled themselves, inanimate objects and even water came to life. full-flowing Jordan parted. As a twelve-year-old child, Jesus amazes with his thoughtful answers the teachers of the laws of Moses, with whom he talks in the Jerusalem temple. However, then, for some mysterious reason, "He began to hide His miracles, His mysteries and mysteries, until His thirtieth year was fulfilled."

Madonna della Melagrana, Mary with the Christ Child and six angels. Artist Sandro Botticelli

When Jesus Christ reaches this age, he is baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist (about 30 AD), and the Holy Spirit descends on him, which leads him into the wilderness. There, for forty days, Jesus struggled with the devil, rejecting three temptations one after another: hunger, power, and faith. Upon returning from the wilderness, Jesus Christ begins his preaching work. He calls his disciples to him and, wandering with them through Palestine, proclaims his teaching, interprets the Old Testament Law and performs miracles. The activity of Jesus Christ unfolds mainly in the territory of Galilee, in the vicinity of Gennesaret, it is also Tiberias, Lake, but from time to time visits Jerusalem ... On one of these visits, our heroine Mary met an amazing teacher.

“He that is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her!”

Tired beautiful Mary, returning through the streets of Jerusalem from another date, did not expect that someone would dare to attack the Libyan slaves carrying her palanquin (in ancient Rome it was called: lectic).

Massacre of the innocents. Artist Matteo di Giovanni

But it happened, and the abandoned helpless woman, looking after the fleeing slaves, heard the hateful cries sent to her face:

- Whore!

Following the mind-stunning words, stones flew at her. One of the attackers grabbed her by the hands, someone by the hair in order to drag her to an unknown place for savage reprisals. Maria screamed in horror with all her might.

At some point, she realized that she had been dragged to the square, and just a moment ago, the empty space began to fill with mob running from all sides, wanting either to look at what was happening, or to take part in the action. One thing was clear: there were more and more people who wanted to deal with her. The woman writhed with her whole body, trying to escape from the hands of the cackling, excited executioners.

And only one person did not show visible curiosity, he sat high on the step of the white marble staircase of the magnificent temple, standing on the same square. His gaze would be peaceful and calm, and his neatly combed, slightly wavy hair cast gold in the sun. In all his appearance, harmony and divine purity were seen. The stranger was dressed in long clothes white color, his dark cape lay beside him. That was Jesus.

Hearing the noise and following the flickering, he raised his hand to attract attention and thereby intervene in what was happening. But he immediately stopped his gesture when he saw the Pharisees in red robes running towards him. Such a development of events could mean only one thing: they want to draw him into another adventure, to force him to make decisions that would disagree with the opinion of the majority. And do it in front of a large crowd of witnesses. Otherwise, why would bureaucrats need him?

Jesus grimaced in annoyance and, pretending to be indifferent, bent over, as if thinking about something of his own.

Jesus and the Woman Taken in Adultery. Artist Gustave Dore

When he raised his eyes, he saw right in front of him a beautiful woman, trembling with fright, who was tenaciously held by someone's hands. There was a crowd around, and the first of the closest Pharisees was already boldly asking Jesus sitting on the steps:

“Rabbi, this woman has been taken in adultery and there are those among us who directly testify against her!”

The crowd shouted loudly:

- We testify! We testify! We testify!

The Pharisee smiled contentedly and continued:

“Moses in his divine law commanded us to stone such girls. What is your word against the word of Moses?

Jesus looked once more at the unfortunate creature, and although her bare arms and neck were bruised, and traces of the violence committed were visible on her face, she was still beautiful, and her thick luxurious hair, which was at arm's length from him, was fragrant with expensive oils. Strong breasts, hidden under a pale blue tunic, heaved heavily, and she trembled all over, like a hunted doe. And her ankles, wrapped in the golden braid of her sandals, trembled and twitched slightly. The woman did not lower her gaze, she seemed to be waiting for the verdict, realizing that her fate depended on this beautiful stranger, who was considering every word inside himself.

Jesus stood up, a quiet, calm smile ran across his lips. And, turning to those assembled, he said, with barely perceptible irony, in a low but firm voice:

“He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her!”

The smiles faded from the cunning faces of the Pharisees, and the mob, realizing that there would be no reprisal, retreated in amazement at a simple answer, but heard even in the back rows.

Christ and the sinner. Artist Jacopo Tintoretto

Gradually, people, obviously disappointed, but at the same time exchanging meaningful glances, dispersed on pressing matters. And soon there was practically no one left on the steps of the temple, and on the whole square, except for Jesus and the girl, still seized with a small tremor. Mary saw the light before her, and saw the wise eyes of the savior. As if through a dream, she heard a question related to herself:

- Woman, you see, no one condemned you? And I'm not your judge. Go in peace, and sin no more.

She smiled gratefully, afraid to ask his name, and realizing in her heart that she already knew the name of this strange gentleman, then turned around, intending to leave the steps. He, obviously touched by her appearance, called out:

Maria turned to take from him the cloak held out to cover her tattered robes.

In the heart of the girl crept in a previously unknown tenderness. And tears of gratitude rolled down her cheeks, bathed in a gentle blush. He, as if not noticing anything, went to the gates of the temple and soon disappeared behind the colonnade.

End of introductory segment.

For Mary Magdalene in the official Christian books, the image of a "harlot", possessed by demons, who was healed by Jesus, was fixed. However, with a detailed study of the sacred books, apocrypha and other historical sources, it becomes clear that Mary became a victim of slander and the most real historical falsifications.

I must say that the first to speak about the real role of Mary Magdalene in the life of Jesus were the alternative historians Michael Begent and Richard Lee, who claim that Jesus was married to Mary and had children. Historians base their conclusions on the study of ancient texts. The authors presented the results of their historical research in the book "Holy Blood and the Holy Grail", which was published back in 1982.

Many historians also claim that Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus and the mother of his children. In those days, for a man of his age to be unmarried was at least suspicious, especially when it comes to the Teacher.

In the apocryphal Gospel of Philip there is a mention that Jesus Christ kissed only Mary on the lips, and the disciples themselves (especially the Apostle Peter) were very jealous of this. And this is far from the only mention that the apostles were very unhappy with the special trust that Jesus placed in Mary.

As for the nickname "harlot", which is attributed to Mary Magdalene, it has no real basis. The mention of a harlot woman is found only in the Gospel of Luke, when she washes the feet of Jesus. However, the name of this woman is not mentioned in the Gospel. So why is this story associated with the identity of the Magdalene? This is a great historical injustice!

Interestingly, modern historical research claims that Mary Magdalene was not poor and came from a wealthy family, as mentioned in Anastasia Novykh's book Sensei 4. In the Gospels, there is a mention that Mary anointed Jesus with a special liquid, which in those days was very expensive, and only rich people could purchase it.

But there is an assumption that Mary belonged to one of the ancient royal families - the tribe of Benjamin, whose ancestor was the first Jewish king Saul, and therefore her family was really rich.

Another significant piece of evidence is the apocryphal Gospel of Mary. In 1896, an ancient papyrus written in Coptic was found in Cairo, which was called the Gospel of Mary Magdalene.

The text really tells about the life of Jesus and emphasizes the special role of Mary Magdalene. From this text it is unambiguous that it was Mary who Jesus instructed to continue her work: “Peter said to Mary: “Sister, you know that the Savior loved you more than other women. Tell us the words of the Savior that you remember, that you know, not we, and which we have not heard. Mary answered and said, "That which is hidden from you, I will proclaim it to you." Is this not evidence that Peter tried to learn from Mary Magdalene the formula of the primary sound, or the Grail, which is mentioned in the books of Anastasia Novykh?

In conclusion, pay attention to the wonderful stained-glass window from Kilmore Church (Mule Island, Scotland), which depicts Christ with the Magdalene, waiting for the heir.

If you want to know the real story of Mary Magdalene and Jesus, then check out the book "Sensei 4" by Anastasia Novykh. From this sensational work you will learn the answers to a huge number of questions. Who was the first disciple of Jesus? How did Jesus heal the sick? What does "pontiff" mean? What role did the archons play in the fate of Jesus? What was the purpose of writing the canonical Gospels?

What is the "number of the Antichrist"? Who are the true disciples of Jesus? What goals did the apostle Peter and the apostle Paul pursue? Was Jesus a Jew? What was Jesus' earthly life really like, when and where did it end? Who was Mary Magdalene? What does the nickname "Magdalene" mean? What is the Grail and to whom did Jesus give it before the crucifixion? All this and much more - in the book "Sensei 4", which can be downloaded completely free of charge by clicking on the quote below or by going to this section.

Read more about this in the books of Anastasia Novykh

(click on the quote to download the entire book for free):

Therefore, I say that not all those who were later attributed to His disciples, when they created the patriarchal religion, were such. The group of true disciples of Jesus included both men and women. And it was an unusual group, an atmosphere of freedom and equality reigned in it. It was a group modeled after Imhotep's inner circle. Moreover, it was the woman - Mary Magdalene who was the first among the disciples of Jesus, whom He called the successor of His Teachings, His Messenger, which in Greek sounds like apostolos.

She was neither a harlot nor "possessed by seven demons" from which Jesus allegedly later cured her. If anyone had demons of envy, lies, pride and hypocrisy, it was those who, while creating a religion, slandered the Virgin Mary of Migdal-El. In fact, she was pure, beautiful, intelligent, selfless and merciful. And although Mary came from a fairly wealthy family, she voluntarily gave up all privileges and high position in society in order to be with Jesus and help Him.

So if we talk about Mary Magdalene, then she was exactly the closest disciple to whom Jesus not only entrusted secret knowledge, but also handed over what today people call the "Grail", and, in fact, an adapted formula of the Primary Sound. These are the very “keys to the Kingdom of Heaven” about which Jesus said: “I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven; but what you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

- Anastasia NOVICH "Sensei IV"