Feast of St. Mary Magdalene - July 22, 2024 - Liturgical Calendar (2024)

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Feast of St. Mary Magdalene

Feast of St. Mary Magdalene - July 22, 2024 - Liturgical Calendar (1)

Feast of St. Mary Magdalene - July 22, 2024 - Liturgical Calendar (2)

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July 22, 2024(Readings on USCCB website)

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Feast of St. Mary Magdalene: O God, whose Only Begotten Son entrusted Mary Magdalene before all others with announcing the great joy of the Resurrection, grant, we pray, that through her intercession and example we may proclaim the living Christ and come to see him reigning in your glory. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

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Today is the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene. On June 10, 2016, the liturgical celebration honoring St. Mary Magdalene was raised from a memorial to a feast, commemorating the “Apostle to the Apostles” with a liturgical feast, the same celebration as most of the apostles (except for Peter and Paul). Beginning in 2020 there is a new Preface: Apostle to the Apostles used for her feast.

"On the one hand, she has the honour of being the prima testis to the resurrection of the Lord, the first to see the empty tomb and the first to hear the truth of His resurrection. Christ has a special consideration and mercy for this woman, who shows her love for Him, looking for Him in the garden with anguish and suffering, with lacrimas humilitatis, as St. Anselm says in the aforementioned prayer. In this sense, I would like to show the difference between the two women present in the garden of Paradise, and in the garden of the Resurrection. The first disseminates death where there was life, and the second proclaims Life from a tomb, the place of death. … Likewise, it is in the garden of resurrection that the Lord says to Mary Magdalene, Noli me tangere. It is an invitation not only to Mary, but also to all the Church, to enter into an experience of faith that overcomes any materialistic appropriation or human understanding of the divine mystery. It has ecclesial importance! It is a good lesson for every disciple of Jesus: do not seek human securities and worldly honours, but faith in the Living and Risen Christ."

"Precisely since she was an eyewitness to the Risen Christ, she was also the first to testify before the apostles. She fulfils the mandate the Risen Christ gives her: 'go to my brothers and say to them … Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her'. In this way she becomes, as is already known, an evangelist, or rather a messenger who announces the good news of the resurrection of the Lord; or, as Rabano Mauro and St. Thomas Aquinas said, apostolorum apostola, as she announces to the apostles what they in turn will announce to all the world. The Angelic Doctor is right to apply this term to Mary Magdalene: she is the witness to the Risen Christ and announces the message of the resurrection of the Lord, like the other apostles. Therefore it is right that the liturgical celebration of this woman should have the same level of festivity given to the apostles in the General Roman Calendar, and that the special mission of this woman be highlighted, as an example and model to every woman in the Church." —Archbishop Roche

St. Mary Magdalene
Feast of St. Mary Magdalene - July 22, 2024 - Liturgical Calendar (3)The feast of St. Mary Magdalene is considered one of the most mystical of feasts, and it is said that of all the songs of the saints, that of Mary Magdalene is the sweetest and strongest because her love was so great. That love was praised by Jesus Himself who said that because much was forgiven her, she loved much. Where she is buried, no one knows. Legend has her dying in Provence, France, in a cavern where she spent her last days, and her body resting in the chapel of St. Maximin in the Maritime Alps. Another has her buried in Ephesus where she went with St. John after the Resurrection. This latter view is more likely, and St. Willibald, the English pilgrim to the Holy Land in the eighth century, was shown her tomb there.

She was the first recorded witness to the resurrection of Jesus, His most ardent and loving follower. She had stood with Mary at the foot of the Cross on that brutal Good Friday afternoon and had been by the side of Mary during these difficult hours. On Easter morning, she went with the other women to the tomb and it was there, in the garden near the tomb, that Jesus appeared to her. It was she who brought the news of the Resurrection to the Apostles, and Peter and John raced to the tomb to see what had happened.

Feast of St. Mary Magdalene - July 22, 2024 - Liturgical Calendar (4)She was from Magadala, a small fishing town on the Sea of Galilee, between Capernaum and Tiberias. She was known to be a "great sinner," a woman of the streets who heard Jesus speak of the mercy and forgiveness of God and changed her life completely. Her matter-of-fact witness to the Resurrection moved Peter and John to go and see for themselves: "I have seen the Lord and these things he said to me." Jesus had chosen her to bring the news to them and she simply told them what had happened.

She has always been the example of great love and great forgiveness, one of those close to Jesus who grasped the truth of God's love for human beings and spent her life bearing witness to that love.
—Excerpted from The One Year Book of Saints by Rev. Clifford Stevens

Patronage: against sexual temptation; apothecaries; contemplative life; contemplatives; converts; druggists; glove makers; hairdressers; hairstylists; penitent sinners; penitent women; people ridiculed for their piety; perfumeries; perfumers; pharmacists; reformed prostitutes; tanners; women. See CatholicSaints.info for a whole list of locations.

Symbols and Representation: long hair; Rich raiment; alabaster box of ointment; skull; book; vase of sweet spices; crucifix; open book; boat.

Highlights and Things to Do:

  • From the Catholic Culture library:
    • Who Really Was Mary Magdalene? by Father William Saunders
    • The First Liturgical Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene: Witness of Divine Mercy by Cardinal Sarah
  • Listen to the Catholic Culture Audiobook St. Robert Southwell—Mary Magdalene’s Complaint at Christ’s Death read by James Majewski.
  • Read Jennifer Gregory Miller's posts on St. Mary Magdalen's feast:
    • Elevating St. Mary Magdalene's Celebration
    • First Celebration of the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene
  • Read more about St. Mary Magdalen:
  • Tradition has it that St. Mary Magdalene spent the last 30 years of her life in France. Read Saints in Rome for the location of her relics.
  • Read the book Witnesses to Calvary: Reflections on the Seven Last Words of Jesus by Fr. Richard C. Antall is an interesting and thoughtful look at St. Mary Magdalene's place at the foot of the cross. He contrasts her deliverance from seven demons with the symmetry of the Seven Words.
Feast of St. Mary Magdalene - July 22, 2024 - Liturgical Calendar (2024)

FAQs

Why is Mary Magdalene's feast day on July 22? ›

Recognizing St. Mary Magdalene's role as the first to witness Christ's resurrection and as a "true and authentic evangelizer," Pope Francis raised the July 22 memorial of St. Mary Magdalene to a feast on the Church's liturgical calendar.

What is the feast day of St. Mary Magdalene? ›

On July 22, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Mary Magdelene, one of the most prominent women mentioned in the New Testament. Her name comes from the town of Magdala in Galilee, where she was born.

Who is the saint of the day July 22? ›

St.

Mary Magdalene, Apostle of the Apostles, is the first of the women who followed Jesus to proclaim Him as having risen from the dead. The feast day of this saint, who stood beneath the Cross on Calvary, is celebrated on July 22nd.

What is the prayer for St Mary Magdalene's feast day? ›

Mary Magdalene's Feast Day. Grant to us, most merciful Father, that as the blessed Mary Magdalen, by loving Our Lord Jesus Christ above all things, won the forgiveness of her sins, so may she obtain for us, through Your mercy, everlasting happiness.

What are the colors associated with Mary Magdalene? ›

The saint depicted here is Mary Magdalene, identifiable by the ointment jar she holds and by her robes of bright scarlet, a colour traditionally associated with her.

Who was Mary Magdalene's husband? ›

Much of the literature of this type has a more specific emphasis, on a claimed marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. There are indications in Gnosticism of the belief that Jesus and Mary Magdalene shared an amorous, and not just a religious relationship.

Did Jesus love Mary Magdalene? ›

One of these texts, known as the Gospel of Philip, referred to Mary Magdalene as Jesus's companion and claimed that Jesus loved her more than the other disciples.

What is St Mary Magdalene best known for? ›

St. Mary Magdalene was a disciple of Jesus. According to the Gospel accounts, Jesus cleansed her of seven demons, and she financially aided him in Galilee. She was one of the witnesses of the Crucifixion and burial of Jesus and, famously, was the first person to see him after the Resurrection.

Is July 22 a special day? ›

National Parents' Day and National Hammock Day are celebrated on this day.

Which saints feast day is July 23? ›

We honor St. Bridget, also known as St. Birgitta, on July 23 each year. We can pray to Bridget, asking her to help us to love and care for our neighbor as she did.

What Catholic saint is June 22? ›

June 22 is the feast day of Saint Thomas More.

Does Mary Magdalene have a feast day? ›

Today, 22 July, is the feast day of St Mary Magdalene, one of Christianity's most important saints. Mentioned in all the canonical Gospels as a close follower of Jesus, Mary is nevertheless a mysterious figure.

What religion prays to Mary Magdalene? ›

Mary Magdalene is considered to be a saint by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran denominations. In 2016, Pope Francis raised the level of liturgical memory on July 22 from memorial to feast, and for her to be referred to as the "Apostle of the apostles".

What is a quote from Mary Magdalene? ›

Mary Magdalene: The kingdom, it can't be built through conflict. Not by opposition, not by destruction. It grows with us, with every act of love and care, with our forgiveness.

Why does Mary have a feast day? ›

The Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God is a feast day of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the aspect of her motherhood of Jesus Christ, whom she had circumcised on the eighth day after his birth according to Levitical Law. Christians see him as the Lord and Son of God.

Why is St Thomas More's feast day on June 22? ›

On June 22, the Catholic Church honors the life and martyrdom of St. Thomas More, the lawyer, author and statesman who lost his life opposing King Henry VIII's plan to subordinate the Church to the English monarchy.

Which day of the week did Mary Magdalene go to the tomb? ›

1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, they come to the tomb when the sun was risen.

Was Mary Magdalene in love with Jesus? ›

Mary Magdalene loved Jesus. When he died, her heart was broken.

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