Mary Magdalene: Now a Feast

It was announced on Friday Pope Francis has decided to raise the celebration of the memorial of St. Mary Magdalene to the dignity of a liturgical Feast. See the story at Vatican Radio here.

Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Archbishop Arthur Roche, said that

“[I]t is right that the liturgical celebration of this woman has the same grade of feast given to the celebration of the apostles in the General Roman Calendar, and shines a light on the special mission of this woman, who is an example and model for every woman in the Church.”

The now-feast of Mary Magdalene is July 22 in the Roman calendar.

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Katharine E. Harmon, Ph.D., edits the blog, Pray Tell: Worship, Wit & Wisdom.

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30 responses to “Mary Magdalene: Now a Feast”

  1. Paul Inwood

    Text of the decree, text of the new Preface de apostolorum apostola (in Latin) and Archbishop Roche’s article (in Italian) at http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2016/06/10/0422/00974.html

    Reply
  2. Karl Liam Saur

    Returning to something more consonant with pre-1911?

    http://theradtrad.blogspot.com/2014/07/st-mary-magdalen-duplex-3rd-class.html

    Reply
  3. Liborius Lumma

    A few weeks ago, I discussed the liturgy of St Mary Magdalene with students. I think this is a remarkable and well-grounded decision.

    Reply
  4. Teresa Berger

    I am delighted — after admittedly being speechless with surprise for a moment. It is these kind of (small-seeming) gestures that make such a huge difference. In this case, especially for women who have gathered around the memory of Mary Magdalene on July 22 for years now, to celebrate and pray. I cannot wait for July 22 to come around now.

    Reply
  5. Theresa Maccarone

    Wonderful….long overdue. Hopefully, someday a woman will be able to read the Gospel and preach a homily on this story.

    Reply
  6. Warren Memlib

    Will the feasts of other women who ministered to Jesus or were involved otherwise with him (such as the woman at the well or the woman taken in adultery) also be added or elevated?

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  7. Marie Olwell

    Read the Gospel of Mary Magdala by Karen King. So much hidden in history that we have been deprived of!

    Reply
  8. Warren Memlib

    The new preface for the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene – in Latin with a Google English translation:

    Vere dignum et iustum est,
    æquum et salutáre,
    nos te, Pater omnípotens,
    cuius non minor est misericórdia quam potéstas,
    in ómnibus prædicáre per Christum Dóminum nostrum.

    Qui in hortu maniféstus appáruit Maríæ Magdalénæ,
    quippe quae eum diléxerat vivéntem,
    in cruce víderat moriéntem,
    quæsíerat in sepúlcro iacéntem,
    ac prima adoráverat a mórtuis resurgéntem,
    et eam apostolátus offício coram apóstolis honorávit
    ut bonum novæ vitæ núntium
    ad mundi fines perveníret.

    Unde et nos, Dómine, cum Angelis et Sanctis univérsis
    tibi confitémur, in exsultatióne dicéntes …

    It is truly right and just,
    right and availing
    It is we, the Father Almighty ,
    whose mercy is no less than the power,
    to preach the Gospel in all things , through Christ, our Lord.

    And the agony in the resurrection he appeared to Mary Magdalene ,
    Indeed, he loved living ,
    had seen dying on the cross ,
    words and lying in the tomb ,
    the first shall rise from the dead , and adored them ,
    and her apostolic duties before the apostles honored
    good new life message
    the world would never reach .

    Hence it is , O Lord, with the angels and Saints,
    We praise Thee , people with joy , saying …

    Reply
  9. Peter Kwasniewski

    This, of course, is a good thing — as is every effort to restore the cult of the saints to its position of prominence. As we know from Dom Gregory Dix, the very first feasts to be celebrated, after Easter, were those of the local martyrs.

    It is perhaps worth pointing out that this, in a way, is correcting an imbalance foisted on the calendar by the severe pruning of the Novus Ordo. In the old rite, St. Mary Magdalene has always been duly celebrated on July 22nd — something that would get bumped only by a Sunday. And her semi-proper Mass was/is very beautiful: the Lesson from the Song of Songs and the Secret especially stand out.

    Reply
    1. Anthony Ruff, OSB Avatar
      Anthony Ruff, OSB

      @Peter Kwasniewski:
      “Foisted”? Makes it sound like you’re attacking Church authorities and their regulation of the Church’s worship.
      Knock it off, Peter. We love the Catholic liturgy, also in its reformed state, at this website!
      awr

      Reply
      1. Bill deHaas

        @Anthony Ruff, OSB:
        Everyone lives in their own *bubble*

      2. Teresa Berger

        @Anthony Ruff, OSB:
        I read Peter’s comment less antagonistically than you did, Anthony (possibly only because my first language isn’t English, of course). Behind Peter’s comment stands an undeniable fact (although one he may not be aware of), namely that women saints — in the pruning of the sanctoral calendar — were pruned in larger numbers than male saints, and that despite the fact that women were underrepresented in the calendar to begin with. The reason, however, wasn’t overt misogyny but unawareness of the fact that women’s histories were much less well documented than men’s, and thus offered a larger amount of “legends” than did their male counterparts…

  10. Anthony Ruff, OSB Avatar
    Anthony Ruff, OSB

    Try this:
    It is truly right and just,
    our duty and our salvation,
    that in all things we proclaim you, almighty Father,
    whose mercy is not less than your power,
    through Christ our Lord.
    He appeared to Mary Magdalene openly in the garden,
    for indeed she loved him while he was living,
    she saw him dying on the cross,
    she searched for him lying in the tomb,
    and she was the first to worship him rising from the dead;
    and he honored her with the office of apostle
    in the presence of the apostles,
    so that the good news of new life
    would reach the ends of the earth.

    Reply
    1. Elisabeth Ahn

      @Anthony Ruff, OSB:

      He appeared to Mary Magdalene openly in the garden,
      for indeed she loved him while he was living,
      she saw him dying on the cross,
      she searched for him lying in the tomb,
      and she was the first to worship him rising from the dead;
      and he honored her with the office of apostle
      in the presence of the apostles,
      so that the good news of new life
      would reach the ends of the earth.

      This is so simple yet so profound and so beautiful — thank you.

      Rocco tweeted that the translations of the new Latin preface would be tasked to bishops. Hopefully, what they come up with would be just as so.

      Reply
    2. Katherine Christensen

      @Anthony Ruff, OSB:
      Fr Anthony, you dropped a word in the clause about Christ rising …
      “and she was the first to ? ? ? him rising from the dead” …
      adoraverat = “adore”?

      And I agree with Teresa (#20), about the unfortunate side effects of the calendar pruning. Similarly, the Novus Ordo Eucharistic prayers, in dropping or pruning the lists of saints of EP I, lose mention of any woman except Mary.

      Reply
      1. Anthony Ruff, OSB Avatar
        Anthony Ruff, OSB

        @Katherine Christensen:
        Whoops! I have added “worship” in.
        Thanks.

  11. Katharine E. Harmon

    Elevating St. Mary Magdalene’s memorial to a Feast Day is a joyous occasion–and a way to join the People of God in the present with the Apostle to the Apostles, in the earliest days of the Church. Speaking about her feast day as a sign of returning to some previous form of liturgical past minimizes what her feast day means in the present: the Church honors her apostles, and Pope Francis is reminding us that holy women as well as holy men witnessed the reality of the Risen Lord.

    Reply
  12. Fr. Neil Xavier O'Donoghue

    I have no objection to Mary Magdalene becoming a feast. However I would hope that we have some caution about piecemeal liturgical tweaking (e.g. adding the name of St. Joseph to 3 Eucharistic Prayers, changing a single phrase in the Baptismal liturgy, adding John Paul II and John XXIII to the General Roman Calendar). Maybe there was too much pruning after Vatican II, but that doesn’t mean that every day has to be filled and every commemoration must be a feast. Again I have nothing against this reform, but maybe we should consider downgrading a feast every time we upgrade one, and removing an under-utilised commemoration when we add a new one.

    Reply
  13. Bill deHaas

    Fr. Neil – a version of a feast *sunset* law or process?

    Reply
  14. Barry Hudock

    I’m not entirely comfortable with Archbishop Roche’s comment that Mary Magdalene is “an example and model for every woman in the Church.” Doesn’t it suggest that because she’s a woman, she must be a model for women (only)? By her place in the scriptures, her status as saint, and even more now, with the raising of her day to the dignity of Feast, I’d say she’s “an example and model for every *person* in the Church.”

    Reply
    1. Elisabeth Ahn

      @Barry Hudock:

      Doesn’t it suggest that because she’s a woman, she must be a model for women (only)?

      No, it doesn’t.

      You might be reading what isn’t there.

      Reply
      1. Barry Hudock

        @Elisabeth Ahn:
        Maybe so. I do not wish to unfairly criticize the statement.

  15. Crystal Watson

    It’s a nice gesture, but gestures can’t take the place of actual change (ordination).

    Reply
  16. Carlo Argoti

    Is there any precedent for her feast superseding a Sunday of Ordinary Time in next two years? I know St. Peter and St. Paul is a Solemnity, but since she is famously referred to as the “Apostle of the Apostles” and revered for her awareness of the Paschal Mystery which we celebrate every Sunday, it would seem fitting.

    Reply
    1. Karl Liam Saur

      @Carlo Argoti:
      Carlo, a feast of a saint does not impede a feast of the Lord – all Sundays are ranked equivalent to feasts of the Lord – they can only be impeded by other feasts of the Lord or by solemnities, so only if S Mary Magdalene fit into one of the following would that be the case:

      Table of Liturgical Days: I.4 – Proper Solemnities, namely:

      a. Solemnity of the principal patron of the place, that is, the city or state.
      [b. Solemnity of the dedication of a particular church and the anniversary.]
      c. Solemnity of the title[, or of the founder,] or of the principal patron of a religious order or congregation.

      Reply
  17. Todd Orbitz

    I am quite happy that they restored it thusly. I would hope the PCED would likewise restore her to the double with Creed that used to be said. Downgrading her was insulting to her from the beginning.

    Reply
  18. Bruce Janiga

    Now maybe they will look at John the evangelist and John the apostle. Our liturgical practice could agree with our biblical scholarship.

    Reply
  19. Jim McKay

    Maybe they will also consider honoring Mary of Bethany with her own day as well, instead of just commemorating her with her sister. It is almost as if Jesus never said “wherever the gospel is proclaimed to the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

    Reply
  20. Lee Bacchi

    The new feast is a result of her being “the Apostle to the Apostles,” not simply because she was a disciple. There are many great saints who have no obligatory memorial in the Roman calendar. (Gregory of Nyssa comes to mind immediately.)

    You often have to look at the Eastern Rites’ liturgical calendars to find celebrations of saints that are not universally honored in the Roman rite.

    Reply
  21. Chuck Middendorf

    Flashback to 3 years ago:
    http://www.usccb.org/about/divine-worship/newsletter/upload/newsletter-2016-05-and-06.pdf

    The new preface will be ready in “one to two years.”
    Or maybe in 4-5 years?

    Reply

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