St. Mary Magdalene St. Mary Magdalene is mentioned in all the New Testament Gospels and she is also called Mary of Magdala. She was a very close disciple of Jesus and she was present at the foot of the cross on which Jesus was crucified as mentioned in the Gospels of Matthew 27:56, Mark 15:40 and John 19:23. She was also present when the holy body of Jesus was buried in the tomb by Joseph of Aramathea as per Matthew 27:61 and also Mark 15:47. She also went to the tomb of Jesus (also with others) on the early morning of the third day of Jesus' death and found the tomb empty. In the tomb it was informed to her by \'two men in clothes that gleaned like lightening\' that Jesus has resurrected. She immediately ran away and informed St. Peter and St. John about the resurrection of Jesus. They did not believe her but ran toward the tomb of Jesus and found the tomb empty and left the tomb in confusion. It seems Mary Magdalene also followed the two apostles but reached the tomb later after the two apostles left the tomb. On reaching the tomb she started weeping. Jesus, standing behind her and asked \'Woman why are you crying, who are you looking?\' She, thinking that the person must be the gardener, requested him to return the body of Jesus, if he had taken it from there. Then Jesus said \'Mary\'. She turned and said to him \'Rabbouni\'. Jesus gave the rare privilege of appearing first to Mary Magdalene only, after His resurrection (John 20:11\-18). She got this privilege of meeting the resurrected Jesus because she waited at the tomb for some long time to know about Jesus, unlike the two apostles who left the tomb quickly with confusion. Some historians say that after 14 years of the death of Jesus, the Jews put Mary Magdalene and some other Christians in a boat without any sails or oars. They drifted out to the sea and reached the shores of Southern France. Mary Magdalene spent the rest of her life there in a cave known as Sainte\-Baume. She was given the holy Eucharist daily by the angels and that was her only food. Legend says that she was transported miraculously to the chapel of St. Maximin just before her death and there she received her last sacraments. Pope Benedict\-XVI spoke about Mary Magdalene in his address before the Angelus, referring her as \'a disciple of the Lord who plays a lead role in the Gospel\'. #deciple #follower #genderneutral #Catholic #faith #trust #women #gospel #lead #Jesus #christ #believers #brother #sister #family leader #leadroll #hero