St. Mary Magdalene (July 22) — From Dom Guéranger’s Liturgical Year

A meditation for the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume IV of the Time after Pentecost.Saint Mary Magdalene was one of the most prominent and devoted followers of our Lord, famously serving as the primary witness to his resurrection. Hailing from the fishing town of Magdala, she was healed by Jesus, who cast out seven demons from her, after which she became a crucial financial and practical supporter of his ministry alongside several other prominent women. Unlike many of the male disciples who fled in fear, Mary Magdalene stood courageously at the foot of the cross during the crucifixion and later traveled to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body. Because she was the first person in the Gospel accounts to encounter the risen Christ, and was specifically instructed by Him to deliver the news to the remaining disciples, the early Church bestowed upon her the historic title of "Apostle to the Apostles." According to tradition, following the ascension of our Lord, Mary Magdalene, along with her siblings Lazarus and Martha, fled persecution in Judea by boarding a rudderless boat that miraculously carried them across the Mediterranean to the shores of southern France. There she spent her remaining years preaching the gospel and converting the region of Provence before retreating into absolute solitude as a contemplative hermit. Tradition holds that she spent her final thirty years fasting and praying inside a remote mountain cave known as La Sainte-Baume, where she was allegedly carried by angels each day to hear celestial choirs until her death.Dom Prosper Guéranger's The Liturgical Year, a monumental fifteen-volume work, offers a comprehensive exploration of the Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar, guiding readers through the spiritual and historical richness of the Church’s worship. Written in the 19th century, the series provides daily meditations, historical context, and liturgical texts for the Mass and Divine Office, covering the entire cycle of seasons—Advent, Christmas, Lent, Passiontide, Easter, and the Time after Pentecost—as well as feast days of saints. Guéranger’s work, rooted in a deep contemplative spirit, aims to immerse the faithful in the Church’s prayerful life, emphasizing the unity of faith through the axiom lex orandi, lex credendi ("the law of prayer is the law of belief"), and remains a cherished resource for Catholics seeking to deepen their spiritual lives. Link to the Dom Guéranger's Liturgical Year playlist (updated daily): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZKdyYnV_bkh7rH6piW0ShgsdcefFoOvJPlease support this channel!  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/InprincipioPodcast PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=U5EZ9X2CE2V7W Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/InPrincipioPodcast Zelle: [email protected]; or search for Zelle tag “inprincipiopodcast”  Checks may be written out to ‘InPrincipio Podcast’ and mailed to: P.O. Box 117 Cedar Ridge, CA 95924Sincere thanks to all who are able to contribute, by your prayers, your patronage, or otherwise. Your support sustains this work and helps make these readings available to others.Artwork: "Mary Magdalene in Meditation” by Jusepe de Ribera, 1623Music: Ave Maria (Gregorian chant)From Vesperae de Confessore non Pontifice in honor of Saint Vincent PallottiPerformed by Schola Gregoriana, Pallottine Seminary (Ołtarzew, Poland)Conductor: Fr. Dariusz SmolarekLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/Changes: noneExcept where otherwise noted, original content © InPrincipio Podcast.Chant audio used under CC BY-SA 3.0.