Mary Magdalene. For Catholics, she is a repentant harlot, for Orthodox Christians she is one of the most important followers of Christ. Where is the truth in this story? Let's try to figure out who the first of the people who saw the miracle of resurrection really was.
Soon the Orthodox will celebrate Easter, and this event reminded us of the controversial issues of this story. We will not touch upon the Resurrection itself, but today we will talk about Mary Magdalene. How did it happen that two directions of the same religion perceive this person in a completely opposite way?
The mysterious personality of Mary Magdalene is mentioned several times in the New Testament. She is present at important moments in the life of Jesus Christ - she was on Calvary, at the burial, became a myrrh-bearer, who was notified of the Resurrection, she was the first to see the resurrected son of God. But in fact, little is known about her. In Orthodoxy, she is revered as an Equal-to-the-Apostolic saint on an equal basis with others. Her relics are in several Athonite monasteries.
But in Catholicism, the image of Mary is combined with several evangelical characters at once. This belief was so ingrained in society that almost all Western artists portrayed Mary in the form of a repentant harlot. It is believed that the Catholic Mary Magdalene united in herself Mary, the sister of Lazarus, a woman from the house of Simon and a sinner without a name, who washed Jesus' feet. Catholics are convinced that Mary Magdalene was a repentant harlot who followed Christ and became one of the apostles.
This is due to different interpretations of the same New Testament texts. The story of Mary was especially popular in the Middle Ages, so the image of a repentant harlot took root among Catholics. Orthodoxy nevertheless developed separately from Catholicism, so this trend tends to consider Mary Magdalene one of their faithful and spotless followers of Jesus Christ.
Why do Catholics consider Mary a harlot? There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. In the Middle Ages, Eve began to be considered a sinner, and the Virgin Mary - an unattainable saint. Women did not want to be like one or the other. Mary Magdalene became the perfect embodiment of a woman who could make mistakes, but got a chance for forgiveness.
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One way or another, the identity of Mary Magdalene will no longer be revealed, like many mysteries of history. Everyone has the right to decide for themselves how to perceive this woman.