Mary saw: Saint Mary Magdalene and Mary of Nazareth, witnesses to the Resurrection

**Quote:**> “Maria Magdalene came and announced to the disciples: ‘I have seen the Lord, and this is what he said to me.'” (Jo 20,18)**Text:**The feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, celebrated on July 22nd, now holds festival status in the Roman calendar (elevated from a memorial to a festival by Pope Francis in 2016), recognizing her centrality in the story of Resurrection: she was the first to see the Risen One, the first to recognize Him by name, and the first sent as a messenger to the apostles. Tradition has aptly called her “the apostle of the apostles,” precisely because she was sent by the Risen Himself to announce the Resurrection to the twelve.The Gospel of John (Jo 20,1-2.11-18) recounts with rare psychological precision Mary Magdalene’s encounter with the Risen One: the misidentification (“thinking he was the gardener,” Jo 20,15), the name recognition (“Mary!” Jo 20,16), the Aramaic response (“Rabboni!” Jo 20,16), the attempt to hold onto Him (“don’t hold me back,” Jo 20,17), and her mission as a messenger (“go tell my brothers,” Jo 20,17). The scene sets the evangelical standard for recognizing the Risen One: it occurs not through objective proof but through the call by name.**I. “They have taken the Lord from the tomb”: The Midnight Mourning**> “On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark” (Jo 20,1). The dark dawn of Mary Magdalene’s visit to the tomb is the dawn of mourning that admits no consolation. She goes to the tomb not to find the Risen One (she does not expect resurrection) but to remain close to the dead. The love that led her to stay by the Cross (Jo 19,25) is the same love that drives her to the tomb “while it was still dark.”> “They have taken the Lord away from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him” (Jo 20,2). Mary Magdalene’s initial interpretation is the interpretation of mourning: the body’s disappearance is a theft, not resurrection. This interpretation persists in Jo 20,11-15: “Tell me where you have laid him.” The “blindness” of Mary Magdalene regarding the Risen One is not a lack of faith but the faithfulness of love that does not abandon even when all seems lost. The love that does not abandon the dead is the first to encounter the Risen One.> Mary of Nazareth was certainly present during that dawn of mourning, not in the Gospels but in devotional tradition which places her always near the Son. The “Holy Saturday” of Mary of Nazareth and the “Dark Sunday” of Mary Magdalene are different expressions of the same faithfulness: women who did not abandon when all seemed lost are the first to receive the announcement of victory. Faithfulness in mourning precedes the joy of Resurrection, not because it deserves Resurrection but because it keeps the heart open to God’s surprise.**II. “Rabboni”: Recognition by Name**“‘Mary!’ He said to her, and she turned and called him in Hebrew, ‘Rabboni’ (John 20:16). The recognition of Jesus by Mary Magdalene occurs through the naming. Not through visual recognition (she did not initially recognize Him), nor through proof of the empty tomb (which only confirmed His disappearance), nor through the arguments of the angels (‘Why are you weeping?’, John 20:13), but simply through the calling of her name: ‘Mary!’. This scene recapitulates the theology of the Good Shepherd: ‘The shepherd calls his sheep by name’ (John 10:3). ‘They know his voice’ (John 10:4).”“‘Rabboni,’ ‘My Master,’ is the response to the call by name—not a doctrinal faith formula but the relational recognition of both the one called and the one calling. Mary Magdalene’s paschal faith arises from personal encounter, being called by name, and recognizing in His voice the Shepherd who had previously called her. This structure of pascal recognition—call by name, response with a relational title, personal relationship—is the model for all faith: not intellectual acceptance of doctrine but personal recognition of relationship.”“Mary of Nazareth experienced a similar ‘recognition’ at the Annunciation: The angel called her (‘Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you,’ Luke 1:28), and she responded with a relational title (‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord,’ Luke 1:38). The ‘Rabboni!’ of Mary Magdalene and the ‘Behold, I am the servant’ of Mary of Nazareth have the same structure: being called by God and recognizing the relationship that the call establishes. Both Marys are, in this sense, models of faith as a response to divine calling.”“III. ‘Go to my brothers…’: The Messenger of Resurrection‘Go to my brothers and tell them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God”’ (John 20:17). The sending of Mary Magdalene as a messenger of the Resurrection forms the basis for the title ‘apostle of the apostles.’ Jesus not only revealed the Resurrection to Mary Magdalene but sent her with a specific message to the apostles. The content of the message, ‘my Father and your Father,’ reveals the Trinitarian dimension of the Resurrection: the Risen One ascends to the Father and invites the disciples to share in this same filiation.”“The choice of a woman as the first messenger of the Resurrection is theologically significant: In first-century Jewish law, women’s testimony was not admissible in court. Jesus chose precisely someone the world did not consider a valid witness to be the first witness of the greatest truth in history. The logic of ‘the mysteries are revealed to the little ones’ (Matthew 11:25) applies to the Resurrection: the pascal revelation first reaches the most faithful women, not the apostles who had fled.”“Mary of Nazareth and Mary Magdalene are together the two great female witnesses of salvation history: Mary of Nazareth was the witness to the Incarnation (‘yes’ she said, and made possible the entrance of the Word into history), while Mary Magdalene was the witness to the Resurrection (she announced, ‘I have seen the Lord,’ and made public the fulfillment of the promise). The Incarnation and the Resurrection, the two poles of the salvific mystery, have as their first witnesses two women, two Marys.”“IV. Mary Magdalene and Mary of Nazareth: Two Loves, One Lord”In the medieval Western tradition, primarily from Gregory the Great, Mary Magdalene was identified with the “sinful woman” of Luke 7:36-50 and with Mary of Bethany (Luke 10:38-42; John 11-12). This identification, now considered inaccurate by modern exegesis, gave rise to the composite figure of “Magdalene”: the penitent who loved greatly because she was forgiven greatly, who anointed Jesus’ feet, and who listened to the Word seated at the Lord’s feet. Modern exegesis distinguishes these three figures, but the medieval fusion reveals a profound spiritual intuition: the love that arises from forgiveness (Luke 7), contemplative listening (Luke 10), and faithfulness to the Resurrected (John 20) are dimensions of a single relationship with Christ.The comparison between Mary of Nazareth and Mary Magdalene is not one of superiority but complementarity: Mary of Nazareth received the Word before the Passion. Mary Magdalene encountered the Risen Lord after the Passion. One is the witness to the origin. The other, the witness to the fulfillment. One says “yes” before understanding everything. The other says “Rabboni” after all seems lost. Both teach that the relationship with Christ does not depend on intellectual comprehension of the mystery but on faithful love that perseveres in the darkness.July 22nd, the feast day of Mary Magdalene, is, in popular devotion, a day to honor the “witnesses of the Resurrection.” Marian devotion that associates Mary of Nazareth with the Resurrection, “Regina Caeli” as Easter hymn, and the glorious mystery of the Rosary that begins with the Resurrection find their completion on this day: honoring the “apostle of the apostles” who, alongside Mary of Nazareth, was among the first to confess the Lord risen.