St. Mary Magdalene

This was an icon commissioned for the ordination of a new priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia.

In the early Church, St. Mary Magdalene was given the title "Equal to the Apostles" or more importantly "Apostle to the Apostles." While Roman Catholicism has vilified her as a prostitute since Pope Gregory the Great in 591 until the Vatican finaly yet quietly withdrew the remark in 1969, the Eastern Church has always honored her for the exceptional role she played in the life of Jesus and early Christianity.

Of all the apostles, it was Mary Magdalene that was present at both the crucifixion and resurrection. She stood by as her Lord died and the apostles were scattered in fear. She, with several other women, returned to the tomb to anoint the body Jesus and show proper respect while the other apostles were still squirreled away in Jerusalem. In the early morning, she found the empty tomb and was told of the resurrection. Jesus appeared to her first following the resurrection and told her to go tell the other apostles that he had risen. Thus, it was she who brought the light of the news of the risen Christ into the dark night of fear and grief that had consumed the other apostles. She was truly the apostle to the apostles.

The candle she holds in this icon is the Paschal Light, the candle lit during the Easter service proclaiming the light of Christ in the world to shatter the darkness of death. In her other hand she carries the vessel of myrrh to anoint her Lord. She is also called Myrrhbearer in the Eastern Church.

While some icons show her hair down, representing her supposed unclean state (if you combine her with the reference to the other Mary who was a sinner and washed Jesus feet), I chose to restore her to her former level of respect. Her hair is capped as it would be with any icon of St. Mary the Virgin.

Iconography is a process of prayer with the presence of God and the Saint we are honoring. As icons are windows into the Divine, the iconographer must be open to the active presence of God and the Saint. For this icon, the sketch I had originally created had a Mary of soft, round, young features, but after doing her face twice, it kept coming out as a proud, maybe stern, but certainly powerful woman. And why not? As I meditated on the finished icon, this window showed me a woman who had to stand up to the dominating men of her day, who led a branch of Christianity and was eventually overshadowed by the very patriarchy to whom she had been chosen to give the good news. She was one of Jesus' closest and most cherished disciples. She honored Him. And it was a great honor to be able to write this icon to honor God as well through her. Amen.