Saint Mary Magdalen Memorial Elevated to Feast Day

Marble Statue of St. Mary Magdalen
at the Chapel in Camarillo

On Friday, Pope Francis, calling St. Mary Magdalene a "true and authentic evangelizer," raised the July 22 liturgical memorial of the saint to the rank of a feast, equal to that of the Apostles' feast days. The decree was signed by Cdl. Robert Sarah, prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.  This was accompanied by a new Latin Preface for the Mass and an article written by His Excellency, Bp. Arthur Roche,  secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship. It's titled "Apostolorum Apostola" ("Apostle of Apostles").

The letter explains the Holy Father's decision:  The Holy Father, Pope Francis, took this decision precisely within the context of the Jubilee of Mercy to signify the importance of this woman who showed great love for Christ and was greatly loved by Christ. ... Precisely because she was an eyewitness of the Risen Christ, she was also, on the other hand, the first to bear witness to him to the Apostles. She fulfills the mandate of the Risen One: "Go to my brethren and say to them" ... . Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples: "I have seen the Lord!"; and she told them that he had said these things to her" (Jn 20:17–18). Thus she becomes, as already noted, an evangelist, or rather, a messenger announcing the good news of the Lord's Resurrection; or as Rabanus Maurus and St. Thomas Aquinas said, an "apostolorum apostola."  Continue reading...