In the face of the saints of the Christian Orthodox Church, one can find many female names. The wives of the myrrh-bearing woman occupy a special place among the great ascetics of piety. One of these was the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene.
St. Mary was originally from the city of Magdala, in Syria. That is why this saint is traditionally called the Magdalene. This saint is also called the Equal-to-the-Apostles to the extent that Mary preached the Gospel with particular zeal, like the great apostles.
Mary Magdalene, before meeting with Christ, was obsessed with demons. The rumor of the great miracles of the Savior (including the expulsion of demons) brought a suffering woman to Galilee. It was there that Christ healed Mary, seeing her great faith and hope in God. The gospel tells us that seven demons were expelled from Mary. From this time forward, the future equally apostolic saint believed in the Lord and became one of the most earnest disciples of the savior. She followed Christ with other women and served Him.
St. Mary was present at Calvary at the crucifixion of the Savior, saw His torment, was a witness to the removal of the body of Jesus from the cross.
Even before dawn, on the day of Christ's resurrection, the saint came to the tomb of the Savior before everyone in order to anoint the body of the latter with special aromas (peace). It was in the cave where Christ was buried that Mary Magdalene saw the risen God-man, but did not recognize him right away, initially mistaking him for a gardener. Only after the assurance of Jesus Christ did she understand the importance and grandeur of what had happened. After this appearance, Mary Magdalene went to the apostles to tell about the resurrection of Christ.
After the ascension of Christ to heaven, the saint stayed with the other apostles and the Virgin in Jerusalem, and after the Descent of the Holy Spirit she went to preach to Rome. There, St. Mary presented the emperor Tiberius with a reddened egg with the words that Christ was resurrected. She told the emperor about the unrighteous condemnation of Pilate, the miracles of the Savior and His sufferings. Since that time, a tradition has begun to paint eggs for Easter.
The saint ended the days of her earthly life in the 1st century. In the IX century, the relics of the saint were transferred from Ephesus to Constantinople. Particles of the relics of the great ascetic are also on Mount Athos and in Jerusalem.
St. Mary Magdalene is called the Myrrh-bearing Church. This name is due to the fact that she was among those women who, according to Jewish tradition, anointed the body of Christ buried by the world. Also, after death, Mary came to the tomb of the Savior with aromas to anoint the body of Jesus.
