Mary Magdalene [a] sometimes called Mary of Magdala , or simply the Magdalene , Magdalena or the Madeleine was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels , traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurrection. Mary's epithet Magdalene may be a toponymic surname , meaning that she came from the town of Magdala , a fishing town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in Roman Judea.
The Gospel of Luke chapter 8 lists Mary Magdalene as one of the women who travelled with Jesus and helped support his ministry "out of their resources", indicating that she was probably wealthy. The same passage also states that seven demons had been driven out of her , a statement which is repeated from Mark In all four canonical gospels, Mary Magdalene is a witness to the crucifixion of Jesus and, in the Synoptic Gospels , she is also present at his burial.
All four gospels identify her, either alone or as a member of a larger group of women , as the first to witness the empty tomb , [1] and, either alone or as a member of a group, as the first to witness Jesus's resurrection. In , Pope Francis raised the level of liturgical memory on July 22 from memorial to feast , and for her to be referred to as the "Apostle of the apostles". The Eastern Orthodox churches also commemorate her on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers , the Orthodox equivalent of one of the Western Three Marys traditions.
The portrayal of Mary Magdalene as a prostitute began in , when Pope Gregory I identified Mary Magdalene, who was introduced in Luke , with Mary of Bethany Luke and the unnamed "sinful woman" who anointed Jesus's feet in Luke — The identification of Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany and the unnamed "sinful woman" was still a major controversy in the years leading up to the Reformation , and some Protestant leaders rejected it.
In , Pope Paul VI removed the identification of Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany and the "sinful woman" from the General Roman Calendar , but the view of her as a former prostitute has persisted in popular culture. Because she was the first to witness Jesus's resurrection, Mary Magdalene is known in some Christian traditions as the "apostle to the apostles". These texts portray her as an apostle, as Jesus's closest and most beloved disciple and the only one who truly understood his teachings.
