St. Mary Magdalene

St. Mary Magdalene, of Magdala on the Sea of Galilee, was among the closest disciples of Jesus. The Gospels relate that He drove seven demons from her, after which she followed Him and, with other women, supported His ministry from her own means. She stood faithfully beneath the cross when most of the apostles had fled, and she watched where His body was laid.

Her greatest honor came on Easter morning, when she came to the tomb, found it empty, and became the first person to whom the risen Christ appeared. He sent her to announce the Resurrection to the apostles, so that Christian tradition has long called her the "Apostle to the Apostles." Because a later Western tradition sometimes merged her with other Gospel women, she is often pictured as a repentant sinner, though Scripture does not clearly identify her so. Honored in both East and West, she is celebrated on 22 July, her feast raised in 2016, and is a patron of penitents.