The Holy See recently announced that, in the Ordinary Form calendar of the Roman Rite, St Mary Magdalene’s annual liturgical observance on July 22 would be elevated to a feast. Her new feast was even given a new, proper Preface. There is no way to arrive definitively at the identity of this fascinating figure. Nevertheless, it is good to see her day restored to greater dignity.
Speaking of Mary Magdalene’s identity, we know from Scripture that she came to Jesus’s tomb in the garden to anoint His Body. Mary, the first witness of the empty tomb, then went to tell Apostles. Hence, she is called “the Apostle to the Apostles”.
