By Clement Harrold

July 16, 2026

One of the most beautiful scenes in the Gospels comes in John 20 when St. Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb of Jesus. The evangelist tells us that Mary set off “early, while it was still dark” (John 20:1).

In John’s Gospel, references to darkness and light always carry a symbolic value. In other words, it wasn’t merely the pre-dawn hours that were dark, but also Mary’s heart. From her perspective, the light of her life had been extinguished, and nothing would ever be the same again.

Even so, Mary set off for the tomb on that first Easter Sunday morning.

What We Know About Mary Magdalene

Before going further in our reflection, it’s worth recapping what we know about Mary’s story.

For most of Church history, Western Catholics identified her as being the same person as Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. According to this tradition, Mary Magdalene was from a devout Jewish home but at some point became embroiled in a life of sin.

On this account, the dramatic anointing scene in Luke 7 captures the moment of Mary’s conversion to Christ. The dinner party guests are stunned when “a woman of the city, who was a sinner” (Luke 7:37) interrupts the festivities to soak Christ’s feet in perfume and tears, using her hair as a towel. From the description, it seems likely that Mary had been living a life of prostitution prior to her encounter with Jesus.

Later on, Mary is reunited with her family in Bethany. It’s there that her brother, Lazarus, falls ill and dies, only for Christ to raise him from the dead four days later. It’s also there that Mary again steps forward to anoint Jesus’s feet, although this time the mood is very different (see Matt 26:6–13; Mark 14:3–9; John 12:1–8). Rather than an act of penance, this second anointing is one of tender reverence as Mary gratefully reenacts the gesture that marked the beginning of her walk with Christ.

Today many scholars are skeptical of these traditions surrounding Mary Magdalene’s identity, and Catholics are free to believe what they wish. In any event, what we know for certain about Mary Magdalene can be summed up in seven points:

1. She was healed of seven demons by Christ (Mark 16:9; Luke 8:2)
2. She helped provide for the needs of Christ and His disciples (Luke 8:3)
3. She accompanied Christ through the cities and villages of Galilee (Luke 8:1–3)
4. She was present at the crucifixion (Matt 27:55–56; Mark 15:40–41; John 19:25)
5. She witnessed the burial of Christ (Matt 27:61; Mark 15:47; cf. Luke 23:55)
6. She traveled to the tomb on Easter Sunday morning (Matt 28:1; Mark 16:1; John 20:1; cf. Luke 24:1)
7. She was the first to encounter the Risen Christ (Mark 16:9; John 20:11–18)

Mary Magdalene and the Song of Songs

Since ancient times, Christian interpreters have noticed a series of connections between Mary Magdalene’s discovery of the empty tomb and the events described in chapter 3 of the Song of Songs.

Song of Songs 3:1–5 relates an apparent dream sequence in which the female protagonist of the book, sometimes known as the Shulammite woman, goes in search of her beloved (a similar episode is found in Song 5:2–8). The parallels with John 20 are noteworthy:

These convergences have led many interpreters, both past and present, to conclude that St. John has deliberately framed his scene to make it reminiscent of the passage from the Song of Songs.

This interpretation becomes even stronger when we consider that it is John who, more than any other evangelist, portrays Jesus as the spiritual bridegroom of our souls (see John 3:29). John is also the only evangelist to observe that Jesus was buried in a garden (see John 19:41), and he is careful to point out that Mary mistook Jesus for a gardener (see John 20:15).

These details are significant when we recall that the Song of Songs is a book that is rife with garden imagery. Here’s an example, where the woman is the one speaking:

My beloved has gone down to his garden,

    to the beds of spices,

to pasture his flock in the gardens,

    and to gather lilies.

I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;

    he pastures his flock among the lilies. (Song 6:2–3)

To put it simply, the message from the Song of Songs is that the beloved enjoys hanging out in a garden. This dovetails nicely with John’s description of the Risen Christ meeting Mary in a garden.

The language about the beloved pasturing his flock is also significant. In John’s Gospel, Jesus compares Himself to the shepherd who “calls his own sheep by name . . . and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice” (John 10:3,4). This is precisely what happens outside the empty tomb, when Mary finally recognizes Jesus after He calls her by name.

Once again, we find important echoes with the Song of Songs, which repeatedly emphasizes the voice of the beloved: “let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is comely” (Song 2:14; cf. 2:8).

Called By Name

We’ve already noted that there are different traditions regarding the identity of Mary Magdalene. Something all these approaches can agree on, however, is that she was a saint with a past.

As we have seen, it’s possible that Mary Magdalene was a notorious sinful woman, perhaps even a prostitute. But what we know for a fact is that Mary was formerly possessed by no less than seven demons. This alone strongly suggests that her life prior to her encounter with Christ was one marked by sin, trauma, and profound spiritual darkness.

This is the background context which helps make Mary’s meeting with the Risen Christ all the more compelling. Put simply, this is the meeting between, on the one hand, a lover who has experienced tremendous brokenness, and on the other hand, the beloved Savior who brought healing to her soul.

One saint who reflected deeply on the story of St. Mary Magdalene was Pope Gregory the Great, who reigned from 590 to 604. Gregory delivered two influential homilies on Mary Magdalene, which are known today as Homilies 25 and 33. The former of these is quoted in the Office of Readings for Magdalene’s July 22 feast day, and it recalls the moment of encounter at the empty tomb.

To begin with, Gregory highlights that Mary stayed behind at the empty tomb, whereas Simon Peter and the beloved disciple came and left. For Gregory, it’s significant that “the woman who stayed behind to seek Christ was the only one to see him. For perseverance is essential to any good deed.”

Next Gregory offers a meditation on the depths of Mary’s desire. Mary desired to be reunited with Jesus, and when this desire wasn’t immediately satisfied, she allowed it to grow stronger. Gregory tells us that this is the mark of holy desire, which is always enriched and strengthened amid life’s many trials. Here Gregory cites two lines from the Song of Songs which beautifully capture Mary’s disposition: “I was wounded by love” (see Song 2:5) and “My soul is melted with love” (Song 5:6).

Now Gregory turns his attention to the question Christ poses: “Woman, why are you weeping?” (John 20:13). Gregory explains that the question is presented in order that Mary’s desire might be strengthened: “for when she mentions whom she is seeking her love is kindled all the more ardently.”

Finally, Gregory brings his reflection to a conclusion with a moving account of the way that Jesus addresses Mary. At first Jesus addresses her simply as “woman,” but when this fails to open the eyes of her heart, He proceeds to address her by her name. Gregory detects an important spiritual lesson in this exchange:

Jesus says to her: Mary. Jesus is not recognized when he calls her “woman”; so he calls her by name, as though he were saying: Recognize me as I recognize you; for I do not know you as I know others; I know you as yourself. And so Mary, once addressed by name, recognizes who is speaking. She immediately calls him rabboni, that is to say, teacher, because the one whom she sought outwardly was the one who inwardly taught her to keep on searching.

Through His interaction with Mary, Jesus has taught her that she is known and loved in the same way that God desires to be known and loved by us, that is, in a radically personal and intimate way. This is the love God expresses through the prophets: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine” (Isa 43:1).

It’s the same love Jesus shows to Mary in the garden, when dawn finally breaks in her heart and the darkness clears away. It’s the love which is indeed “strong as death” (Song 8:6) . . .

. . . and it’s a love in which you and I are called to share.

Further reading:

Pope St. Gregory the Great, Forty Gospel Homilies (Liturgical Press, 1990)

Fr. Sean Davidson, Saint Mary Magdalene: Prophetess of Eucharistic Love (Ignatius Press, 2017)

Eleonore Stump, Wandering in Darkness: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering (Oxford University Press, 2012)

A Retrieval of the Traditional View of Mary Magdalene From the Fringes of Theology

St. Mary Magdalene and the Jubilee

Was Mary Magdalene a Former Prostitute?