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Apostle to Apostles

July the twenty second is

The Feast of Mary Magdalene

Whose loving eyes were verdi-gris,

Her body smelled of Jessamine.



Called “Sinner” - yet in spite of it

She ranked among Apostles high,

Amongst them all the “Favorite”

Who with the Lord saw eye-to-eye.



I kiss her picture- grasp my pen

To sing of outcasts of her sort,

The pariah, the Sinner Magdalene,

So highly favored of the Lord.



Faithful and loyal to the end

She stayed with Him upon her knee,

When the disciples’ coward band

Ran, when He hung upon the tree.

The first the Risen Christ to see,-

Appearance with no one to share

For all her love and loyalty,

For at His passion she was there.



Disciples ran,to save their skin,

All took to flight and ran and hid,

But not so Mary Magdalene

Who proved her mettle and her grit.



On her the Lord made the bequest-

Not to disciples’ fickle crew,

To preach and counsel to the rest

Of followers, - Gentile or Jew.



'Ere Paul appeared yet on the scene

And the disciples found their wit,

There was Apostle Magdalene

Illuminating dull esprits.



Disciples pusillanimous,

Who’d left the master in the lurch,-

She counseled them as prophetess

'Ere yet established was the church.

Pray for us Mary Magdalene!

Apostle to Apostles fair,

Be our teacher, coach and dean,

And take us wayward in your care!.



St.Mary Magdalene,- is not to be confused with the sinner in Mark 14 anointing Jesus' feet, but the Fathers were slow to pointing out this grave mistake.  

Far too little is known about her activities at Marseille and her prophetic work. There are vast literary sources telling  about her years  after the crucifiction of the Lord in the caves of southern France and life in the Gospel of Thomas (non canonical)The graphic is "The Assumption of St. Mary Magdalene displayed at the Museo del Prado, Madrid






Author's Notes/Comments: 

St.Mary Magdalene,- my mother's name sake, was always greatly honored in our family. Far too little is known about her activities at Marseille and her prophetic work.

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last updated 17 July 2012 - 2:42pm
©22 July 2002 - 11:34pm — blumentopf
5 August 2002 - 4:05am — Jere - (not verified)
Jere -'s picture

I have been reading poetry, especially of theology and history, for 28 years. In that period, this is one of the most impressive---and one of the most important---poems I have ever read. Your sense of the earliest history of Christiaity is very, very sharp, and I applaud this elegant poem! There are very few poems I admit to my heart; this will be one of those few.