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| "The Repentant Mary Magdalene" -- by James Tissot |
July
22
Mary
Magdalen, a sister of Lazarus and of Martha, of Bethany, was a
notorious sinner in Jerusalem. Moved by the preaching of Jesus, she
did public penance. She went openly into the house of the Pharisee
with whom Jesus was sitting at table, threw herself at His feet,
anointed them with precious ointment, washed them with her tears, and
wiped them with her hair. Jesus, knowing her contrite heart, forgave
her her sins (Luke 7:37, 38), and from that time forward she became
the most zealous and faithful of the women who were disciples of Our
Lord. She followed Him, always ministered unto Him of her substance
(Luke 8:3), and when He died was standing under the cross.
Prayer
We
beseech Thee, O Lord, that we may be helped by the intercession of
blessed Mary Magdalen, at whose prayers Thou didst raise up again to
life her brother Lazarus, who had been dead for four days. Who
livest, and reignest, for ever and ever. Amen.
Epistle:
Canticle 3:2-5; 8:6,7
I
will rise and will go about the city; in the streets and the broad
ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth; I sought him and I found
him not. The watchmen who keep the city found me: Have you seen him
whom my soul loveth? When I had a little passed by them, I found him
whom my soul loveth. I held him; and I will not let him go till I
bring him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that
bore me. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes and the
harts of the fields, that you stir not up, nor awake my beloved till
she please. Put me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm,
for love is strong as death; jealousy as hard as hell; the lamps
thereof are fire and flame. Many waters cannot quench charity,
neither can the floods drown it; if a man should give all the
substance of his house for love, he shall despise it as nothing.
The
soul that, following the direction of the watchmen, that is, the
priests, teachers, and rulers of the Church, seeks Jesus, He goes to
meet, gives Himself up to, takes up His abode in, with all His love,
with all His treasures. The soul which has found Christ for delight
forgets all outward things, and no longer has love or joy but for and
in Christ. How should it be otherwise? What can be wanting to him who
truly possesses Christ? This love for Him Who loved us unto death
shows itself by outward acts that are heroic. So Mary Magdalen loved
Jesus. Follow her example.
Gospel:
Luke 7:36-50
At
that time: One of the Pharisees desired Jesus to eat with him. And He
went into the house of the Pharisee, and sat down to meat. And behold
a woman that was in the city, a sinner, when she knew that He sat at
meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
and standing behind, at His feet, she began to wash His feet with
tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed His
feet, and anointed them with the ointment. And the Pharisee, who had
invited Him, seeing it, spoke within himself, saying: This man, if He
were a prophet, would know surely who and what manner of woman this
is that toucheth Him, that she is a sinner. And Jesus answering, said
to him: Simon, I have somewhat to say to thee. But he said: Master,
say it. A certain creditor had two debtors, the one owed five hundred
pence, and the other fifty. And whereas they had not wherewith to
pay, he forgave them both. Which, therefore, of the two loveth him
most? Simon answering, said: I suppose that he to whom he forgave
most. And He said to him: Thou hast judged rightly. And turning to
the woman, He said unto Simon: Dost thou see this woman? I entered
into thy house, thou gavest Me no water for My feet; but she with
tears hath washed My feet, and with her hairs hath wiped them. Thou
gavest Me no kiss; but she, since she came in, hath not ceased to
kiss My feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint; but she with
ointment hath anointed My feet. Wherefore I say to thee: Many sins
are forgiven her, because she hath loved much. But to whom less is
forgiven, he loveth less. And He said to her: Thy sins are forgiven
thee. And they that sat at meat with Him began to say within
themselves: Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And He said to the
woman: Thy faith hath made thee safe, go in peace.
Magdalen,
who had sinned openly, openly did penance. In like manner, he who has
given public scandal must seek to make amends for it by public good
example.
Magdalen
confessed her sins, says Saint Ambrose, not with words, but with
abundant tears of penitence. To tell her sins to Christ, the
All-knowing, was not necessary; but what a confession was there in
the posture of humiliation, and in the tears that flowed from the
contrite sinner. Would you obtain forgiveness? Confess with
contrition, like Magdalen.
The
words, “Thy faith hath made thee safe,” denote a faith active as
love. Faith and love are in truth never separated, for he only truly
believes who also loves; and he only loves according to God’s will
who believes in Him. Therefore believe in truth, love, and show your
love by earnest hatred of every sin, by flying from occasions of sin,
by fighting against your passions, by change of your life, and by
humble confession, and as true as God lives you will be saved, as was
Magdalen; the peace of God will enter into your heart.
Aspiration
O
most loving Jesus, give me an earnest will to forsake all evil, and
to return to Thee, my chief good, to repent of my sins out of true
love, to guard against them for the future, to shun the occasion by
which I have hitherto been enticed into sin, and by the practice of
good works to redeem the time lost. Grant me this, O Jesus, by Thy
bitter passion and death, and through the intercession of the holy
penitent Magdalen. Amen.
--
Goffine’s Devout Instructions
