The Festival of St. Mary Magdalene
Posted on July 22, 2025 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 7:36-50 (NKJV)
7:36 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. 37 And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, 38 and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”
40 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”
So he said, “Teacher, say it.”
41 “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.”
And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” 44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. 45 You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. 47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
48 Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
Devotion
This reading has long been the Gospel for the Festival of St. Mary Magdalene, in spite of never mentioning her name. St. Luke says that Jesus had cast seven demons out of Mary (Luke 8:2), but the evangelist does not say specifically that she was the same woman known by the hosting Pharisee to be a notorious sinner. Perhaps, though, she was so known and this is simply the first time she had been seen by this crowd since the demons had been cast out.
As with the lives of the Apostles and other saints that are not completely detailed in the Bible, such haziness regarding the lives of the saints is actually a good thing: it keeps us mindful of the fact that their festival days are not really about them, but about Jesus! If Mary was not only demon possessed, but an open and notorious sinner, how much more glorious that she is made completely free from sin through faith in His atonement—and is even privileged to go to the tomb on Easter morning. More, as many of the fathers point out, this woman is a picture of the whole Church: despised sinners made righteous through the blood of Christ, cleansed by the “washing of water by the Word.”
Collect: O gracious God, Who didst work repentance and faith in the heart of St. Mary, so lead us by the working of Thy Holy Spirit that we may walk before Thee in repentance all our days and have consolation through the absolution which Thou dost grant to be proclaimed unto Thy Church, through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
O God, Who hast prepared for them that love Thee such good things as pass man’s understanding: Pour into our hearts such love toward Thee, that we, loving Thee above all things, may obtain Thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
