BeattieWatch!

St Mary Magdalen gives a feminist discourse to the Apostles

Readers...BeattieWatch! is a regular update service of new insights into the Gospel by Dr Tina Beattie.

While The Tablet Director hasn't updated her blog since her latest musing in which she tells us she has imparted enough of her wisdom about the Ordinariate ('for now'), she has put this image up in her sidebar of St Mary Magdalen giving the Apostles the wonderful news of the victory of feminism, the Good News of the female Priesthood and the defeat of patriarchy that was achieved by Christ's Resurrection.

I've asked Tina on her blog whether this picture is there because she has a personal devotion to the Saint, or whether she sees the Magdalene as a role model for women.

While it is very true to say that Our Blessed Lord indeed chose a woman (and a woman of bad reputation at that) to announce the Resurrection to the Apostles, Tina should perhaps remember that the legend attributed to the Saint is that she spent her remaining days, months or years as a solitary penitent, living off nearly nothing, fasting, doing penance, wearing next to no clothes, never getting a haircut, nor wearing make up and probably crying copious penitent tears, before receiving Our Blessed Lord in the Blessed Sacrament only once from the Apostle St John, before she died and her precious, dear soul was taken up into Heaven. That's the legend that is attributed to the penitent Magdalene. As far as I know, a legend about her spending her remaining days pamphleteering Europe for women's ordination never surfaced. Of course, Our Lord told all those wanting to stone 'the woman caught in adultery' to examine themselves before casting the first stone, however, this is because the Lord loves sinners and despises injustice, not because he wanted to smash the glass ceiling, destroy patriarchy and ordain women to be Priests.