“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” (Rev 3:19)
“When Jesus and Magdalene rejoined the holy women, Jesus said to them: “She has been a great sinner, but for all future times, she will be the model of penitents.” (from The Visions of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich)
We are called to repent, undeniably – from the very beginning of His public ministry, Our Lord Jesus called us to repentance (Mat 4:17, Mk 1:15, Lk 13:3, Rev 3:3 and many more). Repentance comes with a hearty disgust for yourself and your actions, it means realizing that the road you are on leads straight to Hell. Repentance takes place in the heart, but it must translate into your life in tangible ways, else it is not repentance after all: No renewal of the mind took place if there are no fruits to show for.
“No one can begin a new life who does not repent him of the old.” (St. Bonaventure)
The quintessential biblical penitent is Mary of Magdalum, sister of Lazarus and Martha, of whom Jesus says several things in the Scriptures, among them “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much” (Lk 7:47), and “Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her” (Mar 14:9, see also John 12:1-8).
St. Mary Magdalene is identified as a great sinner, and what we know of her from Scripture as well as other sources indicates that she, like Lazarus and Martha, was part of a rich family that was well acquainted with the Holy Family. She resided apart from her siblings in Magdalum (hence the name) where she lived a worldly and decidedly impure life. She was not, as one sometimes hears, a “woman of the streets” but a rich girl given over to sensual pleasures.
Her brother and sister were greatly distressed about her conduct and eventually, she repented and became the model of penitents that we find in the Scriptures: distraught by her sins, willing to humble herself publicly (by letting her hair flow loosely, for example) to make amends for her former haughtiness, and persevering in her love for Our Lord. Of all the apostles, disciplines and followers, she was one of the three who followed to the bitter end without wavering, right to the foot of the cross (Matthew 27:56; Mark 15:40; Luke 23:49; John 19:25).
Small wonder, one is inclined to say, that she holds a special place in the Resurrection events and therefore has been called “Apostle to the Apostles” since 2016. Afterwards, she is said to have moved to Ephesus with Mary Most Holy and St. John and lies buried there. Of her burial place and the controversies around it all, we will say nothing here. But we hold that, based on the Visions of Blessed Anne Catherin Emmerich, it is likely that she stayed with Mary Most Holy when they left Jerusalem.
When Mary of Magdalum finally repented – she had repented once before and then relapsed -, this is what Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich conveyed about her conversation with Our Lord Jesus:
“Magdalene, crushed and miserable, now sat among the holy women. Jesus inveighed severely against the sin of impurity, and said that it was that vice that had called down fire upon Sodom and Gomorrha. But he spoke of the mercy of God also and of the present time of pardon, almost conjuring his hearers to accept the grace offered them. Thrice during this discourse did Jesus rest his glance upon Magdalene, and each time I saw her sinking down and dark vapors issuing from her. The third time, the holy women carried her away. She was pale, weak, annihilated as it were, and scarcely recognizable. Her tears flowed incessantly. She was completely transformed, and passionately sighed to confess her sins to Jesus and receive pardon. The instruction over, Jesus went to a retired place, wither Mary herself and Martha led Magdalene to him. She fell on her face weeping at his feet, her hair flowing loosely around her. Jesus comforted her. When Mary and Martha had withdrawn, she cried for pardon, confessed her numerous transgressions, and asked over and over: “Lord, is there still salvation for me?” Jesus forgave her sins, and she implored him to save her from another relapse. He promised so to do, gave her his blessing, and spoke to her of the virtue of purity, also of his mother, who was pure without stain. He praised Mary highly in terms I had never before heard from his lips, and commanded Magdalene to unite herself closely to her and to seek from her advice and consolation. When Jesus and Magdalene rejoined the holy women, Jesus said to them: “She has been a great sinner, but for all future time, she will be the model of penitents.” (from: Visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich: Wednesday, December 27th, AD 30 (Tebeth 12))
St. Mary Magdalene, who was forgiven much because she loved much, is our model to this day. From this passage, two things stand out that we should take to heart:
- “Lord, is there still salvation for me?”
The need for repentance, confession of our sins, and penance is as urgent today as it was then. If we ask earnestly for forgiveness, make amends and ‘go and sin no more’, there is hope of mercy. - “… and spoke to her of the virtue of purity…”
Purity is the virtue all penitents must seek first and foremost. Without purity, there is no advancement in any of the virtues.
So, how does one do penance, interior and exterior? Continue reading here:
