Sibling Missionaries

Biblical Women of Adventure (and their brother)

(A reliquary in the Cave of Mary Magdalene, La-Sainte-Baume, France)

We are continuing our discussion of “Women of Adventure” because we are reading together the Travels of Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini or the shorter e-book, Letters from the Travels of Mother Cabrini. Are you reading it with us?

Mother Cabrini inspires us in her letters, encouraging her readers to spend time at the feet of Our Lord by Christian meditation. On shipboard, she offered this thought:

“The points of meditation we have always ready; at the sight of the sea many beautiful thoughts and feelings arise within one. The sky is blue and the horizon is vast. It is the image of the love of God when it takes possession of a soul and makes it capable of an immensity of holy deeds. Yes! Grace is an infinite treasure of God and those who receive it, and make good use of it, are truly partakers of the friendship of God….It is true, then, that the ocean is a beautiful image of grace.” (p. 8 in my copy)

Last week, we talked about the holy women who went from Palestine to the province of Gaul (now southern France) to spread the Gospel after the Ascension of Our Lord. Among them were Martha, Lazarus, and their sister Mary Magdalene, the family of Bethany. The above image shows them in the boat, with Magdalene in the middle. The mummy-like figure lying in the boat is the body of St. Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Remember, from the Gospel of Luke, we learn the story of how active Martha was, and how Mary liked to just sit at His Feet and listen and meditate on His words? I take my Scripture quotes from the first English translation of the Bible from the Latin Vulgate, the Douay-Rheims Bible ←— you can click this link and use the code ROSEMARY30 to receive 30% off!

“Now it came to pass as they went, that he entered into a certain town: and a certain woman named Martha, received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sitting also at the Lord's feet, heard his word. But Martha was busy about much serving. Who stood and said: Lord, hast thou no care that my sister hath left me alone to serve? speak to her therefore, that she help me. And the Lord answering, said to her: Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled about many things. But one thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)

St. Frances Cabrini gives us an example of blending the two - taking time for prayer and meditation, while at the same time accomplishing astounding things for the kingdom of the Lord.

Let’s take a closer look at what happened to the family of Bethany after the Gospel leaves off their story. A dear friend gave me a series of antique French picture postcards detailing the journeys of Magdalene, beginning with what we know from the Scripture. The first one shows the raising of Lazarus from the dead, then the Crucifixion, then Magdalene meeting the Lord in the Resurrection Garden.

The next postcard is “Arrivee de la Famille de Bethanie a Marseille”, showing the three siblings of Bethany, with their companions, in a small boat in stormy waters. Lazarus is standing up holding up a crucifix to inspire them.

They weren’t on a large ship like Cabrini, so they were praying, but maybe not peacefully meditating! They came ashore near Marseilles, in what is now the town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, as we discussed last week.

The next postcard is entitled Saint Lazare celebre sa premiere Messe en Provence (St. Lazarus celebrating the first Mass in Provence.) When we visited Provence in 2015, we went to the Abbey of St. Victor to see the crypt below where Lazarus was said to have offered Mass.

Here is my photo of the crypt of St. Victor:

Across from the Abbey, a bakery sells little pastry boats, or “navettes”, in honor of the siblings’ journey from Palestine, bringing the light of Christ’s truth to France.

Next comes “Apostolat de Sainte Marie-Madeleine en Provence,” showing Mary Magdalene preaching the Gospel to the people.

We see here that Mary Magdalene had learned now to be an active apostle, and not just to sit at His Feet, as she did at Bethany. She had learned the value of laboring for Christ, but after a while, she decided to pull away again to follow her heart and be a contemplative. She became a cloistered nun before there was such a thing! So she bid “Adieu to her brother and sister” - Adieux de Sainte Marie-Madeleine a sa Soeur et a son Frere:

We see here Bishop Lazarus blessing his sisters as they embrace. Like we talked about the active St. Teresa of Avila and the contemplative St. Therese of Lisieux a couple of weeks ago, some of us may be called to be one or the other.

The hard-working Martha continued on to the town of Tarascon, where, like St. George, she drove out the dragon. Whether she drove out a physical dragon, as the people there annually commemorate, or whether it is symbolic of driving out the monster of darkness and illuminating them with the light of Truth, we know she went there.

(The exterior of the church in Tarascon, where the remains of Martha rest)

Do you remember last week how I mentioned that the tradition is strong that these Palestine missionaries came to the south of France, but it is unclear as to whether they were forced to when the apostles were being persecuted, or whether they left of their own accord at the instructions of St. Peter? A painting in the Tarascon church shows them being forcibly exiled. The bishops are St. Lazarus and St. Maximin, and the two sisters are shown side by side:

When Mary Magdalene left her brother and sister, and Martha headed to Tarascon, Lazarus remained in Marseilles, where he became its first bishop. His skull is venerated in the Cathedral of St. Mary Major in that city:

But Mary Magdalene found her way out into the wilderness, where she sought to be alone to pray and do penance. She chose a rocky butte, with a cave in the side of the hillside. The next postcard in the series is called Arrivee de Sainte Marie-Madeleine a la Grotte de la Sainte Beaume:

God then sent the Archangel Michael to drive the demon out of the cave (an early Christian house blessing!) and to strike his spear against the wall, from which a spring burst forth, giving the Magdalene water in the cave. This one is called Saint Michel chasse le Dragon de la Grotte:

Here are some pictures from when we visited the place:

Above the left side of the pillar, you can see the monastery which has been built next to the cave. We climbed up the trail to the cave. A church front was built across the opening, thus:

As I mounted these steps, I was choked with tears. It was mind-blowing to be stepping into the cave where Mary Magdalene spent the last 30 years of her life.

At the end of her life, Mary Magdalene was transported by angels to a place now called Saint-Pilon, where St. Maximin met her, administered last rites, and held her as her soul breathed itself forth to God. He then buried her in an alabaster sarcophagus, in memory of the alabaster urn she had carried to Our Lord.

“And when he was in Bethania, in the house of Simon the leper, and was at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of precious spikenard: and breaking the alabaster box, she poured it out upon his head.” (Mark 14:3)

The final postcard shows her miraculous transfer, Sainte Marie-Madeleine portee au Saint-Pilon par les Anges:

After our prayerful time in the cave, we traveled by motorcoach ten miles to The Basilica Saint Mary-Magdalene in Saint-Maximin-La-Sainte-Baume where her remains are now venerated.

When we arrived, they were carrying the reliquary up from the crypt for her approaching feast day (July 22), when it would be carried in joyful procession through the streets:

It’s breathtaking to look at the skull of Mary Magdalene and know that this face saw Jesus. She gives us a beautiful example of contemplation of our Savior, while Martha and Lazarus show us the active life, based on their deep faith and prayer life.

We see these three siblings adventuring from Palestine in a small boat to wild, Roman-ruled Gaul and spreading the Light and Truth of the Faith to these people. What lessons can we learn for our own lives? Comment below!