How much is little Mary Magdalene loved? A symbol of mercy and received forgiveness, this saint unites in herself three historical figures: the forgiven sinner, the sister of Lazarus, and the woman disciple from Magdala.

Today we remember with joy the presence of Mary of Magdala, the first witness to the risen Christ. In reality, because of a small historical confusion, the three Marys cited in the gospels – the prostitute who became a disciple, Mary the sister of Lazarus, and Mary of Magdala – ended up by becoming a single person. This matters little: we know her all-consuming love for the Teacher, her overflowing weeping at the sepulchre, her great wish for the proclaiming of the message. Mary Magdalene thus became, in the history of the Church, an image of the tenderness of God, of His infinite mercy, of he who made a prostitute the first and most credible of women missionaries…Nobody is ever lost, ever, in the eyes of God.

Thus Vezelay, a splendid medieval sanctuary in Borgogna, which according to tradition contains the remains of Mary Magdalene, became down the centuries a place where mercy could be encountered.

This place, in this way, became a temple of tenderness and forgiveness, of mercy and compassion. Through a pathway of initiation, a pilgrim experienced the extent of the goodness of God. Just after going out of one of the three doors of the façade, a capital up on high, which is inaccessible to the eyes, reveals a paradox of paradoxes.

The sculptor has depicted the hanging of Judas, the accursed to the utmost. The depiction follows medieval custom: the soul of Judas is leaving his inanimate body while a demon seizes it.

But on the other side a shepherd, the good shepherd, carries the poor Judas on his shoulders. The face of the shepherd in divided in two, mixing joy with suffering. This is Christ and he is carrying the soul of Judas on his shoulders. Only in that place could so much be dared.

     May Mary of Magdala continue to remind us of the measureless measure of the infinite love of God! She, who experienced forgiveness without conditions, still invites us to become disciples of compassion.

May she, Mary Magdalene, the disciple of the compassionate and the merciful Jesus, the object of the immensely respectful and sweet look of the Lord, make us witnesses to the Risen Christ, on this day, as she did, thereby becoming the woman apostle of the apostles!