#Basilica of St. Mary Magdalene

[thepastisalreadywritten]

TODAY IN HISTORY

12 December 1279

A sarcophagus in Saint-Maximin, France, was found — believed to contain Mary Magdalene's remains.

According to legend, Mary Magdalene, along with her brother Lazarus and others, fled the Holy Land by boat and landed in France.

After landing, Mary Magdalene preached the gospel in Marseille before retiring to a cave in the Sainte-Baume mountains for a life of penance and contemplation.

After her death, she was buried in Saint-Maximin.

However, her remains were believed to have been lost or stolen until this rediscovery.

This led to the 1295 construction of the Basilica of St. Mary Magdalene.

Genetic tests on hair from the reliquary suggest it belonged to a woman of likely Jewish origin.

12 December 1863

Edvard Munch (1863-1944) was born in Løten, Norway. He became an extremely important figure in the Expressionist movement.

Munch's work includes his iconic piece, "The Scream."

His childhood was shadowed by illness, death and the fear of inheriting mental illness, which deeply influenced his art.

Munch had a unique style with its expressive color and form. His legacy endures as one of profound emotional expression in painting.

12 December 1915

The legendary Frank Sinatra was born in Hoboken, New Jersey.

[intriguingpeoplebyangelafloyd]

MARY MAGDALENE

Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume

            In 1279, a sarcophagus believed to have been the tomb of Mary Magdalene was discovered. Charles II of Anjou, King of Naples founded the Gothic Basilica of St. Mary Magdalene. Tradition said that Mary, her brother Lazarus and Maximinus fled the Holy Land by a miraculous boat which landed in Camargue, near Arles. In Marseille, Mary converted the local people and retired to a cave in the mountains. She was buried in Saint-Maximin and today states that it holds the remains of Mary Magdalene. Genetic testing showed that the hair was of Jewish ancestry.

#marymagdalene #saintmaximinlasaintebaume

[lastnunswithguns]

The skull of Mary Magdalene in St Maximin Basilica in France.

[thisisnotmyhomeplanet]

The skull of Mary Magdalene in St Maximin Basilica in France.

[diggingupbonespastandpresent]

On this day - 12th December 1279

Discovery of a sarcophagus supposedly containing the body of Mary Magdalene

Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, is a little town in the southeastern region of France.

Here, there is a medieval basilica that attracts thousands of pilgrims each year.

In the basilica, there is a grotto known as La Baume of Mary Magdalene.

It allegedly holds the bones of Mary Magdalene.

There is a glass dome, said to contain her skull.

According to tradition, Mary, her brother Lazarus, and Maximin - one of Christ’s disciples - fled the Holy Land after the execution of St. James, in Jerusalem.

After escaping in a boat, they landed in France, at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.

Mary began to preach, and converted the local people.

For the last thirty years of her life Mary lived in a cave in the Sainte-Baume mountains, and was buried in the town of Saint-Maximin.

When Charles II, King of Naples and Count of Provence, heard the legends about the burial place of Mary, he ordered excavations to locate her relics.

According to this story, Mary’s sarcophagus was located on 12th December of 1279.

Most of her body was still intact.

The only elements missing were the jaw bone, and lower leg bones.

The jaw bone was located at St. John Lateran in Rome, and was reunited with the rest of Mary's body on 6th April 1295.

The purported skull of Mary Magdalene was analysed in 1974, and has remained sealed inside a glass case since then.

Analysis of the skull and photographs of hair found, indicate it belonged to a woman who was around fifty years old, and of Mediterranean descent.

However, because the Catholic Church has not allowed removal of any portion of the skull for dating, the year of the woman's death has not been determined.....

The Tudor Intruders (and more)

strangeremains/the-skull-of-mary-magdalene

The blackened skull of St Mary Magdalene, displayed in a golden reliquary at the basilica of Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, in Southern France.

Source: Facebook

The Tudor Intruders

Picture Credit - Enciclopedia1993

[instruth]

gift of love by pain

bunch of grapes bundle of grain

in victory slain

©Johnny J P Lee

27 February 2024

Photos Credit JLee, last picture Gabriel Onn (Taken on Dec 2013 - The Singapore Chapel at the new Basilica of St. Mary Magdalene at Magdala, Galilee, Holy Land)

[ubu507]

Mary Magdalene in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe, New Mexico

[cruger2984]

THE DESCRIPTION OF SAINT GREGORY THE GREAT (Pope St. Gregory I) The Architect of the Gregorian Chant Feast Day: September 3

"Blessed Gregory, raised upon the throne of Peter, sought always the beauty of the Lord and lived in celebration of that love." -Entrance Antiphon

One of the greatest Popes and one of the Latin Fathers was born Gregorius Anicius in Rome of a patrician family in 540 AD. His father, Gordianus, a patrician who served as a senator and for a time was the Prefect of the City of Rome, also held the position of Regionarius in the church, though nothing further is known about that position. Gregory's mother, Silvia, was well-born, and had a married sister, Pateria, in Sicily. His mother and two paternal aunts are honored by Catholic and Orthodox churches as saints. Gregory's great-great-grandfather had been Pope Felix III, the nominee of the Gothic king, Theodoric. Gregory's election to the throne of St. Peter made his family the most distinguished clerical dynasty of the period.

At 35, after five years of brilliant service as perfect, he gave up all his possessions and became a monk.

In the year 590, Gregory, at that time as a simple deacon, was elected Pope by popular acclamation to succeed Pope Pelagius II, when the latter died of the plague spreading through the city. Gregory was approved by an Imperial iussio from Constantinople the following September (as was the norm during the Byzantine Papacy). He tried to run away from the city, but was forcibly carried to the Basilica of St. Peter. where he was consecrated. Gregory now began a tireless apostolate that merited for him the title the 'Great'.

He is commonly credited with founding the medieval papacy and so many attribute the beginning of medieval spirituality to him, and is the only pope between the fifth and the eleventh centuries whose correspondence and writings have survived enough to form a comprehensive corpus. This includes: Magna Moralia (Commentary of Job), The Book of Pastoral Rule (Liber Regulae Pastoralis), the Dialogues (a collection of four books), and sermons (including the Homilae in Hiezechielem (Homilies on Ezekiel)).

Gregory was among those who identified Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany, whom, in the Holy Gospel of John (12:1-8), recounts as having anointed Jesus with precious ointment, an event that some interpret as being the same as the anointing of Jesus performed by a woman that Luke (alone among the synoptic Gospels) recounts as sinful.

He faced numerous challenges, including those posed by the Lombards, who sought to control Italy and practiced Arianism, and those posed by the Byzantines, who employed strategies that were designed to protect Ravenna, the administrative center of Byzantine government in Italy, at the expense of Rome. Indeed, both Lombards and Byzantines posed threats: the sedition of imperial soldiers was as troubling as the swords of the Lombards.

He used the proceeds of the collapse of the Roman Empire, he took over the task of protecting the people from the barbarians. He also introduced the so called 'Gregorian Chant' in the Liturgy and sent the first missionaries to evangelize in England.

Despite his prestige, Gregory called himself 'Servus Servorum Dei - Servant of the Servants of God' - a title still retained by his successors.

During a penitential procession, which the pope had called to stop a deadly pestilence, the archangel Michael appeared sheathing his sword on the top of Hadrian's Mausoleum (now Castel Sant' Angelo), signifying the end of God's punishment. In gratitude, a bronze angel was built on the mausoleum, depicting Michael replacing his sword in its scabbard. The Seven Penitential Psalms associated with this procession date from the 12th century and have been incorrectly ascribed to Gregory.

The tradition of the 'Thirty Gregorian Masses' is connected with Justus, one of Gregory's monks, who died without confessing that he had secretly three golden crowns. After offering 30 consecutive Masses for his eternal salvation, Justus appeared to one of the brothers, assuring him that he had been released from all torments.

Gregory felt that he was part of a Christian empire, a 'holy commonwealth' headed by the Byzantine emperor. Ideally, the emperor deferred to the church (though generally he did not), even as the church recognized him as a power ordained by God (for good or evil). Ambivalence dictated discretion: Gregory would execute obnoxious laws (such as Emperor Maurice's prohibition of monastic life for state employees) while simultaneously protesting such laws. He explained this practice in one of his letters: 'I have thus done my duty on both sides. I have obeyed the emperor, and yet have not restrained what ought to be said on God’s behalf.' He often protested Maurice's policies regarding the Lombards and the church, and his dislike of Maurice explains his warm welcome to Phocas, the bloody usurper of the imperial throne, in 602.

Gregory died in Rome on March 12, 604 AD at the age of 63 or 64, and was immediately canonized as a saint by popular acclamation. He was one of the two Popes in history who were titled 'The Great', and is proclaimed Doctor of the Church in 1298.

[outofeverythingthisnamewasleft]

[funeral]

The preserved skull of Mary Magdalene at St. Maximin Basilica, France

[immaculatium]

Skull of St Mary Magdalene, Saint-Maximin Basilica in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, France

[eesirachs]

Thoughts on mary magdalene?

mary of magdala, the woman who tried to touch the non-non-incarnated body of god. the woman who disappeared from acts. the woman who was killed by the narrative.

back when i was still doing some new testament work, i spent a lot of time with her. i even was fortunate enough to do research in st. maximin, the town in france which keeps a skull in a gold reliquary and parades it on her feast day (images of it circulate on tumblr every once and a while). i was there for her first feast day. it was pouring, and the ceiling of the basilica was leaking, and there was such thick silence and such thick joy. re-membering this woman. digging her out from the rubble. they knew what they were doing when they gave her a reliquary with a mask that come off, revealing hollow skull eyes. you can look at her. but miriam looks back

[arts-dance]

Pietà

The Pietà (Italian pronunciation: [pjeˈta]; meaning "pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus after his body was removed from the cross. It is most often found in sculpture. The Pietà is a specific form of the Lamentation of Christ in which Jesus is mourned by the Virgin Mary alone.

Michelangelo's Pietà  in St. Peter's Basilica, 1498–1499

Pietà, German, c. 1375–1400

The Deposition, 1547–1555, Michelangelo, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence

Sculpture Crucifixion of Jesus observing Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus (Salzburg work, 1470s), National Gallery of Slovenia.

German or Netherlandish 15th Century, Pietà, c. 1450–1500, National Gallery of Art  

Swabian painted wood Pietà of c. 1500

Pietà, c.1600, Annibale Carracci 1560-1609

Pietà is one of the three common artistic representations of a sorrowful Virgin Mary, the other two being Mater Dolorosa (Mother of Sorrows) and Stabat Mater (the mother was standing).[2][3] The other two representations are most commonly found in paintings, rather than sculpture, although combined forms exist.

The Pietà developed in Germany (where it is called the "Vesperbild") about 1300, reached Italy about 1400, and was especially popular in Central European Andachtsbilder.[5] Many German and Polish 15th-century examples in wood greatly emphasise Christ's wounds. The Deposition of Christ and the Lamentation or Pietà form the 13th of the Stations of the Cross, as well as one of the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin.

Although the Pietà most often shows the Virgin Mary holding Jesus, there are other compositions, including those where God the Father participates in holding Jesus (see gallery below). In Spain the Virgin often holds up one or both hands, sometimes with Christ's body slumped to the floor.

Michelangelo - Main article: Pietà (Michelangelo)

A famous example by Michelangelo was carved from a block of marble and is located in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City  The body of Christ is different from most earlier Pietà statues, which were usually smaller and in wood. The Virgin is also unusually youthful, and in repose, rather than the older, sorrowing Mary of most Pietàs. She is shown as youthful for two reasons; God is the source of all beauty and she is one of the closest to God, also the exterior is thought as the revelation of the interior (the virgin is morally beautiful). Michelangelo's Pieta sculpture is also unique in the fact that it is the only one of his works that he ever signed. Upon hearing that visitors thought it had been sculpted by Cristoforo Solari, a competitor.  His signature is carved as MICHAELA[N]GELUS BONAROTUS FLORENTIN[US] FACIEBA[T] "Michelangelo Buonarroti the Florentine did it".

In a lesser known Michelangelo Pietà, The Deposition (c. 1547–1555), it is not the Virgin Mary who is holding Jesus' body, but rather Nicodemus (or possibly Joseph of Arimathea), Mary Magdalene, and the Virgin Mary. There is some indication that the man in the hood is based on a self-portrait of the artist.[8] The sculpture is housed in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Florence and is also known as the Florentine Pietà.

A generation later, the Spanish painter Luis de Morales painted a number of highly emotional Pietàs,[9] with examples in the Louvre and Museo del Prado.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet%C3%A0

[londiniumlundene]

London Through a Looking Glass: National Monument to Newton

In 1696, Isaac Newton left his scholarly life in Cambridge to find alternative employment in London. Somewhat surprisingly for someone who had spent many years studying theology and the physical sciences, his first job was as Warden of the Royal Mint. He quickly rose to the top position of Master of the Mint, completed a second term as an MP in the House of Commons, and in 1703 was elected as President of the Royal Society of London. Newton’s increasing status and influence allowed him to move to the fashionable West End district of the capital, where he set up home in a four-storey town house on St Martin’s Street, even installing an observatory tower. Newton spent much of the last years of his life in London, dying in 1727, aged 84.

Almost 100 year after Newton’s death, Thomas Steele of Magdalen College, Cambridge, sent a letter to the Times in which he suggested that the residence on St Martin’s street be entombed in a stepped stone pyramid, surmounted by a stone globe. Though Newton had already received a prestigious plot at Westminster Abbey, Steele felt that the nation was deserving a more worthy monument…

Steele was apparently inspired by the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels in Assisi, in which small, cottage-like chapel stands directly under the main dome. He believed that the writer of the Principia deserved this most noble of monuments, and that it should perhaps contain a council chamber and library for the Royal Society. Steele envisioned the monument to be on a comparable scale to St Paul’s Cathedral – at least in terms of its footprint, if not its height.

Whilst there was some support for the proposal, it ultimately did not come to pass. Instead of being enshrined, the exterior of Newton’s house was instead covered in stucco in 1849, and the building was subsequently demolished 1913. The site is now home to Westminster Reference Library.

[aflashbak]

The skull of Mary Magdalene in St Maximin Basilica in France https://www.instagram.com/p/CLrME8pAY97/?igshid=rdfetg0oqmh3