Mary Magdalen, patron saint of Provence and one of the first who preached the Gospel in France

All the doors of the imposing basilica of Saint Mary Magdalen in Saint-Maximim-la-Sainte-Baume are open on this Sunday 26th of July. People are walking in and out, some are taking place in the pews waiting for the vespers and especially the traditional procession of the relics that will start after the office. 

It’s the last day of the celebration of Mary Magdalen, patron saint of Provence and of this little town of Var where she died and was buried. The tradition of her presence here in Provence is attested since the early centuries A.D. The story starts in Jerusalem in 43 AD. The Christian are persecuted, James the Apostle has been decapitated. Mary Magdalen, Martha, Lazarus, Maximim, Sidoine (the blind-from-birth), Mary Salomé, Mary Jacobé and some of their servants embark on a boat and their journey takes them to the shores of France, called at the times Gaul.

Some stays at the landing site at the mouth of the Rhone river, Martha follows the river to the north and lives around what is today Tarascon, Mary Magdalen, Lazarus, Maximim, Sidoine goes to Massilia (currently Marseille) where they start preaching the Gospel for a few years. Then Magdalen and Maximim go up the Huveaune river and arrive in the Sainte-Baume mountain range where she decides to settle in a cave as a penitent (the legend says that she saw the face of Jesus on the rocks). She spent nearly thirty years there in prayer, carried everyday and several times a day  by angels to listen to the heavenly choirs. Maximin becomes the first bishop of Aix-en-Provence and the story says that she went to see him just before dying to receive the Eucharist. 

All these locations have beautiful sanctuaries and relics that attract a lot of pilgrims since centuries : Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (the two Mary and their servant Sara patron saint of the gypsies), Tarascon (Martha), Marseille, the cave in the Sainte-Baume mountain range kept by the dominicans and Saint-Maximim-la-Sainte-Baume where a huge basilica in the thirteenth century was built to shelter the relics. Nowadays it stands on the plain and looks out of proportion compared to the size of the city. On the doors is written : third tomb of Christendom.

The beautiful reliquary is usually displayed in the crypt alongside a few sarcophagus : four angels carry a woman’s head, the skull of the saint is displayed for veneration and a golden face is covering it on special occasions. Like this last Sunday of July, just minutes before the procession is starting.  

The reliquary is placed in a sort of little chapel and six guys will carry it through the streets of the city. Pilgrims, priests, bishop, folkloric groups with their musicians, brotherhoods, dominicans, two other simpler reliquaries (one of Saint Maximin), all walk before Mary Magdalen. The whole procession is starting, prayers and hymns are rising. All along the way, people are watching, on the sides, on their balconies, tourists or inhabitants. Whatever their belief, this display may rouse their curiosity and lead them to learn more about the first witness of the Resurrection of Christ, the first witness of the most important event of history. Mary Magdalen pray for us.