02 — The Myrrh-bearer
The Passion and burial through the eyes of the women, and the band of myrrh-bearers of whom Mary Magdalene is named first: her place at the Cross when most of the Twelve had fled (Matt. 27:55–56; Mark 15:40; John 19:25), her watching of the burial (Matt. 27:61; Mark 15:47), and the coming of the women with spices to anoint the body on the first day of the week (Mark 16:1–2; Luke 23:55–24:1). This section establishes the title that the Eastern Church gives her above all others — Myroforos, Myrrh-bearer — and the company she heads.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Equal-to-the-Apostles, Myrrh-bearer)
In every list of the women at the Cross and the tomb, Mary Magdalene stands first, as Peter stands first among the Twelve. Where the male disciples scattered, the women remained — at the Cross, at the burial, and at the tomb — and it is to them that the Resurrection is first announced. This section reads the Passion narratives for what they show of the myrrh-bearers’ fidelity, and sets out the band of named women whom the Byzantine tradition gathers into the Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women, the third Sunday of Pascha.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| At the Cross and the Tomb | Mary Magdalene at Golgotha (Matt. 27:55–56; Mark 15:40–41; John 19:25) and watching the burial (Matt. 27:61; Mark 15:47); the contrast with the flight of the male disciples; the women’s fidelity as the thread that runs unbroken from the Cross to the empty tomb. |
| The Myrrh-bearing Women | The band of women who came to the tomb with spices (Mark 16:1; Luke 24:1); the several names across the Gospels (the two or three Marys, Joanna, Salome); the Eastern title Myrrh-bearer (Myroforos); the Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women and the eight myrrh-bearers of the synaxarion. |
See Also
- The Women Who Followed — the same women, now at the Passion
- The First Witness — what Mary alone sees at the tomb
- The Myrrh-bearers as Model — the fidelity of the women as a pattern of discipleship
- The Feasts — the Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women in the Pentecostarion
References
- The Holy Bible, RSV: Matthew 27:55–61; Mark 15:40–47; 16:1–2; Luke 23:55–24:1; John 19:25.
- The Pentecostarion. Trans. Holy Transfiguration Monastery. Boston, 1990. (The Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women.)
- Chrysostom, John. Homilies on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Hom. 88–89. Trans. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series I, Vol. 10.