Beloved in the Lord,
Christ is risen!
I miss you all greatly. Offering Mass with just a few people and live streaming it seems very odd. When I turn to greet you, my family and my friends and you are not “really” there it is very sad for me. The word “Church” means “the Gathering.” The Mass was meant to be a gathering of the people of God to offer the Sacrifice of the Lord. We were all meant to worthily commune in the Body and Blood of the Lord. Pray that Covid-19 is destroyed and the sick healed. Pray that we can be together soon.
As you know the celebration of Pascha continues for 50 days until the feast of the Pentecost. The world put away decorations for “Easter” more than a week ago, but we who are children of the Church continue to celebrate.
“EASTER EGGS”
One tradition during Holy Week is to dye eggs. Secular custom says to dye them any color. Church tradition says we dye them bright red. The red eggs don’t come from the “Easter Bunny.” They come from an ancient Christian story.
St. Mary Magdalen and the “Easter egg”
Let’s begin with a few facts. St Mary Magdalen was not a prostitute. There is no place in the whole Bible or the early Tradition of the Church that claims this. This misunderstanding begins in the 6th century through the writings of Pope Gregory I. Before this time no one believed that Mary Magdalen was a prostitute. St. Mary Magdalen was one of the early disciples of Christ. By Tradition she is identified as the woman in the Gospel who was exorcised of seven demons by the Lord (Luke 8:2). She immediately began to follow him. She is listed as one of the women disciples.
In the Gospel of St. Luke we read: “The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalen, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.” (Luke 8:1-3) When Jesus was crucified it was these women plus the Mother of the Lord and the apostle John who stood with the Lord as he was crucified. Mary Magdalen was the first to see the Lord after his resurrection.
St. John tells us: “Mary turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” Mary Magdalen came, announcing to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.” (Jn 20: 14-18) Because Mary Magdalen was the first to see the risen Lord and he told her to bring news to the Apostles, she is called the “Apostle to the Apostles”. The word “Apostle” means “one who is sent”.
The ministry of women in the early Church is often forgotten. Yet they were many times more faithful to the Lord than his male followers. Without their help, their financial resources and their faithfulness (when the men ran away) the Gospel would not have been preached.
According to tradition, after Jesus' Ascension into heaven and the Pentecost, Mary Magdalen—a wealthy woman of some importance—became an evangelist. She preached the Gospel to anyone who would listen and she used her money to go on voyages to other places to share the message that Christ is risen. Tradition says she boldly presented herself to the Emperor Tiberius Caesar in Rome to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ, with an egg in hand to illustrate her message. She was using the egg to symbolize Christ rising from the tomb as a chick breaks out of its shell and is new life.
Holding the egg out to the Emperor, she exclaimed for the first time what is now the universal Paschal proclamation among Christians, "Christ is risen!"
The Emperor, mocking her, said that Jesus had no more risen than the egg in her hand was red. Immediately, the egg turned red as a sign from God to illustrate the truth of her message. The Emperor then heeded her complaints about Pilate condemning an innocent man to death, and had Pilate removed from Jerusalem under imperial displeasure.
Why did the egg turn red?
Red in the ancient world was a sign of life; it is the color of blood which gives life. Dying an egg red is a sign that we believe Christ rose from the grave and by his blood he purchased for God people of every race and tongue, people of every nation. (cf. Rev. 5:9). His poured out blood is our life blood. When we receive the Holy Eucharist, we commune in his Precious Blood. His blood becomes one with our blood and gives us life and strength.
Why would Mary Magdalene bring an egg to talk about Jesus with the Roman Emperor?
While we do not know if these stories are fact, we do know they were told early on in Christian history. We know as well that the tradition of handing out red eggs at Easter is one that originated among Christians shortly after the time of the Apostles. And we often find St. Mary Magdalene depicted in icons holding a red egg. Moreover, the story fits into the various cultural traditions already surrounding the symbol of the red egg.
Eggs were what helped people to understand a new theological truth—the resurrection of the dead, and a new religion—Christianity—built around the first Resurrection.
As a symbol of Christ's resurrection, the Easter egg then became a symbol for the rebirth of all mankind at the resurrection on the Last Day through the salvation given us by our Lord Jesus Christ.
St Mary Magdalen, Apostle to the Apostles, pray for us to God!
