Holy wives at the tomb of christ. Myrrh-Bearing Wives

The Church devotes the third week after Easter to the myrrh-bearing wives. We tell who were the women who remained faithful to their Lord and Teacher to the end, who stood at the Cross of the Savior, who came to anoint His Body with aromas, and heard from the angel the joyful news of the Resurrection of Christ

Who are the wives of the myrrh-bearer?

Myrrh-bearing wives are followers of Jesus Christ, who came first to the burial cave, where the Savior's body was laid on the eve. The women came in order, according to the Jewish funeral rite, to anoint His body with special fragrant mixtures that would weaken for a while the process of decay.

Myrrh-bearing wives are represented in different ways by the evangelists. For example, in the Gospel of Matthew, only Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” appear (Matt. 28: 1). In the Gospel of Mark - Mary Magdalene, Mary of Jacob (Mark 15:40) and Salome (Mark 16: 1). In the Gospel of Luke - "Mary Magdalene), and John, and Mary, the mother of Jacob, and others with them" (Luke 24.10). The Gospel of John testifies that of the myrrh-bearing women that morning, only Mary Magdalene came to the grave twice. Thus, the name of Mary Magdalene is mentioned in all four canonical Gospels. Among the Evangelists Mark and Luke, Salome and John also appear in the story of the journey to the sepulcher.

According to Holy Tradition, when Judas delivered Christ to the high priests, all His disciples fled. The Apostle Peter followed the Savior to the court of the high priest, where he denied Him three times, denounced as His disciple. All the Jewish people then shouted to Pilate: "Take, take, crucify Him!" (John 19:15). When the Savior was crucified, all the audience passing by mocked Him and only His Mother with John's disciple stood at the Cross and the women who followed Him and His disciples. These were Mary Magdalene, John, Mary, Mother of Jacob, Salome, and others, who later received the name of the myrrh-bearing women.

Resurrection witnesses
Myrrh-bearing wives remained faithful to the Savior to the end. At the same time, they did not have any opportunity to change anything and did not have the right to vote - but only silently stood at the Cross, staying with their Teacher until the last minute.

The myrrh-bearing wives were the first to know about the Resurrection of Christ and saw Him resurrected.

When the women went to the burial place of the Savior, they reasoned about who could roll the stone away from the burial cave. But before their arrival, an Angel descended, after which an earthquake occurred, which rolled off the stone and frightened the guards. The angel testified to the myrrh-bearing wives that Christ has risen and will precede them in Galilee. The Gospel of John specifically emphasizes that Mary Magdalene was the first to come to the grave, after which she returned to the apostles Peter and John and said that “we do not know where they laid Him” (John 20: 2), seeing that there was no body in the tomb.

Mary Magdalene cried and thought that the Savior's body had been stolen. At this time, Christ appeared to her, whom she at first took for a gardener. He told her not to touch Him before He ascended to the Father, and asked to inform His disciples about His resurrection. Mary Magdalene, returning to her disciples, meets another Mary - and Christ appears for the second time, again commanding the disciples to report on His resurrection. The apostles, hearing about the resurrection of the Savior, did not believe it.

However, there is also a legend that the first Jesus appeared not to Mary Magdalene, but to His Mother - Mary. And in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus appears at once to all myrrh-bearing women (Matt. 28: 9-10).

“On the same day two of them went to a village sixty stadia from Jerusalem, called Emmaus; and talked among themselves about all these events. And when they were talking and reasoning among themselves, Jesus Himself, coming near, went with them. But their eyes were restrained so that they did not recognize Him. But he said to them: What are you talking about as you walk, and why are you sad? One of them, by the name of Cleopas, answered him: Are you one of those who came to Jerusalem not aware of what happened in it these days? And he said to them: About what? They said to Him: what happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people; how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. And we hoped that He is the One who should deliver Israel; but with all this, it is already the third day now that it happened. But some of our women amazed us: they were early at the tomb and did not find His body, and when they came, they said that they had also seen the appearance of Angels, who say that He is alive. And some of ours went to the sepulcher and found it as the women said, but they did not see Him. Then He said to them: Oh, foolish and slow-hearted to believe everything that the prophets predicted! " (Luke 24: 13-25).

Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene is a saint equal to the apostles, revered by the Orthodox Church as one of the myrrh-bearing wives. In the New Testament, the name of Mary Magdalene is mentioned only in six episodes:

1. When she was healed by Jesus Christ from being possessed by seven demons (Luke 8: 2; Mark 16: 9);
2. After that, she followed Christ, serving Him (Mark 15: 40-41, Luke 8: 3);
3. She was present at Calvary at the time of Christ's death on the cross (Matt. 27:56);
4. She became a witness of His burial (Matt. 27:61);
5. Became one of the myrrh-bearing women (10), to whom the Angel announced His resurrection (Matt. 28: 1, Mark. 16: 1-8);
6. She was the first to see the resurrected Savior, mistaking Him for a gardener. (John 20: 11-18).

Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene was born in the town of Magdala (from where, according to a number of opinions, her nickname comes from - "Magdalene", Hebrew. "A native of the city of Migdal-El"), in Galilee, in the northern part of the Holy Land, on the shore of Lake Gennesaret, nearby from the place where John the Baptist baptized.

Magdala. Located in Galilee, 3 km north of the city of Tiberias, on the banks of the Kinneret

As for the first part of the life of St. Mary Magdalene, Equal to the Apostles, it is known that she was subject to an incurable illness, was possessed, according to the Gospel of Luke, “by seven demons” (Luke 8: 2). The reasons and circumstances of what happened to her are not specified. It is believed that Mary Magdalene was possessed not because of her sinfulness, but because the Providence of God allowed this in order for the Lord Jesus Christ to reveal the work of the Glory of God - the miracle of healing Mary Magdalene, enlightening her mind and bringing her to faith in Christ the Savior and to eternal salvation.

Once Mary Magdalene heard about the Miracle Worker, “heals every disease and every weakness in people” (Matthew 9:35). She begins to look for Him, sees that “He healed many from sickness and ailments, and from evil spirits, and the deaf, and the blind, and the lame, and the lepers, and the dead he raised” (Luke 7: 21,22; Matthew 11 : 5, etc.). Mary Magdalene fervently believes in His omnipotence, resorts to His Divine power, asks for healing and receives what is requested: the tormenting power of evil spirits leaves her, she is freed from enslavement to demons and her life is sanctified by the Divine radiance of her Healer.

In Byzantine literature, it is said that after the death of the Savior on the cross, Mary Magdalene went to Ephesus together with the Most Holy Theotokos to St. to the Apostle John the Theologian and helped him in her labors. It is believed that Mary Magdalene preached the gospel in Rome (Rom. 16: 6). She also died in Ephesus.

Who else was among the wives of the myrrh-bearers?

Saint Salome
Daughter of Joseph, the betrothed of the Holy Virgin Mary, born of his first marriage. St. Salome was married to Zebedee and had from this marriage two sons, Apostle. John the Evangelist and James. Together with other myrrh-bearing wives, Salome served Christ when He was in Galilee. The Evangelist Matthew, describing the sufferings of the Lord Jesus on the Cross, says that there were also many women who were watching from afar who followed Jesus from Galilee, serving Him. Among them was the mother of the sons of Zebedee (Matt. 27: 55-56). Among the other women-myrrh-bearers (13) she also came to the tomb of the risen Lord and learned from the angels about His Resurrection and the command to inform the disciples that He had risen from the dead and “goes before you into Galilee: there you will see Him” (Mark 16: 7 ).

Saint john
Saint John is the wife of Khuza, the steward of Herod. When the head of John the Baptist was cut off, the killers did not want to put the head of the Forerunner together with his body, fearing that he might be resurrected; the disciples buried the body of the Forerunner in Sebastia, and the enemies hid the head in Herod's palace. Joanna, the wife of Khuza, the steward of Herod, who was a secret follower of Christ, learned about this. She secretly took the honest head and, putting it in a vessel, with reverence buried it in Herod's estate, on the Mount of Olives. The holy Evangelist Luke in his Gospel, speaking about the passage of Jesus Christ through the cities and villages for preaching and preaching the gospel, notes that some women followed Him, among whom he also speaks of John, the wife of Khuza, the steward of Herod, who served Him with their property. (Luke 8: 1-3). In addition, St. the Evangelist Luke says that these wives followed Christ from Galilee to Jerusalem and at the crucifixion of the Lord stood in the distance and looked at the crucifixion, at the tomb, and as they laid the body of the Lord.

Saint Mary Kleopova
Maria Kleopova is the daughter of Joseph, the betrothed of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She was married to Joseph's younger brother, Cleopa. She was still a girl when the Most Holy Virgin, betrothed to Joseph, entered his house and lived with this daughter of Joseph in tender love, like sisters. Based on this tender love of St. the evangelist John calls Mary Cleopas the sister of the Mother of Jesus (John 19:25). She was honored to be present at the cross of the Savior and to hear the Divine adoption by the Lord of her beloved disciple to the Most Holy Theotokos. We have nothing in church traditions about the later life and death of Maria Kleopova.

Saint Susanna
Only one Evangelist Luke mentions Susanna, and only once: when he talks about the passage of the Lord Jesus Christ through the cities and villages for preaching and preaching the gospel, then from the wives accompanying him he also names Susanna (Luke 8: 3), as serving Christ from her estates.

Saint Mary, mother of Jacob the lesser and Josiah
Three Evangelists mention this wife - Matthew, when listing the wives who stood at the cross, calls her Mary, the mother of Jacob and Josiah. The Evangelist Mark mentions her twice: the first time - when listing the wives who looked from afar at the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. He calls her Mary, the mother of Jacob the lesser and Josiah. Another time, listing the myrrh-bearing wives (14) who bought the fragrances, he also mentions Mary Jacobleva. Finally, the Evangelist Luke, narrating about those who returned from the tomb of the risen Savior to the disciples for the gospel of the Risen wives, also mentions Mary, the mother of Jacob (Matthew 27, 56; Mark 15, 40, 16.1; Luke 24.10) ...

Celebration
The Day of Remembrance of the Myrrh-Bearing Women is celebrated on the fifteenth day, starting from Easter (the third Sunday). On this church women's holiday, it is customary to congratulate their close women - spouses, mothers, sisters. Myrrh-bearing wives are an example of true sacrificial love and selfless service to the Lord. The Church celebrates this day as a holiday for all Christian women, Orthodox Women's Day - every woman on earth is a prototype of one of the myrrh-bearing women: she brings peace to the world, her family, home, gives birth to children, is a support for her husband. A number of Orthodox Christians are in favor of making this particular day an alternative to the secular International Women's Day, celebrated on March 8.

Of the greatest Orthodox icons, only a small number of them stand out. The icon of the Myrrh-Bearing Woman is just one of those.

This image describes the events of Holy Week and refers to the icons associated with Easter and its post-holiday period. That is why he is so famous in the Orthodox Church world.

History of the icon

On Holy Saturday, when the body of Christ was to lie in the tomb, the myrrh-bearing wives came to him. Naturally, the body of Christ was not there, because he ascended to Heaven, but not like an ordinary mortal - not only in soul, but also in body.

There are several versions of who were these myrrh-bearers. These versions are described in the Gospel: one of the apostles claimed that it was Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jacob. Someone mentioned Solomiya, John. In any case, there were several women. They did not turn away from Christ, who was executed. In those days, the acquaintances of the one who was executed could also be persecuted, because almost everyone turned their backs on the Savior. Remained next to the Mother of God, the myrrh-bearing wives, Joseph, a couple of righteous people and one apostle. That is why the myrrh-bearers are so revered in Christianity.

They came to the tomb of the Lord in order to perform the ancient Jewish posthumous rite. They were not afraid of the consequences of their deed, therefore they were exalted by the Lord for their courageous deed and faith.

What does the icon look like and in which churches it is

The icon always depicts the Virgin Mary, as well as the myrrh-bearers themselves. There are three, seven or five of them. The icon has the tomb of the Lord, in which there is no body. The coffin contains only the shroud and the tunic. Sometimes those two disciples who have not denied the Savior are depicted, as well as the risen Lord himself.

It is worth noting that most Orthodox churches have such murals or icons. Many churches are named after the myrrh-bearing women. It will be possible to pray in front of this icon in almost any city in Russia and even beyond its borders. You can even visit the very place where an empty coffin was found with the robe of Christ inside. That temple is called that - the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. It is there that the Holy Fire appears from year to year.

How the icon helps

This icon shows how important the power of faith is. You should not deny the Lord and the faith, even if this promises you only dangers and troubles. Those who during their lifetime were strong in their faith, the Lord always takes to Himself. The steadfastness of faith is an indicator of how much you love the Lord, how close you are to His principles and His teachings.

This icon is a reflection of the human essence, its strengths and weaknesses. The important thing is not whether you have been with God all your life, but whether you stayed with him in the worst hour. The apostles learned from Christ everything he said, and then betrayed him. Of course, this is not a full-fledged betrayal that Judas committed, but this is the wrong step. The icon of the "Myrrh-Bearing Woman" helps not to doubt your faith, but only to strengthen it from day to day.

Prayers before the icon

It is allowed to read any prayers addressed directly to Christ or the Intercessor. There are also prayers that are addressed to the myrrh-bearers themselves. Here is the simplest of these:

“You stayed close to Christ, because the Lord received forgiveness and light. Endow us, sinful servants of God, with your faith and great steadfastness. May our life be full of goodness and equality, for no one is unique in his position relative to our God. We are all servants of God, and we all ask forgiveness from the merciful Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Hear us, Lord, and help the grace to find eternal. Amen".

Celebration date icons

The third Sunday after Easter is the day of the myrrh-bearing wives. On this day, the story of women who praised the Lord after death is remembered. This is the day of the icon, respectively. In Orthodoxy, this day is set aside in order to pay tribute to these women who were not afraid of the consequences of their faith. They are for orthodox people a special symbol of faith.

Also, this day is a kind of Orthodox analogue of March 8, because on this day it is customary to congratulate mothers, grandmothers, sisters, wives. Each woman is to some extent a myrrh-bearer, because she illuminates the life of her loved ones with her love. Many skeptics say that the role of women in Orthodoxy is low, as well as in any religion, but this is not so. Almost everyone knows about this holiday, but not everyone knows that the myrrh-bearing wives proved to be the most faithful followers of faith in Christ. Women must demonstrate their devotion, for which they are praised by men on this day.

On this day, it is advisable to visit the church to pray for the strengthening of the faith and for the health of all loved ones. Reading prayers at home also carries a lot of weight, so do not be lazy to pray even if you do not have the opportunity to visit the temple. Good luck and don't forget to press the buttons and

On the third Sunday after Easter, the Orthodox Church recalls myrrh-bearing wives... It is known that in pre-revolutionary Russia this day was celebrated as a Women's Day. These women are now undeservedly forgotten by many. I propose to remember their lives in order to understand what their holiness was, what we should learn from them. After all, myrrh-bearing wives are not an abstract definition, but real women, which are described in the Gospel, in the Acts of the Apostles, in the lives of saints, in legends.

So this day is remembered Mary Magdalene, Mary Kleopova, Salome, John, Martha, Mary, Susanna and others.

Myrrh-Bearing Wives - Faithful Disciples of Christ

Hearing Jesus' sermons, observing his life, healing the sick, listening to wise teachings, these women believed in Him as the Son of God. The Gospel mentions that they accompanied their Teacher to Golgotha \u200b\u200bwith weeping, they were at the cross next to the Mother of God and John - the only disciple who remained faithful to the end. One of the Apostles betrayed Him, the other denied, all the others hid in horror when they seized their mentor. But He revealed divine secrets to them, gave them the gift of healing people and casting out demons. Women did not have such a gift. However, they did not betray Him. They were present both at the removal from the cross and at the position in the tomb. They did not only have time to anoint the body with incense, as Saturday and Easter were coming.

Just before dawn the next morning, they came to the tomb of incense, a precious ointment to be anointed. Therefore, they later began to be called myrrh-bearers (carrying myrrh). "Who will roll the stone for us?" - they grieved. Yes, the men were not with them again. But the stone was already rolled away, and the angel announced that Jesus had risen: "Why are you looking for the living among the dead?"

The Gospel says that she was the first to come to the tomb, ahead of other women,

Repentant Sinner

She was from the small town of Magdala, which stood on the shores of Lake Gennesaret. Currently, the village of Mejdel stands in its place. Nothing is known about her childhood and youth. Church Tradition mentions that this was a young beauty who led a sinful life. After meeting with the Savior, her life changed dramatically.

The Gospel says that Jesus Christ drove seven demons out of her. From that moment on, Mary Magdalene repented of her sins and became a faithful disciple of the Savior. It was to her that the resurrected Christ appeared first, it was from her words that the apostles learned about the resurrection of the Lord.

Then she will carry this good news to many nations, and the Church will call her equal to the apostles. It was she who gave the Emperor Tiberius a red egg and laid the tradition of giving each other colored eggs for Easter.

A relative of the holy family

Saint Mary Kleopova, the myrrh-bearer, according to the tradition of the Church was a close relative of Joseph, the Betrothed of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

They lived in the same house for some time and were friendly like sisters. Then three sons of Mary Kleopova will become disciples of Christ. Jacob and Josiah were among the first disciples. Simeon - an apostle from 70 - was the second bishop of the Jerusalem church.

Maria Kleopova was with Jesus' suffering to the end.

Mother of the holy apostles

Holy righteous Salome the myrrh-bearer was the daughter of Joseph, the Betrothed of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from her first marriage.

She was married to Zebedee a fisherman and from this marriage had two sons, the apostles John the Theologian and James. After carefully reading the Gospel, we learn that she and her sons followed Jesus, helping them on their travels and listening to the teachings of Christ. Salome loved her sons so much that she even dared to ask Jesus to put them on the right and left hand in His Kingdom. Obviously, the other students did not like this. And Jesus patiently explained that the kingdom of heaven is different from the kingdom of this world. After all, He understood the loving mother's heart and did not condemn her. Salome was devoted to the teacher to the end. She was at the crucifixion and burial of the Lord and was among the myrrh-bearers who early in the morning came to the tomb to anoint the body of Christ.

The sisters of a close friend of Jesus

Righteous Martha and Mary were the sisters of Lazarus, whom Jesus resurrected on the fourth day after his death.

Jesus was a friend of Lazarus and often stayed at their home. Martha was a very caring and welcoming hostess. Mary, however, always eagerly listened to His teachings.

It was in honor of these sisters that the Martha and Mary Convent in Moscow was named. They are models of ministry and preaching.

When the persecution began, Martha and Mary accompanied their brother Lazarus, helped him in preaching the Gospel in different countries.

The lady of the court

Saint John the Myrrhbearer was a lady of the court. Her husband, Khuza, served as the steward of King Herod.

Tradition tells that when John the Baptist was killed in the palace of Herod, this woman hid his head and secretly buried it in order to save him from desecration. It can be assumed that Khuza divorced her for this act. Or maybe she herself left the palace and began to follow Christ, serving him and the apostles with her wealth. Some researchers believe that the son of the courtier whom Jesus healed was the son of Khuza and John. In this case, it is not surprising that the grateful mother abandoned everything and began to serve him to the end.
She witnessed the appearance of angels, announcing the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and told the apostles about it.

Rich woman

ABOUT Susannamentions only one Evangelist Luke and only once: when he talks about the passage of the Lord Jesus Christ through cities and villages for preaching and preaching the gospel, then of the wives accompanying him, he also names Susanna (Luke 8: 3), as serving Christ from her estates.

Such were they, the myrrh-bearers. Remarkably, among them were young and old, poor and rich, righteous and sinful. They are caring sisters, daughters, mothers of the first apostles and their companions. They were close and understandable to the sermons of the Lord, who spoke about love, humility, service to people. The Lord did not give them gifts like the apostles. But it was they who first became aware of the good news of His Resurrection.

Before the revolution in Russia, the third Easter Sunday was always celebrated as a holiday for all women - mothers, sisters, daughters, grandmothers. He reminded of what a woman should be - caring, loving, faithful to the end. She must forgive men for their momentary weaknesses and help in their labors.

“Wives, obey your husbands, so that those of them who do not obey the word may be acquired by the life of their wives without a word, when they see your pure, God-fearing life” (1 Peter 3: 1-2).

It is precisely purity, love, patience, constancy, loyalty that is capable of influencing a man beneficially without unnecessary words and persuasion.

The article uses materials from the sites:

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St. Myrrh-bearing women. history of the holiday

IN week of Myrrh-Bearing Women The church remembers the holy wives - witnesses of the suffering, death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Among the myrrh-bearing women, we know the names of only a few, about whom the holy evangelists wrote. The first one is Maria Magdalyna, it is said about her that the Lord drove out of her "seven demons" (according to the church interpretation, here "seven" means many; under "demons" one can also mean sinful skills that are contrary to the seven basic virtues - the gifts of the Holy Spirit). Second - Salome, who was the daughter of Joseph the Betrothed and the mother of the holy apostles James and John Zebedee. Third - John, the wife of Khuzan, the steward of King Herod, the same one who saved the holy head of John the Predotech from reproach. Fourth and fifth - Mary and Martha, sisters Lazarev. Sixth - Marya Kleopina, which, according to the laws of Jewish kinship, the evangelist calls the sister of the Most Holy Theotokos, the seventh - Sosana... Among the myrrh-bearing wives there was also Holy Mother of GodWhich evangelists call "Mary Jacob" and "Mary Joseph". There were many others with them who walked with the Lord during His earthly life and served Him.

The resurrected Savior was the first to appear to the myrrh-bearing wives. From them came the Easter greeting " Christ is Risen!". On the night of the Resurrection of Christ, the myrrh-bearing wives hurried to the Holy Sepulcher with peace in their arms, in order to pour fragrant aromas on the Body of the Savior according to the eastern custom. The wives, going to the coffin, thought: “ Who will roll the stone from the grave?". Before their arrival, due to the descent of the Angel, an earthquake occurs, which rolled off the stone and plunged the guards into fear. The angel told the wives that Christ had risen and would precede them in Galilee. First of all, the Lord appeared to His Most Pure Mother. But, as the holy fathers write, so that for the sake of close kinship the miraculous phenomenon would not be subject to some doubt, the evangelists do not announce this directly, but point to Mary Magdalene. We find some difference in the description of events among different evangelists, but there is no contradiction here, because they write about different times. Evangelist Matthew about the “Sabbath supper”, when women came not yet in peace, but to “see the tomb”. Mark writes about early morning, when the sun has already shone. Marya Magdalyna, as the most zealous, came several times, was not afraid to walk alone, in the middle of a dark night and despising the danger of meeting armed Roman soldiers: by order of Pilate, they were given full power to punish if any of the disciples dared to come to the Holy Sepulcher. The Gospel of John, as at the latest, especially emphasizes that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb first. Returning to the apostles Peter and John, she says: “We do not know where they put Him” (John 20: 2). After the apostles Peter and John left, Mary Magdalene remained at the tomb. She thought the body had been stolen and cried. At this time, Christ appeared to her, whom she at first took for a gardener. He tells her not to touch Him until he ascends to the Father, and asks her to inform the disciples about His Resurrection. Then, according to Matthew, Mary, returning with the gospel to the disciples, meets the second Mary, and Christ appears a second time, commanding to re-inform all the disciples about the Resurrection. The apostles, hearing about the resurrection of Jesus, did not believe.

Some time after the Resurrection of Christ, after His Holy One, Marya Magdalene, as well as Martha and Marya, the sisters of Lazarev, arrived in Rome in order to announce to the reigning emperor Tiberius Caesar the whole truth about past events. They presented him with many gifts and told about all the miracles and blessings that Christ the Savior showed in the Jews and how cruelly and inhumane they condemned Him to death. By order of the emperor, other witnesses were called then, including the centurion Login, who stood at the Cross of the Lord. He had on himself the holy robe of the Lord, which he inherited by lot, and from it the emperor himself immediately received healing, applying it to a purulent scab on his face. Then the imperial chamber shook and shook, from which all the gold and silver idols that were there crumbled to dust. Very frightened, Caesar decided to conduct a detailed investigation.

Soon all the wicked murderers were brought to justice and harsh retribution, both Pilate and the Jewish elders. Marya Magdalyna then worked a lot in the gospel of Christ, for which she received the name "Equal to the Apostles" in the church. Having reached old age, she died in the Greek city of Ephesus and was buried by the holy Apostle John the Theologian. In 886, under the Greek emperor Leo the Wise, her relics were solemnly transferred to the Constantinople monastery of St. Lazarus.

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Saints righteous Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus

Handsome Joseph, as the Holy Scripture calls him, was one of the seventy apostles. He came from the city of Arimathea or Ramapha (Rama) and was a wealthy and distinguished member of the Sanhedrin and, like Nicodemus, a secret disciple of Christ. However, when extreme circumstances demanded, he courageously revealed his faith and decided to go to the Pontic Pilate to ask the Holy Body of the Lord for burial. As a person famous and known personally to the ruler himself, who also had sufficient funds for ransom, he had the courage to do this. Listening to the prayer of the Most Holy Theotokos, he despised all fears and fears of possible subsequent revenge from the Jewish elders. Having received permission to remove Jesus from the cross, he buried Him in a tomb hewn in the rock that belonged to him. Together with Nicodemus, Joseph wrapped a shroud around Jesus' body. It is believed that by burying in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, the messianic prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled:

He was assigned a coffin with evildoers, but He was buried with a rich man (Isa. 53: 9).

After participating in the burial of Christ, Nicodemus, according to the Tradition of the Church, was expelled from Judea. And Joseph of Arimathea was bound in fetters and thrown into a pit, from where he was saved by an angel. Subsequently, Joseph, as Holy Tradition says, together with Mary, Martha and their brother Lazarus, who was resurrected by Christ, preached the Gospel in Gaul, on the territory of modern France.

Burial of the Savior. Greece. Vatopedi Monastery (Athos). XVI-XVII centuries

It is believed that Nicodemus is the author of one of the apocryphal Gospels, the creation time of which has not been established. The oldest parts of the text first appeared in ancient Greek. The Gospel of Nicodemus consists of the main part, which is called the Acts of Pilate, and the appendix to it - the Descent into Hell, which is absent in the Greek version of the text, being a later addition in the Latin version.

Feast of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women. Icons

The Gospel story about the appearance of an angel to wives at the Holy Sepulcher, representing the first evidence of the Lord's Resurrection, formed the basis of the early iconography of the Resurrection of Christ. The earliest known icon-painting of the Myrrh-Bearing Women at the Holy Sepulcher is in the baptistery in Dura Europos (232/3 or between 232 and 256). The Myrrh-Bearing Wives are depicted walking from left to right towards the closed Tomb, holding vessels of oil and burning torches in their hands; above the Tomb - two stars symbolizing angels. On the fresco of the vestibule of the burial complex in the Carmus quarter in Alexandria (second half of the 5th century), there was an image of a wingless angel sitting in front of the coffin - this was later called “The Appearance of an Angel to Myrrh-Bearing Wives”.

The relief of a silver sarcophagus (IV century) from San Nadzaro Maggiore in Milan depicts the Three Myrrh-Bearing Wives in front of the Sepulcher in the form of a building, above which is the figure of a descending angel. Avoria (c. 400) depicts the tomb in the form of a two-tiered stone building, with the guards asleep leaning on it; on the left, at the half-open door, an angel is sitting, on the right are the Myrrh-Bearing Women, over whom the Ascension of the Lord is represented.

The Gospel of Rabbula presents a miniature sheet with the compositions "The Appearance of an Angel to Myrrh-Bearing Women" in the lower part and "Crucifixion" in the upper part: in the center among the trees, at the same level with their tops, there is a small tomb with a half-open door, the guards in front of the entrance fell to their knees , one recoils from the light coming from behind the door. To the left of the tomb, on a stone block, sits a winged angel announcing the Resurrection of Jesus Christ to the two wives who are also on the left. In one of them, depicted with a halo, the Mother of God is recognized, Her similar image is presented in the scene "Crucifixion" and repeated again to the right of the tomb in "The Appearance of Jesus Christ to Mary after the Resurrection".

In the XIII-XIV centuries. there are various modifications of the iconography developed in the previous period. They often revive early Byzantine forms of individual objects. On the fresco of the monastery church in Milešev (before 1228, Serbia), the Myrrh-Bearing Women are depicted to the right of the angel, whose large figure dominates the composition. The angel seated on a large marble cube block in shining white robes is depicted frontally and looks straight ahead. In his right hand he has a staff, with his left hand he points to an empty tomb in the form of a vertical rectangular building with a pitched roof and a barred arched opening, inside which there is a folded shroud. To the right of the stone are small figures of two Myrrh-Bearing Women. In the hands of one is a small katsey censer. Below are the sleeping guards. On the icon of the XIV century. presented in one composition "Descent into Hell" and "The Appearance of an Angel to Myrrh-Bearing Wives"; women are depicted twice: sitting in front of the tomb and standing in front of an angel who, sitting on a slab, points them to a cave with swaddling clothes.

Myrrh-bearing wives at the Holy Sepulcher. Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral of the Mirozh Monastery, Pskov. A fresco on the east wall of the north transept. Before 1156

In Russian, as well as in Byzantine, monuments, the scene "The Appearance of an Angel to Myrrh-Bearing Women" is included in passionate cycles, adjacent either to "Descent into Hell" or to "The Appearance of Christ to Myrrh-Bearing Women", and is also found in the festive row of the iconostasis.

In general, the composition follows the scheme worked out in the Middle Byzantine period, although various versions of the image of the tomb and shroud, the number of Myrrh-bearing women and guards are possible. So, in the painting of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin of the Snetogorsk Monastery (1313), Wives are traditionally depicted as suitable on the left, but the Holy Sepulcher is presented in a very special way: in the form of a rectangular slab under the ciborium, on which two conventionally depicted shrouds lie horizontally in a row. Above the coffin there are lamps on chains. This detail of the composition could reflect the real impressions of the pilgrims from visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and the decoration of the Anointing stone.

Myrrh-bearing wives at the Holy Sepulcher. From the festive rank. Vologda. St. Petersburg, State Russian Museum. Late 15th - early 16th centuries

Another version of the iconography "The Appearance of an Angel to Myrrh-Bearing Wives" is presented on an icon from the iconostasis of the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra (1425). The scene unfolds against the backdrop of a mountainous landscape. An angel with wings raised vertically is depicted sitting on a round stone next to a diagonally located sarcophagus with shroud, the upper part of which is in a cave. To the left of the sarcophagus, looking into it, there are three Myrrh-Bearing Wives. Their figures are presented in a complex spread to the angel. This iconographic version, the main feature of which is the image of a rectangular sarcophagus, has become especially popular in Russian art.

Myrrh-bearing wives at the Holy Sepulcher. From the festive rank. Moscow. 1425-1427 Trinity Cathedral of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra

A similar iconography of the plot on the Novgorod tablet icon (late 15th century), only the sarcophagus is located at a different angle. On the icon from the iconostasis of the Assumption Cathedral of the Kirillov Belozersky Monastery (1497), an angel sits at the head of the sarcophagus, there is no cave, the Myrrh-Bearing Wives stand to the left, to the right of the sarcophagus there are figures of sleeping youths - guardians of the Tomb. On the icons of the 16th century, three warriors in armor are represented asleep (the icon of the second half of the 16th century), the guards are depicted in greater numbers. On the icons of the con. XV - early. XVI centuries the number of Myrrh-Bearing Women was increased to seven, and not only at the Tomb, but also in the scene of the appearance of the risen Christ, which was often combined with the plot "The Appearance of an Angel to Myrrh-Bearing Women" (one of the earliest examples is an icon from the Gostinopol Monastery, 1457) ...

This iconographic version became widespread in the 16th century. A feature that determined the tradition of Russian art was the image of two angels sitting on round stones at the head and at the foot of the sarcophagus (icons of the 15th and early 16th centuries). These iconographic types persisted throughout the 17th-18th centuries.

The Angel Appearing to the Myrrh-Bearing Wives. Second half of the 16th century Yaroslavl Art Museum, Yaroslavl
The Angel Appearing to the Myrrh-Bearing Wives. Rostov. Late 16th - early 17th centuries Moscow Kremlin Museums, Moscow. Icon of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women. Annunciation Cathedral of Solvychegodsk, late 16th century

Holy Myrrh-Bearing Wives. Paintings

World painters, such as Carracci Annibale, Duccio di Buoninsegna, M.V. Nesterov and others.

Maesta. Reverse side. Myrrh-bearing wives at the tomb of the Lord. Duccio di Buoninsegna. 308-11 years. Siena Cathedral Museum
Myrrh-bearing wives at the tomb of the Lord. Carracci Annibale, 1597-1598
Myrrh-bearing wives. M.V. Nesterov. 1889 year

Temples in honor of the Myrrh-Bearing Women

A church in Veliky Novgorod was consecrated in honor of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women. The temple was erected in 1510 on the site of the wooden church of the same name, which burned down in 1508. It is known that an even earlier building stood here, indicated in the annals in 1299 among 12 burnt churches. The construction of the church was ordered and financed by the Novgorod merchant Ivan Syrkov. In 1536, a chapel was built in the name of the Evangelist Matthew, and then in honor of the Meeting of the Lord. At the end of the 16th century, part of the treasury of Ivan the Terrible was kept in the warehouses of the church. Now the temple houses the Regional Children's Cultural Center.

Church of the Myrrh-Bearing Women in Veliky Novgorod

A church in Pskov was consecrated in honor of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women. The stone Church of Myrrh-bearing was built in 1546 in the center of the necropolis, on the site of the wooden one on the skudlnitsa (i.e., in the cemetery with the common graves of those killed and died during the plague). It was built at the expense of the Moscow (at that time Novgorod) Metropolitan Macarius. In 1878, a co-religion chapel was built at the church, which has not survived to this day. The Myrrh-Bearing Church was closed in the 1930s. Returned to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1989.

Church of the Myrrh-Bearing Women from Skudelnitsy

In the Republic of Mari El, the village of Yezhovo, Tsarevokokshaisky district, there was the Mironositsky monastery. Its construction was carried out by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and is associated with the legend about the appearance of the miraculous icon with the Myrrh-Bearing Women on the site of the future monastery. The icon was delivered to the tsar in Moscow in 1647 and subsequently placed in the monastery church. The monastery was founded in the same year, but after the October Revolution it was closed.

In the city of Serpukhov there was a church in honor of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women. The first news of the "existence" of a temple in the name of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women here dates back to 1552. Around 1685, the temple was built in stone. The Myrrh-Bearing Church was destroyed in the 1930s.

There are currently no functioning Old Believer churches in honor of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women.

Week of Myrrh-Bearing Women. Folk traditions

Margoski or Margoskin week - this was the name in the black earth provinces (for example, in Oryol) the second week after Easter - the week of the Myrrh-Bearing Women. This festival is established exclusively for women. Easter eggs acquired special significance here, occupying the main place in the festive ceremony. Near Moscow, this women's holiday was expressed in the fact that the churches were overcrowded with married women, widows and girls much more than on any other holiday, and at the same time, each of the worshipers, approaching the cross after mass, always consulted with the priest and gave him an egg , just as at Matins on Bright Sunday the same rite was performed exclusively by men.

In Vyatka, the myrrh-bearing holiday was celebrated in its own way and was called "Shapshiha". The custom was reduced to a feminine feast, which was arranged by one of the participants, by lot. Most often it was either a widow or a small family. The women organizers were brewing beer and preparing dinner by the time the others returned from church. In the late evening, the feast ended with dancing.

Where there were few churches and the parishes were removed a considerable distance, on the same Sunday in the morning women and girls climbed into a nearby forest, or even to such a place where bush bushes were tied, with ritual offerings in their hands, pockets or in their bosoms - a couple of raw eggs and a couple of baked and colored eggs. They walked with songs, but upon arrival they fell silent, in view of the onset of the solemn sacred rite of Christianization and nepotism. Each one took the cross from her neck and hung it on a tree; another approached him, baptized herself, kissed him and exchanged him for her own cross; then she kissed his owner, pokumilis - began to be considered and called "godfathers", "gossips" until the Spirit of the day. After that, the women sang songs, fried eggs, drank kvass.

The adolescent girls were usually greeted like this: "You should still grow up, and bloom more," and the girl who had taken off was told: "Before the arrival (next year), you will unbind your braid in two so that matchmakers and matchmakers do not leave the hut, so as not to sit on your undersail." (in girls), and women expressed wishes of a different nature: "For the summer you will have a son, for that year you yourself will be the third."

Soulful teaching in the week of the Myrrh-Bearing Women

A great feat, patience and courage could be shown by women who were weak and weak by nature, when it seemed that impenetrable sinful darkness had irretrievably engulfed the entire Universe, because the One whom we call the "Sun of Truth" and "the Light of the World" was crucified and buried. The closest disciples of Christ retreated for a while, but it was the women who followed Christ at the most difficult hour along the path of the cross and were honored for that the greatest joy - to hear the angelic gospel and to be the first to see the Risen Savior. For "It should be more by the earlier fallen tribe for sin, and the oath to the inheritor, before seeing the Resurrection and instilling joy" (Sinoksar).

When the night watch was sitting at the Tomb, there was no way for the women to approach him. But they wanted to give the last honor to their beloved Teacher, over whom, with the onset of the Sabbath day, they did not manage to complete the complete burial ceremony, as it was supposed to: Joseph and Nicodemus, for lack of time, were able to anoint the Lord's Body only with oil and myrrh. Therefore, women, driven by great love and compassion, wishing to better serve even the buried Lord than to have temporary sinful pleasure, prepared valuable aromatic fragrances and looked forward to the beginning of Sunday, when, according to the law, they could continue the work they had begun. The Jewish priests, who constantly reproached the Savior for violating the Sabbath, in this case, on the contrary, completely revealed their evil hypocrisy, for, neglecting the prohibition for the sake of the Sabbath rest, they engaged in various troubles in order to put a guard on and strengthen the Lord's Sepulcher with iron seals.

The great earthquake and the appearance of the angels greatly frightened the Roman soldiers. As soon as they came to their senses, they set off to announce an unprecedented miraculous event, so the women were able to calmly and freely approach the Tomb. The appearance of two angels in the Tomb spoke of the Divine-human nature of the Savior: the angel sitting in the heads pointed to the Divine, the other, sitting at the feet, to the humiliated embodiment of the Word.

Joseph and Nicodemus ask Pilate for the Body of the Lord. Fragment of a four-part Novgorod tablet from St. Sophia Cathedral. XV century

A special word must be said here about Joseph of Arimathea, a story about which all the Evangelists have. “Blessed Joseph of Arimathea, while still serving the law, recognized Christ as God, which is why he dared to a meritorious deed. Before Joseph hid himself, now he dares to do a great thing, laying down his soul for the Body of the Teacher and taking upon himself such a difficult struggle with all the Jews. As a great gift, Pilate gives him the Body. For the Body of Christ, as a rebel of the slain, was to be thrown unburied. However, Joseph, being rich, may have given gold to Pilate. Having received the Body, Joseph honors it by placing it in a new tomb, in which no one has ever been laid. And this was by the providence of God, so that after the Resurrection of the Lord no one would say that another dead man had risen instead of Him, buried there before Him. For this reason, the tomb is also new.

He did not begin to reflect: "Here I am rich and I can lose wealth, if I ask for the body of the One who is condemned for the appropriation of royal power to Himself, and I will become hated by the Jews",Joseph of Arimathea I didn’t think about anything of the kind with myself, but leaving everything as less important, I asked for oneJoseph of Arimathea to bury the body of the convict. Pilate was surprised that He had already died, for he thought that Christ would endure suffering for a long time, like the robbers, why did he ask the centurion if he had died long ago? That is, did he really die prematurely? Having received the body, Joseph bought the shroud and, having removed the Honest Body, wrapped it around it, giving it to burial. For he was himself a disciple of Christ and knew how to honor the Lord. He was "good-looking," that is, a respectable, pious, irreproachable man. As for the title of councilor, there was some dignity, or, better, a service and a civilian office, which were supposed to be in charge of the affairs of the court, and here they were often exposed to the dangers of the abuses inherent in this place. Let the rich and those in public affairs hear how the dignity of a councilor did not in the least hinder the virtue of Joseph. The name Joseph means "offering," and "Arimathea"- "Take it." (Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria, interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew and Mark).

The counting of days in the three-day Resurrection of the Lord may cause some bewilderment, but Scripture has a secret meaning. Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria explains in detail to us the mysterious course of those sacred events:

“How are there three days? At eight o'clock the heel was crucified; from this to the ninth- darkness: count it as night; then from the ninth hour- light: it's day- here is the day: night and day. Next, heel night and Saturday day- second day. Again, the night of Saturday and the morning of the Lord's day, signified by Matthew: in one from Saturday, at dawn, for morning is taken into account for the whole day,- here is the third day. Otherwise, you can count three days: on Friday, the Lord betrayed the spirit, this- one day; on Saturday was in the grave, it- another day; on the night of the Lord's day he was resurrected, but from its part the Lord's day is considered another day, so here are three days. For also about the departed, if one died about the tenth hour of the day, and the other- around the first hour of the same day, it is said that they both died on the same day. I have another way to tell you how to count three days and three nights. Listen! On Thursday evening, the Lord served a supper and said to the disciples: "Take, eat my body." Since He had the power to lay down His soul according to His will, it is clear that then He also sacrificed Himself, as He taught His disciples the Body, for no one eats anything unless it was first killed. Consider: in the evening He taught His Body, that night and day of Friday until the sixth hour- here is one day; then, from the sixth hour to the ninth- darkness, and from the ninth- until the evening there is light again,- here is the second day; again night on the heel and Saturday day- here is the third day; on Saturday night the Lord rose again: this- three full days. "

Discussing the Resurrection of Christ, the Holy Fathers point us to amazing contrasts. Indeed, while weak and uneducated women receive the highest wisdom and the gift of evangelists, the oldest church teachers of the law and interpreters of Scripture in the Jews display a truly petrified insensibility. So, having heard from the most impartial witnesses, the Roman soldiers, about the great earthquake and the appearance of angels, they do not abandon their godless atrocities, but give a considerable amount of money for a ridiculous testimony of theft, completely impossible under those circumstances.

“Then the disciples come to the tomb and see only the sheets lying; and this was the sign of the true Resurrection. For if someone had shifted the body, he would not have exposed it; and if anyone stole, he would not have bothered to bundle the boards and lay them separately in a special place. Therefore, the Evangelist previously said that the body of Christ was buried with a lot of myrrh, which glues the shroud to the body, no worse than resin, so that when we hear that the cloth was in a special place, we do not at all believe those who say that the body of Christ has been stolen. For a thief would not be so stupid as to unnecessarily use so much effort in a matter and not suspect that the longer he does it, the sooner he can be caught ”(Blessed Theophylactus of Bulgaria, interpretation of the Gospel of John).

“Every soul that dominates the passions is called“ Mary ”. Purified through dispassion, she sees God and man in Jesus. "

The joy of the angelic appearance was received by women only by suffering and having crucified themselves to the outside world during Christ's crucifixion. For nothing brings us closer to God as willingly the suffering that we endure for His sake. Easter joy is felt most of all after strict abstinence for many days. Likewise, Eternal Easter is impossible for us if we do not move ourselves to hardships and sorrows, for the sake of fulfilling the commandments and acquiring the Gospel virtues, in order to become worthy to stand before God in spiritual and physical purity and to see the Risen Christ in His ineffable and eternal glory.

“Let us also, following the example of Joseph, always apply diligence to virtue and collect it, that is, the true good. May we be honored to receive the Body of Jesus by means of communion and put it in a tomb hewn out of a stone, that is, in a soul that firmly remembers and does not forget God. May our soul be hewn out of stone, that is, having its confirmation in Christ, who is the Stone. Let us embrace this Body with a shroud, that is, we will accept Him into a pure body (for the body is like a shroud of the soul). The Divine Body must accept not only into a pure soul, but also into a pure body. " (Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria).

Day of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women

On the 3rd Week after Easter (April 22, 2018), the Holy Church commemorates the holy myrrh-bearing women and righteous Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, the secret disciples of Christ.

This day among Orthodox people has truly always been considered the day on which the feat of a believing Orthodox woman is glorified.

The Day of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women is Orthodox Women's Day.
This holiday has been especially honored in Russia since ancient times. The main feature of Russian righteousness is a special, purely Russian style, the chastity of Christian marriage as a great Sacrament.
Every woman on Earth is a myrrh-bearer in life - she brings peace to the world, her family, home, she gives birth to children, is a support for her husband. Orthodoxy exalts a woman-mother, a woman of all classes and nationalities. Therefore, the Week (Sunday) of the Myrrh-Bearing Wives is a holiday of every Orthodox Christian woman, Orthodox Women's Day.

Icon "The Appearance of Christ to the Myrrh-Bearing Wives"

Myrrh-bearing wives at the Holy Sepulcher. Icon of the 15th century. Russian Museum.

Who are they, the holy myrrh-bearing women - Mary Magdalene, Mary Cleopova, Salome, John, Martha, Mary, Susanna, and why does the Russian Orthodox Church honor their memory on the second Sunday after Easter?
Myrrhbearers - these are the very women who, out of love for the Savior, received Him in their homes, and later followed Him to the place of the crucifixion on Calvary. They were witnesses of Christ's suffering on the cross. It was they who, in the dark, hastened to the Holy Sepulcher to anoint the body of Christ with peace, as was the custom of the Jews. It was they, the myrrh-bearing wives, who were the first to know that Christ was resurrected. Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, and asked to tell the apostles to wait for Him in Galilee.

Saint Mary Kleopova

Saint Mary of Cleopas, the myrrh-bearer, according to the tradition of the Church was the daughter of righteous Joseph, the Betrothed of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Comm. 26 December), from her first marriage and was still very young when the Blessed Virgin Mary was betrothed to righteous Joseph and introduced into his house. The Holy Virgin Mary lived with the daughter of the righteous Joseph, and they became friends like sisters. Righteous Joseph, upon returning with the Savior and the Mother of God from Egypt to Nazareth, married his daughter to his younger brother Cleopa, therefore she is called Mary Cleopa, that is, Cleopa's wife. The blessed fruit of that marriage was the holy martyr Simeon, an apostle from 70, a relative of the Lord, the second bishop of the Jerusalem Church (Comm. April 27). The memory of St. Mary Kleopova is also celebrated on the 3rd week after Easter, the holy myrrh-bearing women.

Saint John the Myrrhbearer

Saint John the Myrrh-bearer, the wife of Khuza, the steward of King Herod, was one of the wives who followed the Lord Jesus Christ during His preaching and served Him. Together with other wives after the death of the Savior on the Cross, Saint John came to the Tomb to anoint the Holy Body of the Lord with peace, and she heard from the Angels the joyful news of His glorious Resurrection.
Remembrance: July 10

Righteous sisters Martha and Mary

The righteous sisters Martha and Mary, who believed in Christ even before the resurrection of their brother Lazarus by Him, after the assassination of the holy archdeacon Stephen, the persecution of the Jerusalem Church and the expulsion of the righteous Lazarus from Jerusalem, helped their holy brother in preaching the gospel in different countries. No information has been preserved about the time and place of their peaceful death.

The holy myrrh-bearing women show us an example of true sacrificial love and selfless service to the Lord. When everyone left Him, they were there, not afraid of possible persecution. It is no accident that it was to Mary Magdalene that the Risen Christ appeared first. Subsequently, according to legend, St. Mary Magdalene, Equal to the Apostles, worked hard in preaching the Gospel. It was she who presented the Roman emperor Tiberius with a red egg with words? "Christ is Risen!", From where the custom of painting eggs for Easter came.

Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalena (Hebrew מרים המגדלית, Old Greek Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνή, Latin Maria Magdalena) is the wife of Jesus Christ, a Christian saint, a myrrh-bearer, who, according to the Gospel text, followed Christ.
The nickname "Magdalene" (Hebrew מרים המגדלית, ancient Greek Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνή) worn by this of the Gospel Mary is traditionally deciphered as "a native of the city of Migdal-El". The literal meaning of this toponym is "tower" (Hebrew migdal and Aramaic magdala), and since the tower is a feudal, knightly symbol, in the Middle Ages this noble shade of meaning was transferred to the personality of Mary and aristocratic features were given to her ...
It has also been suggested that the nickname “Magdalene” may come from the Talmudic expression magadella (Hebrew מגדלא) - “curling hair”. The character called “Miriam curling the hair of women” (Hebrew מרים מגדלא שער נשייא) is found in a number of Talmudic texts associated with Jesus, and one of them refers to her as an adulteress. It is possible that stories about Mary Magdalene are reflected in these texts.
Those who are unfamiliar with Hebrew and the ancient Greek language of medieval writers often have fantastical etymologies: “Magdalene” can be interpreted as “constantly accused” (Latin manens rea), etc.
The name Mary Magdalene, Magdalene later became popular in Europe in various forms.

Painting by Perugino, c. 1500 BC

In the Orthodox and Catholic Churches, the veneration of Magdalene is different: Orthodoxy venerates her exclusively as a myrrh-bearer, cured of seven demons and appearing only in several evangelical episodes, and in the tradition of the Catholic Church for a long time it was customary to identify with her the image of the penitent harlot and Mary of Bethany, as well as apply extensive legendary material.

Protestant interpreters also disputed the identity of Mary the harlot and Mary, sister of Martha the Evangelical Mary Magdalene from the very beginning, Magdalene is revered exclusively as a holy myrrh-bearer.

Veneration in Orthodoxy

In Orthodoxy, she is revered as an Equal-to-the-Apostles saint, based only on the gospel testimonies listed above. In Byzantine literature, it is told how, some time after the Crucifixion, Magdalene went to Ephesus with the Virgin Mary to see John the Theologian and helped him in his labors. Of the four Evangelists, it is John who gives the most information about the Magdalene.
It is believed that Mary Magdalene preached the gospel in Rome, as evidenced by the appeal to her in the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Romans (Rom. 16: 6). Probably, in connection with this her journey, an Easter tradition associated with her name arose.
The Orthodox tradition does not identify Mary Magdalene with the evangelical sinner, but venerates her exclusively as an equal to the apostles holy myrrh-bearer, from which demons were simply driven out.
So, Dimitri Rostovsky writes in her life:
If Magdalene was a harlot, then after Christ and His disciples she was clearly a sinner, walking for a long time to advertise the Jewish haters of Christ, looking for some kind of guilt on Him, and they will deceive and condemn Him. If the disciples of Christ had once seen the Lord with the Samaritan, they were talking, wondering, as if they were verbally speaking with their wife, since the hostile would not have kept silent, all the time they would have seen clearly a sinner for all the days following Him and serving Him.
- Dimitri Rostovsky, "Lives of the Saints: July 22"

There is no mention of fornication in her akathist. In addition, in Orthodoxy, the identification of Magdalene with several other evangelical women, which happened in Catholicism, did not occur, it traditionally venerated these women separately.

On September 2, 2006, for the first time in Russia (from the Athonite monastery of Simonopetra) the relics of Mary Magdalene and a particle of the Life-giving Cross arrived. In the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Orthodox shrines were available to believers until September 13, after which they were taken to seven cities of the country.

Carlo Crivelli. Mary Magdalene, c. 1480, Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht. A saint with long flowing hair holds a vessel with incense in her hands

In Western European apocryphal legends, many details are reported, for example, her parents were called Sire and Eucharia.
Much is told about her preaching activity, which, unlike Byzantine stories, is associated not with Asia Minor, but with the territory of France.
In particular, as they say, after the Crucifixion, Mary, together with her brother, sister Martha and Saints Maximinus, Martell and Kydonius, went to proclaim Christianity in Gaul, in the city of Massilia (Marseille) or at the mouth of the Rhone (in Sainte-Marie-de-la- Mer).

"Mary Magdalene", sculpture by Donatello, 1455, Florence, Duomo Museum. The saint is depicted emaciated, in rags, after many years of hermitage.

The second half of Magdalene's life, according to these Western legends, went like this: she retired to the desert, where for 30 years she indulged in the strictest austerity, lamenting her sins. Her clothes were decayed, but shame (nakedness) was covered with long hair. And the emaciated old body was lifted to heaven by angels every night to heal it - "God feeds her with heavenly food, and the angels raise her to heaven every day, where she listens to the singing of heavenly choirs with" bodily ears "" (lat. Corporeis auribus).

"The elder gives the himation to Mary Magdalene." Fresco by Giotto in the Magdalene Chapel of the Lower Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi, 1320s.

Before her death, Magdalene is given communion by a priest who accidentally wandered into these parts, who at first is embarrassed by the nakedness of the saint covered with hair. Saint Maximin goes to her, spends the last minutes with her (moreover, Mary Magdalene, when meeting with blessed Maximinus, prays in a choir of angels, rising above the ground at a distance of two cubits). Then he buries his old companion in the church he founded.
The saint's relics are still displayed in the church in Provence (Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume) on the Way of Saint James. Unlike the Ascension of the Virgin Mary, the meaning of which is that the Mother of God was taken to heaven bodily after death, the Ascension of Mary Magdalene was just a form of her conversation with the Lord and after death she was not ascended to heaven bodily.

The Ascension of Mary Magdalene, painting by Jusepe de Ribera, 1636

To understand the composition of the legend, it is important that the plot of Magdalene's asceticism has many parallels or even possible direct borrowings from the life of St. Mary of Egypt, her namesake and a late contemporary, about whom, unlike the Magdalene, it is directly evidenced that she was a harlot. Researchers note that the borrowing may have occurred in the 9th century and the attributes with the plot of both saints merged. That is, the harlot Mary of Egypt is another woman whose image united with the Magdalene and contributed to her perception as a sinner. The story about Mary of Egypt formed the basis of the legend "About the Hermit Life" of Mary Magdalene. The influence of the legend of the harlot of St. Taisia \u200b\u200bof Egypt, a famous courtesan converted by Abbot Paphnutius.

Memory

The death of Mary Magdalene, according to the version of this movement in Christianity, was peaceful: she died in Ephesus.
Memory:
- July 22 / August 4;
- in the third week after Easter, called the Week of Myrrh-Bearing Women.

According to the "Chetya Menaei" by Demetrius of Rostov, in 886, under Emperor Leo VI Philosophus, the relics of the saint who died in Ephesus were solemnly transferred to the monastery of St. Lazarus in Constantinople.
The Catholic Church considers the Lateran Basilica to be the location of the relics of Mary Magdalene, where they were laid under the altar, consecrated by Pope Honorius III in her honor. Also, the location of the relics since 1280 is considered to be the churches of Saint-Baum and Saint-Maximin in Provence, where, in particular, her head is kept.
Currently, it is known about the finding of the relics of Mary Magdalene in the following Athonite monasteries: Dochiar, Simonopetra (right hand) and Esfigmen.

Temples dedicated to Mary Magdalene

Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Woolwich (South London), UK;
Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Dobrovod, Poland;
Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Tarnobrzeg, Poland;
Church of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Myrrh-Bearing Mary Magdalene in Avdeevka, Donetsk region, Ukraine;
Church of St. Mary Magdalene Equal to the Apostles in Minsk, Belarus;
Church of St. Mary Magdalene Equal to the Apostles in Bila Tserkva, Kiev region, Ukraine.

The emergence of the tradition of Easter eggs is associated with Mary Magdalene: according to legend, when Mary came to Emperor Tiberius and announced the Resurrection of Christ, the emperor said that it was just as impossible as the fact that a chicken egg was red, and after these words a chicken egg, which he held, blushed. Obviously, the legend refers to the very late Middle Ages (since it was not included in the vast collection "Golden Legend" of the XIII-XIV centuries).
However, according to another version of the presentation, Mary Magdalene presented the emperor with an egg painted red (This is how St. Demetrius of Rostov describes this episode).

The marriage of Jesus

One year after the death of Joseph, on October 28, 16, Jesus, fulfilling his vow to his father, married. Mary Magdalene became his chosen one. The Bible does not say that Jesus was married. But nowhere is it reported that he was single. Mary Magdalene is mentioned several times in the Gospels. She accompanies Jesus on some of his trips, is often nearby, after the death of Jesus, she first comes to his grave, i.e. behaves like a very close person to him, like a wife.
Why is there no clear and distinct indication in the Bible that Mary Magdalene is the wife of Jesus?
In the year 325, when the Gospels were being revised, all the facts that showed that Jesus and John the Baptist were married were removed from them. This was done in order to legitimize the vow of celibacy, taken by all Christian priests. A similar order of affairs in the Roman Catholic Church has survived to this day.
The centralized church required a huge army of clergy - obedient, faithful, and executive. It is much easier to subjugate a lonely person to your will than a family person, therefore for the Church the image of an unmarried Jesus (and John too) was very beneficial. Christian priests, taking a vow of celibacy, sincerely believed that they were acting according to the rules established by Jesus himself. At the same time, women were universally declared sinners, communication with whom could destroy the human soul. Women should be avoided, communication with them to a minimum and, if possible, not even looking in their direction.
It was then that the following phrase was inserted into the Bible in the mouth of Jesus (Matthew 5:28):
"But I tell you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
It is impossible to rule a man in love and a happy person, therefore the Church, disguising her intentions as virtue, tried to suppress all carnal desires in people.
After the appropriate processing of the Gospels, Mary Magdalene from the wife of Jesus Christ turned into a harlot, and her name even became a household name to denote girls of a certain profession. In fact, Mary in her life was a modest, blameless girl who madly loved her husband Jesus. Maria in her youth was distinguished by a rare beauty - amazing brown eyes, a round face, long black hair, a slender figure with a thin waist. Jesus was happy in family life, loved his wife and children - he and Maria had three sons and a daughter. Jesus got married at 20. According to the customs of that time, the husband was not obliged to be at home all the time, so Jesus traveled calmly, while Mary Magdalene was at home in Nazareth with his mother. Previously, a man did not live with a woman all year round, but only in certain months favorable for conceiving a child. During these months, Mary Magdalene sometimes accompanied Jesus on his travels. Almost all of Jesus' disciples, the apostles, had wives and children. Naturally, there is not a single line about this in the Bible, only in one place it is mentioned in passing that the Apostle Peter had a mother-in-law.

Crucifixion of jesus

Beloved disciple John, Jesus entrusted to take care of his mother long before the events occurred. At the time of the execution, there was neither the Virgin Mary nor John at Calvary. John, having learned about the exact day of Jesus' execution, went to Nazareth for Mary, deciding to come with her to Jerusalem on the second day after the execution. He found Mary agitated, she told him that when she lay down to rest yesterday after dinner (Tuesday), she dreamed of Jesus - he called her and asked for help, waking up, she felt a terrible pain in her heart, which still has not gone away. John did not say anything, explaining the reason for his coming by the fact that Jesus wanted to see her in Jerusalem on Saturday. But how can you deceive a truly loving mother's heart! It already knew the hours when her beloved son took incredible torment.
Maria immediately felt that something was wrong, she did not find a place for herself either on the last day before the road or on the road, she especially felt bad when Jerusalem was only half a day away.
How could John, who loved Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, allow the eyes of this sweet, kind woman to see how the executioners mocked her own son? How can a heart, in which there is even a small grain of love and compassion, withstand the whole picture of Jesus' torment? Not to mention the mother's heart. And no matter how holy the Virgin Mary was, she simply could not bear all this, and John understood this perfectly. And the words in the Bible: "... She, in front of everyone's eyes, stood fearlessly at the foot of the cross ..." - could write only the person who does not know what it is - the loss of a loved one who does not know the feeling of pain. This could only be written by a person with an icy heart, for whom the feeling of compassion is alien and incomprehensible. It is scary to imagine such torments that Jesus endured, even after two thousand years, and not just to look at them, calmly standing next to him. The heart of any mother could not withstand such grief; it would break even before her son was crucified on the cross. We are not talking about the hearts of those mothers who, for the sake of faith, sacrifice their babies, as sectarians do, or because they have nothing to feed their children, or simply do not want to raise them, give them to orphanages, or have an abortion and kill them unborn. ... The Virgin Mary, who became the Mother of the entire human race, could not and did not see the torment of her Son !!!

On Friday, 20 April, came to Pontius Pilate Joseph of Arimathea - a very influential person, one of 72 members of the highest court of Judea - the Sanhedrin. Joseph turned to Pilate with a request - to give him the body of Jesus Christ for an honorable burial in his own tomb. For this, Joseph was even ready to pay a large monetary ransom. Pilate had great respect for this man, so he granted his request without taking any ransom. In addition, Pilate was tormented by his conscience that an innocent man, a righteous man, had lost his life by his order. Pilate sent a man to the place of execution to find out if Jesus really died.
At this time, two people were near Jesus - John the Zebedee and the elder of the Essenes religious society. This elder asked the centurion, who was in charge of guarding the place of execution, not to break the knees of the dead Jesus. According to the custom of that time, the knees of the deceased on the cross were shattered in order to finally be convinced of the death of the latter. The elder knew that Jesus was actually still alive.
The elder explained to the centurion that the crucified man was indeed a respected person and worthy of an honorable burial; a large ransom would be paid for him now, so you should not spoil the body of the deceased. The centurion gave permission not to break Jesus' knees. He even knew that Jesus was still alive, but did not tell anyone about it.
“There was a day of preparation, and on Saturday bodies were not supposed to hang on crosses, and besides, it was a special, Easter Saturday. Therefore, the Jews asked Pilate to allow those who were crucified to break their legs and remove their bodies from the crosses. The soldiers came and broke the legs, first one of the crucified, then another. When they approached Jesus, they saw that He was already dead, and did not break His feet. " Gospel of John.
The secret disciples of Jesus - Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, having received permission from Pontius Pilate to hand over the body, got down to business. At noon on Friday, Jesus' body was transferred to Joseph's tomb near the place of execution. Joseph and Nicodemus, having swaddled the body of Christ, soaked the bandages with a solution made of medicinal oils and balms. Jesus prepared this solution long before his execution.

“Nicodemus brought in about thirty kilograms of a mixture of myrrh and aloe. They removed the body of Jesus and wrapped it, along with the balm, in linen cloths. This was the Jewish funeral custom. " Gospel of John.
"Joseph took it, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and put it in a recently purchased tomb, carved into the rock, which belonged to him." Gospel of Matthew.

All procedures lasted until 4 pm. Then Jesus' body, smeared with incense, neatly swaddled in bandages, was wrapped in a huge white shroud. In the morning, the Roman soldiers came to look at the body of Jesus and made sure that he was really buried in accordance with all the laws. After all the examiners were convinced of Jesus' death, the entrance to the tomb was covered with a large stone.
In the morning, the Jewish priests were simply shocked to learn that Jesus was buried in the personal tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the very Sanhedrin who condemned Jesus to death. And he was helped by another member of the Sanhedrin - Nicodemus. And the Roman governor Pontius Pilate ordered to hand over the body of the executed blasphemer for an honorable burial.
It seemed to the high priests that there was some kind of conspiracy against them. The priests and Pharisees asked Pilate:
- Master! We remembered that the deceiver, while still alive, said: after three days I will rise again.

So, command to guard the tomb until the third day, so that his disciples, coming at night, would not steal it and say to the people: He rose from the dead. Otherwise, the last deception will be worse than the first.
Pilate, who was very angry with the priests who had previously threatened him with denunciation to Rome, answered them sharply:
- You have a guard - go, guard, as you know.

Caiaphas ordered to put a guard at the tomb and put a seal on the stone. He did not like the behavior of Pilate, who too clearly sympathized with Jesus. It was no longer possible to rely on Roman power - now it was necessary to do everything ourselves.

On Sunday morning, April 21, Mary Magdalene, according to the teaching of Joseph of Arimathea, without saying a word to anyone, together with her servant Mary, the mother of Jacob and Salome, approached the crypt.
Mary Magdalene saw the guards sitting and told them that Jesus was resurrected and do not look for his body here. Among those guarding the crypt of Jesus was the Apostle Andrew. He sat near the tomb and waited for the resurrection of Christ. I doubted, but nevertheless, in the depths of my soul, I believed, and suddenly the truth Christ will rise again.
Mary came up to him and said what Joseph had taught her - Jesus was resurrected and told the disciples to wait for him in Galilee. By this, Joseph wanted to deceive the priests, to direct them on the wrong track. The main thing is that Jesus is not sought in Jerusalem. Puzzled and frightened, the guards opened the crypt. The seals that Caiaphas ordered to put on the tomb were intact, that is, no one entered or left the crypt.
The opened room was empty! Only scraps of bandages and a shroud were half-lying. The guards froze in place, unsure of what to do next. Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene and the women accompanying her went to Peter and John and told them that Jesus had risen. They did not believe it and rushed headlong into a race to the crypt. John overtook Peter and was the first to look into the tomb, where he found only bandages and a shroud. The apostles went to the other disciples to tell the amazing news. Magdalene remained at the tomb to see what would happen next.
The guards sent to Pilate to report that a miracle had happened and Jesus was resurrected!

The found shroud was taken by women and given to the Mother of God. Joseph and Nicodemus reassured Mary, and now she was looking forward to meeting her resurrected son.
Now this relic is in Italy and is known throughout the world as the Shroud of Turin. It depicts the face of Jesus. Soon there was no pushing near the crypt - soldiers and curious people ran into it ...

It was impossible for the disciples of Jesus to remain in Judea, because they would be severely persecuted. The apostles did as Jesus advised them - they cast lots to determine who would go to which country. Our Lady Mary also took part in the draw, and she got Georgia. But at the last moment Jesus appeared to her and told her to go to Gaul (France). Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were preparing to leave Judea and go to distant Gaul forever.
Before leaving, Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, Mary Magdalene and Our Lady Mary urgently sold all their property - houses and belongings. All this had to be done in complete secrecy, even the disciples of Jesus did not know anything about the impending departure.
Forty days after the last meeting, Jesus again appeared to his disciples. He blessed them for their deeds and disappeared into the fog. From the outside, it was like Jesus ascended to heaven.
Our Lady of Mary died in 59, having lived 78 years. Mary Magdalene passed away at the age of 92.
They are all buried in one place next to each other. Their graves are located on the territory of modern France. The house of the Virgin Mary has not survived to this day.

Equal to the Apostles Mary Magdalene.
In the hand a vessel for washing the feet is a symbol.

In Christ, the female sex is also warring, inscribed in the army by spiritual courage and not rejected for bodily weakness. And many wives were no less different than their husbands: there are those who are even more famous. Such are the faces of virgins filling with themselves, such are the shining deeds of confession and the victories of martyrdom.
St. Basil the Great

The truly chaste, making every effort to hope for the soul, do not refuse to serve the body as an instrument of the soul in moderation, but consider it unworthy and low for themselves to decorate the body and be magnified by it, so that it, by nature, being a slave, did not become proud before the soul, which was entrusted with the right of dominion ...
St. Isidore Pelusiot

From the diaries of the Holy Royal Martyr Empress of Russia Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova

Christianity, like heavenly love, elevates the soul of a person. I am happy: the less hope, the stronger the faith. God knows what is best for us and what is not. In constant humility, I begin to find a source of constant strength. "" Daily dying is the path to daily life "" ... Life is nothing if we do not know Him, thanks to Whom we live.
The closer the soul approaches the Divine and Eternal Source of Love, the more fully the obligations of sacred human love are revealed, and the sharper are the reproaches of conscience for neglecting the smallest of them.
Love does not grow, does not become great and perfect suddenly and by itself, but requires time and constant care.
True faith manifests itself in all of our behavior. It is like the juices of a living tree, which reach the farthest branches.
The basis of a noble character is absolute sincerity.
True wisdom consists not in the assimilation of knowledge, but in the correct application of it for good.
Humility is not about talking about your shortcomings, but about enduring what others say about them; listening to them patiently and even gratefully; in correcting the shortcomings that we are told; in not feeling hostility towards those who tell us about them. The more humble a person is, the more peace in his soul.
In all trials, seek patience, not deliverance; if you deserve it, it will come to you soon ... Go ahead, make a mistake, fall and get up again, just keep going.
Religious education is the richest gift that parents can leave to their child; inheritance will never replace this with any wealth.
The meaning of life is not to do what you like, but to do what you have to do with love.
For most of us, the main temptation is the loss of courage, the main test of our strength is in a monotonous series of failures, in an irritating series of prosaic difficulties. Distance is exhausting us, not pace. Moving forward, choosing the right path, making your way to a faintly flickering light and never doubting the highest value of good, even in the slightest of its manifestations, is a common task in life for many, and by doing it, people show what they are worth.
Self-sacrifice is a pure, holy, active virtue that crowns and sanctifies the human soul.
In order to ascend the great heavenly ladder of love, one must become a stone oneself, a step of this ladder, on which others will step upward.
The religion inspired by the word of Christ is sunny and joyous.
Joy is the difference of a Christian. A Christian should never be discouraged; he should never doubt that good will triumph over evil. The crying, complaining, frightened Christian betrays his God.
The word of Christ, which has sunk in the heart, is manifested in innumerable ways. In trouble it brings us comfort, in moments of weakness - strength.
The important work that a person can do for Christ is what he can and should do in his own home. Men have their share, it is important and serious, but the mother is the true creator of the house. The way she lives gives the house a special atmosphere. God first comes to children through her love. As they say: ““ God created mothers to become closer to all, ”is a wonderful thought. Motherly love, as it were, embodies the love of God, and it surrounds the child's life with tenderness ... There are houses where the lamp is constantly burning brightly, where words of love for Christ are constantly spoken, where children are taught from an early age that God loves them, where they learn to pray, barely starting to babble. And, after many years, the memory of these sacred moments will live on, illuminating the darkness with a ray of light, inspiring in a period of disappointment, revealing the secret of victory in a difficult battle, and the angel of God will help to overcome cruel temptations and not fall into sin.
How happy is a home where everyone - children and parents, without a single exception - believes in God together. The joy of camaraderie reigns in such a home. A house like the threshold of Heaven. There can never be alienation in him.

Saint Orthodox Church celebrates this day as a holiday for all Christian women, celebrates their special and important role in the family and society, strengthens them in their selfless deed of love and service to others.
How does this holiday differ from the so-called International Women's Day on March 8, established by feminist organizations in support of their struggle for the so-called women's rights, or rather for the liberation of women from families, from children, from everything that makes up the meaning of life for a woman? Isn't it time for us to return to the traditions of our people, restore the Orthodox understanding of the role of women in our lives and more widely celebrate the wonderful holiday of the day of the holy myrrh-bearing women? The new era that has come is associated with the renaissance of women, and it is women who have a special role in her.

"They will ask:" Why is this age called the Age of the Mother of the World? " Verily, that is how it should be called. The woman will bring great help, not only bringing enlightenment, but also establishing balance. In the midst of turmoil, the magnet of equilibrium is disturbed, and free will is needed to unite the decaying parts ... ”(Supermundane, 772).

All ancient religions revere the Mother of the World in one aspect or another of female deities and honor the Goddesses on a par with the Gods. In ancient Egypt, this is Isis, Kali - among the Hindus, among the Gnostics - Sophia, Dukkar - in Tibet, Kuan Yin - in China, Venus in Phenicia, Bellus - in Assyria, Anahita - in Persia.

Likewise, Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism, highly placed the Feminine Principle, and His Testaments affirm the greatness of Cosmic love as the basic principle of the existence of the universe.

In Buddhism, there is no female deity, but Buddha also held women high.

The path of a woman is incredibly difficult and immensely painful in the evolution of mankind, throughout the entire Kali-yuga, and the lower the general cultural level of peoples was, the more difficult the position of women was. The position of women in the West was especially difficult in the dark era of the Middle Ages, when the ignorant clergy interpreted a woman as the source of all sin, as an accomplice and helper of Satan, as a witch and a witch.

The position of women has improved in the Western world since the Renaissance. Although for a long time a woman was a thing that could be bought, sold and exchanged for a horse, gun or dog, as the ideas of humanism developed and spread in many countries of the world, a woman, albeit with great difficulty, is gaining more and more rights. Knowing from her bitter experience how intolerable all violence and injustice is, a woman has always protested against every spirit of violence, regardless of whom it was manifested to, always more than a man she sympathized with the oppressed and insulted and developed one of her most valuable and best qualities - compassion and sensitivity to someone else's grief and someone else's suffering. Lacking the strength and ability to protect herself, a weaker woman, nevertheless, often found both the strength and the ability to protect her children from a stronger man, if necessary.

The Teaching of Life speaks of the need to establish two Principles (male and female), because only in their union, in their merging, creativity, both cosmic and earthly, is possible. One Beginning cannot be higher and the other lower. They can only be equal, complementary to each other. Both the feminine and the masculine are only different poles of one Whole, and they cannot exist one without the other.

Man is approaching the Epoch of Equilibrium between male and female Principles. And now the Great Teachers will affirm the woman, therefore the new era will be not only the era of Great Cooperation, but also the era of the woman.

It is necessary to call a woman. The cultural driver of humanity, philosopher, artist N.K. Roerich, in his article "A Woman's Heart", says:
“When it’s difficult at home, then they turn to a woman. When calculations and calculations no longer help, when enmity and mutual destruction reach their limits, then they come to a woman. When evil forces prevail, then they call a woman. When the calculating mind turns out to be powerless, then they remember the woman's heart. Truly, when malice grinds the decision of the mind, only the heart finds salvific outcomes. And where is the heart that will replace the female heart? Where is that courage of heartfire that can be compared with the courage of a woman at the edge of hopelessness? What hand will replace the soothing touch of a woman's persuasiveness? And what eye, having absorbed all the pain of suffering, will answer both selflessly and for the Good? We do not say praise to women. Praise is not what fills the life of mankind from cradle to rest. "To whom were wreaths given? Since ancient times wreaths were given to heroes and were the property of women. And women of antiquity, in fortune-telling, took off these wreaths and threw them into the river, while always thinking not about themselves, but about some other." the crown is a symbol of heroism, then it is precisely the imprinting of this heroism, precisely when it is removed in the name of something or someone else. And this is not only inactive self-sacrifice. No, this is an effective feat! And again it will not be praise, but reality when we compare a woman with exploits. ”(“ The Fiery Stronghold ”).

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