Did Mary really travel to Provence?
This question has occupied scholars for centuries, however medieval Christians accepted the story as history. Stained glass windows in Chatres Cathedral from the 13th century tell the story and the earliest copies of 'The Life of Saint Mary Magdalene and of Her Sister Saint Martha' date to the 11th century.
Here are a couple of good articles on the subject:
Pilgrimage Sites of St. Mary Magdalene in Provence: August 2009 and May 2010 (published in Anglican and Episcopal History)
I like what John Taylor wrote in his 1906 book 'The Coming of the Saints: Imaginations and Studies in Early Church History and Tradition":
"For if the Provencal legends be nothing more than legends, their antiquity, their vitality, their power of penetration and the wideness of their influence are so remarkable that no study of them can be too sympathetic or too appreciative.The whole circle of legendary history, of tradition and of monuments, would still form one of the most poetical and, at the same time, the most wonderful of romances which the world has ever known.....and, in spite of hostile criticism, is living now as an active faith in the hearts and minds of both clergy and people all through the South of France."
Lianne's take on The Da Vinci controversy:
During the course of writing my novel, 'Mary; When Love Came To Town', I spent much time reading the Gospel accounts of Mary Magdalene. Being an academic at heart, I couldn't ignore the recent claims that Mary and Jesus may have been married, and that it was covered up by the early church fathers. But the more I read, the more I came to the conclusion that those claims are false. Here's why:
1. One of the arguments put forward as evidence of Mary and Jesus being married is the wedding at Cana (John 2:1-12). At this wedding, Jesus' mother calls him over and tells him that the wine has run out. This is seen as evidence that the wedding was Jesus' and Mary's, because it would have been the groom's family's responsibility for the alcohol. The thing is, if John wanted to cover up the fact that Jesus was married to Mary, why would he include this story at all? It would have made more sense to leave it out all together. A more reasonable argument is that the wedding was for one of Jesus' relatives, and that Mary was involved with organising the reception and therefore aware of the lack of wine.
2. Another of the arguments I've heard is that in biblical times, it would have been unthinkable for an unmarried man to be a teacher. In actual fact, it was ordained Rabbis (leaders of the synagogues) that had to be married.
3. Jesus wasn't just some itinerant preacher, or even a prophet. He claimed to be the Messiah. If you read Jesus' word from the Gospels, you'll notice the authority and command in his voice. The subtext of every word he says screams "This is God talking here!"We know that the physical union between a man and a woman is a foretaste of heaven right? Well if you're God and in touch with the infinite pleasure of spiritual ecstasy, why would you need earthly sex?
4. It's clear that after Jesus' death and resurrection the disciples worshipped Jesus. They died violently in large numbers declaring his divinity. Now if you were covering something up (like the fact that Jesus wasn't God but only an ordinary bloke with a wife and a couple of kids who had delusions of grandeur), would you die for him?
5. I believe that the fallacy of Jesus and Mary being married is a natural outcome of our egocentric society. One of the basic beliefs of our modern culture is that we are all entitled to find true love. So if we humans are entitled to true love, then why not our religious founder? The problem, and irony, of this argument is that true love is not a selfish thing, which is why so many marriages now end in divorce. As Jesus himself said: "Greater love hath no man than this: that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13). Jesus is the embodiment of true love, because he lay down his life to pay the price for our sins, so that we can be right with God.
Lianne Blanch
Author of Mary: When Love Came To Town
Further resources:
