Song of Songs 3:1-4; Psalm 62(63):2-6,8-9; John 20:1-2,11-18
The apostle to the apostles. Mary Magdalene was honoured by Jesus as the first to witness the truth of the resurrection, and sent by him to take this Good News to the apostles.
There is speculation about who this Mary was: Pope Gregory from about the 6th Century asserted that a she was the same sinful Mary who wept onto Jesus' feet and dried them with her hair - but she could also be a different Mary and there certainly is no scriptural evidence that she was the same. If she was however, here she is weeping again, but this time not because she has lost all through her sin, but because she has lost the one who saves her. The gospels identify her explicitly as present throughout the crucifixion, and must have been traumatised as a result. Through her veil of tears she mistakes first of all the angels, and then Jesus himself for a gardener leading to a rich vein in the history of religious art - but when Jesus simply says her name - she recognises him then.
She does not cling to him, but leaves him to set out on her mission; an example to us all. When we hear our name being called we often do not recognise the caller - but he will persistently call us till we do respond.