Early Life  Not much is recorded about the life of Mary Magdalene before she became a follower of Jesus.  She is from the town of Magdala in Galilee.  Sources say that she took her last name from a Talmudic expression meaning "curling women's hair," which the Talmud explains as of an adulteress.

Her Role in the Bible  The first fact stated about her is the anointing of Christ’s feet by a woman, a "sinner" in the city (Luke 7:37-50).  The bible refers to 3 different women, which are all believed to be her: “the sinner”, Mary Magdalene, and Mary of Bethany.  She is believed to be the first person to see Jesus risen from the tomb.

After Jesus  Magdalene is said to have retired to a hill where she gave herself up to a life of penance for thirty years.  When the time of her death arrived she was carried by angels to Aix and into the oratory of St. Maximinus.  Her body was then laid in an oratory constructed by St. Maximinus at Villa Lata.

Controversy  Many historians believe there is more to the relationship between Jesus and Mary.  Some say the two were a couple.  A few historians even venture to say they had a child and the blood of Jesus still flows today.  They refer to this blood as the “Holy Grail”.  Recently a book was published on the topic, called The DaVinci Code.  A theory has been made that Mary Magdalene is the author of the fourth Gospel (the Gospel of John).  Most biblical scholars today assert that the Fourth Gospel was authored by an anonymous follower of Jesus referred to within the Gospel text as the Beloved Disciple.  It is further assumed that Mary Magdalene is the true founder of the Johannine Community.  Mary Magdalene was one of the original apostolic founders and leaders of the early Christian church.