“St Mary Magdalene, Piero della Francesca, c.1460, Duomo, Arezzo.
This fresco of St Mary Magdalene can be found in the Duomo of Arezzo, on the left wall near the sacristy door. It is almost hidden, so you need to seek it out. This image of the saint is quite unlike any other. As in other images, the Magdalene is identified by her container of ointment which she carried on the first day of the week to anoint the dead body of Jesus. As in other images her head is bare and her hair is loose. But there is no hint here of the woman of ill-repute or the penitent sinner so familiar from Western Art. This Magdalene is monumental. Her jar of ointment is fashioned from glass. It reflects a light, which might be the light of the rising sun on the first day of the week. This image presents us with the saint’s great dignity of being the first messenger of the Resurrection. The Magdalene is dressed in rich garments of white, green, and red. This was a colour combination favoured by the artist, and suggests the theological virtues respectively of faith, hope and love. As the first messenger of the Resurrection St Mary Magdalene is patron of the Dominican Order. Her feast day is 22nd July.
The Catholic Chaplaincy serves the students and staff of the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier University and Queen Margaret University.
The Catholic Chaplaincy is also a parish of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh (the Parish of St Albert the Great) and all Catholic students and staff are automatically members of this parish.
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St Albert's Catholic Chaplaincy is part of the English Province of the Order of Preachers, a charity registered in England and Wales (231192) and in Scotland (SC039062).