Mary of Bethany

Life events

1. Other

   Mary lived in the village of Bethany, a small settlement in Judaea south of the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem, together with her siblings Lazarus and Martha. The family appears to have belonged to the wealthier class, as evidenced by their possession of a family vault and the ability to afford quantities of expensive perfume.

2. Other

   During a visit by Jesus to the home of Martha and Mary in an unnamed village, Mary sat at Jesus' feet listening to his teaching while Martha busied herself with preparations. Jesus defended Mary's choice, saying she had chosen 'the better part'. Commentators note that for a woman to take the place of a disciple by sitting at a teacher's feet was unusual in first-century Judaism.

3. Other

   When her brother Lazarus died, Mary remained at home while Martha went to meet the approaching Jesus. Upon being summoned, she fell at his feet weeping and lamented that had he arrived sooner, Lazarus would not have died. The Gospel of John records that Jesus was deeply moved by her grief, and that his love (Greek: agapaō, divine or self-sacrificial love) for both sisters was witnessed by those present.

4. Other

   Six days before Passover, at a dinner in Bethany in Jesus' honor, Mary poured approximately a pint of pure nard — a perfume worth a year's wages — over Jesus' feet and wiped them with her hair. When Judas Iscariot objected that the perfume could have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor, Jesus replied that her action was intended to prepare him for burial and declared that her deed would be told wherever the gospel was preached.

5. Other

   In Eastern Orthodox tradition, Mary and Martha are counted among the Myrrh-bearing Women who stood at Golgotha during the Crucifixion and came to the tomb early on the morning after the Sabbath with myrrh to anoint Jesus' body, in accordance with Jewish custom. The Myrrhbearers became the first witnesses to the Resurrection, finding the empty tomb and hearing the announcement from an angel.

6. Pilgrimage

   Orthodox tradition holds that following the persecution of the Jerusalem Church after the martyrdom of Stephen, Lazarus was cast out of Jerusalem. His sisters Mary and Martha fled Judea with him, assisting in the proclamation of the Gospel. According to Cypriot tradition, the three later moved to Cyprus, where Lazarus became the first Bishop of Kition (modern Larnaca).

7. Pilgrimage

   Later traditions diverge on Mary's post-Jerusalem life. One tradition places her in Ephesus, where she lived until her death in the company of the Apostle John. Another tradition associates her with Gaul, where she may have settled in Tarascon, a town that still venerates her as a saint.

8. Other

   In 2021, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments added the names of Lazarus and Mary to the memorial of their sister Martha on 29 July, making it a liturgical celebration of all three family members in the Roman Rite. The same date is observed in the Lutheran, Episcopal, and Church of England calendars.

Relationships

Documented claims

• Western Christianity's identification of Mary of Bethany with Mary Magdalene and the sinful woman of Luke 7 stems largely from a sermon by Pope Gregory the Great on 21 September 591 AD, in which he conflated three distinct women mentioned in the New Testament. Eastern Christianity never adopted this identification. (certain)
• The Greek Fathers consistently distinguished three separate figures — the unnamed sinner of Luke 7, Mary of Bethany, and Mary Magdalene — whereas medieval Western tradition treated them as one. The 1969 revision of the General Roman Calendar formally separated Mary of Bethany from Mary Magdalene in Catholic liturgy. (certain)
• Jesus' response to Mary's anointing with expensive nard — 'wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her' (Matthew 26, Mark 14) — constitutes one of the few recorded instances of Jesus directly promising lasting memorial to a named individual. (likely)
• In Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches, Mary is commemorated with Martha on 4 June and on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers (Third Sunday of Pascha), as well as on Lazarus Saturday (the day before Palm Sunday) — three distinct liturgical occasions across the Paschal cycle. (certain)
• Mary's posture of sitting at Jesus' feet (Luke 10:39) — the customary position of a disciple before a teacher — was, as commentators note, an unusual and socially transgressive act for a woman in first-century Judaism, and is read in Christian tradition as an implicit recognition of her as a disciple. (likely)