Saint Mary Magdalene,
Woman of many sins, who by conversion
Became the beloved of Jesus,
Thank you for your witness
That Jesus forgives
Through the miracle of love.
You, who already possess eternal happiness
In His glorious presence,
Please intercede for me, so that some day
I may share in the same everlasting joy.
Amen.
Searching the web for a beautiful image of the Magdalen, I ran across way too many websites with headlines like "Mary Magdalene: Saint or Sinner?".
Really? Is there so little understanding that this is not an either/or proposition? Is it really so hard to understand that the answer to the question is a simple YES? Yes, a saint. Yes, a sinner.
And yes, what we all are. And yes, what we all can be.
Yes, it is impossible for most people to grasp that the correct answer is "yes, both."
You have nearly 2000 years of Manichean dualism wedded to 500 years of Protestant error.
That lovely combination is topped off by the peculiar inability of the Anglo-American mind to wrap its head around both/and logical constructions, particularly in the last 400-odd years since the advent of Modernity.
Forgive them, they know not what they do.