Mary Magdalene’s Box of Very Precious Ointment
SATURDAY IN PASSION WEEK ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW, TISSOT, AND GUÉRANGER
From James Tissot's The Life of Our Savior Jesus Christ Three Hundred & Sixty-Five Compositions From The Four Gospels and from Dom Guéranger's Liturgical Year
Mary Magdalene’s Box of Very Precious Ointment
Quotes from the Douay Rheims Bible and Commentary by James Tissot
Saint Matthew—Chap. 26
6. Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,
7. There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat af meat.
8. But when his disciples saw, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?
9. For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.
10. When Jesus understood, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman ? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.
11. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.
12. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did # for my burial.
13. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.
Tissot’s Commentary
In connection with our account of the marriage at Cana we have already described how the rooms used at festivals were arranged in Palestine. The low table was generally of a horse-shoe shape, and the guests reclined on the outer side of the circle, leaning on the left arm, so as to have the right arm free. The women did not eat with the men, but generally remained in an adjoining room or in a kind of extension of the arcades of the dining hall itself, separated from the men by a trellis-work partition. They could thus see all that was going on and if mecessary give an opportune word of advice, as Mary the mother of Jesus did at Cana.
With a room thus arranged, and bearing in mind the ready hospitality of Oriental houses, Mary Magdalene could quite easily slip in unperceived behind the guests. Draped in her garments of penitence, which attracted no attention, she was able to pass like a shadow behind Jesus, break open the flask of perfumed ointment she had brought with her, which was no bigger than a fig, and pour a little of tts contents on the head of her Master. Then, kneeling down, she spread the rest over His sacred feet, which she was able to reach without difficulty as they rested on the couch. Her anointing finished, she proceeded to wipe away the surplus ointment with her long hair, and the house was filled with the penetrating and medicinal odour of the spikenard, which was then much used in religious worship and at funerals. Her act of pious homage duly performed, Mary Magdalene was for stealing quietly away, but the scent of the ointment betrayed her and gave rise to the disparaging remarks and murmurs against her of the guests, especially of Judas. This incident, in fact, seems to have given the final blow to the wavering fidelity of that disciple. He began boasting, talking about the necessity of economy and pretending to take a great interest in the poor, really, as Saint John points out, only betraying his own avarice and dishonesty, which were already notorious. Jesus, having rebuked him before everyone by His high commendation of what Mary Magdalene had done, the unfortunate Judas, wounded to the quick and already a traitor at heart rose from the table and went out to put his evil design into execution.
SATURDAY IN PASSION WEEK
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year
“To-day we begin, as does the holy Gospel, to number the days which precede the death, the sacrifice, of the Lamb of God. St. John, in the twelfth chapter of his Gospel, tells us that this is the sixth day before the Pasch.
“Jesus is in Bethania, where a feast is being given in His honour. Lazarus, whom Jesus has restored to life, is present at this repast, which is given in the house of Simon the leper. Martha is busy looking after the various arrangements; her sister, Mary Magdalene, has a heavenly presentiment that the death and burial of her beloved Master are soon to be, and she has poured upon Him a precious perfume. The holy Gospel, which ever preserves such a mysterious reserve with regard to the Mother of Jesus, does not tell us that Mary was at Bethania on this occasion, but there can be no doubt of her being present. The apostles were also there, and partook of the repast. Whilst the friends of our Saviour are thus grouped around Him, in this village, which is about two thousand paces from Jerusalem, the aspect of the faithless city becomes more and more threatening; and yet, though His disciples are not aware of it, Jesus is to enter the city to-morrow, and in a most public manner. The heart of Mary is a prey to sadness; Magdalene is absorbed in grief; everything announces that the fatal day is near.
Tissot’s illustration is from the free-to-download collection at the Brooklyn Museum. Tissot’s commentary is copied from The Life of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, Section II, at the Internet archive. Quotations from Gueranger’s Liturgical Year are from The Liturgical Year Project, which is posting Gueranger’s work on the history and faith behind the feasts and the seasons of the Church's year through their website and via email. To sign up for mailings for from Guéranger about each day’s liturgies in the traditional liturgical calender, click here. You can also refer to this page to find the text for each day.
I pray that you and I and everyone will have a Happy and Blessed Holy Week as we remember how much God loved us, that He sent His Son to suffer and die for us.