Saint Mary Magdalene as the Bride of Christ (July 22)

If you’re Catholic, the title of this post may bother you, because Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code has placed all Catholics on watch for anyone attempting to identify Saint Mary Magdalene as the wife of Christ and the mother of his child. Brown’s suggestion is not only ridiculous, it is also blasphemous and heretical. Yet, Saint Mary Magdalene is a “Bride of Christ” according to tradition – just as every nun is consecrated to Christ as a “Bride of Christ”. Tradition states that Saint Mary Magdalene lived as the Church’s first female hermit who had consecrated her life to the resurrected Christ, just as nuns do today. Nuns are often called “Brides of Christ” because of their vowed commitment to Christ.

So the difference between Da Vinci Code and the Catholic Church is this: The Da Vinci Code states that Mary Magdalene is the the wife of Christ. The Bible and the Catholic Church teach that Saint Mary Magdalene is a Bride of Christ, as a consecrated religious woman.