Eventually she would become St. Mary. She was given the name 'Magdalen' because, though a Jewish girl, she lived in a Gentile town called Magdale, in northern Galilee, and her culture and manners were those of a Gentile.
St. Luke records that she was a notorious sinner, and had seven devils removed from her.
She was present at the crucifixion of Jesus, and with Joanna, Mary, and Salome the mother of James, at Jesus' empty tomb.
Fourteen years after Jesus died, St. Mary was put in a boat by the Jews without sails or oars - along with Sts. Lazarus and Martha, St. Maximin (who baptized her), St. Sidonius ("the man born blind"), her maid Sera, and the body of St. Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin.
Now, these folks were main stage players in this Messiah story. Those that never wanted to have anything to do with a man more important than Herod had even less use for them. So, when they were exiled they were cast out to sea. Folks didn't necessarily know there was another side to the sea the boat was cast into.
They were sent drifting out to sea (The Mediterranean Sea) and landed on the shores of Southern France, where St. Mary spent the rest of her life as a contemplative in a cave known as Sainte-Baume. She was given the Holy Eucharist daily by angels as her only food, and died when she was 72. St. Mary was transported miraculously, just before she died, to the chapel of St. Maximin, where she received the last sacraments.
The stories in the Bible are rather exceptional and mystical about the women. According to James the Lesser, the mother of Jesus was a virgin birth as well. Supposedly, Mary the mother of Jesus never touched the ground until she was placed on the steps of a temple at the age of three years old. She was then attended to by angels and fed nothing but manna. That story never made the Bible. But, it portrays the mystery of the women in the Bible and in the Roman Catholic bible there are more books by women than in many other versions of the Bible. The women are Ruth, Judith and Esther. There are many more women mentioned in the Bible that have a role in the life of Christianity and Judaism.
