About Us
About Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was a Jewish woman, of the tribe of Isaachar, born in the city of Magdala (thus her name, "Mary of Magdala" or "Mary Magdalene"). Her family was very devout and she was raised in traditional Jewish piety.
She was orphaned at the age of ten, but continued her pious life while growing up among her extended family, attending the synagogue frequently and reading the Scriptures. By the way, it was not uncommon for Jewish women of that time to be educated and to read the Scriptures at home.
Apparently, she was a woman of some means, and her family of some significance for she helped support the work of Jesus and His disciples, and later had access to Caesar in Rome. After Jesus' death and burial, Mary Magdalene was naturally among His kinswomen who came to the tomb early in the morning to complete the process of preparing His body for burial since Joseph of Arimathea and Nikodemos were forced to do so hurriedly on Friday afternoon before the sun set and the Sabbath began. After the resurrection, Mary Magdalene became a strong witness and traveling preacher of the Gospel, and for this she is referred to as an "equal to the Apostles." Mary Magdalene died peacefully and was buried in a cave that is said to be the same place where years later the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus were buried. Her relics were later taken to Constantinople.
The Red Egg
Her travels eventually took Mary Magdalene to Rome, where because of her family's standing she was able to obtain an audience with the Roman Emperor, Tiberius Caesar. Her purpose was to protest to him that his governor in Judea, Pontius Pilate, and the two high priests, Annas and Caiaphas, had conspired and executed an innocent man, namely our Lord Jesus Christ.
According to the tradition, everyone visiting the Emperor was supposed to bring him a gift. Rich and influential people, of course, brought expensive gifts whereas the poor offered whatever they could afford. Mary Magdalene took an egg to the Emperor's palace and handed it to Tiberius Caesar with the greeting: "Christ is risen!"
Tiberius Caesar, naturally, could not believe what he heard and responded to her: "How could anyone ever rise from the dead? It is as impossible as that white egg to turn red." While Tiberius was speaking these words, the egg in the hand of Mary Magdalene began changing color until it finally became bright red.
Thus the Paschal greeting -- in universal Christendom, both East and West -- has ever since remained "Christ is risen!" and it became traditional for Christians throughout the world to color eggs in red.
Mary Magdalene then went on to explain to Tiberius Caesar that the now-red egg symbolized life rising from a sealed chamber, a symbol that would have been understandable to a pagan Roman.
Caesar heard the formal complaint presented by Mary Magdalene, and also had received reports of soldiers under Pilate molesting and killing civilians in Judea. For this Pilate was exiled to Vienne in Gaul where he died an unpleasant death. Interestingly, Pilate's wife Procula Claudia who had a dream about Jesus the night before He was brought before her husband for trial, had become a very pious and devout Christian and died a saint of the Christian Church.
The Diocese of the Carolinas
The Anglican Diocese of the Carolinas is a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America. We are comprised of Anglican parishes and missions in North and South Carolina.
The Anglican Diocese of the Carolinas exists to equip clergy and congregations to fulfill the Great Commandments (Mk.12:29-31) and the Great Commission (Mt.28:19-20) by leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ through evangelism, personal discipleship, and the nurturing and planting of congregations
ACNA
Anglican1000 is an initiative of the Anglican Church in North America and her ministry partners to raise up Anglican congregations and communities of faith across North America to reach people with the transforming love of Jesus Christ.
During his investiture service in 2009, the Church’s first archbishop, The Most Rev. Robert Duncan, made the astonishing, prophetic call to plant a 1000 new congregations. A few months later, a team of leaders gathered in Plano to dream about a cooperative movement to plant churches and answer this call, and in 2014, 500 of the first 1,000 churches have now been planted.
Consecration of St. Mary Magdalene Anglican Church in Camden, SC
