IRISH EDITIONVol. XXXI No. 2, February 2011 903 EAST WILLOW GROVE AVENUE, WYNDMOOR, PA 19038-7909 PHONE: (215) 836-4900 ired@voicenet.com $1.50

KATHY McGEE BURNS: BLAZING HER OWN PARADE By Lori Murphy

INTERVIEW WITH FATHERROY BOURGEOIS PART 3By Sabina Clarke

THE HIGH KINGS PERFORM AT WORLD CAFE LIVE MARCH 22

THE MYSTERY OFMARY MAGDALENEBy Sabina Clarke

DEATH OF MICHAELABy Peter Makem

On Sunday, March 13, when Kathy McGee Burns officially presides over the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade, as only the 2nd female president since its 1771 debut, she is going to have some very special guests marching with her. see page 2

INSIDE:Woman of ActionSr. Pauline McShainPAGE 8

Grand MarshalJames DoughertyConshohocken paradePAGE 19

What’s the Rumpus?The Broken ShillelaghsPAGE 20

“The Fighter” TakesBig Stride Toward OscarPAGE 12

First woman president of St. Patrick’s DayParade Association

John and Michaela McAreavey | page 3

Book Review | page 10 SOA protestor being handcuffed | page 6

photo | Tom Keenan

photo | Linda Panette

www.irishedition.comPAGE 10 • FEBRUARY 2011 • IRISH EDITION

BOOK review

In this attractively designed table-top book with photographs of Mary Magdalene as portrayed in art and the cave where legend says she spent the last 30 years of her life, first-time author Paula Lawlor presents an

historical look in a capsulized version at the life of Saint Mary Magdalene drawing on a personal encounter on a trip to the South of France where, serendipitously, she happened on the celebration of the saint’s feast day. Every year on July 22nd, the feast day of Saint Mary Magdalene, the saint’s skull, preserved in a gold reliquary is carried through the streets of St. Maximin where her body lies in a crypt in the Basilica of Saint Mary Magdalene. With the invasion of the Saracens in the 8th century, the relics of Mary Magdalene guarded by the Cassianite monks since the 5th century, were moved to protect them from the marauders. Centuries later, when they were rediscovered both the Benedictine monks at Vezelay and the Dominicans at St. Maximin claimed to have the true relics. The debate was settled in 1279 when Charles 11, the Prince of Salerno, discovered Mary Magdalene’s entire body except her jawbone which was later found to be a match for the jawbone venerated for centuries at St. John Lateran

Church in Rome. When her body was discovered in the crypt, it gave off a fragrant odor and was accompanied by a tablet saying, ‘Here lies the body of Mary Magdalene.’ As a result of the amazing discovery, Pope Boniface V111 established priories for the Dominicans at both Saint Baume and Saint Maximin where they have been the guardians of the relics of Mary Magdalene since the 12th century. Captivated by the mystery and pageantry of the procession she witnessed on Mary Magdalene’s feast day, Lawlor became intrigued and eventually journeyed up the steep mountain path to the cave of St. Baume deep in the forests where Mary Magdalene is said to have spent the last 30 years of her life alone and in prayer. After praying to the saint, Paula Lawlor says she experienced what she calls a ‘miracle’ which led to this book. Controversy over Mary Magdalene’s identity has raged since the early Church. At the center of the debate are the three Marys: Mary Magdalene, a follower of our Lord in John’s gospel; the anonymous penitent, an unnamed woman who weeps, dries Jesus’ feet and anoints them with perfumed oil and is forgiven, in Luke’s gospel and Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus also mentioned in Luke’s gospel. This confusion as to the true identity of Mary Magdalene in the differing gospel accounts may have contributed to Pope Gregory 1 or Gregory the Great’s confusion in 591 A.D. when he mistakenly declared Mary Magdalene a ‘fallen woman’ or repentant prostitute. As Lawlor points out in her book, Pope Gregory believed that the woman Luke called a sinner and John called Mary was the same Mary out of whom Mark in his gospel declared that the Lord expelled seven demons –therefore branding Mary Magdalene a sinner. In the Western Church, the three Marys were often merged into one. However, this was more opinion and not official Church teaching. Conversely, the Eastern Orthodox Church never accepted Pope Gregory’s labeling of Mary Magdalene as a sinful woman and the three characters remained

separate with Saint Mary Magdalene and St. Mary of Bethany having separate feast days. Not until the Second Vatican Council in 1969, did Biblical scholarship reveal that there was more than one Mary and that Mary Magdalene and the unnamed sinner were not the same but rather two different figures. This new information rehabilitated Mary Magdalene’s image and restored her reputation. She was no longer branded a sinner by the Catholic Church. What scholars universally agree on is that Mary Magdalene was a follower of Jesus; that she stood at the foot of the Cross during the Crucifixion; that she was a witness to Christ’s burial--anointing his body after his death and that she was the first to see the risen Lord (John 20:1-18). Historically, speaking there is not much known about the life of Mary Magdalene that can be supported by fact. Yet, the speculation and legend surrounding her

is fascinating. She, along with others close to her were said to have been exiled from the Holy Land after the Resurrection and set adrift on the sea in a boat without oars. She is said to have landed in Marseille in France where she preached the ‘authentic’ gospel of Jesus. It is also speculated that, as the chief disciple, she was the recipient of Christ’s ‘gnosis’ and the possessor of extraordinary mysteries which she transmitted to the people of France. Then in 1945, with the discovery of the Nag Hammadi manuscripts in Egypt near the village of Nag Hammadi, more speculation arose. A number of those texts spoke of her gifts and her unique relationship with the Lord. In these gospels, she is seen as a visionary, a seer and a prophetess; as someone who soothes the male apostles who are afraid of capture and death and as the holder of truths that she alone has been given. Legend also ties her to the Cathar sect in France who

were thought to be followers of Mary Magdalene. It has been theorized that due to the popularity of the Gnostic teachings, the Church of Rome was threatened and called for a crusade against the Gnostic Cathar heresy by waging war against them known as the Holy Inquisition, resulting in the slaughter of thousands of lives. In 1208, Pope Innocent 111 commanded a papal army of more than 30,000 soldiers to descend on the region under the command of Simon de Montfort for the purpose of wiping out the Cathar religion. Whether they were followers of Mary Magdalene is speculation. Despite the dearth of authentic historical information about her life, Mary Magdalene may be the most fascinating character who ever lived next to Jesus Christ.

[Go to www.MagdalenePublishing.org to order this book]

The Second North American Tour of the relic of Mary Mag-dalene begins in Oakland, California on Valentine’s Day, February 14 and ends in San Diego, Cali-fornia on March 15. Paula Lawlor is the tour coordinator.

A Love Devout…The True Untold Story of Mary Magdalene

By Paula Lawlor

Magdalene Publishing

Delmar, California

2010

$25.00

Unearthing the Real Mary Magdalene...Debut Book Is Charming Addition to Magdalene Library

By Sabina Clarke

Original painting of Marie Madeleine by R. Eischmaninoff (c. 1858)