The Church dedicates the third week after Easter to the myrrh-bearing women. We tell you who were the women who remained faithful to Their Lord and Teacher to the end, who stood at the Cross of the Savior, who came to anoint His Body with aromas, and who heard from the angel the joyful news of the Resurrection of Christ
Who are the myrrh-bearing wives?
The myrrh-bearing women are followers of Jesus Christ who were the first to come to the burial cave, where the Savior’s body was laid the day before. The women came in order, according to the Jewish funeral rite, to anoint His body with special fragrant mixtures that would temporarily weaken the process of decomposition.
The myrrh-bearing women are presented in different ways by the evangelists. For example, in the Gospel of Matthew only Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” appear (Matthew 28:1). In the Gospel of Mark - Mary Magdalene, Mary of Jacob (Mark 15:40) and Salome (Mark 16:1). In the Gospel of Luke - “Mary Magdalene), and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and others with them” (Luke 24.10). The Gospel of John testifies that of the myrrh-bearing women that morning only Mary Magdalene came to the tomb twice. Thus, the name of Mary Magdalene is mentioned in all four canonical Gospels. In the story of the walk to the tomb, the evangelists Mark and Luke also include Salome and Joanna.
According to Holy Tradition, when Judas betrayed Christ to the high priests, all His disciples fled. The Apostle Peter followed the Savior to the court of the high priest, where he denied Him three times, denounced as His disciple. The entire Jewish people then shouted to Pilate: “Take him, take him, crucify him!” (John 19:15). When the Savior was crucified, the entire public passing by mocked Him, and only His Mother with the disciple John stood at the Cross and the women who followed Him and His disciples. These were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, Mother of James, Salome, and others, who later received the name of myrrh-bearing women.
Witnesses of the Resurrection
The myrrh-bearing women remained faithful to the Savior to the end. At the same time, they had no opportunity to change anything and had no right to vote - they only stood silently at the Cross, staying with their Teacher until the last minute.
The myrrh-bearing women were the first to know about the Resurrection of Christ and saw Him risen.
When the women walked to the burial place of the Savior, they discussed who could roll away the stone from the burial cave. But before their arrival, an Angel descended, after which an earthquake occurred, which rolled away the stone and frightened the guards. An angel testified to the myrrh-bearing women that Christ had risen and would precede them in Galilee. The Gospel of John especially emphasizes that Mary Magdalene was the first to come to the tomb, after which she returned to the apostles Peter and John and reported that “we do not know where they laid Him” (John 20:2), seeing that there was no body in the tomb.
Mary Magdalene cried and thought that the Savior’s body had been stolen. At this time, Christ appeared to her, whom she initially mistook for a gardener. He told her not to touch Him until He had ascended to the Father, and asked her to inform His disciples about His resurrection. Mary Magdalene, returning to her disciples, meets another Mary - and Christ appears a second time, again commanding him to inform his disciples about His resurrection. The apostles, having heard about the resurrection of the Savior, did not believe it.
However, there is also a tradition that the first Jesus appeared not to Mary Magdalene, but to His Mother, Mary. And in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus appears to all the myrrh-bearing women at once (Matthew 28:9-10).
“That same day two of them went to a village sixty furlongs from Jerusalem, called Emmaus; and talked among themselves about all these events. And while they were talking and reasoning with each other, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept, so that they did not recognize Him. He said to them: What are you talking about as you walk, and why are you sad? One of them, named Cleopas, answered Him: Are You really one of those who came to Jerusalem and do not know about what has happened in it these days? And he said to them: about what? They said to Him: What happened to Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people; how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him up to be condemned to death and crucified Him. But we hoped that He was the One who was to deliver Israel; but with all that, it is now the third day since this happened. But some of our women astonished us: they were early at the tomb and did not find His body, and when they came, they said that they had also seen the appearance of Angels, who said that He was alive. And some of our men went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Him. Then He said to them: O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!” (Luke 24:13-25).
Mary Magdalene 
Mary Magdalene - saint equal to the apostles, revered Orthodox Church as one of the myrrh-bearing women. In the New Testament, the name of Mary Magdalene is mentioned in only six episodes:
1. When she was healed by Jesus Christ from possession by seven demons (Luke 8:2; Mark 16:9);
2. After this, she followed Christ, serving Him (Mark 15:40-41, Luke 8:3);
3. She was present at Calvary during death on the cross Christ (Matt. 27:56);
4. Witnessed His burial (Matthew 27:61);
5. Became one of the myrrh-bearing women (10), to whom the Angel announced His resurrection (Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:1-8);
6. She was the first to see the risen Savior, mistaking Him for a gardener. (John 20:11-18).
Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene was born in the town of Magdala (from where, according to some opinions, her nickname comes - “Magdalene”, Hebrew “native of the city of Migdal-El”), in Galilee, in the northern part of the Holy Land, on the shores of Lake Gennesaret, nearby from the place where John the Baptist baptized. 
Magdala. Located in Galilee, 3 km north of the city Tiberias, on the shores of Kinneret
Regarding the first part of the saint's life Mary Equal to the Apostles Magdalene, it is known that she was subject to an incurable illness and was possessed, according to the Gospel of Luke, by “seven demons” (Luke 8:2). The reasons and circumstances of what happened to her are not specified. It is believed that Mary Magdalene was possessed not because of her sinfulness, but because God’s Providence allowed this so that the Lord Jesus Christ would reveal the work of the Glory of God - the miracle of healing Mary Magdalene, enlightening her mind and attracting her to faith in Christ the Savior and to eternal salvation.
One day Mary Magdalene heard about the Wonderworker, “who heals every disease and every infirmity in people” (Matthew 9:35). She begins to look for Him, sees that “He healed many from sickness and disease, and from evil spirits, and the deaf, and the blind, and the lame, and lepers, and raised the dead” (Luke 7:21,22; Matt.11 :5, etc.). Mary Magdalene fervently believes in His omnipotence, resorts to His Divine power, asks for healing and receives what she asks for: the tormenting power of evil spirits leaves her, she is freed from enslavement to demons and her life is sanctified by the Divine radiance of her Healer.
Byzantine literature tells that after the death of the Savior on the cross, Mary Magdalene went to Ephesus with Holy Mother of God to St. Apostle John the Theologian and helped him in his labors. Mary Magdalene is believed to have preached the gospel in Rome (Rom. 16:6). She also died in Ephesus.
Who else was among the myrrh-bearing wives?
Saint Salome
Daughter of Joseph, betrothed to the Holy Virgin Mary, born from his first marriage. St. Salome was married to Zebedee and had two sons from this marriage, St. John the Evangelist and James. Together with other myrrh-bearing women, Salome served Christ when He was in Galilee. Evangelist Matthew, describing the suffering of the Lord Jesus on the cross, says that there were also many women there, watching from afar, who followed Jesus from Galilee, serving Him. Among them was the mother of the sons of Zebedee (Matt. 27:55-56). Along with other myrrh-bearing women (13), she also came to the tomb of the risen Lord and learned from the angels about His Resurrection and the command to inform the disciples that He had risen from the dead and “is going before you to Galilee: there you will see Him” (Mark 16:7 ).
Saint Joan
Saint Joan is the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward. When the head of John the Baptist was cut off, the murderers did not want to put the head of the Forerunner along with his body, fearing that he would not be resurrected; The disciples buried the body of the Forerunner in Sebaste, and the enemies hid the head in Herod’s palace. Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, who was a secret follower of Christ, learned about this. She secretly took the honest head and, putting it in a vessel, reverently buried it in Herod’s estate, on the Mount of Olives. The Holy Evangelist Luke in his Gospel, speaking about the passage of Jesus Christ through cities and villages to preach and evangelize, notes that some women also followed Him, among whom he speaks of John, the wife of Chuza, the steward of Herod, who served Him with their property. (Luke 8:1-3). In addition, St. Evangelist Luke says that these wives followed Christ from Galilee to Jerusalem and at the crucifixion of the Lord they stood in the distance and looked at the crucifixion, at the tomb and how they laid the body of the Lord.
Saint Mary of Clopas
Maria Kleopova is the daughter of Joseph, betrothed to the Blessed Virgin Mary. She was married to Joseph's younger brother, Cleopas. She was still a girl when Blessed Virgin, betrothed to Joseph, entered his house and lived with this daughter of Joseph in tender love, like sisters. Based on this tender love, St. Evangelist John calls Mary of Cleopas the sister of the Mother of Jesus (John 19:25). She was honored to be present at the cross of the Savior and to hear the Divine adoption by the Lord of his beloved disciple to the Most Holy Theotokos. We have nothing about the further life and death of Maria Kleopova. church traditions.
Saint Susanna
Only one evangelist, Luke, mentions Susanna, and only once: when he talks about the passage of the Lord Jesus Christ through cities and villages to preach and evangelize, then among the wives accompanying him he also names Susanna (Luke 8:3), as serving Christ from her estates.
Holy Mary, mother of James the lesser and Josiah
Three evangelists mention this wife - Matthew, when listing the wives who stood at the cross, calls her Mary, the mother of James and Josiah. Evangelist Mark mentions her twice: the first time when listing the wives who looked from afar at the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. He calls her Mary, the mother of James the lesser and Josiah. Another time, listing the myrrh-bearing women (14) who bought the fragrances, he also mentions Mary of Jacob. Finally, the Evangelist Luke, telling about the women who returned from the tomb of the risen Savior to the disciples to preach the good news about the Risen One, also mentions Mary, the mother of James (Matthew 27:56; Mark 15:40, 16:1; Luke 24:10) .
Celebration
The Day of Remembrance of the Myrrh-Bearing Women is celebrated on the fifteenth day, starting with Easter (third Sunday). On this church women's holiday, it is customary to congratulate your close women - spouses, mothers, sisters. The myrrh-bearing women are an example of true sacrificial love and selfless service to the Lord. The Church celebrates this day as a holiday for all Christian women, Orthodox Women's Day - every woman on earth is a prototype of one of the myrrh-bearing women: she brings peace to the world, to her family, to the home, gives birth to children, and is a support to her husband. A number of Orthodox Christians are in favor of this particular day becoming an alternative to the secular International Women's Day, celebrated on March 8.
The myrrh-bearing women who came in the morning on the first day after Saturday to the Tomb of the risen Jesus Christ, with aromas and incense (myrrh) for the ritual anointing of the body.
After the Sabbath rest they came to the tomb
In Matthew (28:1-10) - Mary Magdalene and the other Mary;
In Mark (16:1-13) - Mary Magdalene, Mary of Jacob (mother of James, apostle of the 70), Salome (mother of Zebedee's sons James and John);
In Luke (23:23-55) - Mary Magdalene, Joanna (wife of Chuza), Mary (mother of James), “and others with them”;
In John (20:1-18) - Mary Magdalene.
The Holy Tradition of the Church also speaks of Mary and Martha, Mary of Cleopas and Susanna. These women entered hymnography and liturgical texts under the general name of myrrh-bearing women.
Women, going to the coffin, argue, “who will roll away the stone from the coffin.” Before their arrival, as a result of the descent of the Angel, an earthquake occurs, which rolls away the stone and plunges the guards into fear. The angel tells the wives that Christ has risen and will precede them to Galilee. The Gospel of John, at the latest, especially emphasizes that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb first - “on the Sabbath alone, Mary Magdalene came in the morning, while darkness was still present...”. Returning to the apostles Peter and John, she says: “We do not know where they laid Him” (John 20:2) (in synodal translation in plural, that is, she did not walk alone).
After the apostles Peter and John left, Mary Magdalene remained at the tomb. She thought that the body had been stolen and cried. At this time, Christ appeared to her, whom she initially mistook for a gardener. He tells her not to touch him (Noli me tangere) until he has ascended to his father, and asks her to inform the disciples about his resurrection. Then, according to Matthew, Mary, returning with the gospel to the disciples, meets the second Mary, and Christ appears a second time, commanding him to again inform all the disciples about the resurrection. The apostles, when they heard about the resurrection of Jesus, did not believe. According to Church Tradition, Jesus appeared first not to Magdalene, but to his mother, Mary. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus appeared to all the myrrh-bearing women at once (Matthew 28:9-10).
In the Orthodox Church, the third week of Easter is called the Week of the Myrrh-Bearing Women - the day of remembrance of these holy women. This day, as well as the week after it, is a church women's holiday, when relatives, friends and children congratulate their close women - spouses, mothers, sisters.
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In our era, the Church is often accused of humiliating women, and Orthodox people point to the myrrh-bearing wives as one example (another example is the Mother of God) of the fact that the Church places women exceptionally high - so high that it is women who are the first to meet the Risen One. they turn out to be the first evangelists - while the disciples show skepticism and unbelief.
Let us remember the story of the Gospel: “That same day two of them went to a village sixty furlongs from Jerusalem, called Emmaus; and talked among themselves about all these events. And while they were talking and reasoning with each other, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept, so that they did not recognize Him. He said to them: What are you talking about as you walk, and why are you sad? One of them, named Cleopas, answered Him: Are You really one of those who came to Jerusalem and do not know about what has happened in it these days? And he said to them: about what? They said to Him: What happened to Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people; how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him up to be condemned to death and crucified Him. But we hoped that He was the One who was to deliver Israel; but with all that, it is now the third day since this happened. But some of our women astonished us: they were early at the tomb and did not find His body, and when they came, they said that they had also seen the appearance of Angels, who said that He was alive. And some of our men went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Him. Then He said to them: O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! (Luke 24:13-25)"
Male disciples turn out to be openly lacking in faith, “foolless and slow of heart.” They are not at all filled with enthusiasm - on the contrary, they are in deep despondency and disappointment - “but we thought it was...” At this time, it is women who show unshakable faith. It is they who turn out to be “Apostles to Apostles”; it is from them that the Apostles learn about the Resurrection. However, instead of responding with a jubilant “Truly He is Risen!”, the men simply do not believe - “and their words seemed empty to them, and they did not believe them. (Luke 24:11).” Strikingly anti-male text. One might assume that militant feminists had a hand in its writing.
However, we cannot assume this - and for a fairly obvious reason. The text, as established by scientists, was written in the 1st, and certainly not in the 21st century AD. In the 1st century A.D. there were no militant - or any - feminists. It would not occur to opponents to reproach the Church for being too patriarchal and belittling the feminine principle. The ancient world was so rigidly patriarchal, so anti-female, that it is difficult for us to imagine it. Pious Jews prayed every day with the words “Thank you, God, for not making me a woman,” but compared to the background of the pagans, this attitude still looked very benevolent. Still in Old Testament Eve is called a “helper,” “corresponding to man,” “the mother of all living,” and many biblical texts glorify godly women - housewives, mothers, wives, and even warriors and prophetesses. IN Greek mythology the first woman was not Eve, but Pandora. The same one from which the expression “Pandora’s box (or box)” entered all European languages. There are even complaints from the Greeks, dissatisfied with the fact that they cannot have sons without the help of women - it would be much easier to bring an offering to the temple and pick up the child the next morning, but no, you have to deal with women.
Nowadays, people can dream of a harmonious era of the “great goddess”, when people supposedly worshiped female deities, the status of women was high, and morals were meek and peaceful. You should not mock such dreams - they, albeit crookedly, reflect the longing for a lost paradise. But they have nothing to do with historical reality. The Athenians worshiped the goddess and lived in the most democratic society of that era - but at the same time, as the French historian Adre Bonnard writes, “in Athenian society, not only slaves did not have the right to enjoy the benefits of democracy. There were other human beings almost as despised as these: women" (André Bonnard, "Greek Civilization")
In our time, we can point to the highest honor bestowed upon the myrrh-bearing women as something that modern man would rather approve; after all, we live in a civilization shaped by almost two millennia of Christianity. But then, when the sermon of the Apostles was first heard, when the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke wrote his Gospel, the fact that it was women who were the first to see the Risen One was extremely inconvenient, even indecent. The pagans did not miss an opportunity to mock this; as one of the first anti-Christian polemicists, Celsus, writes, “And that, although he was unable to stand up for himself during his lifetime, having become a corpse, he rebelled, showed traces of execution, pierced hands - who saw this? A half-mad woman or someone else from the same charlatan company.” Women as witnesses of the Resurrection were such a monstrously losing PR move that this move can only be explained by one thing - they really saw the Risen One first. If the Apostles began to come up with colorful details to give credibility to their Annunciation, then they would never, under any circumstances, have made women the first witnesses of the Resurrection.
This is an amazing testimony to the authenticity of the gospel. As the eminent modern biblical scholar Bishop Tom Wright writes, “Whether we like it or not, ancient world women were not considered reliable witnesses. When Christians had time to create the formula that Paul gives in 1 Cor 15, they quietly excluded women, who are completely disadvantageous from an apologetic point of view. But in the gospel stories they play both main and secondary roles, these are the first eyewitnesses, the first apostles. This cannot be imagined. If the tradition had begun with male witnesses (as we see in 1 Cor. 15), no one would have included women in rewriting it. But all the gospels speak specifically about women” (Tom Wright, “The Main Mystery of the Bible”).
If we think a little about the historical context of the Gospel events, we will see how precious the testimony of the myrrh-bearing women is, a testimony given in a world where no one was willing to take the testimony of a woman seriously.
The Week (Sunday) of the Myrrh-Bearing Women is a holiday for every Orthodox Christian, Orthodox Women's Day.
On this day the holy myrrh-bearing women are remembered. Who are they, the holy myrrh-bearing women - Mary Magdalene, Mary of Cleopas, Salome, Joanna, Martha, Mary, Susanna?
Why does the Russian Orthodox Church honor the memory of these women on the second Sunday after Easter?
Every woman on Earth is a myrrh-bearer and brings peace to the world, her family, her home, she gives birth to children, and is a support to her husband. Orthodoxy exalts the woman-mother, the woman of all classes and nationalities.
Myrrh-Bearers- these are the same women who, out of love for the Savior Jesus Christ, received Him in their homes, and later followed Him to the place of crucifixion at Golgotha. They were witnesses of Christ's suffering on the cross. It was they who hurried in the dark to the Holy Sepulcher to anoint the body of Christ with myrrh, as was the custom of the Jews. It was they, the myrrh-bearing women, who were the first to know that Christ had risen. For the first time after his death on the cross, the Savior appeared to a woman - Mary Magdalene.
This holiday has been especially revered in Rus' since ancient times. Noble ladies, rich merchant women, poor peasant women led strictly pious lives and lived in faith. The main feature of Russian righteousness is the special, purely Russian type, chastity of Christian marriage as a great Sacrament. The only wife of the only husband is the life ideal of Orthodox Rus'.
Another feature of ancient Russian righteousness is the special “rite” of widowhood. Russian princesses did not marry a second time, although the Church did not prohibit second marriage. Many widows took monastic vows and entered a monastery after the burial of their husbands. The Russian wife has always been faithful, quiet, merciful, meekly patient, and all-forgiving.
The Day of the Myrrh-Bearing Women in Orthodoxy is considered analogous to March 8. Only instead of the dubious ideal of a revolutionary woman and a feminist rebel, the Church praises the completely different qualities of our mothers, spouses, sisters and friends. First of all, this is great sacrifice, selflessness, loyalty, love and a living, fiery faith that can overcome everything. The same faith and love that are fully accessible only to the weak female nature, and that shine even in the most hopeless darkness.
We don’t know for sure how many myrrh-bearers there were. The Gospel simply lists them by name, and only names a few women more or less specifically. Church tradition assigned the title of myrrh-bearers to seven or eight disciples of Christ. All of them subsequently became fiery preachers and worked equally with the other apostles. And Magdalene was even given the honor of being called equal to the apostles - that is, having the same glory and bearing the same cross as the other male disciples.
Traditionally, the Blessed Virgin is not included among the myrrh-bearing women, but some interpreters believe that “Mary of Jacob” (Mark 16:1) and “the other Mary” (Matthew 28:1) are the Mother of Christ. The fact is that after the death of her husband Joseph, She took charge of his youngest children from his first marriage, and was quite legitimately considered the mother of Jacob. But even if the Mother of God was not among the myrrh-bearers, She is still considered the first to receive the news of the Resurrection of the Son - according to legend, an angel appeared to Her personally and told her the most important news in the world.
The Most Pure One lived for some time in Jerusalem in the house of the Apostle John the Theologian, to whom the Lord entrusted the care of His already middle-aged Mother on Calvary. After the apostles left for preaching, She also received the lot of missionary work. Initially, these were the lands of modern Georgia, but the Holy Virgin was never able to get there. The place of Her apostleship was Athos, where She ended up after a storm, on her way to visit Bishop Lazarus, who lived in Cyprus. For some time the Mother of God lived in Ephesus. She died in Jerusalem and was buried there - in the Garden of Gethsemane. However, there is no body in Her tomb - legend says that the Son, on the third day after her death, raised Her to heavenly glory along with her body.
Information about this woman is confusing. Some see in her the famous gospel harlot whom Christ saved from stoning and who anointed His feet with expensive oil. Others see in her a simple Jewish woman, healed by Christ from the serious illness of obsession and demon possession. After the apostles went out to preach, she neglected all the norms of that time (a woman was forbidden to preach herself) and went alone from city to city, proclaiming to everyone about the resurrected Teacher. According to one version of life, Magdalene ended her days in the house of John the Evangelist in Ephesus, living to a ripe old age. Other versions of the biography say that Maria spent the end of her life in repentance, living for about thirty years in a cave near Marseille. Before her death, according to Western Lives, Magdalene was given communion by a priest who happened to visit her. He also buried the saint.
Information about these women is very scarce. Together with their brother, whom Christ Himself had once resurrected, they moved from Jerusalem to Cyprus, where they helped Lazarus carry out his episcopal ministry. Where, when and how the holy sisters died is unknown.
She was the wife of Chuza, one of the officials at the court of the ruler of Galilee, Herod Antipas. Joanna occupied a very high position and had great influence and connections. During the days of Christ’s preaching, it was Joanna who took upon herself the lion’s share of the expenses of the apostolic community, taking care of food and everything necessary for the Lord and His disciples. There is a version that such generosity of such a noble lady is not accidental - according to a number of interpreters, the son of a courtier, healed by Christ (John 4: 46 - 54), was the child of Joanna, and the grateful woman after that served the Savior with everything she could.
The story of the head of John the Baptist is connected with her name. As you know, for his denunciations against Herod, the Forerunner was first arrested and then beheaded at the libel of Herodias, Herod’s concubine. After the wicked woman violated the head of the prophet she hated, she threw her “trophy” into a landfill. Joanna, seeing all this and deeply grieving over the death of the Forerunner, secretly dug up the head at night, put it in an earthenware vessel and buried it on the Mount of Olives, in one of Herod’s estates.
Almost nothing is known about her. She was one of Christ's relatives. According to one version, Mary was either the daughter or the wife of Cleopas, the brother of Joseph the Betrothed. Another version, very unlikely, says that this woman was the sister of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
This woman is the one with the most ambiguities. According to legend, she was the youngest daughter of Joseph the Betrothed, had a very warm relationship with the Mother of God and was, in fact, Her closest friend. It is likely that this is Maria Kleopova. She began to be called Jacob's because one of her sons, Jacob, was one of the apostles.
The most mysterious of the myrrh-bearers. She served Christ from her estate, that is, apparently, she was quite wealthy. Nothing more is known about her.
Patrons of all Orthodox women: why are they canonized and what is their feat? This article will tell you about this and which women, besides Mary Magdalene, were honored with seeing the risen Christ.
The icon depicts the Gospel events of the morning of the Resurrection. The day before, on Saturday, a guard of Roman soldiers was assigned to the entrance to the Holy Sepulcher by order of the high priests of Judea. The guard was needed to prevent the Savior’s disciples from stealing His body and staging the resurrection.
The myrrh-bearers were the first to come to the tomb to anoint the body of Christ with myrrh
After the obligatory Sabbath Rest, several women from among His disciples approached the cave where the body of Jesus Christ was laid. They wanted to anoint His body with spices, precious myrrh ancient custom. These women are glorified as saints and known as the Myrrh-Bearing Women.
On a note! Myrrh is an oil that is used in the Sacrament of Confirmation immediately after a person’s Baptism. The preparation of the world is a multi-day process that lasts from Wednesday of the Week of the Cross to Great Wednesday.
On the way to the cave, the women worried about how they would convince the guards to let them inside and how to move the stone that blocked the entrance. At this time, the Angel of the Lord appeared before them, driving away the Roman soldiers and telling them that they should not look for “He who is with the dead... like a man,” since Christ had risen. The stone from the tomb was rolled away, the Savior’s body was no longer there.
All the evangelists describe the events of the myrrh-bearing women’s visit to the cave. And they all differ in information about the number of disciples who came to the Holy Sepulcher.
Day of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women - Orthodox Women's Day
If I were to list them all, they were:
The myrrh-bearing women followed their Teacher all the way to the Cross, and they did not leave Him even after death. Although even the apostles were tempted at this difficult moment. The faith of these women was rewarded: they were the first to see the Savior risen.
The memory of the events at the Holy Sepulcher and the quiet feat of the myrrh-bearing women is enshrined in church calendar. Every year on the third Sunday after Easter, a celebration is held in honor of the holy myrrh-bearing women. Today is also a holiday dedicated to everyone Orthodox women as disciples of Christ. The ideal of a woman, glorified by the Orthodox Church, goes back to the feat of the holy myrrh-bearing women, faithful and sacrificial, loving and believing.
With this holiday, the Church reminds that those who seek God find Him the sooner the more zeal and purity in their faith.
Attention! In 2018, the celebration of the Week of Myrrh-Bearing Women fell on April 22. In 2019, the Church will celebrate this holiday on May 12.
The earliest depiction of the Myrrh-Bearing Women is almost two thousand years old; in it, women carry vessels of oil, lighting their way with torches. Later, an image of an angel sitting at the entrance to the cave appears on the icons. Thus, the image “Appearance of an Angel to the Myrrh-Bearing Women” became widespread in iconography.
Icon of the Myrrh-Bearing Woman at the Holy Sepulcher
One of the famous images of the myrrh-bearing women of the 15th century is on the iconostasis of the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Here the events from the Gospel take place against the backdrop of the mountains. An angel sits on a round stone, his wings raised up. The myrrh-bearing women turn towards the angel, but look into the cave. Such an icon with a rectangular image of the Holy Sepulcher has become widespread in the Russian tradition.
Important! The image of the holy myrrh-bearing women is considered a helper to all Orthodox women in gaining faith, strengthening the spirit, and finding inspiration.
What to pray to at the icon of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women - every woman knows herself. You can do it in the words of a troparion written specifically for the veneration of this icon:
An angel appeared to the myrrh-bearing women at the tomb, crying: peace is fitting for the dead, but Christ has appeared alien to corruption. But cry: the Lord is risen, grant great mercy to the world.
Icon of the Myrrh-Bearing Women: The Truth of the Resurrection of Christ
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Hello everyone! I would like to introduce you more closely to other religious holidays of Orthodoxy, even if not as grandiose as the Twelveties, but no less revered.
For example, the Feast of the Myrrh-Bearing Women:
The Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women is celebrated on the third Sunday after Easter. It serves as a reminder of such an important, but, alas, rare human quality - fidelity. Loyalty is not ostentatious, not “profitable,” but sincere, coming from the heart, transforming the whole nature of the lover. Warm. Hearty. Unconditional!
The Week (Sunday) of the Myrrh-Bearing Women in 2014 falls on May 11. On this day, the memory of the saints and faithful Mary Magdalene, Salome, Mary of Cleopas, Martha and Mary, Susanna, Joanna and others is honored.
We know very little about these women from the Gospels, and most of them are mentioned only once in connection with the burial and resurrection of Jesus.
Martha and Mary are known for the fact that their brother Lazarus was resurrected by Christ, and for the dialogue between Christ and Martha, sounding from the Gospel pages as a reminder of the true values of human life.
Martha was preparing a large meal for the Teacher in her house, was worried, fussed, and along the way she reproached her sister Mary for laziness and complained to Christ about her. But Jesus gently answered her that the main thing for a person is not in food and clothing, not in the external prestige of life, not in the dust thrown into the eyes of others: “Martha, Martha, you care and worry about many things... but you only need one thing!” Ev. Luke 10 41-42 art.
The most dramatic image of a woman revered on this day is image of Mary Magdalene . She appears before us in the Gospels, in the apocrypha, in church traditions. Always with a reverent attitude towards Christ, with gratitude to Him, turning our loyalty, devotion and love towards Him. But after what?
Many scholars of Holy Scripture believe that the failed trial of a woman caught in adultery, which unexpectedly ended with the departure of the accusers and judges after the words of Christ: “He who is without sin, throw the first stone at her.” was the "trial" of Mary Magdalene.
Her past as a harlot, subsequent justification and forgiveness by Christ formed the basis of many works of art: paintings, icons, songs, poems. Famous poem"Magdalene" by Boris Pasternak:
It’s a little night, my demon is right there, My retribution for the past. Memories of debauchery will come and suck my heart, When I was a slave to male whims, I was a demon-possessed fool And the street was my shelter.
The meeting with Christ, who forgave her all her many sins, forever and deeply changes her essence - she becomes devoted to Him, to Him alone...
One day, shortly before His death, Christ was invited to a rich house for dinner with representatives of the political and religious elite of Jewish society, who listened to Him, rather amused by the improbability of the doctrine of the resurrection and eternal life.
And suddenly a woman approached Christ, who was reclining at the table, with a vessel of precious, very expensive incense in those days, as indeed now. According to Jewish customs, they anointed the heads of priests and high priests with myrrh, and suddenly a woman pours it on the feet of Jesus Christ!
This act causes shock, anger, bewilderment, and envy of those who observe it. They start shouting: “What’s going on?”, “Why is this?”, “They could have sold the ointment and given the money to the poor, this is God’s commandment,” but all this is just the hypocrisy of people who tried to please God by formally observing the commandments, without personal faith and heartfelt love for Jesus.
Christ explained to the astonished table diners the reason for the behavior that came: “Whoever has been forgiven a lot loves a lot” Ev. Luke 7 47 Art.
Marina Tsvetaeva expressed Christ’s assessment of her sincere, highest sacrifice of love, by accepting which He showed everyone that He extols the sincere participation of the heart over the most precious thing in this world:
- Myrrh-Bearer! Why do I need peace?
You washed me
Like a wave.
All women revered in Feast of the Myrrh-Bearing Women by name, in the Gospels they are found under the general word “women” or “wives,” because a woman without a man was absolutely powerless and helpless in the time of Christ.
What can we say if even in modern Hebrew, revived at the beginning of the 20th century, there is no phrase “husband and wife”, implying an equal union. There is “the master (lord) and his woman and his children.” In a thoroughly patriarchal society, the role of a woman was invisible and underestimated by many, almost everyone, but not by Christ!
The Gospels repeatedly and impartially illuminate the behavior of male disciples and female followers during the trial and crucifixion of Christ. It seems that women became the first witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus as a reward for their faithfulness.
Unlike today, in ancient world a woman could not express herself in public life, take part in the expression of the will of the people, therefore the crowd shouting “Crucify!” consisted one hundred percent of men.
One of the disciples, Judas, became a traitor. The Gospel of Matthew in chapter 26 reports that immediately after the arrest of Jesus “ALL the disciples left Him and ran away” . Peter, out of cowardice, denied Christ three times before a servant, a woman whose opinion had neither weight nor value.
At the time of his execution, Jesus was left without disciples whom he asked to pray and support Him, but not alone! At the place of execution “there were many women watching from afar” Ev. Matthew 26. 55 art.
The great Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky once saw the painting “Dead Christ in the Tomb” by Hans Holbein the Younger in an art gallery in the German city of Basel and was very excited by its realism and the seeming irrevocability of the terrifying plot.
In the novel “The Idiot,” Dostoevsky, through the mouth of Prince Myshkin, says: “Yes, from this picture, someone’s faith may disappear!” What was it like for the loving followers of Jesus to see disfigured and dead the One Who said about Himself: "I am the resurrection and the Life" ...? Ev. John 11 ch. 25 Art.
Their loving hearts were torn with sorrow and pain because they were not constantly near Jesus, perhaps not hearing His promise to rise on the third day. Therefore, at dawn, the women went to the tomb of Jesus to, according to tradition, anoint His body with incense.
the myrrh-bearers are coming
Remaining faithful, they went to the tomb of the Teacher, who did not become a political leader, did not lead the fight against the Romans, as many expected.
Even his disciples abandoned Him, which means that no memory of Him and His teaching can be preserved in the future.
But women's hearts, filled with fidelity and love, are able, despite everything, to tenderly care for those they love.
This is exactly what the hearts of the Myrrh-Bearing Women were like; driven by love, they came... and were the first to see the empty tomb, the Angel who informed them that Christ had risen, and Christ himself, who greeted them with the greeting: “Peace be with you!”
God always rewards for faithfulness, look! The women were worried, they were present at the execution, participated in the burial of the Body, not knowing the upcoming joy of the resurrection, they mourned the Teacher who had left them forever. And He himself appeared to them, met and consoled them, showed them that life goes on, that their hope was not lost!
Oh miracle! Women run to inform the disciples and become a kind of apostles for future apostles. But! They don't believe it! The most famous unbeliever is Thomas, whom we remember in the first week of Easter.
However, the divine teaching is far from creating a quarrel between men and women, in order to extol some and belittle others at the expense of facts. It is not without reason that on this day the memory of the saints and righteous Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, who asked permission to remove the Body of Christ and bury it, is also revered.
Joseph purchased a new tomb for burial, in which the Body was laid. May the thoroughness of Divine attention be a joy to you.
Moreover, the theme of myrrh-bearing women has not become obsolete; it continues in modern art. In 2013, at a concert on the Day of Love, Family and Fidelity, the song of the Myrrh-Bearing Wife was performed by Katya Lel and Evgeny Kungurov.
