Just in time for Holy Week, Gary and I have released a new video today that we’re excited to share with you. The Hours of Mary Magdalene features images from my mixed media series of the same name, combined with Gary’s enchanting song “Mary Magdalena” from his CD House of Prayer. The video draws from the life Mary Magdalene, whose story is so intertwined with the dying and rising of Christ. Called by Christ to be the first to proclaim the news of his resurrection, Mary Magdalene became known in the Middle Ages as the “apostle to the apostles.”
The video draws also from the fascinating body of legends about the Magdalene—stories that may be slim on facts but convey something of our centuries-old fascination with this woman who played a distinctive role as a follower of Christ. As a preacher chick, I’m especially fond of the legend in which Mary Magdalene moves to France and becomes a famous preacher. (I like to imagine her going for a cappuccino and a chocolate croissant after holding forth.) She is also said to have released prisoners from a French jail. In the video you’ll find glimpses of these and other legends, including one that tells that she spent her final years as a hermit in the wilderness, clad only in her long hair; at the canonical hours, angels would come and whoosh her up to heaven for the liturgy, then would whoosh her back down again.
The Magdalene series found much inspiration in Books of Hours, those exquisite illuminated prayerbooks that became so popular among medieval folk as a companion for prayer. You can find out more about the original series and the influences and legends behind it on the Magdalene page in my online gallery.
We have launched the video at the splendid Vimeo site; if you click the Vimeo logo in the player embedded above, it will take you directly to a larger version of the video. We have also released the video on YouTube, where you can view it here. To share the video in worship and related settings, you can find a high-resolution version by visiting The Hours of Mary Magdalene on the Jan Richardson Images website. As always, using the Jan Richardson Images site helps make possible the ministry that I offer at The Painted Prayerbook and beyond. And downloading the video will support Gary’s ministry as well!
As Holy Week approaches, Gary and I hope you will enjoy a few moments in the contemplative company of the Magdalene, and that she may inspire us all to tell forth the words we are called to speak. Blessings!
April 13, 2011 at 8:53 PM |
What a wonderful collaboration!
April 18, 2011 at 10:44 AM |
Thank you, Maureen!
April 14, 2011 at 3:32 PM |
Precious, thank you. I will come back here again and again :-)
April 18, 2011 at 10:45 AM |
Thank you, Claire! Many blessings to you during this Holy Week.
April 15, 2011 at 3:13 PM |
THANK YOU, both of you, very, very much indeed.
http://simonmarsh.org/2011/04/15/magdalena/
April 18, 2011 at 10:49 AM |
Kind thanks, Simon! I’m grateful for your lovely posting of the video on your blog and for your accompanying words. Many blessings to you and yours during this Holy Week and beyond.
April 15, 2011 at 6:09 PM |
I so enjoyed the video. Tears and smiles both. Thank you for your art and music. Today I needed both.
April 18, 2011 at 10:50 AM |
Thank you, Blake! Many blessings to you…
April 17, 2011 at 9:53 PM |
“The Hours of Mary Magdalene” and “Mary Magdalena”–so full with Sacredness! Thank you, Jan and Garrison!
April 18, 2011 at 10:50 AM |
Thank you, lovely Linda! Very grateful for your words. A blessed Holy Week to you.
April 18, 2011 at 1:48 AM |
Tonight, on this Holy Monday, the women of St. James will gather in our chapel for evening prayer as the sunsets. In the darkened silence, we will light candles and join our voices in worship. We will share stone soup and watch The Hours of Mary Magdalene. At our closing, each woman will reach into the basket of Polish eggs, and take one. Each egg darkened in the shadow of the tomb and spotted with the tears of Mary Magdalena, has also been touched with brillant bloom of rebirth by the hand of the gardener.
Sisters, tell the others that you have found him.
April 18, 2011 at 10:53 AM |
How lovely! Thank you so much for sharing this. I wish you and the women of St. James many blessings as you gather this evening, and peace to you throughout this Holy Week and beyond.
March 27, 2018 at 10:36 AM |
You have awoken in me all that I hold “whole”y in my heart. As a 75 year seasoned woman, I have always been seeking the Truth. I hold a Masters in Divinity, not because I wanted it, but because God kept waking me up in the night and calling me. Thank you, thank you, for your art which speaks to my whole being; thank you, thank you for your writing, which liberates me. Blessings and love, Elizabeth Walsh