I have St. Dymphna over there on the left as our Saint ‘o the Day, but I wanted to draw your attention to another figure on the calendar today, Andrew Abellon, OP (so…why is he not on the left? Because I couldn’t find an image, that’s why.)

Blessed Andrew is pertinent to this blog because he’s got a Mary Magdalene connection:

Born at Saint Maximin, France, in 1375; died at Aix-en-Provence on May 15, 1450; cultus confirmed in 1902. Blessed Andrew was born near the world-famous shrine of Mary Magdalen. His entire life was centered around the shrine, and it is greatly due to his efforts that devotion to the great penitential has become so well established.

Of course, Mary Magdalene’s relics had been claimed by another spot in France long before Aix-en-Provence, but that’s a whole other story, and one quite emblematic of the Middle Ages and its relic-smackdown tendencies.

Actually, the most interesting claim to an MM relic that I found is connected, not to the West, but to Orthodoxy. The Monastery of Simonas Petra on Mount Athos claims to have her left hand. A recent visitor remarks:

A couple of years ago, at Simonos Petra on Mount Athos, I kissed the hand of Mary Magdalene. It was dark brown, soft and pliable and, after 2000 years, still warm to the touch. As we like to sing from the Psalms "God is wonderful in His Saints."