Camargue worshippers pay tribute to the Saintes Marie shrine during a pilgrimage to Saintes Maries de la Mer, in the south of France, on Oct.
Since the midth century worshippers have paid tribute to Sainte Marie Jacobe and Sainte Marie Salome by parading statues representing the saints through town and then dipping in the sea. Since the midth century, worshippers have paid tribute to Sainte Marie Jacobe and Sainte Marie Salome by parading their shrines through town and returning their saints to the sea. Mary Magdalene's skull is protected by an iron grate at the Basilica of St. Mary Magdalene in St. It sits above her alabaster sarcophagus.
I fell for her two years ago when I sought out women theologians to help me through a period of grief. I learned she was never a prostitute Pope Gregory the Great made that up. Then, I learned about her French connection. She, his mother, Mary Salome and others left the Holy Land in a makeshift boat, landing in a fishing village called Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the south of France.
Tradition holds that Mary Magdalene spent the last 30 years of her life in and around Marseille, preaching and baptizing believers until she retired to a grotto in the mountains of Sainte-Baume. Two years later, France called to me, as well. I could play pilgrim: visit the relics of her famous skull, imagining her face. This was also in Provence, which meant lavender. I would be in good company. Peak season for Mary Magdalene trips is around July 22, her feast day.
She and her husband β she did the teaching, he the driving β led our intimate group of three to visit the St. We opened the visit with a stop at St. In the crypt, behind iron bars, rests a gilded reliquary containing what the Catholic Church believes is her skull, the one researchers used to reconstruct her face. Amid the thick silence in the cold, dark crypt, I could hear my own heart beat. By the time we made it to town, wind-whipped by the Mediterranean sea, the parade for St.
