e intimate than many who never
offended God.

Nor is she alone in this exceeding glory wherewith an ardent love and
penance clothe sinners. Thousands of others who sinned grievously,
and imitated her penance, are now shining in glory far above others
who never sinned. Think you that St. Peter, who denied his Lord, is
below all those who preserved their innocence, and even below all the
baptized infants in heaven? Think you that St. Paul, who once
persecuted the Church, is now below all on that account? Think you
that the great St. Augustine, St. Mary of Egypt, St. Pelagia, and a
host of other illustrious penitents, are all below mere babes on
account of their sins? They certainly are not. Their intense love for
God, their sorrow, and their tears atoned for their sins, and placed
them far, very far above many who, though they never sinned
grievously, never performed an act of heroic virtue in their whole
lives.

Remember that charity, by which is meant love for God and for our
neighbor, is the greatest of virtues, and has the power of elevating
the greatest sinners to the highest glory of heaven. Mary Magdalen,
therefore, though once a great sinner, is, at this moment, enjoying a
most intimate union with Jesus, and shines like a very star, in the
presence of God.

Even in this world she is glorified far above many who were not
sinners. When Jesus sat at the table of Simon the Leper, Mary
Magdalen anointed Him with precious ointment. Some of the Apostles
complained of the waste; but Jesus defended her conduct, and added:
"Amen, I say to you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached, that
also which she hath done, shall be told for a memorial of her."*
Again, we read in the Gospel of St. Mark, that Jesus, "rising early
the first day of the week, appeared first to Mary Magdalen, from whom
He had cast out seven devils."+ Again, in the Litany of the Saints,
the Church places the name of Mary Magdalen before all the virgins.
This is certainly a high honor. Her feast, also, is one of a higher
order than that of Martha her virgin sister, and above that of many
other virgins; for she is the only woman, besides the Blessed Virgin
Mary, who, in her mass, enjoys the privilege of the Credo. No other
woman, whether a virgin-saint or not, enjoys that privilege, unless
she is the patroness of a particular church. In that case, the Credo
is said in her own church, but nowhere else; while for Mary Magdalen
it is said in every church