Tag Archives: Magdalen

Then He Appeared to More Than 500

Posted on by
Reply
Christ appears to the Twelve and displays his wounds after the Resurrection as St. Thomas makes a prostration before him. (6th cent. mosaic from Ravenna, Italy.)



Christ died for our sins… was buried and raised on the third day according to the Scriptures and appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve; and then he appeared at one time to more than five hundred brothers and sisters… then he appeared to James, indeed to all the apostles; and last of all he appeared to me…. (1 Cor. 15:3-8)

St. Paul quotes a brief statement of belief–a creed–which underscores that Christ died, was buried, and rose from the dead. To underscore the reality of the Resurrection, the apostle reminds the Corinthians of the people who saw Christ after the Resurrection.

We would have no idea of these people who had seen Christ after the Resurrection if St. Paul had not mentioned them here; none of these appearances are mentioned in the Gospels or other New Testament texts except the appearances to “the twelve” and St. Paul’s description of his encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. We have no record of a private appearance to Peter, who is referred to by his Aramaic nickname, Cephas. We have no record of a private appearance to the Apostle James. We have no record of a crowd of 500 people seeing the risen Christ. But we take the word of St. Paul that all these appearances happened.

Christian folktales developed as people told these stories and filled in some of the details. Most of these details simply underscore what we already know from the gospels: Peter is charged with looking after the other apostles, James is charged to look after the Jerusalem community, the 500–perhaps in Galilee, gathered by the apostles after the women at the tomb were told to send the apostles back to the countryside where Christ would meet them–were witnesses as the crowds who heard the Sermon on the Mount or were fed by the five loaves and two fish.

There are other stories of Christ meeting people after his Resurrection. Although there is no written record of these meetings in the New Testament, there is no reason to doubt that these meetings occurred; these meetings are just as likely as the meetings we would be unaware of if they had not been mentioned by St. Paul.

One of these other meetings that was not recorded in writing was said to have been when Christ met his Most Pure Mother on the morning of the Resurrection. Christ is said to have reassured his mother that it was truly him, not a phantasm or ghost. He also underscored the importance of St. Peter in the community.

Many of these appearances of Christ after the Resurrection–including those we know about in the New Testament, especially to St. Mary Magdalen and the other Myrhhbearing Women–became important to the Church as various people claimed to be apostles and began preaching messages that did not agree with what the core community believed. Fundamental to understanding who was an apostle was the question: Did this person meet Jesus after the Resurrection? Without such a meeting, the person’s claim to apostleship was unlikely to be recognized.

Read more about the importance of these post-Resurrection appearances in determining whether someone was an apostle or not here.

May Day! Happy Summer!

Posted on by
Reply

Magdalen Tower, Oxford, is the center of the historic May Day celebrations in the university town.

Magdalen Tower, Oxford, is the center of the historic May Day celebrations in the university town.

May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian times, with the Floralia, festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, during the Roman Republic era; during the Middle Ages, the Walpurgis Night celebrations of the Germanic countries marked the last winter frolic of witches and devils. May Day is also associated with the Gaelic Beltane, most commonly held on April 30. The day was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures. While February 1 was the first day of spring, May 1 was the first day of summer; hence, the summer solstice on June 25 (now June 21) was Midsummer.

Secular versions of May Day, observed in Europe and America, may be best known for their traditions of dancing around the Maypole and crowning the Queen of May. Fading in popularity since the late 20th century is the giving of “May baskets,” small baskets of sweets or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbors’ doorsteps. I remember making May baskets in elementary schools and Maypole games on the playground.

May Day is celebrated at the University of Oxford with special gusto. The day starts early (at 6 a.m.!) with the Magdalen College Choir singing a hymn, the Hymnus Eucharisticus, from the top of Magdalen Tower, a tradition of over 500 years. Large crowds normally gather under the tower along the High Street and on Magdalen Bridge. (Magdalen Tower is one of the oldest parts of Magdalen College, Oxford, situated directly in the High Street. Built of stone from 1492, when the foundation stone was laid, its bells hung ready for use in 1505, and completed by 1509, it is an important element of the Oxford skyline. At 144 feet high, it is the tallest building in Oxford. It dominates the eastern entrance to the city, towering over Magdalen Bridge and with good views from the Botanic Garden across the street.) This is then followed by general revelry and festivities including Morris dancing, impromptu music, etc., for a couple of hours. There is a party atmosphere, despite the early hour. In fact, there are normally all-night balls the night before, so some people (especially students) are in formal attire (e.g., black tie/white tie or ball gown).