After Christ's ascension, Mary Magdalen became one of His greatest missionary disciples. This is why, in the Eastern Church, we refer to her as "Equal to the Apostles". Once, she was having dinner with the Emperor Tiberias in Rome and she decided to bring some eggs to him as a gift, intending to use them as a symbol to witness to him about Christ's resurrection. Tiberias would not understand her metaphor, stating that Jesus was dead, just like the eggs. At that moment, to everyone's amazement, the eggs on the table turned a brilliant red, catching the attention of a very confused and bewildered Tiberias. I bet he listened to her after that.
Here is a recipe to make some brilliant red eggs for us to enjoy as we remember what a great witness Mary Magdalen had become for Christ.
St. Mary Magdalen's Red Pickled Eggs
1 dozen eggs, hard boiled and peeled
1 cup juice of some fresh red beets, or from 2 (15 ounce) cans sliced beets
1 cup white or cider vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1-2 cinnamon sticks, 1 star anise, 5 allspice berries (all optional)
Pack the hard boiled eggs (and the beets if you like) into a large glass jar. Meanwhile, in a pot on the stove, bring the vinegar and water to a boil, add the beet juice, sugar and spices and allow to boil for minute or two before turning off the heat. Pour the hot brine over the eggs and place the lids on the jars and allow to cool to room temperature. You can keep the jars in the refrigerator for up to one month if you need to, but the eggs will be pickled through and ready to eat in only a few days.
Mary Magdalene was one of the myrrhbearing women who arrived at Christ's tomb with aromatic ointment to anoint the dead body of Jesus in the tomb. These women did an awesome and very important thing to honor Christ's Body out of love, even though it was dark; even though they knew there would be scary Roman soldiers there; even though they went alone and had no idea how they would remove that huge stone all by themselves. They loved Him enough to be not afraid, but to step out and anoint Him with love and reverence as they were called to do...as the disciples couldn’t do...no matter what.
We can be like them!
There are myrrhbearers TODAY who are called to be like these early examples, those women in the bible. We can be like Mary Magdalen and step out into the darkness to bring healing and warmth to the Body of Christ today, which is His Church!
We can anoint His Body, the Church, out of love for Jesus because we KNOW Who He is!
We are not afraid because... we know what happened after three days in the tomb! Are YOU called to be a myrrhbearer? Will you bring healing comfort to the Body of Christ today?
Here's your first assignment! Let's make a batch of this spicy, aromatic sugar scrub to remind us of our task. We will make one for ourselves and one to give away to someone who might need to be reminded about how much they are loved. The warm spices will remind us of the aromatic myrrh that the women carried as it cleans and scrubs away the dirt and grime from our hands and feet.
Magdalen's Aromatic Sugar Scrub
In a bowl, combine 1 cup of white sugar, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 2 tsp of cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, and a drop of orange or frankincense, or myrrh essential oil, if desired. When this is well combined, add just enough olive oil ( about 1 cup) to make it into a thick paste. Put your scrub into 2 clean glass jars, label them and add a decorative ribbon.