Nearly 10 years ago, Fr. Mark Francis, CSV, then president of Catholic Theological Union, welcomed into its religious art collection a triptych, or three-sided panels, of paintings of Mary Magdalene, called The Succession of Mary Magdalene. The paintings were done by artist Janet McKenzie and were commissioned by Barbara Marian, of Harvard, IL, who ultimately donated them to CTU.
Sr. Barbara Reid, OP, shares her research into the leader and apostle, Mary Magdalene.
The gift led to a dedication ceremony in 2015, in which Fr. Francis and Marian both spoke of the power of depicting women as leaders in religious imagery. Sr. Barbara Reid, OP, who is a Biblical scholar and teacher at CTU, then shared a presentation on Mary Magdalene that took its inspiration from McKenzie’s paintings.
Just last week, Sr. Reid, offered a similar presentation on Mary Magdalene at an event sponsored by the group, Contemporary Theology for Women. Her talk drew more than 200 people to attend at St. Edna’s Catholic Church in Arlington Heights.
Right from the start, Sr. Reid credited Fr. Francis with dedicating the triptych into CTU’s art collection and highlighting the role of women in the early church. Together, they agreed to work to dispel the misconceptions about Mary Magdalene’s role with Jesus and the apostles. They still are.
Succession of Mary Magdalene triptych by Janet McKenzie
“Like any good religious art, these paintings are not merely decorative, they are theological statements of surprising and profound ways of how God intervenes in our world,” Fr. Francis said at the dedication. “Holy women in general, and Mary Magdalene in particular, have been long misunderstood by Western art.
“Mary Magdalene, who is usually portrayed as a repentant sinner, is rarely depicted as the woman who was known as the apostle to the apostles,” he added, “an active evangelizer whose preaching was crucial to the beginning of the church.”
Audience members listen to Sr. Barbara Reid.
Fr. Francis credited the artist, McKenzie, with “offering a glimpse of holiness that is inspiring and which stretches the imagination.” He added that they would help to shape the imagination of CTU’s students and faculty, as well as visitors, to see the expansive holiness of God.
But with Sr. Reid continuing to take her presentations out into the community, referencing the triptych and other religious imagery at CTU, these interpretations of Mary Magdalene’s leadership are the gifts that keep on giving.