Why are the myrrh-bearing wives so called. Women are myrrh-bearers. Why does the church honor the memory of the myrrh-bearing women?

In our era, the Church is often accused of humiliating women, and Orthodox people point to the myrrh-bearing wives as one of the examples (another example is the Mother of God) of the fact that the Church places a woman exceptionally high - so high that it is women who are the first to meet the Risen One, and precisely they are the first evangelists - while the disciples show skepticism and unbelief.

Let us recall the story of the Gospel: “On the same day, two of them went to a village, sixty stages from Jerusalem, called Emmaus; and talked among themselves about all these events. And while they were talking and reasoning among themselves, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not recognize Him. And he said to them, What are you discussing among yourselves as you walk, and why are you sad? One of them, by the name of Cleopas, said to Him in answer: Are you one of those who came to Jerusalem not aware of what has happened in it these days? And he said to them: about what? They said to him: what happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people; how the chief priests and our rulers betrayed him to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we hoped that it was He who should redeem Israel; but with all that, it is already the third day since this happened. But even some of our women amazed us: they were early at the tomb and did not find His body, and when they came, they said that they also saw the appearance of angels, who say that He is alive. And some of our people went to the sepulcher and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Him. Then He said to them: O foolish and slow of heart to believe everything that the prophets foretold! (Luke 24:13-25)"

The male disciples turn out to be frankly of little faith, "unreasonable and slow of heart." They are not at all enthusiastic - on the contrary, they are in deep despondency and disappointment - "but we thought it was ..." At this time, it is women who show unshakable faith. It is they who turn out to be "Apostles to Apostles", it is from them that the Apostles learn about the Resurrection. However, instead of responding with a jubilant “Truly Risen!”, the men simply do not believe - “and their words seemed empty to them, and did not believe them. (Luke 24:11)." Strikingly anti-male text. It could be assumed that militant feminists had a hand in writing it.

However, we cannot assume this - and for a fairly obvious reason. The text, as established by scientists, was written in the 1st, and certainly not in the 21st century AD. In the 1st century A.D. there were no militant - and no - feminists. It would not occur to opponents to reproach the Church for excessive patriarchy and humiliation of the feminine principle. The ancient world was so rigidly patriarchal, so anti-feminine, that it is difficult for us to imagine it. The pious Jews prayed every day with the words “Thank you, God, for not creating me a woman,” but against the background of the pagans, this attitude still looked very benevolent. Still, in the Old Testament, Eve is called a “helper”, “corresponding to a man”, “mother of all living”, and many biblical texts glorify pious women - housewives, mothers, wives, and even warriors and prophetesses. In Greek mythology, the first woman was not Eve, but Pandora. The one from which the expression "Pandora's box (or casket)" entered all the languages of Europe. Even the complaints of the Greeks, who are dissatisfied with the fact that they cannot have sons without the help of women, have survived - it would be much easier to bring an offering to the temple and pick up the child in the morning, but no, you have to deal with women.

In our time, people can dream of a harmonious era of the "great goddess", when people worshiped female deities, the status of a woman was high, and morals were meek and peaceful. Do not scoff at such dreams - they, albeit crookedly, reflect the longing for a lost paradise. But they have nothing to do with historical reality. The Athenians worshiped the goddess, and lived in the most democratic society of that era - but at the same time, as the French historian Adre Bonnard writes, “in Athenian society, not only slaves did not have the right to enjoy the benefits of democracy. There were other human beings, almost as despised as those, and these are women” (André Bonnard, “Greek Civilization”)

In our time, we can point to the highest honor that the myrrh-bearing women were awarded as something that modern man would rather approve of; after all, we live in a civilization shaped by nearly two millennia of Christianity. But then, when the Apostles preached for the first time, when the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke wrote his Gospel, the fact that it was women who were the first to see the Risen One was extremely inconvenient, even indecent. The pagans did not miss an opportunity to mock this; as one of the first anti-Christian polemicists, Celsus, writes, “And that, although he was unable to stand up for himself during his lifetime, becoming a corpse, he rose up, showed traces of execution, pierced hands, then who saw this? A half-mad woman or someone else from the same charlatan company. Women as witnesses of the Resurrection were such a monstrously losing PR stunt that this move can only be explained by one thing - they really saw the Resurrected first. If the Apostles began to invent colorful details to give credibility to their Annunciation, then they would never, for anything, under any circumstances, make women the first witnesses of the Resurrection.

This is an amazing testimony to the authenticity of the gospel. As the eminent contemporary biblical scholar Bishop Tom Wright writes, “Whether we like it or not, in the ancient world women were not considered reliable witnesses. When the Christians had time to come up with the formula that Paul gives in 1 Corinthians 15, they quietly excluded women from there, who here are completely disadvantageous from the point of view of apologetics. But in the gospel stories they play both main and secondary roles, these are the first eyewitnesses, the first apostles. This cannot be imagined. If the tradition had begun with male witnesses (as we see in 1 Corinthians 15), no one would rewrite it to include women. But all the gospels talk about women” (Tom Wright, “The Big Secret of the Bible”).

If we think a little about the historical context of the gospel events, we will see how precious is the testimony of the myrrh-bearing women, a testimony that was heard in a world where no one wanted to take the testimony of a woman seriously.

Who are the myrrh-bearing women? To answer this question, we need to remember the events that preceded the Resurrection of Christ.
On Good Friday, the Savior is crucified on Golgotha. On the same day His body is taken down from the cross by the secret followers of Christ Joseph Arimathea, an important rank of the holy Sanhedrin and the Pharisee Nicodemus, a member of the council of the same Sanhedrin.

The body of the Savior, wrapped in a special linen cloth - a shroud soaked in ritual oils and incense, is sealed in a cave belonging to the rich Joseph of Arimathea.
On Saturday, at the request of the Jewish high priests, who feared the theft of the body of Christ and the staging of His resurrection, Roman soldiers are assigned to the entrance to the Holy Sepulcher as a guard. On Sunday, women close to Him approached the cave where the Savior was buried to treat His body with incense and myrrh according to ancient customs.
Here they are known to us as myrrh-bearing women, they are depicted among other Saints on this icon.

Approaching the cave, the women began to think about the question: how to persuade the guards to move away and how to move the huge stone,
covering the entrance to the Holy Sepulcher?
But they did not have to think long: there was a heavenly thunder, the earth shook under their feet, and the Angel of the Lord appeared before them.
Due to the earthquake, the stone rolled away on its own.
the entrance to the cave, and the guards, frightened by the descent of the Angel, fled the place of guard in fear. To the myrrh-bearing women, the Angel of the Lord told the joyful news: Jesus Christ has risen and will soon meet with them.

In the descriptions of all four evangelists, the number of myrrh-bearing wives varies. We will try to list all the women mentioned in the Holy Scriptures and in the Church's Holy Tradition. First of all, of course, let us remember the Holy Virgin Mary, the Mother of God.
Although in the writings of the evangelists she is not clearly indicated, but a certain “other Mary” is indicated, different from Marina Magdalene. Nevertheless, John Chrysostom, one of the Fathers of the Church, along with Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian, spoke out for just such
interpretation of Scripture: "the other Mary" is the Virgin Mary, Mother of God. Holy Tradition indicates that it was the Ever-Virgin who was the first to be honored to see the resurrected Jesus Christ. He, appearing to her in white robes, asked to inform His disciples, the apostles, about His Resurrection. Hurrying with the good news to the apostles, on the way the Mother of God meets Mary Magdalene, where the resurrected Lord appears again before both Marys.

The myrrh-bearing women also include: Maria Kleopova wife of Cleopas, brother of Joseph the Betrothed, Martha and Mary Bethany- sisters of Lazarus, resurrected by the Savior, John, the wife of the servant of King Herod, who stole the truncated head John the Baptist at Herodias, Salome, mother of the apostles from the twelve John the Theologian and James Zebedee, Maria Alfeeva, mother of James, the apostle from
seventy and Susanna, one of the wives close to Christ and the apostles.

The icon of myrrh-bearing women is prayed for forgiveness of sins, for the strengthening of faith and for deliverance
from evil and temptation to comprehend the quiet. righteous and pure life.

Myrrh-bearing women (the third week after Easter is dedicated to them).
To the coffin with precious peace
They then hurried a little light -
The act did not seem valuable, -
They just loved Christ...

And Christ appeared to them first,
And not the apostles, we know! ..
Happy myrrh-bearing day, we are today
Congratulations to all our women!

Who carries the world with him everywhere,
Who instills faith in children ...
Maybe I'll be one of them...
The sun gently hugs everyone ...

Those first, imitating the heart,
You saved the vaults of temples ...
Love is like a simple sacrifice -
You strengthened families with her ...

Let them not call you Salome
And Marfa is not called either ...
But congratulations today
For your sometimes hard work!
May 18, 2013 Tatiana Kenpinskaya.

In the gospels, the names of the myrrh-bearing women and their number differ. After Saturday, the following came to the tomb: at Matthew (28:1-10) - Mary Magdalene and another Mary (probably the Mother of God); in Mark (16:1-13) - Mary Magdalene, Mary Jacobleva (mother of James, an apostle from the 70s), Salome (mother of the sons of Zebedee James and John);

Luke (23:23-55) has Mary Magdalene, Joanna (Chuza's wife), Mary (Jacob's mother), "and others with them";
in John (20:1-18) - Mary Magdalene. The Holy Tradition of the Church also speaks of Mary and Martha, Mary of Cleopas and Susanna. These women entered hymnography and liturgical texts under the common name of myrrh-bearing women.

This holiday has been especially honored in Russia since ancient times. Well-born ladies, rich merchants, poor peasant women led a strictly pious life and lived in faith. The main feature of Russian righteousness is a special, primordially Russian warehouse, chastity Christian marriage as a great Mystery. The only wife of the only husband - that's life ideal Orthodox Russia.

Another feature of ancient Russian righteousness is the special "rank" of widowhood. Russian princesses did not marry a second time, although the Church did not forbid a second marriage. Many widows cut their hair and went to the monastery after the burial of their husband. The Russian wife has always been faithful, quiet, merciful, meekly patient, all-forgiving.

The Holy Church honors many Christian women as saints. We see their images on the icons - the holy martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia, the holy reverend Mary of Egypt and many, many other holy martyrs and reverends, righteous and blessed, equal to the apostles and confessors.

Every woman on Earth is a myrrh-bearer in life - she brings peace to the world, her family, home, she gives birth to children, she is a support for her husband.

Orthodoxy glorifies the woman-mother, the woman of all classes and nationalities. Week (Sunday) of myrrh-bearing women - this is a holiday of every Orthodox Christian, Orthodox Women's Day. ( celebrated on the second Sunday after Easter or they also say the third week of Easter - "week" in Slavic and there is Sunday, Easter is the first, the next one is Fomino, and then the Myrrh-bearing Women) This year - April 26

artist Petrov-Kirillov Vladimir

mosaic - Church of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo. Ravenna. Italy

icon painter Svetlana Bogatova

part of the fresco

Mileshevo Monastery

Herbert Gustav Schmalz

icon of the first quarter of the eighteenth century

The third week after Easter is the feast of the Myrrhbearing Women. Not all of them are named in the Gospel - after listing several names, the evangelists add: "and others." Unfortunately, even by the named ones it is impossible to fully understand what kind of person we are talking about.

As about those who came to the tomb of the Savior, the evangelists speak of Mary Magdalene, Mary Cleopova, Salome and John. Church Tradition also refers Susanna, Martha and Mary to the Myrrh-bearing Women.

We have collected some (and even contradictory) information about these holy wives and briefly told in.

01

Why Myrrhbearers?

From the words "peace" and "wear". According to Jewish custom, the deceased had to be anointed with a fragrant mixture of oils - myrrh. His women brought him to the tomb of the Savior. But it was opened, and the Angel who was there told them about the Resurrection of Christ.

02

Mary Magdalene

Mary was from the city of Magdala. She is the first person in the world to whom the resurrected Savior appeared. She was also ordered to tell the apostles about this great event. According to legend, after the Ascension of Christ, Mary Magdalene preached in Rome and met with the emperor Tiberius, to whom, as a sign of the truth of the Resurrection of Christ, she presented a chicken egg that turned red in his hands - this was the pious tradition of painting eggs for Easter and consecrating them along with other offerings . She is venerated by the Church as an Equal-to-the-Apostles saint.

03

Martha and Mary

Sisters of the righteous Lazarus, who was resurrected by the Savior. Traditionally, they are ranked among the Myrrh-bearing Women, although their names are not mentioned in the Gospel among the wives who came to the tomb of Christ. They are also described in the Gospel (Lk 10:38–42) as people with different characters: during the Savior’s home sermon, Mary sat at His feet and listened, while Martha busied herself with housework. According to legend, after the Ascension of Christ, the sisters, together with Lazarus, moved to Cyprus, where they helped their brother carry out the episcopal ministry.

04

John

The wife of the official Khuza, who served at the court of the ruler Herod Antipas. Provided the Savior and the apostles with everything necessary during His ministry. According to legend, she found the head of John the Baptist, which was thrown away after beheading, and buried it on the Mount of Olives.

05

Maria Kleopova

There are several versions of who this wife is. One by one, Maria Kleopova - daughter of Joseph, the betrothed Holy Mother of God. According to another - the wife or daughter of Cleopas, which is mentioned by the Evangelist Luke (Luke 24:18).

06

Susanna

Almost nothing is known about this wife. There is only a small mention in the Gospel of Luke that she served the Savior along with other women "with her possessions" - that is, she was a wealthy person and helped financially.

07

Maria Yakovleva

It is impossible to say exactly who this wife is. Blessed Jerome of Stridon identifies her with Mary Cleopova, and St. John Chrysostom identifies her with the Theotokos.

08

Salome

Daughter of Joseph the Betrothed and mother of the apostles John the Theologian and James. Almost nothing is known about her, the Evangelist Matthew only mentions her, calling her the mother of the sons of Zebedee. She, along with other wives, served the Savior during her earthly life. At the time of His crucifixion, they “looked from afar” (Matthew 27:55–56).

* - The works of our holy father John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, in Russian translation. St. Petersburg edition. Theological Academy, 1902. Volume 8, Book 2. About the myrrh-bearing women, and that there is no disagreement or contradiction between the evangelists in the story of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, p. 802-812.

The week (Sunday) of the myrrh-bearing women is a holiday for every Orthodox Christian woman, Orthodox Women's Day.

On this day, the holy myrrh-bearing women are remembered. Who are they, the holy myrrh-bearing women - Mary Magdalene, Mary Cleopova, Salome, John, Martha, Mary, Susanna?

Why Russian Orthodox Church honors the memory of these women on the second Sunday after Easter?

Every woman on Earth is a myrrh-bearer and brings peace to the world, her family, home, she gives birth to children, she is a support for her husband. Orthodoxy glorifies the woman-mother, the woman of all classes and nationalities.

Myrrhbearers- these are the same women who, out of love for the Savior Jesus Christ, received Him in their homes, and later followed Him to the place of crucifixion on Golgotha. They were witnesses of Christ's suffering on the cross. It was they who hastened in the dark to the Holy Sepulcher to anoint the body of Christ with myrrh, as was the custom of the Jews. It was they, the myrrh-bearing women, who were the first to know that Christ had risen. For the first time after his death on the cross The Savior appeared to a woman - Mary Magdalene.

This holiday has been especially honored in Russia since ancient times. Well-born ladies, rich merchants, poor peasant women led a strictly pious life and lived in faith. The main feature of Russian righteousness is a special, purely Russian warehouse, the chastity of Christian marriage as a great Sacrament. The only wife of the only husband - this is the life ideal of Orthodox Russia.

The day of the myrrh-bearing women in Orthodoxy is considered an analogue of March 8. Only instead of the dubious ideal of a revolutionary woman and a feminist rebel, the Church praises completely different qualities of our mothers, spouses, sisters and girlfriends. First of all, it is a great sacrifice, self-forgetfulness, fidelity, love and a living fiery faith that can overcome everything. Those very faith and love, which are fully accessible only to the weak female nature, and which shine even in the most hopeless darkness.

How many myrrh-bearing women there were in total - we do not know for sure. The Gospel simply lists them by name, and only a few women are more or less specific. The church tradition appropriated the title of myrrh-bearers to seven or eight disciples of Christ. All of them subsequently became ardent preachers and worked on a par with other apostles. And Magdalene was even honored to be called equal to the apostles - that is, having the same glory and bearing the same cross as other male disciples.

Mother of God

Traditionally, the Blessed Virgin is not among the myrrh-bearing women, but some interpreters believe that “Mary of Jacob” (Mark 16: 1) and “the other Mary” (Matt. 28: 1) are the Mother of Christ. The fact is that after the death of her husband Joseph, she took care of his younger children from her first marriage, and quite legitimately was considered the mother of Jacob. But even if the Mother of God was not among the myrrh-bearing women, She is still considered the first to receive the news of the Resurrection of the Son - according to legend, the angel appeared to Her personally and told the most important news in the world.

The Most Pure One lived for some time in Jerusalem in the house of the Apostle John the Theologian, to whom the Lord had entrusted the care of His already elderly Mother on Golgotha. After the departure of the apostles to preach, She also got the lot of missionary work. Initially, these were the lands of modern Georgia, but the Holy Virgin could not get there. The place of Her apostolate was Athos, where She ended up after a storm, on her way to visit Bishop Lazarus, who lived in Cyprus. For some time the Mother of God lived in Ephesus. She died in Jerusalem and was buried there, in the Garden of Gethsemane. However, there is no body in Her tomb - the legend says that on the third day after her death, the Son raised Her to heavenly glory along with the body.

Mary Magdalene

Information about this woman is confusing. Some see in her the famous gospel harlot whom Christ saved from being stoned and who anointed His feet with expensive oil. Others see in her a simple Jewess, healed by Christ from a serious illness of possession and possession. After the apostles went out to preach, she neglected all the then norms (it was forbidden for a woman to preach herself) and went alone from city to city, announcing to everyone about the resurrected Teacher. According to one version of the life, Magdalene ended her days in the house of John the Theologian in Ephesus, having lived to a ripe old age. Other versions of the biography indicate that Mary spent the end of her life in repentance, living for about thirty years in a cave near Marseille. Before her death, according to Western hagiographies, Magdalene was communed by a priest who accidentally wandered into her. He also buried the saint.

Martha and Mary, sisters of Lazarus

Information about these women is very scarce. Together with their brother, who was once resurrected by Christ Himself, they moved from Jerusalem to Cyprus, where they helped Lazarus to carry out the episcopal ministry. Where, when and how the holy sisters died is unknown.

John

She was the wife of Khuza, one of the officials at the court of Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee. Joanna occupied a very high position, had great influence and connections. In the days of Christ's preaching, it was Joanna who took upon herself the lion's share of the expenses of the apostolic community, taking care of food and everything necessary for the Lord and His disciples. There is a version that such generosity of such a noble lady is not accidental - according to a number of interpreters, the son of the courtier, healed by Christ (John 4: 46 - 54), was the child of John, and the grateful woman after that served the Savior with everything she could.

The story of the head of John the Baptist is connected with her name. As you know, for his denunciations of Herod the Forerunner, he was first arrested, and then was beheaded at the slander of Herodias, Herod's concubine. After the wicked woman abused the head of the prophet she hated, she threw her "trophy" into a landfill. John, seeing all this and deeply grieving over the death of the Forerunner, secretly dug up the head at night, put it in an earthen vessel and buried it on the Mount of Olives, in one of the estates of Herod.

Maria Kleopova

Almost nothing is known about her. She was one of the relatives of Christ. According to one version, Mary was either the daughter or the wife of Cleopa, the brother of Joseph the Betrothed. Another version, very unlikely, says that this woman was the sister of the Most Holy Theotokos.

Maria Yakovleva

With this woman, the most ambiguities. According to legend, she was the youngest daughter of Joseph the Betrothed, was in a very warm relationship with the Mother of God and was, in fact, Her closest friend. It is likely that this is Maria Kleopova. She began to be called Jacoble because one of her sons - Jacob - was one of the apostles.

Susanna

The most mysterious of the myrrh-bearers. She served Christ from her estate, that is, apparently, she was quite wealthy. Nothing more is known about her.

With the apparent absence of the image of Christ Himself on the icon, this image so brightly and reverently reveals the truth of the Resurrection, its light, its joy.

The reality of the resurrection of Christ is revealed to us by the icon of the myrrh-bearing women, with whom we go to the procession on Easter night, we make this procession on other Easter Sundays.

Easter days last, Easter joy lasts, again and again I greet you with an Easter greeting: “Christ is Risen!”

Testimony of the truth

Now in front of us in the middle of the temple is an image called "Myrrh-bearing women at the Holy Sepulcher." It is so important for us because a mystery is revealed here, a reality that could not be seen with the eyes, it was hidden from people. But this truth has become the most profound axiom of the Christian faith.

This is the axiom of the Resurrection of Christ.

When the myrrh-bearing women, we read in the Gospel, came to the Tomb of the Savior to anoint His Body with myrrh, they saw empty coffin and shrouds lying nearby.

For them, this was a terrible surprise, because it was impossible for any human physical strength of the earth to tear the burial shrouds, treated with special resins, which fastened the shrouds tightly.

Here it is precisely this word that is needed - “tightly”: the burial shroud tightly held the body of a deceased person.

In the story of the resurrection of Lazarus, the evangelists also reminded us of this, because for the people of that time, that culture, it was more than for us now, surprise - terrible and joyful.

And so, the myrrh-bearing women saw not only the shrouds and the open tomb, but also a young man sitting next to the Holy Sepulcher. He announced to them the miracle of the Resurrection. He blessed them to go to the disciples and tell them that what the prophets foretold and about which the Savior had repeatedly predicted had happened. About the fact that He must die, accept the same human death as all of us, but not remain in death forever, but resurrect on the third day.

This reality, the absence in the Tomb, the absence in this darkness, in this blackness of the Tomb of the Savior Himself, is already evidence of His Resurrection.

Women's plastic

Speaking about the various icons of the Lenten and Colored Triodion, we touched only on their most basic compositional moments. We have talked very little about the artistic side so far, but perhaps the most important thing is to see not only what is depicted, but also how it is depicted.

Although, according to the words of the Apostle Paul, there is neither male nor female in Christ, nevertheless, we always see myrrh-bearing women depicted with female plasticity on good icons.

The artist conveys their feminine excitement, their trepidation. And not only in female figures such a special attitude of the icon painter to each of the depicted characters is manifested; you see, no hatred for these soldiers guarding the Body of Christ, they just fell asleep.

Often the whole entourage, all the surrounding space both coloristically and plastically also corresponds to the main characters. For example, on the icon attributed to the school of Andrei Rublev, we see such a three-part image of the myrrh-bearing women themselves, and the same three-part image of mountains in the background. The unity in the plastic image of female figures and mountains completes the composition.

Light

When we talk about an icon, as such, it is always an icon of Christ Himself. Christ is revealed in the life and in the form of each of the saints. On most icons of the feasts we see the Savior Himself, the God-man Jesus Christ.

And the unique meaning and content of the image of the “Myrrh-Bearing Woman at the Holy Sepulcher” is that we do not see Christ on it in a visible way. But at the same time, we clearly feel His presence. Paradox?

The light of the icon bears witness to Him. The young man sitting on the stone is an angel sent from the Heavenly Father to proclaim to the myrrh-bearing women the truth of the Resurrection. He is dressed in brilliant white clothes.

Here we recall the gospel story about the whiteness of the clothes of Christ Himself on Mount Tabor, when He was transfigured before the disciples. “His garments became shining, very white, like snow, as a bleacher on the ground cannot bleach” (Mark 9:3).

The whiteness of the Angel - the messenger of eternal life - contrasts with the blackness of the empty Tomb, which shows the brightness of the drama of what is happening. This was also visible to the myrrh-bearing women. And now, with the apparent absence of the image of Christ Himself on the icon, this image so brightly and reverently reveals the truth of the Resurrection, its light, its joy.