Meanwhile, about Christ and His miracles, "there was a rumor throughout all Syria [16]; and they brought to Him all the infirm, afflicted with various diseases, and fits, and those possessed by demons, and lunatics, and paralytics, and He healed them. And a multitude of people followed Him from Galilee, and the Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan" (Matt. 4:25; Lk. 6:17; Mark 3:78). And among this multitude of all kinds of people from various remote regions there were many poor people, who needed not only food, but even clothing

And so, for all this, many pious women, who were healed by Christ from serious illnesses and had wealth from their material resources, accompanying their Benefactor in His journey with the preaching of the Gospel, "served Him with their possessions" (Luke 8:3), that is, in times of need, paying expenses for the urgent needs of the poor, accompanying them to the Saviour, and, at His direction, provided the necessary assistance to those in need of material assistance. Of such grateful women, the Evangelist Luke calls Mary Magdalene the first (Luke 8:2), because she was the first to set an example of such grateful service to the cause of the God-man, or she was the first to give others an example of such grateful service to the cause of the God-Man, or she took precedence over all others in her zeal in this holy work. And their unselfish, zealous service to Christ the Saviour at a time when "He had nowhere to lay His head," and from the majority of people He saw coldness, surprise, or enmity, was a joy to the Lord Jesus, much comforted Him in the midst of constant labors and frequent insults.

Especially remarkable in this was the extraordinary fortitude and extraordinary courage with which St. Mary Magdalene treated her Deliverer. And in spite of all kinds of obstacles and terrible dangers, even in the difficult days and hours of Christ's cruel sufferings, Mary Magdalene showed herself to be more courageous and devoted than the Apostles, so that when almost all the Apostles, in spite of their promises to die with the Lord, were overcome by fear from the enemies of the Lord, "fled" (Matt. 26:56) and hid themselves, Mary Magdalene conquered fear with love and by the steadfastness of her sympathy for the Sufferer tried to soften the thorny path, as He went for the salvation of the world. The cruel sufferings of the Saviour, Crucified on the Cross, [17] were aggravated by the provocative and insolent mockery of the Jewish high priests, scribes and elders, who, not content with carrying out their abominable vengeance, being near the cross of the Crucified Christ, mockingly uttered shameless and insolent reproaches to the Innocent Sufferer, saying:

- He saved others (from death), but he cannot save himself. May He save Himself, if He is the Christ, the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, that we may see and believe in Him (Matthew 27:4143; Mark 15:3132; Luke 23:35)

Likewise, the Roman soldiers swore at him and, approaching, said:

- If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself (Luke 23:3637)

And the thieves crucified with Him mocked Him, and cursed Him, one said:

- If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us (Matthew 27:44; Luke 23:39)

And those who passed by from the crowd cursed Him, nodding their heads and saying,

- O thou who destroyest the temple and buildeth it in three days, if thou art the Son of God, come down from the cross (Matt. 27:3940; Mark 15:2930)

And when the stupidity and savagery of the crowd surrounded the Crucified Christ with the low malice of the Jewish elders, His martyric gaze noticed with consolation the tears of pious women, among whom Mary Magdalene was "among the first" (Matt. 27:5556; Mark 15:40; Lk. 2327). In these compassionate tears, as it were, a ray of light shone for the Son of Man in the dark kingdom of sin, and this ray from grateful women consoled the Innocent Sufferer with the testimony of the not yet completely corrupt human nature.

The day of the great redemption of fallen humanity by the God-Man was clear. The time was already about noon, and according to the Hebrew name for the times of the day, it was the sixth hour (Luke 23:44; Matt. 27:45; Mark 15:43). But on this clear noon, "the sun darkens and darkness becomes dark" [18] until the ninth hour, that is, according to the modern name of the hours of the day, until the third hour of the afternoon (Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44). A terrible, majestic, imposing heavenly sign - the extinction of the sun, the darkness that embraced all earthly things, in the midst of the bright noonday light, heavily squeezed the detractors of the Innocent Christ, brought them into horror and silence. The familiar worshippers of the Crucified One, who at first stood at a distance and looked (Luke 23:49; Matthew 27:55; Mark 15:40), approached the Sufferer, surrounded His cross, and of them the Evangelist again calls Mary Magdalene the first (Matthew 27:56; Mark 15:40). Thus, Mary Magdalene at the feet of Christ the Savior is not only a miracle-worker, glorified and sung by infants, but also at the feet of Jesus of Nazareth, humiliated, dishonored, shamefully crucified, abandoned even by His Apostles..

And after the death of Her Healer, Mary Magdalene did not leave Him: she accompanied the transfer of His body by Joseph [19] of Arimathea and Nicodemus [20] from the cross to the tomb [21], was at His burial, watched where Christ was laid (Matt. 27:61; Mark 15:47), and when, in order to give honor to the approaching great feast of Pascha according to the law of God, she left His buried body, then the ardent grateful love of Mary Magdalene in deep sorrow revealed to her a source of consolation. Love inspired her with a desire to render the last honor possible on her part to her Saviour, who had been humiliated by the Jews. She buys myrrh and spices (Luke 23:56) in order to anoint Him, according to Jewish custom, with the anointing of the body of the buried Christ.

This enterprise, which also gave Mary Magdalene the name of myrrh-bearer, belonged to her, since two Evangelists again place her first, among some other women who followed her in it, and the third - only her (Matt. 28:1; Mk. 16:1; John 20:1) and names her in this noble deed.