Mary Magdalene in Christian Hymnody, Liturgical Music, and Drama

Abstract The various ways liturgists, dramatists, and song composers expound the details of Mary Magdalene’s life shows that her cult was a work in progress. Her identity was a source of considerable debate in the course of the Middle Ages. But when Pope Gregory the Great (c.540–604, r. 590–604) conflated Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus and Martha, with of the women whom Jesus liberated of devils, and who anointed Jesus and wept at his feet and dried them with her hair, she became a complex, ardent, and a relatable personality. The church would go on to promulgate this conflated identity through its plainchants for Magdalene’s office. Taken together with the large repertory of medieval songs and dramas, Magdalene appears as a saintly avatar representing every human condition.