Martha of Bethany
"Martha sacrificed because of you. One does not marry the sister of a courtesan."[1]She hopes for the conversion of Mary of Magdala (Magdalene) and will be the first to receive this good news. She is an excellent housekeeper.
"She possesses the practical and intelligent genius of organization. She is made for the home, and to be the physical and spiritual comfort of those who live there."[2]This is a particularly important quality, considering Bethany’s position as a key base of evangelization, both due to its proximity to Jerusalem and the Protection offered by the Romans to the Bethany family.
Character and Appearance[edit | edit source]
"She is not tall like her sister, but tall nonetheless. She is brunette whereas the other is blonde and fair. Yet she is a beautiful young woman with harmonious features. Hair the color of jet with a slightly dark and even forehead beneath. Her eyes exude gentleness, are black, large, velvety, framed by dark lashes. Her nose is slightly aquiline and her vermilion mouth contrasts with the brown color of her cheeks. She smiles showing beautiful very white teeth. Her woolen garment is dark blue with red and dark green trim at the neck and at the ends of the wide sleeves which stop at the elbow, from which emerge other very fine white linen sleeves tightened at the wrist by a small cord that gathers them. At the top of the chest, also at the base of the neck, appears this very fine white shirt tightened by a cord. Her belt is a fine azure, red and green sash, tightening the upper hips and falling with a fringe knot on the left side. It is a rich and chaste garment."[3]Her qualities as an excellent housekeeper lead to the famous admonition by Jesus[4]:
"You worry about too many things, Martha. For her, there is only one. But that is the one that suffices for her spirit and especially for her Lord who is also yours. Let go of useless things. Imitate your sister. Mary has chosen the better part. The one that will never be taken away from her."[5]And at the resurrection of her brother, Jesus comments:
"Why do you act instead of contemplating?"[6]Martha is a virtuous young woman:
"Give me this hand that has never sinned, which has known how to be gentle, merciful, active, pious. She has always made gestures of love and prayer. She has never become lazy. She has never corrupted herself."[7]
This loving devotion gains its full value during the long illness of her brother, for whom she ceaselessly hopes for healing by Jesus.[8]
Her Journey[edit | edit source]
Witness to the Resurrection of her brother Lazarus[9], then of the Christ[10] and the Ascension.[11]
A disciple along with her brother, she joins the group of women who follow Jesus in a specific apostolate, The Women Disciples.[12] She has, like Lazarus, great hope in the conversion of her sister, Mary of Magdala (Magdalene). Active in this call to conversion, she rejoices in receiving its first signs.[13]
Martha reveals herself during the death of her brother Lazarus. Her practical mind, her sense of comfort, but also her faith, are shown in all their fullness. It is she who sends word to Jesus of Lazarus’s agony, despite his instructions to only do so after his death. She hopes, until his death and beyond, for the miracle.[14]
But towards the end, waiting for Jesus who does not come to save her brother[15], nor to his funeral to resurrect him[16], she yields to doubt.
Jesus finally arrived four and a half days after Lazarus’s death and resurrected him. Following this, he says to Martha:"Why do you act instead of contemplating? It is holier. You see? Your strength, because it was too focused on earthly things, gave way to the observation of earthly facts which sometimes seem without remedy.As persecutions increased, the Bethany Family chose to exile themselves:
In truth, human things have no remedy if God does not intervene. The creature, because of this, needs to know how to believe and contemplate, to love until the very end with all the strength of the whole man, with his mind, his Soul, his flesh, his blood, with all the forces of man (...)"[17]
"You certainly cannot say that Lazarus, Mary and Martha were fearful creatures. You see, however, that, with extreme pain, they left here to carry the divine Word elsewhere, where it would have been stifled here by the Jews."[18]This supports the tradition of their exile to Gaul.
Her Name[edit | edit source]
In Aramaic, "lady" or "mistress."
Where is she mentioned in the Work?[edit | edit source]
In Judea before communal life: EMV 112 EMV 117
Year-end celebrations: EMV 135 EMV 136
The female apostolate: EMV 157
The second paschal journey: EMV 198 EMV 200
Apostolate in Judea: EMV 206 EMV 206 EMV 210
The conversion of Mary Magdalene: EMV 226 EMV 229 EMV 231 EMV 235 EMV 237 EMV 238 EMV 239 EMV 240 EMV 241 EMV 242 EMV 243 EMV 244 EMV 245 EMV 247 EMV 248 EMV 249 EMV 250 EMV 252 EMV 253 EMV 254 EMV 255
Sending of Apostles and Disciples on Mission: EMV 260 EMV 261
Perea, Gilead and Trachonitis: EMV 281 4.149 - EMV 286 EMV 287 EMV 290 EMV 293 EMV 294 EMV 302
Phoenicia and Upper Galilee: EMV 338
The Transfiguration and the Bread of Heaven: EMV 362
The penultimate Passover: EMV 365 EMV 367 EMV 370 EMV 371 EMV 372 EMV 375 EMV 376 EMV 377 EMV 378
Pentecost, Decapolis and Esdraelon Plain: EMV 415
The Feast of Tabernacles: EMV 485
In Moab and Judea: EMV 519 EMV 536
The resurrection of Lazarus: EMV 541 EMV 542 EMV 543 EMV 544 EMV 545 EMV 546 EMV 548 EMV 550
Exile in Samaria: EMV 560 EMV 566 EMV 568 EMV 571 EMV 574 EMV 575
The return to Jerusalem: EMV 576 EMV 578 EMV 579 EMV 581 EMV 583 EMV 584 EMV 586 EMV 587
Holy Week: EMV 589 EMV 590 EMV 596
Resurrection Sunday: EMV 616 EMV 616 EMV 619 EMV 622 EMV 626 EMV 628
From Resurrection to Ascension: EMV 636 EMV 638 EMV 641 EMV 648
Learn More About This Character[edit | edit source]
The Church honors Saint Martha on July 29, eight days after her sister Mary of Magdala (Magdalene).
According to tradition, she emigrates with the whole Bethany family to Gaul (Provence) during the first persecutions against Christians. This emigration is not surprising, as Gaul (France) was a place where historically banned and disgraced figures such as Herod Antipas and Herodias, Pilate and Claudia Procula were found.
Martha settled in Tarascon, where her battle against a monster, the Tarasque, believed to be a crocodile escaped from a Roman circus, is celebrated.
The probable tarasque is undoubtedly a marine crocodile. The similarity is striking.
See the articles:
- Visions of Anne-Catherine Emmerich: "Exile of Lazarus and his Sisters in the Gauls".
- Article by Jean Aulagnier: "Evangelization of Gaul".