Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli

The town of Sulmona, Italy has a very unique tradition celebrated on Easter Sunday. It is a dramatic and joy-filled procession celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus. It is called La Madonna Che Scappa (The Madonna who runs). A procession of men bears the statues of the apostles Peter and John. They bring them to Mary. Peter first announces to Mary the good news of the Resurrection. But, she does not believe him. After all, he was known to have lied about even knowing Jesus. John, the Beloved Disciple, who saw the empty tomb and the burial linens neatly folded and immediately believed, then gives the same good news to Mary and she believes.

Next the procession brings Mary toward the Risen Jesus. Once the statue of Mary is in sight of that of the Risen Lord, her black mourning clothes fall off. Doves are set free. Church bells ring out. Fireworks explode. The band plays. The people cry out in joy and sing as the men bearing the statue of Mary literally run toward that of the Risen Jesus. Mary and Jesus meet.

Other cultures, such as the Spanish and Filipino, have similar processions. In fact, the Filipino tradition of Salubong (“welcome”), is much simpler than that of Sulmona. Early before dawn on Easter, men come in procession bearing the Risen Christ and women come in procession from the opposite direction bearing Mary. The statue of Mary is covered with a mourning veil. When the two processions finally meet in front of the church, Mary’s veil is removed. The people cheer and break into song, raising their voices in glad Alleluias. Death has been destroyed. Jesus is risen from the grave. And he appears first to his own mother.

Both the more elaborate and the simpler dramatizations of the appearance of the Risen Lord to Mary try to fill in the silence of the gospel narratives. Nowhere in any of the gospels is there a record of an appearance of Jesus to Mary, his mother, after the Resurrection. But, this silence is not a sure proof that Jesus, once risen from the dead, did not first appear to Mary. The gospels are historical and trustworthy. They are proclamations of faith meant to give the apostolic witness to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. But, they are not written as biographies.

In 1 Cor 15:3-8, Paul gives us the earliest account of the Resurrection appearances. He does not mention the appearance to Mary Magdalene at the tomb. Rather, he lists Peter as the very first one to whom the Risen Jesus appears (v. 5). In his gospel, Luke seems to confirm this well-established tradition that Jesus appears to Peter, even before he appears to others (Lk 24:34).

Certainly, when we read in Mark’s gospel that Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene (Mk 16:9), there seems to be an apparent contradiction to what Paul and Luke say. However, it is not improbable that Mary Magdalene found the tomb empty, ran and told the apostles. Then Peter and John, hearing Magdalene’s report, run to examine the empty tomb and, sometime after that, the Lord appears to Peter. When Mary Magdalene herself later returns to the empty tomb, the Lord then appears to her. The gospels do not give us a strict chronology. They simply report the facts.

But, what about an appearance of Jesus to his own mother, even before Peter? Sts. Anselm, Albert the Great, Ignatius Loyola, Teresa of Avila, and John Paul II all hold to a first appearance to Mary before anyone else. From Easter Sunday morning to the Ascension, Jesus appears again and again. Not every appearance is recorded. For the gospel writers, each resurrection appearance is a proof of the historical fact that Jesus has been raised from the dead. However, from the many appearances that happened, they selected those that best served their particular proclamation of the good news. In the case of Mary, Jesus’ appearance to her was not a proof of the Resurrection. She needed no proof. She already believed. His appearance to his mother was the Son’s tender love and reverence for his own mother who bore him and always believed in him (Ludolf of Saxony, Vita Christi, p. 700).

That Jesus first appears to Mary follows everything else the Scriptures say about her. At the Annunciation, Mary receives the message of the angel Gabriel and immediately believes. She is the first to believe the good news, even before she sees with her eyes and holds Jesus in her loving embrace. She is also the first to believe the Resurrection, even before she sees the Risen Lord.

The gospel portrait of Mary as the first disciple, the most faithful disciple, never doubting her Son, but always trusting, is consistent. Even before anyone saw him work his first miracle, Mary believed. In fact, he worked his first miracle in response to her request.

Mary never left Jesus during his public ministry. She stayed with him, even to the end. She stood near him at the Cross, uniting the sacrifice of her mother’s heart with his. It makes sense, therefore, that she should be the first to behold him Risen from the dead. Her deep sorrow now turned to joy unbounded!

Among the first recorded witnesses to the Resurrection were the women who had remained faithful to Jesus even to his death on the Cross. It is to these women that Jesus appears early on Easter morning. His Presence gives birth to their faith in the Resurrection and strengthens their love. How could he not have appeared to Mary who, at the Annunciation, gave birth to the faith of the Church herself?

Although Mary was on Golgotha at the foot of the cross along with the other faithful women, she is nowhere mentioned as going with them to the tomb on Easter morn. The dawn was just lighting the way for the women to discover the empty tomb. But, Mary’s soul was already filled with the glory of her Risen Son. From Golgotha to Pentecost, Mary was with the first disciples who believed in Jesus’ Resurrection. Jesus’ appearance to her makes her participation in the Paschal Mystery complete (Pope St. John Paul II General Audience of Wednesday, May 21, 1997). Bathed in the glory of the Risen Jesus, Mary already anticipates the Church’s splendor (Sedulius, Paschale Carmen, 5, 357-364).

The Easter morning procession in Sulmona, Italy, does not get it completely right when it depicts Mary as not believing Peter’s announcement of the Resurrection. But, it does get it right when it dramatizes Mary rushing to be with her divine Son. It was her love that made her run before Peter and John, not to the empty tomb, but to the embrace of her Son.

There is no power on earth greater than a mother’s love for her child. The heart of a mother is but a tender participation in the heart of God that cannot bear separation. Did not Jesus compare God to the father who runs to embrace his prodigal son? God cannot bear having us at a distance. All love seeks union. And, so when the Risen Lord appears to Mary, her heart overflowed with such love that nothing could stop her from rushing into his embrace. Mother and Son united. Love without separation. A foretaste of heaven on earth.
 

“For all those women who selflessly live the noble vocation of motherhood, we thank God. Like God himself, they love us even before we can love them in return. And, they never stop loving us, even when they go home to God. On each of them who are with us in this life, we ask God’s blessing. And, we pray that God will give the fullness of life to all those whom he has called from this world.”