A model of penance. Magdalen is a model of a true penitent by her conversion, contrition, confession, satisfaction and perseverance. She was a woman given over to the vanities and pleasures of this world, who led an evil and frivolous life. She heard of our Lord’s miracles; and, full of curiosity, she joined the crowd which followed Him, in order to see and hear Him. She saw the wonderful cure of the leper; she gazed on our Lord’s countenance, and her heart was touched; she heard His words: “Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” and she opened her heart to His words. She listened to the Sermon on the Mount; she saw what real goodness meant, and she saw the depth of her own wickedness. The reproaches of her conscience became stronger, and her fear of the judgment greater. She believed in Jesus, and she longed for pardon. She had heard how He had forgiven the sins of the palsied man; she knew that He could forgive her sins as well, and she hoped that He would. As she prayed and thought over the words of Jesus, and the miserable condition of her own soul, there grew within her a greater horror of sin, and a love for our Lord which was full of hope. At last, she found the long waited-for opportunity to approach the Holy One, and open her heart to Him. But when she stood before Him, she could utter no word; and then, sobbing, she fell at His Feet and bathed them with her tears. She had loosened her beautiful hair, her cherished adornment, and with it she wiped our Lord’s Feet. She broke her vase, and poured the precious ointment over them, to testify her veneration and love. She abased herself as far as she could, and did penance in public, because it was in public that she had sinned. “Her heart was so full of inward shame, that she minded not the outward shame in the eyes of men” (St. Gregory). Her tears were her confession; her abasement and service of love were her satisfaction. Magdalen was converted and renounced for ever the vanities of the world. We shall find her at the foot of the Cross, and at the feet of the risen Lord. She did severe penance to the end of her life, and is venerated by the Church as a great Saint.
Faith is, as we see in the case of Magdalen, the root of justification. Our Lord therefore said to her: “Thy faith hath made thee safe”; because from her faith had proceeded perfect contrition.
Love and the forgiveness of sin. Many sins were forgiven to this woman, because she loved much (for perfect contrition proceeds from perfect love); and after she had received forgiveness of her sins, she loved in proportion to the amount of forgiveness she had received. How could it be otherwise? If any one wishes to receive pardon of God for the sins which he has committed, the first thing he must do is, by the help of God, to conceive a hatred of his sins, and he must make, at least, an attempt to return to God, or, in other words, to love God. Thus, with even the most imperfect contrition there must be united some spark of the love of God. But it is only when a sinner’s heart turns with perfect love to God, that He will impart to him the grace
