title: Magdalene's Lost Legacy: Symbolic Numbers and the Sacred Union in Christianity
author:  Margaret Starbird 
description: "Recommended for academic libraries serving women's studies programs and for public libraries where patrons are interested in Christian women throughout the ages." (<i>Gary P. Gillum, Library Journal, July 2003</i>)<br /><br />"Through her decoding, Starbird reveals the powerful presence of the feminine divinity in religion where it has been almost erased." (<i>Network for Women's Spirituality, Sept/Oct/Nov 2003</i>)<br /><br />"Margaret Starbird's work is of particular interest to me because it fuses the diverse fields of symbolism, mythology, art, heraldry, psychology, and gospel history. Her research opens doors for each of us to further explore the rich iconography of our own spiritual history." (<i>Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code</i>)<br /><br />"Margaret Starbird fearlessly explores the symbols and the hidden clues within the scriptures of the sacred union. . . . Starbird writes eloguently and convincingly, laying the facts before us and allowing us to come to our own conclusions about these wonderful and secret teachings." (<i>Lesley Crossingham, New Dawn, Jan-Feb 2006</i>)
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  # SAINT MARY MAGDALENE
  
  
  ###
  
  
  _Prayers Dedicated to the Illustrious Saint_
  
  
  
  
  
  Mark 14:3-9 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)  
  
  
  The Anointing at Bethany  
  
  
  
  
  
  **3**
  
  
  
  
  
  And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at
  table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard, very
  costly, and she broke the jar and poured it over his head.
  
  
  **4**
  
  
  
  
  
  But there were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment
  thus wasted?
  
  
  **5**
  
  
  
  
  
  For this ointment might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii,[a
  
  
  ]
  
  
  and given to the poor.” And they reproached her.
  
  
  **6**
  
  
  
  
  
  But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has done a
  beautiful thing to me.
  
  
  **7**
  
  
  
  
  
  For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you will, you can do good
  to them; but you will not always have me.
  
  
  **8**
  
  
  
  
  
  She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burying.
  
  
  **9