Noli me tangere
As well as being known for their academic prowess and excellence in preaching, the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans) count amongst themselves a number of famous artists. Arguably the most well-known of these is Fra Angelico whose beautiful frescos in the convent of San Marco, Florence, are the most extensive surviving decorative collection for a religious community.
Fra Angelico’s frescos were intended not so much to be decorative though as to be aids to meditation and contemplation. As well as the grand frescos in the common areas of the convent there were smaller frescos in each friar’s cell, so that every brother would have before his eyes a vivid reminder of one of the events in the life and passion of Christ.
One such fresco, in an upper cell of the convent, shows the scene where St Mary Magdalene encounters the Risen Christ after having mistaken him for a gardener. On her knees before him, she reaches out to touch him, to cling to the person to whom she has been a disciple from the earliest days and with whom she is now overjoyed to be reunited.
The encounter between the two is included in all four Gospels, however, it is most detailed in the Gospel of John (20:11-18). The evangelist tells how Mary addressed Jesus as Rabbouni: “my master,” and that she reached out to touch him. Both actions are indicators that she wished to reestablish the relationship she once had with him. Jesus, though, rebuked her with the famous Noli me tangere: “Don’t cling to me!” and explained that the hour was still in progress and he has yet to ascend to the Father (he is no longer, therefore, for this world).
At this point, Mary has not yet fully comprehend the event. She is still in a place of partial belief. This is a common theme in the Gospel of John who tells stories of many people who journey from no faith to partial faith to complete faith. Standing at the door of the empty tomb in tears, Mary was in the darkness of unbelief, unable to understand what might have happened. When she heard Jesus call her by her name her faith ignites but she has yet to completely grasp the significance of what was occurring. She remains in this state until she fulfils Jesus’ command that she go and tell the disciples that she has seen the Lord and all that he had told her.
In so doing Mary has not only achieved perfect belief but as the passage closes she has become a messenger announcing the words of Jesus to his disciples. In effect she has become an apostle to the Apostles, which is precisely the title bestowed upon her by another great Dominican and Doctor of the Church, St Thomas Aquinas. He wrote: “Just as a woman had announced the words of death to the first man, so also a woman was the first to announce to the Apostles the words of life.”
On her feast day tomorrow (22 July) may we seek the intercession of St Mary Magdalene, and pray that we too may come to perfect faith.