FERIAL DAY
(Mass of preceding Sunday)
[Historical, 1st Century]
Descent from the Cross - Detail mourning people, left side (l.t.r. Mary of Clopas, Saint John the Evangelist and Mary Salome) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Legend says that after the Resurrection she went to Veroli, Italy and spent the rest of her life there spreading the Good News.
Like
the Jewish greeting "Shalom" and the Arab "Salaam," Salome is based on
an Aramaic word meaning health and peace. It would be hard to think of a
more fitting name for a mother.
It
is quite probable that Salome was the sister of the Blessed Virgin, and
it is certain that she was the wife of Zebedee and the mother of James
the Greater and John the Evangelist (Matthew 20:20; 27:56). In the
Gospel of St. Matthew (20:20ff) it is written: "Then the mother of the
sons of Zebedee approached Him with her sons and did Him homage, wishing
to ask Him for something. He said to her, 'What do you wish?' She
answered Him, 'Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at Your
right and the other at Your left, in Your kingdom.'"
Mary Salome and Zebedee with their Sons James the Greater and John the Evangelist (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
In
art, Mary Salome is shown with her two sainted children (James and
John) in her arms. Occasionally Mary Salome is present at the Nativity
because there is a legend that the doubting Salome was a midwife, who
came, unbelieving, to the stable at Bethlehem and was converted (cf.
Jameson, Legends of the Madonna). Sometimes Mary Salome together with
Mary Cleophas support the Virgin at the Crucifixion or they are present
with Mary Magdalene at the Resurrection.
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