Feast Day Of Saint Mary Magdalene in Kawit

July 22 marks the feast day of Saint Mary Magdalene. As we all know, Mary Magdalene is one of the most prominent women in the bible as she traveled with Jesus as one of his followers. She is said to have witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion and also the first one to witness His resurrection. Magdalene was well known as a sinner when she first met Jesus. She was describe as beautiful and proud but right after she met Jesus, she felt great sorrow for her evil life. When Jesus went to supper at the home of a rich man named Simon, Mary came to weep at His feet. Then with her long beautiful hair, she wiped His feet dry and anointed them with expensive perfume. Thus, perfume is one of the notable attributes for her images.
Like what we did last year, my mom and I visited the Saint Mary Magdalene Church in Kawit to celebrate the feast day of their patroness. St Mary Magdalene Church Of Kawit Cavite or simply known as the Kawit Church is one of the oldest churches in the Philippines. It was built since 1737. Interestingly, the first church was made from wood and was constructed in 1638 but Kawit, during that time became a red-light district after being frequented by Spanish marines. To solve this bad reputation of the town, the Archbishop ordered the dedication of the Kawit church to St Mary Magdalene. You can clearly tell how much history behind this centuries old church through its facade.
 The crowded church’s nave after the concelebrated mass. Check out their fancy decors.  I’m not really sure what kind of theme they have this year but last year was inspired from the Pahiyas Festival of Quezon. I remember the colorful decorations they put on the Andas of St Mary Magdalene. 
Stained Glass window depicting one of the stations of the cross. I personally like this portion of the center aisle before the main altar. Checkout the wooden roof design matched with this huge chandeliers.
The huge chandelier on the center aisle The gathering of priests, bishops and archbishop for the concelebrated mass. The mass was presided by Archbishop Reynaldo Evangelista.
The Church’s main Altar. After the mass, people/ devotees may have a chance to get a closer look at the original image of Mary Magdalene. Before reaching the altar, I found these relics displayed near the wall. I didn’t get the chance to read the details though since there is a long queue of people behind me.
The miraculous life-size image of Mary Magdalene in Kawit has a “mark” in the middle of her forehead, it resembles a mole and no living local in Kawit knows why the statue has such a mark. Speculations suggests that this is the symbolic mark of Jesus’s fingertip during the resurrection when he had appeared to Magdalene and said Noli me tangere (Touch me not). Some suggests that this mark is to clearly distinguish her identity from the Virgin Mary.Since Mary Magdalene is traditionally depicted with a vessel of ointment of perfume in reference to the “anointing of Jesus” where she anoints Jesus with an expensive perfume, the statue is notably aromatic. You can even see expensive perfume bottles which is probably donated by her devotees. I’m going back to the church this Friday to visit their historical exhibit near the convent.