Palm Sunday

In the Footsteps of Mary Magdalene and the Myrrhbearers

Seven hours of recordings from our historic three day global online conference of 22 scholars, artists, musicians and spiritual leaders from 4 countries as we reclaim and bring forth embodied liturgies from the perspectives of the faithful, courageous and compassionate women who accompanied Christ in his ministry. Whether you are the leader of a women's circle, a pastor or priest or simple a solitary seeker, you will find a feast of ways that you can deepen your own spiritual practices this Lenten season. You are invited to watch the video recordings at your own pace and then join us live for a follow up zoom meeting on Palm Sunday, April 10 at 11:00 am PDT for follow up sharing by faculty and other participants about our Lenten journeys.

Featured topics in our conference included:

- Claiming Mary Magdalene's righful place in the center of Easter liturgies as the faithful witness and Apostle to the Apostles

-The Myrrhbearers in scripture, art and tradition

-The symbolism of sacred oils in the Jewish and Egyptian traditions and how they are being used in rituals with both the living and the dying

- Ancient liturgies for Holy Week re-imagined : rituals of anointing, footwashing, lamentation and vigils

- Creating study groups and liturgies around the Gospel of Mary

- Art meditation, chanting and poetry as sacred practice for Lent

- Incorporating Ecological consciousness into Holy Week and Good Friday

- Seeds of creative expression and inspiration from Ecumenical and interfaith communities in England, France, the United States, and Iona, Scotland

It is our hope is that you will leave this conference on fire with ways that you can make the Easter experience more meaningful for yourself --and your community.

This event is offered on a sliding scale, with full scholarships available for those in need aand a special group rate for those who will be gathering in circles of 4 or more.

Program Contents:

Day One : Returning to the Roots

Opening Circle of music with Ruth Cunningham

Poetry by Harmony Harrison

Lucy Reiger: The Women's Atrium in Magdala, Israel

Veronique Flayol: The Myrrhbearers, Anointing and Sacred Oils

Lizzie Berne DeGear: Mistranslations and missing pieces in the New Testament

Fay Barratt: Working with the Myrrhbearers Through Art and Dialogue

Mary Jane Miller: Reclaiming the Apostle to the Apostles in Byzantine Style Iconography

Closing Litany of Remembrance for the Myrrhbearers

Day Two: Tools for Awakening and Remembering the Good

Opening Circle with Invocation by Apela Colorado

Kayleen Asbo: The Magdalene Tradition: Anthropos, Embodiment and Wholeness ; Recovering the roots of Aramaic Prayer, the Gospels of Mary and Gospel of Thomas; Easter Liturgies in early Gnostic and early Franciscan lay communities

Catherine Braslavsky : The Gospel of Mary

Ella Rozett and David Curtis – Creating Gospel of Mary Study Groups and Interfaith dialogue

Apela Colorado: Mary Magdalene as a Healing Guide for the Wounds of Religion

Judith Tripp: The Chartres labyrinth and Holy Week

Sue Ellen Parkinson: Visio Divina and Soul Collage :The Art of Dialoguing with Images

Anasuya Isaacs: Black Madonnas, White Madonnas: Mary Magdalene and Mother Mary

Day Three: Bringing Ancient Rhythms and New Traditions to the World

Opening Circle with music by Robin O'Brien

An Archetypal Overview of Holy Week traditions from Palm Sunday through Easter Vigils and the need for embodied rituals of grief, anointing and lamentation:

Kayleen Asbo: Bringing together the Ancestors and the Gospel of Mary for Holy Saturday

Polly Paton Brown: Eco Spiritual Rituals for Holy Week on Iona, Scotland

Ella Rozett: Bringing Together the Marys as Models of Contemplation

Karen Harris: Creating Interfaith Sophia Circles and Mary Magdalene Novenas

Claire Sierra: Mary Magdalene Rosary Practice

Community reports from spiritual directors and lay leaders of diverse denominations in England, New York, Houston, San Francisco, Oregon and Washington about innovative liturgies that situate the Myrrhbearers in a place of prominence for Holy Week.

Ways to spiritually deepen during the Forty Days of Lent, with previews of offerings from our presenters

Video: Prologue to the Passion of Mary Magdalene