Reply #25: Only in the western Church, interestingly enough [View All]

[TechBear_Seattle]

Orthodox tradition describes her as a wealthy woman who was cured of "posession" and after that used her fortune to support Jesus' ministry. She was one of the witness to both the crucifixion and the resurrection, the only person (other than Jesus) to be involved with both events. Tradition tells that she was one of the first Christian missionaries, using her connections of family and wealth to gain leniency of the new movement.

One interesting legend holds that Mary was at a banquet with Emperor Tiberius. During the conversation at dinner, the topic of political rebellion in Judea came up, which led to mention of Jesus. When Mary said that Jesus was killed but then rose from the dead, the Emperor laugh. He picked up an egg from a platter and said that a dead man coming back to life is as likely as this egg turning red. Of course (this being a Christian legend), the egg immediately did just that, which is why red Easter eggs are an Orthodox tradition.