Page:A Dictionary of Saintly Women Volume 2.djvu/58

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46 ST. MARY SALOME of the Virgin Mary, and from a com- parison of St. John xix. 25, St. Matt, xxvii. oi), St Mark xv. 40, it would appear that she was so, but it is not certain. Mary was the mother of Joses or Joseph and of St. James the Less — the apostle who was the first bishop of Jerusalem — and probably step-mother of Simon, and of St. Jude or Thaddons. Compare St. Mark vi. 3, and xt. 40. She is also said to haye had several daughters ; St. Epiphanius mentions two, whom he calls Mary and Salome. Other accounts speak of Mary Salome as one person and sister of Mary Clopas. (Compare Salome.) Some traditions say Mary was married first to AlphsBUS, who was the father of St. James; and secondly to Clophas or Clopas, who is said to be Ithe brother of Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary. Hege- sippus identities Simon, the son of Clopas, with Symeon, second bishop of Jerusalem, who was put to death under Trajan, as being of the house of David and a relation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mary followed Christ during the three years of His ministry, assisting Him in His journeys and listening to His teaching ; she followed Him to Calvary and stood by His cross with His mother and Mary Magdalene. She was one of those who followed Him to the grave and beheld where He was laid ; then, with Mary Magdalene and Mary Salome, she prepared spices and all that was necessary to embalm His sacred body; and having rested the Sabbath day, according to the commandment^ they came to the sepulchre before day- break, to fulfil this last duty of love and reverence. There they saw the angels, and hearing from them that the Lord was risen, they returned to the city with fear and great joy. On the way they met Him and embraced His feet. They then went to tell the disciples what had happened ; but they at first would not belie vo them. It has been pretended, without au- thority, that the bodies of Mary of Clopas, and Mary Salome are preserved at a little town called Les Trots Maries near the mouths of the Ehone ; and that Mary Clopas and Mary Salome settled at Varoli in Italy, after the death of the Virgin Mary; also that Mary Clopas went to Spain with Mary Maodalbne and died at Ciudad Bodrigo. The legend of St. Anne says that Mary Clopas was the daughter of Anna (3) by her second husband, consequently she was younger than the mother of our Lord; but Smith's Dictionary says she was probably older than the Blessed Virgin Mary, and her children very much older than our Saviour. He adds that Clopas was probably dead before the ministry of the Lord began ; St. Joseph was also probably d€«d. The two widowed sisters lived together; their children were therefore regarded as brothers and sisters, in a more decided sense than that in which southern and eastern nations call all cousins bro- thers. Possibly the B. V. Mary lived with her sister before her marriage or on her return from Egypt. St. Matt xii. 47, and xiii. 55 show that they were one household. B.M, Baillei St. Mary (6) Salome, Salome (2). St. Mary (7), June 21). 1st century. Mother of John whose surname was Mark. She has been called the sister of St. Barnabas, but was more probably his aunt, for, according to Bishop Light- foot and the Bevised Version of the Bible, the expression sister's son to Barnabas" (Colossians iv. 10) does not mean that Mark was son of the sister of Barnabas, but that Barnabas and Mark were sons of two sisters. Sister's son is the common name in the East for first cousin. It is related of Mary that having heard of the holy teaching and miracles of the Lord Jesus, she at once perceived that Ho was the Messiah, and leaving what she had in her hands, went directly to the temple, and throwing herself at His feet, prayed Him to come to her house that His entrance there might bless her and her family; that He accepted her hospitality then and every time He came to Jerusalem ; and that in her house He instituted the sacrament of the Last Supper. Those things are not told in the New Testament nor in any of the oldest ecclesiastical histories. Sho is mentioned Acts xii. 12, where we learn