By what mystery did these two Saints find themselves on the Mediterranean shores ?
The Breviary of the Aix en Provence Diocese tells us:
"Chased by the persecution of Palestine, many of Christ's disciples were exiled and brought the Christian faith to our region."
With Mary-Magdalene, Lazarus, Maximin and many others, Mary Jacobe and Mary Salome were arrested and set off on a boat, then, near the coast, abandoned on a raft with neither sails nor paddles. Guided by Providence they reached the Provençal shore.
And while the other disciples went off evangelizing far away, the Saints Mary Jacobe and Mary Salome, elderly women as they were mothers of Apostles, remained on this shore which henceforth bore their name. They would have converted the local people and the Romans who occupied the region.
It should be made known that:
the Festivals of Saint Mary Jacobe (May 25) and Saint Mary Salome (October 22) - this latter celbrated, in fact, on the Sunday closest to that date - attract many pilgrims. |
