Martha

Saint Martha
Venerated in	Eastern Christianity Lutheran Church Roman Catholicism
Feast	June 4/July 29
Attributes	broom; keys; ladle[1]
Patronage	butlers; cooks; dietitians; domestic servants; homemakers; hotel-keepers; housemaids; housewives; innkeepers; laundry workers; maids; manservants; servants; servers; single laywomen; travellers[2]
Saints Portal

Martha (Judæo-Aramaic מַרְתָּא Martâ "The lady", French Sainte Marthe) is a figure mentioned only in the Bible. No other historical detail about her is known. According to the gospel of John, she was the sister of Lazarus and Mary, and she witnessed her brother's resurrection.

Mentions

In the canonical Scripture, Martha is mentioned only in Luke 10:38-42; and John 11, 12, sqq. The Aramaic form occurs in a Nabatean inscription found at Puteoli, and now in the Naples Museum; it is dated AD. 5 (Corpus Inscr. Semit., 158); also in a Palmyrene inscription, where the Greek translation has the form Marthein, AD. 179. She is a character in the gnostic Pistis Sophia. She is mentioned in the gospel.

Biblical Martha

Mary, Martha, and Lazarus are depicted by John as living at Bethany, but Luke would seem to imply that they were, at least at one time, living in Galilee; he does not mention the name of the town, but it may have been Magdala, and we should thus, supposing Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene to be the same person, understand the appellative "Magdalene". The words of John (11:1) seem to imply a change of residence for the family. It is possible, too, that Luke has displaced the incident referred to in Chapter 10. The likeness between the pictures of Martha presented by Luke and John is very remarkable. The familiar intercourse between the Saviour of the world and the humble family which Luke depicts is dwelt on by John when he tells us that "Jesus loved Martha, and her sister Mary, and Lazarus" (11:5). Again the picture of Martha's anxiety (John 11:20-21, 39) accords with the picture of her who was "busy about much serving" (Luke 10:40); so also in John 12:2: "They made him a supper there: and Martha served." But St. John has given us a glimpse of the other and deeper side of her character when he depicts her growing faith in Christ's Divinity (11:20-27), a faith which was the occasion of the words: "I am the resurrection and the life." The Evangelist has beautifully indicated the change that came over Martha after that interview: "When she had said these things, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying: The Master is come, and calleth for thee."

Difficulties have been raised about the last supper at Bethania. John seems to put it six days before the Pasch, and, so some conclude, in the house of Martha; while the Synoptic account puts it two days before the Pasch, and in the house of Simon the Leper. We need not try to avoid this difficulty by asserting that there were two suppers; for John does not say that the supper took place six days before, but only that Christ arrived in Bethania six days before the Pasch; nor does he say that it was in the house of Martha. We are surely justified in arguing that, since Matthew and Mark place the scene in the house of Simon, St. John must be understood to say the same; it remains to be proved that Martha could not "serve" in Simon's house.

St Martha's Collegiate Church in Tarascon

Expansion of the Martha tradition

According to Eastern Orthodox tradition, Martha went to Cyprus with her siblings Mary and Lazarus, where Lazarus was appointed the first bishop of Kition. All three died in Cyprus.

According to one legend, Martha left Judea after Jesus's death, around AD 48, and went to Provence with her sister Mary (potentially Mary Magdalene) and her brother Lazarus. Martha first settled in Avignon (now in France), then went to Tarascon, where a monster, the Tarasque, was a constant threat to the population. Martha managed to tame the monster and eventually died in Tarascon, where she was buried. Her tomb is located in the crypt of the local Collegiate Church.

Memory

Martha is a Christian saint in the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Lutheran Church. Her feast day is June 4^th and July 29 in the Roman Catholic tradition. Among the Orthodox, she is commemorated collectively with the other Myrrh-bearing Women on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers (the Third Sunday of Pascha—i.e., the second Sunday after Easter). She also figures in the commemorations of Lazarus Saturday (the day before Palm Sunday).

Depictions in Art

• Christ in the House of Martha and Mary - an early work by the Spanish painter Velázquez.
• "The Sons of Martha" - A poem by Rudyard Kipling.

Notes

1. ^ http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintm05.htm
2. ^ http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintm05.htm

See also

• Lazarus
• Myrrhbearers
• Mary, sister of Lazarus

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Martha

• St. Martha on catholic.org
• Mary & Martha, the sisters of Lazarus
• Patron Saints: Martha
• "St. Martha". Catholic Encyclopedia. (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company. 

This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.

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