Excellent article, glorious photographs!

Marseille is famous for a pastry called "navette," "little boat", which commemorates the arrival of Mary Magdalene, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Jesus' mother, as well as Lazarus.

As for Gregory I, he deserves the moniker "the Great" for his many achievements, but like all great men and women, his slur on Mary Magdalene was a huge mistake, with ramifications down to our day. Belatedly, Pope Paul VI outlawed that interpretation, and John Paul II agreed that she is "the apostle to the apostles."

There's a lot of Magdalene scholarship these days, including how the work of debasing her influence began in the 2nd century already. However, if Luke is right about Mary's exorcism of seven demons, she could not be Jesus' wife. But that experience could have made her a great spiritual leader, as well as extremely devoted to Jesus.