# The Three Marys

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Three women mentioned in the New Testament

The painting *The Three Marys at the Tomb* by [Mikołaj Haberschrack](https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miko%C5%82aj_Haberschrack), 15th century

**The Three Marys** (also spelled **Maries**) are women mentioned in the [canonical gospels](/source/Gospel)' narratives of the [crucifixion](/source/Crucifixion_of_Jesus) and [resurrection of Jesus](/source/Resurrection_of_Jesus).[1][2]

Saint Anne and her daughters, the [Three Marys](#The_three_daughters_of_Saint_Anne), [Jean Fouquet](/source/Jean_Fouquet)

The Gospels refer to several women named Mary. At various points of Christian history, some of these women have been identified with one another.[3]

- [Mary, mother of Jesus](/source/Mary%2C_mother_of_Jesus)

- [Mary Magdalene](/source/Mary_Magdalene)

- [Mary of Jacob (mother of James the Less)](/source/Mary_(mother_of_James_the_Less)) ([Matthew 27:56](https://www.esv.org/Matthew+27:56); [Mark 15:40](https://www.esv.org/Mark+15:40); [Luke 24:10](https://www.esv.org/Luke+24:10))

- [Mary of Clopas](/source/Mary_of_Clopas) ([John 19:25](https://www.esv.org/John+19:25)), sometimes identified with Mary of Jacob

- [Mary of Bethany](/source/Mary_of_Bethany) ([Luke 10:38–42](https://www.esv.org/Luke+10:38), [John 12:1–3](https://www.esv.org/John+12:1)), not mentioned in any Crucifixion or Resurrection.

Another woman who appears in the Crucifixion and Resurrection narratives is [Salome](/source/Salome_(disciple)), who, in some traditions, is referred to as Mary Salome and identified as being one of the Marys. Other women mentioned in the narratives are Joanna and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

Different sets of three women have been referred to as the Three Marys:

- Three Marys present at the crucifixion of Jesus;

- Three Marys at the tomb of Jesus on Easter Sunday;

- Three daughters of [Saint Anne](/source/Saint_Anne), all named Mary.

## The three Marys at the crucifixion

Main article: [Women at the crucifixion](/source/Women_at_the_crucifixion)

Women at the crucifixion of Jesus, [Hans Memling](/source/Hans_Memling).

The presence of a group of [female disciples of Jesus](/source/Female_disciples_of_Jesus) at the [crucifixion of Jesus](/source/Crucifixion_of_Jesus) is found in all four [Gospels](/source/Gospels) of the [New Testament](/source/New_Testament). Differences in the parallel accounts have led to different interpretations of how many and which women were present. In some traditions, as exemplified in the Irish song *Caoineadh na dTrí Muire*,[4] the Three Marys are the three whom the [Gospel of John](/source/Gospel_of_John) mentions as present at the crucifixion of Jesus:[5]

- [Mary (mother of Jesus)](/source/Mary_(mother_of_Jesus))

- [Mary Magdalene](/source/Mary_Magdalene)

- [Mary of Clopas](/source/Mary_of_Clopas)

These three women are very often represented in art, as for example in [El Greco](/source/El_Greco)'s *[Disrobing of Christ](/source/Disrobing_of_Christ)*.

The Gospels other than that of John do not mention Jesus's mother or Mary of Clopas as being present. Instead they name [Mary of Jacob](/source/Mary_(mother_of_James_the_Less)) (Mark and Matthew), [Salome](/source/Salome_(disciple)) (Mark), and the mother of the sons of Zebedee (Matthew).

This has led some to interpret that Mary of Jacob (mother of James the Less) is Mary Clopas and also "Mary, his mother’s sister", and that (Mary) Salome is the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

## The three Marys at the tomb

Icon of the Three Marys at the Nea Moni Monastery of Chios (1100 AD)

This name is used for a group of three women who came to the [sepulchre](/source/Sepulchre) of [Jesus](/source/Jesus). In [Eastern Orthodoxy](/source/Eastern_Orthodoxy) they are among the [Myrrhbearers](/source/Myrrhbearers), a group that traditionally includes a [much larger number](/source/Myrrhbearers#Names_of_the_Myrrhbearers) of people. All four gospels mention women going to the tomb of Jesus, but only [Mark 16:1](https://www.esv.org/Mark+16:1) mentions the three that this tradition interprets as bearing the name Mary:

- Mary Magdalene

- Mary of Clopas

- Mary Salome

The other gospels give various indications about the number and identity of women visiting the tomb:

- [John 20:1](/source/John_20%3A1) mentions only Mary Magdalene, but has her use the plural, saying: "*We* do not know where they have laid him" ([John 20:2](https://www.esv.org/John+20:2)).

- [Matthew 28:1](/source/Matthew_28%3A1) says that Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" went to see the tomb.

- [Luke 24:10](https://www.esv.org/Luke+24:10) speaks of Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary of Jacob, and adds "the other women", after stating earlier ([Luke 23:55](https://www.esv.org/Luke+23:55)) that at the burial of Jesus "the women who had come with him from Galilee ... saw the tomb and how his body was laid".

The [Roman Martyrology](/source/Roman_Martyrology) commemorates Mary Magdalene on 22 July. On 24 April it commemorates "Mary of Cleopas and Salome, who, with Mary Magdalene, came very early on Easter morning to the Lord's tomb, to anoint his body, and were the first who heard the announcement of his resurrection.[6]

### Women at the tomb in art

[Lorenzo Monaco](/source/Lorenzo_Monaco), The Three Marys at the Tomb (manuscript illumination of a 1396 antiphonary)[7]

What may be the earliest known representation of three women visiting the tomb of Jesus is a fairly large fresco in the [Dura-Europos church](/source/Dura-Europos_church) in the ancient city of [Dura Europos](/source/Dura_Europos) on the [Euphrates](/source/Euphrates). The fresco was painted before the city's conquest and abandonment in AD 256, but it is from the 5th century that representations of either two or three women approaching a tomb guarded by an angel appear with regularity, and become the standard depiction of the Resurrection.[8] They have continued in use even after 1100, when images of the [Resurrection of Jesus in Christian art](/source/Resurrection_of_Jesus_in_Christian_art) began to show the risen Christ himself. Examples are the [Melisende Psalter](/source/Melisende_Psalter) and [Peter von Cornelius](/source/Peter_von_Cornelius)'s *The Three Marys at the Tomb*. Eastern [icons](/source/Icons) continue to show either the [Myrrhbearers](/source/Myrrhbearers) or the [Harrowing of Hell](/source/Harrowing_of_Hell).[9]

The fifteenth-century Easter hymn "[O filii et filiae](/source/O_filii_et_filiae)" refers to three women going to the tomb on Easter morning to anoint the body of Jesus. The original Latin version of the hymn identifies the women as Mary Magdalene (*Maria Magdalene*) and Mary of Joseph (*et Iacobi*).

### Legend in France

A medieval legendary account had [Mary Magdalene](/source/Mary_Magdalene), [Mary of Jacob](/source/Mary_of_Jacob) and [Mary Salome](/source/Mary_Salome),[10] Mark's Three Marys at the Tomb, or Mary Magdalene, Mary of Cleopas and Mary Salome,[11] with [Saint Sarah](/source/Saint_Sarah), the maid of one of them, as part of a group who landed near [Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer](/source/Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer) in [Provence](/source/Provence) after a voyage from the [Holy Land](/source/Holy_Land). The group sometimes includes [Lazarus](/source/Lazarus_of_Bethany), who became bishop of [Aix-en-Provence](/source/Aix-en-Provence), [Mary of Bethany](/source/Mary_of_Bethany), his sister, and [Joseph of Arimathea](/source/Joseph_of_Arimathea). They settled at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, where their relics are a focus of the [Pilgrimage to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pilgrimage_to_Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer&action=edit&redlink=1) [[fr](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A8lerinage_aux_Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer)]. The feast of the Three Marys was celebrated mainly in France and Italy, and was accepted by the [Carmelite Order](/source/Carmelite_Order) into their liturgy in 1342.[12]

The [Church of the Saintes Maries de la Mer](/source/Church_of_the_Saintes_Maries_de_la_Mer) is said to hold their relics.

### Processional statues during Good Friday

In various [Catholic countries](/source/Catholic_countries), particularly in the Kingdom of Spain, the Philippines and Latin American countries, images of the three Marys (in [Spanish](/source/Spanish_language) *Tres Marías*) associated with the tomb are carried in [Good Friday](/source/Good_Friday) processions referred to by the word *Penitencia* (Spanish) or *Panatà* (Filipino for an act performed in fulfilment of a vow).[13][14] They carry [attributes](/source/Emblem) or iconic accessories, chiefly enumerated as follows:

Santa Maria Jacobe (2024 [Good Friday processions](/source/Good_Friday_processions_in_Baliwag), Philippines)

- Mary Cleopas (sometimes alternated with Mary Jacob) – holding a broom[15]

- Mary Salome – holding a thurible or censer[16]

- Mary Magdalene – holding an alabaster chalice or jar.[17]

The [Blessed Virgin Mary](/source/Blessed_Virgin_Mary) is not part of this group, as her title as [Mater Dolorosa](/source/Mater_Dolorosa) is reserved to a singular privilege in the procession.

A common pious practice sometimes alternates Mary Salome with Jacob, due to a popular belief that Salome, an elderly person at this time would not have had the energy to reach the tomb of Christ at the morning of resurrection, though she was present at the Crucifixion.

## The three daughters of Saint Anne

[Wolf Traut](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wolf_Traut&action=edit&redlink=1) painting of the [Holy Kinship](/source/Holy_Kinship) (1514): Saint Anne with her three daughters, her husband and theirs, and her grandchildren

According to a legend propounded by Haymo of Auxerre in the mid-9th century,[18] but rejected by the [Council of Trent](/source/Council_of_Trent),[19] [Saint Anne](/source/Saint_Anne) had, by different husbands, three daughters, all of whom bore the name Mary and who are referred to as the Three Marys:

- [Mary (mother of Jesus)](/source/Mary_(mother_of_Jesus))

- [Mary of Clopas](/source/Mary_of_Clopas)

- [Salome](/source/Salome_(disciple)), in this tradition called Mary Salome (as in the tradition of the three Marys at the tomb)

None of these three Marys is hypothesized as being Mary Magdalene.[20]

This account was included in the *[Golden Legend](/source/Golden_Legend)* of [Jacobus de Voragine](/source/Jacobus_de_Voragine), written in about 1260.[21]

It was the subject of a long poem in rhymed French written in about 1357 by [Jean de Venette](/source/Jean_de_Venette). The poem is preserved in a mid-15th-century manuscript on [vellum](/source/Vellum) containing 232 pages written in columns. The titles are in red and illuminated in gold. It is decorated with seven miniatures in monochrome gray.[22][23]

For some centuries, religious art throughout Germany and the [Low Countries](/source/Low_Countries) frequently presented Saint Anne with her husbands, daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren as a group known as the [Holy Kinship](/source/Holy_Kinship).

## Other interpretations

*The Three Marys* by [Alexander Moody Stuart](/source/Alexander_Moody_Stuart), first published 1862, reprinted by the [Banner of Truth Trust](/source/Banner_of_Truth_Trust), Edinburgh, 1984, is a study of [Mary of Magdala](/source/Mary_of_Magdala), [Mary of Bethany](/source/Mary_of_Bethany) and [Mary of Nazareth](/source/Mary_of_Nazareth).

In Spanish-speaking countries, the [Orion's Belt](/source/Orion's_Belt) [asterism](/source/Asterism_(astronomy)) is called *Las Tres Marías* (The Three Marys). In other Western nations, it is sometimes called "[The Three Kings](/source/Biblical_Magi)", a reference to the [Gospel of Matthew](/source/Gospel_of_Matthew)'s account of wise men, who have been pictured as kings and as three in number, bearing gifts for the infant Jesus.[24]

Classicists have observed some similarities and parallels between the depiction and representation of the Three Marys and those of the Three Fates ([Moirai](/source/Moirai)) who are the three goddesses of destiny in Greek mythology. They were [Clotho](/source/Clotho) (Spinner), [Lachesis](/source/Lachesis) (Measurer) and [Atropos](/source/Atropos) the (Cutter) of a person's thread of life/destiny. One or more Marys are often present at various stages of Jesus's ministry that may represent moments where his fate is concerned such as the Wedding Feast at Cana [John 2](/source/John_2), Jesus's crucifixion, and resurrection.

## See also

- [Matres and Matronae](/source/Matres_and_Matronae)

- [Myrrhbearers](/source/Myrrhbearers)

- [New Testament people named Mary](/source/New_Testament_people_named_Mary)

- [Saint Sarah](/source/Saint_Sarah)

- [Triple Goddess (Neopaganism)](/source/Triple_Goddess_(Neopaganism))

- [Moirai](/source/Moirai)

## References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [The three Marys](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:The_three_Marys).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Richard Bauckham, *The Testimony of the Beloved Disciple*](https://books.google.com/books?id=QQzjDM_L7-oC&pg=PA175) (Baker Academic 2007 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-80103485-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-80103485-5)), p. 175

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Bart D. Ehrman, *Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene*](https://books.google.com/books?id=Tlvgp7WggvEC&pg=PA188) (Osford University Press 2006 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19974113-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19974113-7)), p. 188

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Scott Hahn (editor), *Catholic Bible Dictionary*](https://books.google.com/books?id=RVQ1zjMLv8MC&pg=PA583) (Random House 2009 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-38553008-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-38553008-8)), pp. 583–84

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Caoineadh na dTrí Muire" (The Lament of the Three Marys)](http://www.oup.com/us/pdf/globalmusic/hast/Chapter6.pdf)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [John 19:25](https://www.esv.org/John+19:25)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** *Martyrologium Romanum* (Vatican Press 2001 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-88-209-7210-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-88-209-7210-3))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [Web Gallery of Art](http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/l/lorenzo/monaco/index.html)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** [Robin Margaret Jensen, *Understanding Early Christian Art*](https://books.google.com/books?id=tW2WJvtr-IgC&pg=PA162) (Routledge 2000 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-41520454-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-41520454-5)), p. 162

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Vladimir Lossky, 1982 *The Meaning of Icons* [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-913836-99-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-913836-99-6) p. 185

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Hennig, Kaye D. (2008). [*King Arthur: Lord of the Grail*](https://books.google.com/books?id=1qc9Xz8hCvwC&pg=PA149). DesignMagic Publishing LLC. p. 149. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-98007580-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-98007580-9).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Pinckney Stetkevych, Suzanne (1994). [*Reorientations*](https://books.google.com/books?id=oxfA3dqjNgEC&pg=PA97). Indiana University Press 1994. p. 97. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-25335493-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-25335493-8).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Boyce, James John (1990). "The Medieval Carmelite Office Tradition". *Acta Musicologica*. **62** (2/3). International Musicological Society: 133. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2307/932630](https://doi.org/10.2307%2F932630). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [932630](https://www.jstor.org/stable/932630).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** [Jim Yandle, "Panata by Ramos Parallels Those Final Days of Jesus" in *Ocala Star Banner* (6 April 1980)](https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19800406&id=GX5RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EAYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4505,2019509)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** ["Yolanda survivors fulfill 'panata'" in *Cebu Daily News*, 20 January 2014](http://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/2014/01/20/yolanda-survivors-fulfill-panata/)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** ["Santa Maria Jacobe"](https://www.flickr.com/photos/37190760@N06/7053611121/). 6 April 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** ["Santa Maria Salome -- Banga, Aklan"](https://www.flickr.com/photos/28098727@N00/3485771454/). 11 April 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** ["Sta. Maria Magdalena - Viernes Santo Procession 2011"](https://www.flickr.com/photos/laurencebukas/5907234981). 6 July 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** Patrick J. Geary, *Women at the Beginning* (Princeton University Press 2006 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780691124094](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780691124094)), p. 72

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** Fernando Lanzi, Gioia Lanzi, *Saints and Their Symbols* (Liturgical Press 2004 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780814629703](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780814629703)), p. 37

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** Stefano Zuffi, *Gospel Figures in Art* (Getty Publication 2003 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780892367276](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780892367276)), p. 350

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** [The Children and Grandchildren of Saint Anne](http://www.aug.edu/augusta/iconography/goldenLegend/maryNativity.htm) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20121008035040/http://www.aug.edu/augusta/iconography/goldenLegend/maryNativity.htm) 2012-10-08 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** "Le manuscrit médiéval" ~ *The Medieval Manuscript*, Nov. 2011, p. 1

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** *The Chronicle of Jean de Venette,* translated by Jean Birdsall. Edited by Richard A. Newhall. N.Y. Columbia University Press. 1953. Introduction

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** [Matthew 2:1–11](https://www.esv.org/Matthew+2:1)

v t e New Testament people Jesus Christ In Christianity Historical Life of Jesus in the New Testament Gospels Individuals Alphaeus Anna the Prophetess Annas Barabbas Bartimaeus Blind man (Bethsaida) Caiaphas Celidonius Cleopas Clopas Devil Penitent thief ("Dismas") Elizabeth Gabriel Impenitent thief ("Gestas") Jairus' daughter Joanna John the Baptist Joseph Joseph of Arimathea Lazarus Legion Luke Lysanias Malchus Martha Mary, mother of Jesus Mary Magdalene Mary, mother of James Mary, sister of Martha Mary of Clopas Naked fugitive Son of Nain's widow Nicodemus (Nicodemus ben Gurion) Salome Samaritan woman Satan Simeon Simon, brother of Jesus Simon of Cyrene Simon the Leper Simon the Pharisee Susanna Syrophoenician woman Theophilus Zacchaeus Zebedee Zechariah Multiple People named James People named John People named Joseph (or Joses) People named Judas or Jude People named Mary People named Simon or Simeon Groups Angels Jesus's brothers Demons Disciples Evangelists Female disciples of Jesus God-fearers Herodians Magi Myrrhbearers Nameless Pharisees Prophets Proselytes Sadducees Samaritans Sanhedrin Scribes Seventy disciples Shepherds Women at the crucifixion Zealots Apostles Andrew Bartholomew Nathanael James, son of Alphaeus Less James, son of Zebedee John Evangelist Patmos "Disciple whom Jesus loved" Presbyter Judas Iscariot Jude Thaddaeus Jude Matthew Philip Simon Peter Simon the Zealot Thomas Acts Aeneas Agabus Ananias (Damascus) Ananias (Judaea) Ananias son of Nedebeus Apollos Aquila Aristarchus Barnabas Blastus Cornelius Damaris Demetrius Dionysius Dorcas Elymas Egyptian Ethiopian eunuch Eutychus Gamaliel James, brother of Jesus Jason Joseph Barsabbas Judas Barsabbas Judas of Galilee Lucius Luke Lydia Manaen (John) Mark Evangelist cousin of Barnabas Mary, mother of (John) Mark Matthias Mnason Nicanor Nicholas Parmenas Paul Philip Priscilla Prochorus Publius Rhoda Sapphira Sceva Seven Deacons Silas / Silvanus Simeon Niger Simon Magus Sopater Sosthenes Stephen Theudas Timon Timothy Titus Trophimus Tychicus Zenas Romans and Herod's family Gospels Augustus Antipas Archelaus Herod the Great Herodias Longinus Philip Pilate Pilate's wife Quirinius Salome Tiberius Acts Agrippa Agrippa II Berenice Cornelius Drusilla Felix Festus Gallio Lysias Paullus Epistles Achaicus Alexander of Ephesus Alexander the Coppersmith Andronicus Archippus Aretas IV Artemas Carpus Claudia Crescens Demas Diotrephes Epaphras Epaphroditus Epenetus Erastus Eunice Euodia and Syntyche Herodion Hymenaeus Jesus Justus Junia Linus Lois Mary Michael Nymphas Olympas Onesimus Onesiphorus Pudens Philemon Philetus Phoebe Quartus Sosipater Tertius Tryphena and Tryphosa Revelation Antipas Four Horsemen Apollyon Two witnesses Woman Beast Three Angels Whore of Babylon

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Three Marys](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Marys) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Marys?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.