“Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” 
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni.” (John 20:13-16)
This beautiful scene of Jesus and St. Mary Magdalene, the Apostle to the Apostles, is portrayed in the stained-glass windows at the front of Magdalen’s Our Lady Queen of Apostles Chapel. Jesus called Mary Magdalene by name, and she was the first person to recognize the risen Christ. As our patroness, her life inspires us to be attentive to our callings and to see all things in light of the resurrection.
Every July 22nd our college celebrates the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene with a special Mass followed by a solemn procession to her life-size statue at our campus entrance. St. Mary Magdalene, pray for us!
Along with St. Mary Magdalene, St. John Paul II is the co-patron of Magdalen College. We seek his intercession daily. His personal interests and goals fit with our mission in a fascinating way.
Magdalen exudes a culture that is dedicated to learning—a culture of “setting out into the deep” (one of St. John Paul II’s well-known phrases)—by engaging the biggest questions of life. In addition to a culture that loves learning and going deep, Magdalen also embodies a culture of beauty and reverence.
As a young priest, Karol Wojtyla experienced a powerful sort of fellowship with a group of about 20 young people who called themselves the “little family.” May our students be emersed in a fellowship of prayer and conversation that equips them for faithful living in a turbulent world. Pope St. John Paul II, pray for us!