Madalena

To the Orthodox, Mary Magdalene was not the "reformed prostitute" portrayed in the west. Rather, she was an educated noblewoman who helped finance the ministry of Jesus and who, after the resurrection, used her social standing to teach the gospel to upper class people who would never have listened to a mere fisherman. She has the title "Equal of the Apostles" because of her importance to the early church.

The egg story tells of her travelling to Rome after the Ascension and being admitted to the court of Tiberius Caesar. At a dinner party, she told the emperor of the miscarriage of justice done by Pilate, and then about how Jesus rose from the dead. Mary picked up an egg from the dinner table to illustrate the idea of resurrection. Tiberius scoffed at the story, saying that a man could no more rise from the dead than the egg in her hand turn red. The egg immediately turned a bright scarlet.