Practicing the Magdalene Path
Part VI: Magdalene Path in Paris, How She Begins to Live in You
This is Part VI of the Mary Magdalene in Paris series, you can find Part I here.
“Practice is not about striving toward holiness. It is about returning, again and again, to presence.” - Inspired by Thomas Merton
I’m typing today’s post from my room at the foot of Mary’s cave in Sainte Baume, there is an extra stillness today because my guests are on their way back home after a profound week together on this sacred land - walking the Magdalene path.
There is a moment when the path becomes personal, deeply personal.
You are no longer only reading about Mary Magdalene, or encountering her in churches and paintings across the city. Something begins to settle more quietly into your own rhythm of attention.
You notice that you are entering spaces differently.
You pause before stepping inside sacred places.
You sit longer than you once would have.
You return to certain churches without needing a reason.
The experience begins to move from observation into relationship.
This is where practice begins.
It is not something you are performing.
It is not ritual for its own sake.
It is repetition infused with pure presence. (And as my dear sister Sandy might say, a presence that has been “charged” with the energy of Mary herself.)
The Magdalene path reveals itself to you through returning again and again.
Through the willingness to remain with what continues to call you. (And oh my goodness do I adore witnessing this call embodied in each woman that I have the great honor of guiding into the heart of it all.)
Over time, the city itself begins to feel like a form of prayer.
In today’s post I’m sharing some of the practices that I return to over and over again as I walk and practice the Magdalene path in Paris.
