Saint Salome

23 2 0
                                    

Mary Salome was born before 1st century AD during the Roman Empire. "Salome" may be the Hellenized form of a Hebrew name, such as Shulamit, Shulamith, Shlomtsion or Shlomzion. Her name in Hebrew is שלומית‬ and is derived from the root word שָׁלוֹם‬ (shalom), meaning "peace" (Wikipedia, 2018). 

Salome is often identified as the wife of Zebedee, the mother of two of twelve apostles named, James the Great and John the Evangelist. According to Gospel of Matthew, Salome approached Jesus with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something. 

"Jesus, I would like you to grant me a great blessing," Salome pleaded.

'What do you wish?" Jesus asked.

"That when you establish your kingdom, my two sons will sit on your right hand and on your left," Salome wished.

"You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to suffer what I will suffer?" Jesus asked.

"We are, Master,"they said to him.

"Indeed, you will suffer what I suffer, but to sit on my right hand and on my left, that is not mine to give. It's for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father," Jesus replied. When the ten other apostles heard this, they became indignant at the two brothers, but Jesus summoned them and said, "God's kingdom isn't like the kingdoms of the world. Worldly kings force to everyone to serve them, and in this way they pretend to be great. But it will not be this way with you. Whoever desires to be the greatest in the kingdom God, let him be the least. Whoever wants to be known as a master, let him be a servant first. Even the Son of Man didn't come to be served, but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many."

According to the Gospel of Mark, Salome is identified as one of the women at the crucifixion of Jesus and also as one of the women who found Jesus's tomb empty.  

According to various legends, during a persecution of early Christians, commonly placed in 42 AD, Salome together with Mary of Clopas, Maximinus of Aix, Lazarus and his sisters, Martha and Mary of Bethany, were sent out to sea in a boat. They arrived safely on the southern shore of Gaul.

Salome was venerated in Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. She is commemorated in the Eastern Orthodox Church, i.e., the third Sunday of Pascha or Easter. Her feast day in the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church is on April 24 and in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod on August 23 with Joanna and Mary (Wikipedia, 2018). The attribute of Saint Salome is a thurible as a symbol of her sacrifice and faith in Jesus Christ.

Book of Ancient Saints: Volume 1Where stories live. Discover now