But he rising early the first day of the week, appeared first to
Mary Magdalen. (Mark 9:16) As we begin the month of our Lady,
still early in the Easter season, it will be most profitable to
consider whether the Blessed Virgin Mary was the first to be
visited by the risen Lord. While it has never been a teaching of
the Church that Jesus appeared first of all to his Mother – this
fact has not been handed down to us either by Scripture or by
Tradition, and hence is not an article of the faith – it has
been held by a long-standing and well honored tradition, one
which has been confirmed also by many private revelations. We
ask: Did Jesus appear first to his Mother after the
Resurrection? And we presume that the answer to this question
contains also the answer to another: Did Jesus ever appear to
his Mother after the Resurrection? Indeed, if Christ did appear
first of all to Mary, then the answer to our second question is
in the affirmative. However, if the Lord did not appear to the
Virgin Mary first of all, we