Myrrh-bearer Salome

Family

Salome is commonly identified as the wife of Zebedee and the mother of the Apostles James and John. The Orthodox synaxarion further relates that she was a kinswoman of the Theotokos; the Orthodox Church in America's life of the saint names her as the first cousin of the Virgin Mary. The precise kinship is reported differently across traditions, and a medieval Western scheme counted her among the so-called 'Three Marys' as a daughter of Saint Anne, a genealogy the Council of Trent rejected.

According to the Gospel of Matthew, Salome once approached Jesus to ask that her two sons might sit one at His right hand and one at His left in His kingdom (Matthew 20:20-21). The synaxarion explains this request as arising from the expectation that He would restore the throne of David.

Ministry and the Resurrection

Salome belonged to the company of women who followed Christ and ministered to Him from their own means until His crucifixion and burial. The Gospel of Mark names her among the women who followed and served Him in Galilee (Mark 15:40-41). During the Passion she and the other faithful women remained by the Cross in sorrow.

On the third day after the crucifixion, Salome was among the Myrrh-bearing women who, according to Mark 16:1, 'had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.' Coming to the tomb they found the stone rolled away and learned of Christ's Resurrection from an angel. For being among the first to receive this news, she is venerated as one who carried the tidings of the Resurrection.

Later Tradition

After Pentecost, the synaxarion relates that Salome continued to distinguish herself by her zeal and her almsgiving. She lived to witness the martyrdom of her eldest son, James, whom Herod had beheaded (Acts 12:2), and is said to have endured this sorrow in faith.