Mary Magdalene, the Apostola of the Easter Morning: Changes in the Late Medieval Carthusian Office of St Mary Magdalene

Abstract

The Office of Mary Magdalene is one of the rare offices of the Carthusian liturgy that was changed after it had been established as a solemn feast with twelve lessons. In Matins, several chants changed their position or were even replaced by new ones. This article examines the relationship between the earlier and the later Office of St Mary Magdalene. Later corrections in the Lauds first antiphon, Maria stabat ad monumentum receive some special attention since they open new questions concerning the unity of the Carthusian liturgical tradition, and a possible connection between individual Carthusian manuscripts.