There are many traditions that claim various locations where the "Apostle to the Apostles" lived out her final days before being called home.
The New Testament does not tell us what happened to many of Jesus' followers, including St. Mary Magdalene, who is often called the "Apostle to the Apostles" for her role in revealing the good news of Jesus' resurrection to the apostles.
The last time we hear from her is on the day of the Resurrection itself, which locates her in the city of Jerusalem.
After that we have a variety of traditions that claim St. Mary Magdalene was an active evangelist, possibly going to Rome, or even France, preaching the Gospel to anyone who would listen to her witness. There is even a church dedicated to her in southern France that claims to have some of her relics.
In the midst of all these traditions, one of the more likely scenarios is that she accompanied the Virgin Mary to Ephesus after Jesus' death and resurrection.
Ephesus
A strong tradition in the early Church was that the Virgin Mary and St. John retired to Ephesus, in modern-day Turkey. Included in this tradition is the belief that St. Mary Magdalene was with them and lived the rest of her life in that location.
The Catholic Encyclopedia provides a few details on this tradition:
The Greek Church maintains that the saint retired to Ephesus with the Blessed Virgin and there died, that her relics were transferred to Constantinople in 886 and are there preserved. Gregory of Tours supports the statement that she went to Ephesus.
It is stated that Emperor Leo in the 9th century relocated St. Mary Magdalene's body to a church in Constantinople.
From there, another tradition claims that her body was taken during the crusades and eventually sent to Rome, as Joan Lewis explains on her blog:
The historical account found in the Church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini says her body was sent by ship from Sainte Baume in Provence to Rome where her left foot was removed according to the Greek tradition that this is always the first foot that rises when you enter the after life. Her foot came to rest in St. Peter’s Basilica with other Passion relics.
At this point there are relics of St. Mary Magdalene reportedly in France and in Rome. Neither her tomb nor any other relics are now located in Ephesus or Constantinople.
Wherever her final resting place may be on this earth, the good news is that she rests eternally now in Heaven and is able to hear our prayers and intercede for us.
We don't have to know what happened to her after the Resurrection or where her body is located to have a spiritual friendship with her and to be inspired by her beautiful life.
