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Saintes Maries

Under the patronage of the holy Maries traditional Catholic appoints three women: Mary Magdalene , Mary Salome , mother of the Apostles John and Jacques and Mary Jacobe.

After the martyrdom of St. Stephen (between 33 and 36 ) and execution of the apostle Jacques by Herod in 42 , the persecution was so severe at Jerusalem all the faithful departed, with the exception of the apostles.

In 42 , the infidels seized Mary of Bethany ("Mary Magdalene") , her brother Lazarus the resurrected, his sister Martha and boarded at the port of Joppa ( Jaffa ) on a boat without sails or oars, as stated the tradition of Provence , or custom of the time on a ship liner, giving the mission to seamen place on some distant shore where they can not come back.

Many disciples came to share their fate: the two "sisters" of the Virgin Mary (in Aramaic meant both aha sister, half-sister and cousin): Mary Jacobe (mother of Jacques le Mineur ), Mary Salome , mother of apostles Jacques and John , Maximin , Sidonius the blind, and Joseph of Arimathea who, according to legend, had won the cup in which Jesus celebrated his last supper and in which he collected his blood on Calvary : The calyx of the Holy Grail.

The boat came to address in the Delta Rhone on a beach. That's where the city the Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is named. That said, at that time, the level of the sea covered the Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer !

St. Sarah , the servant of Saint Marys, was, also, the trip, but there is controversy about this, some sources say she lived in the Camargue and has assisted the Saintes Maries after their arrival.

Mary Magdalene will retire in the mountains of the Sainte-Baume , Lazarus became the first bishop of Marseilles , Maximin and Sidonius will head to Aachen , while Martha will head to Tarascon , where, according to legend , she slay the terrible monster called Tarascan.

Only stay behind Mary Salome , Mary Jacobe and Sarah. They died there, and where they are buried will become an important place of worship and pilgrimage Christian and a stop on the path of Saint Jacques de Compostela (son of Mary Salome ).