On this Ash Wednesday, we, too, are mindful of the end of our lives—our memento mori is the ashen cross anointing our heads—something both jolting and somehow comforting. This tension between the reality of death and our steadfast hope in the salvation offered to us through Christ is perfectly envisioned at this moment when Mary Magdalene, one of the most faithful disciples of Christ, steps into eternal life.

_{^{Image Credit: Sebastiano Conca, (Italian, 1680-1764), Death of the Magdalen, ca. 1740, Oil on copper , Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame. Mr. and Mrs. Al Nathe Fund, 1990.003.}}