# Catholic iconography -- woman with push broom **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 19, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-iconography-woman-with-push-broom/669257 "2013-09-19T20:07:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-iconography-woman-with-push-broom/669257/1 "2013-09-19T20:07:18Z")
I was at a funeral in a Catholic church recently, and one of the stained glass windows showed a woman with a push broom. Who or what might that represent? ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-iconography-woman-with-push-broom/669257/2 "2013-09-19T20:19:14Z")
Oh, that’s Martha, sister to Mary and Lazarus. She’s sometimes shown with a broom, a ladle or keys, and is often shown holding a jar of holy water, with a dragon at her feet. Here’s a link about [saints in art](http://www.fisheaters.com/saintsart.html). ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-iconography-woman-with-push-broom/669257/3 "2013-09-19T20:23:16Z")
Our Lady of the Perpetual Dust Bunny. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-iconography-woman-with-push-broom/669257/4 "2013-09-19T20:53:33Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Oh, that’s Martha, sister to Mary and Lazarus. She’s sometimes shown with a broom, a ladle or keys, and is often shown holding a jar of holy water, with a dragon at her feet. > > Here’s a link about [saints in art](http://www.fisheaters.com/saintsart.html). Thank you! That was easy. I looked around, but I must not have been searching wisely. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-iconography-woman-with-push-broom/669257/5 "2013-09-19T20:58:57Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I was at a funeral in a Catholic church recently, and one of the stained glass windows showed a woman with a push broom. Who or what might that represent? All of them. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-iconography-woman-with-push-broom/669257/6 "2013-09-19T21:50:42Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Oh, that’s Martha, sister to Mary and Lazarus. She’s sometimes shown with a broom, a ladle or keys, and is often shown holding a jar of holy water, with a dragon at her feet. > > Here’s a link about [saints in art](http://www.fisheaters.com/saintsart.html). Keep in mind that there are multiple Marys in the New Testament, including Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary the sister of Lazarus and Martha, and Mary the sister of Jesus’ mother and wife of Clopas. John 19:25 mentions that Jesus’s mother Mary, Jesus’s Aunt Mary, and Mary Magdalene were all present, so it’s obvious that these are three different people. It could be possible that Lazarus’s sis was also one of the other Marys and the writer didn’t think it was necessary to point this out, but that’s getting into deep Bible scholarship. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-iconography-woman-with-push-broom/669257/7 "2013-09-20T00:00:48Z")
There is some tradition that Mary Magdalene was the sister of Martha and Lazarus, and that she was also the woman caught in adultery. It’s not actually in the Bible, though, and it’s more likely that those were three unrelated women (Mary was a pretty common name).