I’m sharing this recipe for Rose Sugar Navettes (little boats) in honor of the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene on July 22nd. These are eaten across Provence, as they have been for several centuries, to commemorate the arrival of the “Three Marys” at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (after the crucifixion) in a divinely guided, rudderless boat. While they are traditionally scented with orange blossom water, I’ve substituted rose water in homage to the Magdalene’s “secret” flower, not to mention slathering them in the crunchy sugar topping made with fresh rose petals!  Positively redolent with a fragrance so divine, it’s no wonder the rose was the sacred flower of goddesses around the world. That’s the beauty of these simple, rustic cakes; they are suitable for any celebration honoring the divine feminine, whether Christian or pagan. 

During the early development of Christianity, women played a pivotal role in teaching and spreading the gospel within their communities, thereby challenging the social norms of the time.   Mary Magdalene’s role as “Apostle to the Apostles,” present during Jesus’ crucifixion and the first witness to his resurrection, was one reason, according to Jacobus de Voragine´s Golden Legend (c.1260), that Mary Magdalene and her companions were set adrift in a small boat to die. Alternatively, scholars, such as Margaret Starbird, suggest that Mary Magdalene deliberately traveled to southern France in search of sanctuary in a region where women’s roles as spiritual leaders were accepted.

While Mary Magdalene is attributed with having Christianized the entire south of France, it is worth noting that this same area has a long history of persecution by the Church. By the early Middle Ages, it was home to Catharism, an early Christian movement that granted women equal spiritual authority alongside men and revered Magdalene as a great spiritual teacher. This was considered highly heretical by the Church; the Cathars were extinguished in the Albigensian Crusade.

Despite this papal disapproval, the later kings and queens of France revered Mary Magdalene. The road to her sanctuary at Sainte-Baume was so frequently traveled by royalty that it is dubbed the Royal Road. The Sun King himself visited her relics as did a young Anne Boleyn, in the company of the Royal Queens of France, including Louise of Savoy, the Queen Mother, her daughter Marguerite, and her daughter-in-law, the eventual Queen Claude of France. Was Mary Magdalene at the heart of a continuing heretical tradition that the Roman Catholic Church sought to suppress? 

In her cave grotto at the Basilica of Saint Mary Magdalene in St.-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume she is believed to have lived a solitary life in the wilderness, and according to de Voragine´s Golden Legend, was taken by angels, body and soul, into heaven at each hour of the day to the “glorious song of the heavenly companies” – a prolific theme of much art depicting her during this period. He tells us that Mary did not need corporal nourishment, as “she was fed and filled with the right sweet meats, and then was brought again by the angels unto her proper place.” 

These paintings are often titled or described as the Ascension or Assumption of Mary Magdalene; however, in Church doctrine, she never officially ascended to Heaven as did the Virgin Mary. According to local legend, upon her death, Mary Magdalene was carried by angels to the oratory of Maximin. This small chapel was built by Maximin, the first bishop of Aix-en-Provence, possibly in the 1st century. Later, after the relics of Mary Magdalene were found in 1279, the oratory was incorporated into the larger Basilica of Saint-Marie-Madeleine in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume.

Another clue to the heretical mysteries of the Magdalene is the rose. In southern France, its symbol adorns many sacred places, from churches, stone monuments, grottos, and holy springs, dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene. According to one legend, she founded the Sisterhood of the Rose, which served as the guardians of sacred rose knowledge.

Their descendants were said to be active during the time of the Crusades, serving as a feminine counterpart to the Knights Templar. The Templars constructed numerous Gothic cathedrals in France, featuring their famous rose windows, many of which were dedicated to “Our Lady of the Rosary.”  The Templars, like the Cathars, were extinguished by the Church as heretics.

The rose is also a symbol of the Holy Grail, which the Templars allegedly transported from the Holy Lands to the Languedoc in southern France. It was here that the medieval era of courtly love emerged.  In the songs of the troubadours, the rose was the chalice of the goddess, equated with the holy grail, the chief symbol of the beloved lady herself. She was the Virgin Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rose Garden in which the Grail lies Hidden.

Or was she Mary Magdalene? One of a long line of Rose Queens? As I explore in this post, the rose may have been a symbol of an underground stream of knowledge hidden in plain sight in architecture, art, poetry, and literature for countless centuries for those “with eyes to see.”

The cinquefoil (also known as the Rose of Venus, as the planet traces a five-petal magical pentacle around the sun in the heavens every eight years) is often found hovering over vesica piscis-shaped doorways and windows in the Churches built by the Templars. Venus was the sacred star of the Queens of Heaven, a title given to Isis, Venus, Inanna, Ishtar, and Astarte,  goddesses credited with creating the rose and placing within its petals the secrets of life, death, rebirth, and regeneration.

I am not the first to observe the navette’s striking resemblance to the Barge of Isis, a goddess worshipped in Marseille long before the arrival of Magdalene. The mountains that housed Magdalene’s clifftop grotto, overlooking the sea of Marseille at La Sainte-Baume, were once sacred sites dedicated to Venus, Cybele, and Artemis. The Notre-Dame de la Garde Cathedral, where Magdalene first began spreading the Gospel in Marseille, is believed to have originally been a temple dedicated to Diana.

Could the navettes’ somewhat vulval appearance connect to many similar cakes commonly baked and consumed on the holy feast days of ancient goddesses? Considering that women also offered such cakes in early Christianity, I think it is likely that some form of this pastry existed before it gained popularity in 1781 at the bakery ‘Le Four des Navettes’.

While the Church had long diminished Mary Magdalene, Pope Francis changed all that in 2016 when he elevated her memorial to a feast day, placing her on the same level as the apostles in the liturgical calendar. This was intended not only to recognize her as “Apostolorum Apostola” (“Apostle of the Apostles”) present at all the most critical Gospel events —such as the Passion, the Crucifixion, the burial, and in the garden for the Resurrection —but also to acknowledge the vital role of women in the Church. “The Church needs to keep this in mind, because the Church is herself a woman: a daughter, a bride, and a mother,” said the Pope.

French cakes called Magdalena’s or Madelaines are often baked by Catholics to commemorate the day. However, in Provence, navettes are still baked on July 22nd, to celebrate the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene. Whether navettes are part of an ancient tradition of “womb-like” cakes offered to the Queens of Heaven or were created in the 18th century in honor of the vesica piscis-shaped boat that brought Magdalene to the shores of Provence, I bake them in celebration of the revered tradition of feminine spiritual leadership found in southern France. Perfumed and sugared with rose, the holy flower of the Holy Mother, Mary Magdalene, and the ancient Queens of Heaven, they are the perfect ceremonial cake “to notice or honor a special day,” in honor of the divine feminine.

Rose Sugar Navettes

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• ½ cup finely granulated sugar
• Pinch salt flakes, crushed
• 1 tablespoon rose water
• 2 tablespoons delicate extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon or small orange (or both)
• 1¾ cups plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• Milk and one whisked egg, for brushing
• 1 cup of rose sugar (recipe below)

Directions

Rose sugar:

• 1 cup of fresh rose petals (any variety as long as they are highly fragrant)
• 1 cup of granulated white sugar

Put sugar and rose petals in a food processor and whirr until the petals are completely dissolved into the sugar. The mixture will be wet, so spread it out on a cookie sheet and let it sit for 24-48 hours. Break apart with your fingers before using. (More info on cooking with roses in the Summer Edition of the Gather ECookery Book )

Cakes:

1. Place the egg, sugar, and salt in a large bowl and whisk for a few minutes until the mixture is pale and creamy in texture. Add the citrus zest of your lemon/orange, or both. Add rose water and olive oil and whisk to combine.
2. Add the flour and beat until a firm, slightly sticky dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for a few minutes to form a smooth dough. Form into a ball, wrap, and set aside for about 1 hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Divide the dough into 12 even pieces. Roll each one into a small log and place it on a baking paper-lined oven tray.
4. Pinch the ends to form the pointy bow and stern of the ‘boat’ and press the center down gently with the flat of your fingers to flatten it slightly.
5. Use a sharp knife to make a deep, lengthwise slash down the center of each boat, and gently pull it open slightly. Fill with rose sugar.
6. Brush with milk and whisked egg and bake for 15–20 minutes, until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

P.S. If you’re interested in exploring more Marian lore,  then join me over at Gather Victoria Patreon. You’ll find a Calendula Sun Cake to celebrate the Virgin Mary’s Feast of Annunciation on August 15th. In medieval religious tradition, calendula was consecrated to the Virgin Mary, who is often depicted wearing a crown of gold that circles the earth. Calendulas’ bright yellow and orange flowers were known as “Mary’s Gold’ or Marigold as they were likened to rays of light crowning the Virgin’s head. Today, Marian Flower Gardens around the world are never without calendula’s sunny blossoms.