Natasha Serlin

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At the top of a mountain in the south of France, at the chapel of Mary Magdalene, I finally attended a funeral no one else knew was taking place.

It was a pilgrimage that had started nine days earlier in London.

Next stop, Catwick Airport.

No turning back now.

You're listening to the documentary from the BBC World Service.

I'm Natasha Serlin, a Jewish, divorced mother of two.

For this week's Heart and Soul, I'm on my way to join a pilgrimage following in the footsteps of Mary Magdalene.

Until a few months ago, I was not someone who had ever imagined going on pilgrimage, let alone a Christian one.

In fact, I knew almost nothing about Mary Magdalene.

But months earlier, I picked up a book about her, and found myself unexpectedly captivated.

These words from the book stayed with me.

Mary revealed that love is within us.

We are love and we don't have to earn or prove or deserve this fact.

And if we can recognise that we've never been separate from it and bring it forth outside of us, this is what saves us.

For years, Mary Magdalene was represented as a sinner, a penitent prostitute.

But in 2016, she was officially recognised by Pope Francis as Apostle to the Apostles and First Witness of the Resurrection.

And her vital role in Christian mythology and scripture became more widely apparent.

So here I am, travelling to the Pyrenees in Europe, to trace the route she is said to have taken across France, to the cave at La Sainte-Bombe, where she is believed to have spent the last 30 years of her life.

Hello, I feel like I know everyone.