In Eastern Orthodoxy the Myrrhbearers (Greek: Μυροφόροι, Latin: Myrophorae; Slavonic: Жены́-мѷроно́сицы; Romanian: mironosiţe) are the individuals mentioned in the New Testament who were directly involved in the burial or who discovered the empty tomb following the resurrection of Jesus. The term traditionally refers to the women with myrrh who came to the tomb of Christ early in the morning to find it empty. In the Western Church the two women at the tomb, Three Marys or other variants are the terms normally used. Also included are Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, who took the body of Jesus down from the cross, embalmed it with myrrh and aloes, wrapped it in clean linen, and placed it in a new tomb. (Matthew 27:55-61, Matthew 28:1-10, Mark 15:40-16:11, Luke 23:50-24:10, John 19:38-20:18).

The women followed Jesus during his earthly ministry in Galilee, providing for him and his followers out of their own means (Mark 15:41). They remained faithful to him even during the most dangerous time of his arrest and execution, and not only stood by the cross, but accompanied him to his burial, noticing where the tomb was located. Because of the impending Sabbath, it was necessary for the burial preparations to be brief. Jewish custom at the time dictated that mourners return to the tomb every day for three days. Once the Sabbath had passed, the women returned at the earliest possible moment, bringing myrrh to anoint the body. It was at this point that the Resurrection was revealed to them, and they were commissioned to go and tell the Apostles. They were, in effect, the apostles to the Apostles. For this reason, the myrrhbearing women, especially Mary Magdalene, are sometimes referred to as "Equal to the Apostles."

Jonah (Paffhausen), Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada, is the primate of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). He was elected on November 12, 2008, and installed to his see on December 28, 2008, in Washington, D.C.. Metropolitan Jonah is also the first convert to the Orthodox faith to be elected as the OCA's primate.

James Paffhausen was born in 1959 in Chicago, Illinois, to James and Louise Paffhausen. He was baptized into the Episcopal Church at St. Chrysostom's Episcopal Church. He continued attending a parish of TEC after his family relocated to La Jolla, California. It was not until age 18 that Jonah began preparation for Chrismation in a San Diego Orthodox parish of the Moscow Patriarchate. In 1978, he was received into the Orthodox Church at Our Lady of Kazan Church (Moscow Patriarchate) while studying at the University of California, San Diego. James later transferred to UC Santa Cruz and helped to establish an Orthodox Christian Fellowship chapter there.

Mary Magdalene (original Greek Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνή), or Mary of Magdala, was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important female disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", ^{[Lu 8:2] [Mk 16:9]} sometimes interpreted as referring to complex illnesses. She became Jesus' close friend and most prominent during his last days, being present at the cross after the male disciples (excepting John the Beloved) had fled, and at his burial. She was the first person to see Jesus after his Resurrection, according to both John 20 and Mark 16:9.

Mary Magdalene is considered by the Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran churches to be a saint, with a feast day of July 22. The Eastern Orthodox churches also commemorate her on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers.

Consistently in the four Gospels, Mary Magdalene seems to be distinguished from other women named Mary by adding "Magdalene" (η Μαγδαληνή) to her name. Traditionally, this has been interpreted to mean that she was from Magdala, a town thought to have been on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Luke 8:2 says that she was actually "called Magdalene." In Hebrew מגדל Migdal means "tower", "fortress"; in Aramaic, "Magdala" means "tower" or "elevated, great, magnificent".