St. Mary of Clopas is—to us today—another mysterious figure among the Myrrhbearers. At the time, she would have been very well known. She was married to Clopas (the Greek version of his name was Cleopas), the brother of Jesus’ putative father, Joseph. Her son Symeon was one of the most famous and long-standing leaders of the early church in Jerusalem, until his martyrdom under the emperor Trajan. She was therefore the Theotokos’ sister-in-law and Jesus’ aunt.
If you want to read more about how we can know these things about her, I would refer you once again to Richard Bauckham, Gospel Women, pages 204-217.
Mary and Clopas were likely disciples of Jesus who traveled with him from Galilee on his final journey to Jerusalem. Afterward the became prominent members of the early Jewish Christian community in Palestine, where—like other of Jesus’ relatives—they actively spread the gospel. The men of the family were commonly accompanied by their wives.
We see in St. Paul that the notion husband-and-wife missionary teams goes back to the earliest Palestinian. Jesus’ male relatives and their wives, including Mary and Clopas, could have formed such a team. Mary, a Myrrhbearer like some other women disciples of Jesus, was present at one of the appearances of the risen Jesus, and so could have been considered an apostle in her own right.
Holy St. Mary, pray for us!
If you want to read more about how we can know these things about her, I would refer you once again to Richard Bauckham, Gospel Women, pages 204-217.