In one of his Gospel homilies, St. Pope Gregory the Great (d. 604) wrote very movingly of the woman whom St. Luke describes as entering the house of Simon the Pharisee, where The Lord was dining, and washing his feet with her tears:

"When I consider Mary the penitent, I find it easier to weep than than say anything.  Whose breast is so stony that it does not soften at the example of the tears of this penitent?  She thought about what she had done, and did not moderate what she would do.  She went unto those enjoying their dinners, she went unbidden, and she offered her tears amongst the delicious food.  Learn by what sorrow she burned so that she did not blush to weep in the midst of delicacies.  We believe that this sinful woman of whom Luke writes here was named 'Mary' by John, and that this Mary was the one from whom seven demons were cast out, as Mark witnesses.  Now, what do the seven demons signify, but all vices?  For as 'seven days' is understood to signify all of time, so the number seven is rightly understood to signify 'all things' [universitas].  Mary had 'seven demons': she was filled with every vice.  But behold, she looked upon the sins of her shame, she hurried to be washed at the Font of mercy, and was not ashamed before the diners.  She believed that her outward shame was nothing compared to the shame she felt heavily within herself.  Brothers, what do we wonder at more, that Mary came, or that The Lord received her?  Or should I say that he 'drew' her, rather than 'received' her?  Let me better say that he both drew and received her, for without doubt, he who drew her interiorly through mercy also received her exteriorly with gentleness.  But now let us run through the text of the holy Gospel to see how she came to be healed:

" 'She brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and standing behind the feet of Jesus, she began to wash his feet with her tears and to wipe the, dry with the hair of her head, and she kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment.'  Brothers, it is clear that the eager woman had employed the ointment for herself, for the scent of her body, for her previous unlawful actions.  What before she had employed shamefully for herself, she now praiseworthily offered to God.  Before, she had coveted earthly goods with her eyes, but now she wept, wearing them away in repentance.  Before, she had employed her hair to bring out the beauty of her face, but now she wiped dry her tears with her hair.  Before, she had spoken with a proud mouth, but now, kissing the feet of The Lord, she fixed her mouth onto the bottoms of the Redeemer's feet.  As many pleasures as she had known in herself, so many sacrifices did he find from her.  She turned the number of her sins into the number of her virtues so that whatever of hers had offended God in her sins, she offered him totally in repentance."