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Chapter 66InclA.1.66

Caput LXV. De Magdalena sepulcrum visitante.

With Mary at the Tomb

The reader is urged to accompany Mary Magdalene to the Lord's tomb and to contemplate the overwhelming joy of the Resurrection appearance, when Christ's tender call of her name breaks open all the floodgates of weeping and devotion.

And don't abandon Mary Magdalene's company; but when the spices have been prepared, go with her to visit the tomb of your Lord. Oh, if only you might deserve to perceive in spirit what she perceived with her eyes: now the angel sitting on the stone rolled back from the doorway of the tomb, now within the tomb, one at the head, the other at the feet, proclaiming the glory of the resurrection, now Jesus himself looking upon Mary as she wept and grieved, with so gentle an eye, with so sweet a voice, saying, Mary.1 What is sweeter than this voice, what more delightful, what more joyful, Mary? At this voice all the floodgates of the head are broken open; tears are drawn from the very marrow, sobbing and sighing are pulled from the deepest inward parts.2 Mary. Oh, blessed one! What did your merits gain you, what was your mindset, when at this voice you prostrated yourself, and returning a voice to the one who greeted you, you cried out, Rabboni?3 With what affection, I ask, with what desire, with what burning of mind did you cry out, Rabboni?

The Pain of 'Do Not Touch Me'

Grief over Christ's seeming distance gives way to anguished questioning about why the soul may not touch his pierced, blood-soaked feet, even as he appears more glorious in his risen state.

Tears keep me from saying more, since emotion closes off your voice, and excessive burning heat absorbs every sense of soul and body alike. But, O sweet Jesus, why do you keep your loving one away from your most sacred and most longed-for feet? O harsh word! 'Do not touch me,' he says (John XX, 16, 17). Why, Lord? Why may I not touch those longed-for footprints of yours, pierced with nails for my sake, bathed in blood? May I not touch them? May I not kiss them?

Clinging and Release

The soul refuses to let Christ go, yet hears again the gentle command not to cling; Christ reassures the women that the promised good is only delayed, not taken away, and they run to carry the news.

Am I more hostile, then, because I am more glorious? Look, I won't let you go, I won't turn away from you; I won't hold back my tears — let my heart break with sobs and sighs — if only I may touch you. And he said, Don't cling to me.✦ Don't be afraid. This good isn't being taken from you — it's only being delayed. But go, and tell my brothers that I have risen.✦ She runs quickly, wanting to return. She returns with the other women. To them Jesus meets them with a gentle greeting, lifting up the downcast and comforting the sorrowful.✦ Pay attention.

Abide at His Feet

What was deferred is now granted — the women hold Christ's feet — and the reader is exhorted to remain there undisturbed, letting no sleep or outer tumult interrupt such delight.

Then what was held back is finally given.✦ For they came and held her feet.✦ Stay here as long as you can, virgin.✦ Don't let sleep interrupt these delights of yours, or any outside commotion get in the way.

Read the original Latin

Noli praeterea Magdalenae deserere comitatum: sed paratis aromatibus, cum ea Domini tui sepulcrum visitare memento. O si quod illa oculis, tu in spiritu cernere merearis, nunc super lapidem revolutum ab ostio monumenti angelum residentem, nunc intra monumentum unum ad caput, alium ad pedes resurrectionis gloriam praedicantes, nunc ipsum Jesum Mariam flentem, et tristem tam dulci respicientem oculo, tam suavi voce dicentem, Maria. Quid hac voce dulcius, quid suavius, quid jucundius, Maria? Rumpuntur ad hanc vocem omnes capitis cataractae, ab ipsis medullis eliciuntur lacrymae, singultus atque suspiria ab imis trahuntur visceribus. Maria. O beata! quid tibi pro meritis fuit, quid animi, cum ad hanc vocem te prosterneres, et reddens vocem salutanti inclamares, Rabboni? Quo, rogo, affectu, quo desiderio, mentisque ardore clamasti, Rabboni?

Nam plura dicere lacrymae prohibent, cum vocem occludat affectus, omnesque animae corporisque sensus, nimius ardor absorbeat. Sed, o dulcis Jesu, cur a sacratissimis ac desideratissimis pedibus tuis sic arces amantem? O verbum durum! Noli, inquit, me tangere (Joan. XX, 16, 17). Utquid, Domine? Quare non tangam desiderata illa vestigia tua pro me perforata clavis, perfusa sanguine? Non tangam, non deosculabor?

An inimicior es eo, quia gloriosior? Ecce, non dimittam te, non recedam a te, non parcam lacrymis, pectus singultibus suspiriisque rumpetur, nisi tangam. Et ille: Noli me tangere. Noli timere; non aufertur tibi bonum hoc, sed differtur: vade tamen, et nuntia fratribus meis quia surrexi. Currit cito volens redire. Redit cum aliis mulieribus. Quibus Jesus occurrens blanda salutatione, dejectas sic erigit, tristes consolatur. Adverte.

Tunc est datum, quod ante fuit dilatum. Accesserunt enim et tenuerunt pedes ejus. Hic quamdiu potes, virgo, morare. Non has delicias tuas somnus interpolet, nullus exterior tumultus impediat.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩John.20.17 — Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.'"
  2. ↩John.20.17-John.20.18 — Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.'" John.20.18 — Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and she told them these things that he had said to her.
  3. ↩Matt.28.9 — And behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Greetings!" And they came and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.
  4. ↩John.20.17 — Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.'"
  5. ↩Matt.28.9 — And behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Greetings!" And they came and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.
  6. ↩John.20.17 — Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.'"

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The optative/conditional 'O si...merearis' expresses intense devotional longing; rendered as 'Oh, if only you might deserve' to preserve both the conditional force and the sense of unworthiness before a grace.
  2. 2 ↩'capitis cataractae' is metaphorical for the eyes/floodgates of tears; rendered to preserve the physical metaphor without archaism.
  3. 3 ↩'quid animi' is idiomatic for the interior disposition or emotional state; rendered as 'what was your mindset' to capture the interior question.

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