De apertione lateris Christi

The Mother's Vigil at the Cross

Mary and the other holy women sit near the cross, gazing at Jesus and the thieves, and are alarmed by the forsakenness of the scene.

So then, as our revered Lady Mary, along with John, Magdalene, and the sisters of the Lord's mother, lingered and sat on one side near the cross, gazing without interruption upon the Lord Jesus hanging thus on the cross, and the thieves thus naked, thus tormented, thus — [immortal?] — thus and forsaken by all; behold, [forgive?].^✦ [Truly?], for they do not know. Many armed men were coming from the city toward them, who had been sent to break the legs of those crucified, to kill them, and to bury them, so that the bodies would not remain hanging on the cross on the great day of the Sabbath.^✦ Then the Lady and all the others rise up, and look, and see them, and do not know what this could be; grief is renewed, and fear, and trembling grows. The Lady indeed fears greatly, and does not know what to do, and turning toward her dead son said: My son, most beloved, why are those men coming back? What more do they want to do to you? Didn't they kill you?

The Soldiers Come to Break Legs

Armed men arrive to break the legs of the crucified, and Mary, fearing for her son, intercedes with them using humility and prayer.

My son, I thought they were done with you; but as I see it, they still persecute you even now that you're dead. My son, I don't know what to do. I couldn't keep you from death, but I'll come and stand beside your cross, at your feet. My son, ask your Father to make them merciful toward you; and I, for my part, will do what I can.¹ And then all five of them went on, weeping, and placed themselves before the cross of the Lord Jesus. They approached with fury and a great clamor, and seeing that the robbers were still alive, they broke their legs, killed them, took them down, and quickly threw them into a pit.^✦² As they came back toward the Lord Jesus, his mother was afraid they might do the same to her son. Struck by grief deep within her heart, she resolved to take up her weapons — meaning her natural humility.³⁴ And with knees bent and arms crossed, her face tearful and her voice hoarse, she addressed them, saying: 'Men, brothers, I beg you for the sake of God Most High — don't torment me any further in my most beloved son.'⁵⁶⁷

Mary's Plea for Mercy

Mary begs the soldiers not to harm Jesus' body, offering forgiveness, while the soldiers mock her devotion and humility.

I am, you see, his most sorrowful mother, and you know, brothers, that I never gave you offense, nor did I do you any wrong at all; and if my son seemed hostile to you, you killed him for it — and I will forgive you every wrong, and every offense, and the death of my son. Grant me this one act of mercy: don't break his body to pieces, so that at least I may be able to hand him over for burial whole and intact. It's not right that his legs be broken — you can see, after all, that he is already dead and has passed away.^✦ The hour has come — he has departed. John, along with Magdalene and the sisters of the Lord's mother, knelt beside her, and all of them were weeping most bitterly.^✦ Lady, what is this you're doing? You stand at the feet of the most abominable men — there you pray to those who will not be moved. Do you really think devotion can soften the most cruel and the most impious, and humble the proud?

The Piercing of Christ's Side

Longinus pierces Jesus' side with a lance, blood and water flow out, and Mary collapses while John protests before the soldiers depart.

Humility is an abomination to the proud — you exalt yourselves in vain. But one man — Longinus by name — at that time impious and proud, yet afterwards converted, and now both martyr and saint, stretching out his lance from a distance, crushing their prayers and entreaties, pierced the right side of the Lord Jesus with a great wound, and blood and water came out.^✦ Then the mother, half-dead, fell into the arms of Magdalene. John, however, pressed by grief, summoning his strength, rose up against them, saying: "Most wicked men, why are you committing this act of impiety?" Don't you see that he is dead? Do you even want to kill his most sorrowful mother? Leave, because we are going to bury him. Then they departed, as it pleased God.

The Sword Pierces Mary's Soul

Mary awakens to the reality of the piercing, is crushed anew, and the text reflects on Simeon's prophecy being fulfilled as her soul is pierced alongside her son's body.

The Lady is roused, rising as if waking from sleep, searching to find out what has happened to her beloved son. They tell her that nothing has been done to him. Afterward she sighs, grows anxious, and seeing her son wounded, she is crushed by the pain of death. Do you see how many times she has died today? As many times, certainly, as she saw some new outrage being done against her son.⁸ So indeed what Simeon had said to her has been fulfilled in her: 'A sword,' he said, 'will pierce through your soul as well.'^✦⁹ But now truly the lance's sword has pierced both the body of the son and the soul of the mother.^✦¹⁰ So they all sit down again beside the cross, not knowing what they ought to do.

Helplessness as Night Falls

The mourners cannot bury Jesus and dare not leave, sitting in deep confusion as night approaches, and the text laments Mary's unrelenting affliction.

They can't take his body down and bury it, because they don't have the strength, and they don't have the tools to take him down. But they don't dare withdraw while he remains like this, and they can't stay this way for long as night approaches. You see what deep confusion they're in. Kind God, how can you let her be afflicted this way — your chosen one, the mirror of the world, the treasure of us all? It would be time for her to draw a little breath —

Read the original Latin

Commorantibus ergo et sedentibus reverenda Domina nostra Maria, atque Joanne, Magdalena ct sororibus matris Domini ab una parte prope Dg i,is crucera, et aspicientibus quasi sine intermis- n"" pfst sione Dominum Jesum pendentera sic in cruce cniigeinter latrones, sic nudum, sic afHictum,. sic r'intmorluum, sic et ab omnibus derclictum; ecce dimitle. Vuig, non enim sciunt. armati multi veniebant a civitate versus eos, qui mittebantur ut ipsis crucifixis crura frangerent, occiderent eos, ac sepelirent, ne corpora in cruce pendenda in magno die sabbati remanerent. Tunc Domina et omnes surgunt, et aspiciunt, et vident eos, et nesciunt quid hoc esse possit; renovatur dolor, et timor, et tremor crescit. Multum quidem Domina timet, et nescit quid faciat, et vertens se ad filium mortuum dixit: Fili mi dilectissime, quare redeunt isti? quid facere amplius tibi volunt? Nonne te occiderunt?

Fili mi, putabam eos satiatos esse de te; sed, ut video, adliuc te mortuum persequuntur. Fili mi, nescio quid faciam. Te defendere a morte non potuij sed veniam, et stabo juxta crucem tuam ad pedes tuos. Fili mi, roga Patrem tuum, ut eos tibi placabiles faciat: ego autem quodpoterofaciam. Et omnes tunc quinque flentes iverunt, et apposuerunt se ante crucem Domini Jesu. Appropinquant autem illi cum furore et strepitu magno, et videntes latrones adhuc vivere, frangunt eis crura, et ipsos occidunt, et deponunt, et in aHquam fossam velociter ilios projiciunt. Redeuntibus autem ipsis versus Dominum Jesum, timens mater ne similiter faciant cum filio suo, tacta dolore cordis intrinsecus, cogitavit ad arma sua currere, scilicet ad humiUtatem innatam. Et genibus positis, et brachiis cancellatis, vultu lacrymabili et voce rauca, sic eos alloquitur, dicens: Viri fratres, rogo vos propter Deum altissimum, ne amphus me vexare vehtis in dilectissimo fiho meo.

Ego enim sum moestissima mater ejus, et scitis, fratres, vos quod nunquam offendi, nec injuriam ahquam vobis feci, et si fihus meus visus est vobis contrarius, ipsum peremistis, et ego vobis remittam omnem injuriam, et offensam, et mortem fihi mei. Hanc tamen misericordiam mecum facite, ne ipsum confringatis, utsaltem integrum valeam tradere sepulturee. Non expedit ut ejus crura frangantur: videtis enim quod jam mortuus est et migravit. Hora enim est postquam discessit. Joaunes vero, Magdalena et sorores matris Domini, stabant genuflexi cum ea, et amarissime omnes flebant. 0 Domina, quid est quod agitis? ad pedes nefandissimorum statis; ibi oratis inexorabiles. Pietate creditis flectere crudehssimos et impiissimos, et humihare superbos?

Abominatio est superbis humihtasj incassum hiboratis. Unus autem, Longinus nomine, tunc impius et superbus, sed post conversus, et martyr et sanctus, porrigens lanceam de longe, eorum preces et rogamina conteranens, latus Domini Jesu dextrum vulnere grandi aperuit, et exivit sanguis et aqua. Tunc mater semimortua cecidit inler brachia Magdalenae. Joannes vero, dolore urgente, assumpto vigore, insurgit conlra illos, dicens: Viri iniquissimi, quare hanc impietatem facitis? nonne videtis quod mortuus est? Vultis etiam matremejus moestissimam occidei-e? Discedatis, quia nos eum sepehemus. Tuncihi, sicut Deo placuit, discesserunt.

Excitatur autem Domina, surgens quasi evigilans, quoerens quid sit de dilecto fiho suo. Respondent ei, nihil esse factum de eo. Postea suspirat, et anxiatur, et respiciens filium suum vulneratum, dolore mortis atteritur. Vides quoties mortua est hodie? toties certe, quoties contra fihum suum videbat fieri novitatem. Unde vere impletum est in ea, quod sibi dixerat Simeon *: Tuam, inquit, i^psius animam gladius 'pertransibit. Sed nunc vere fihi corpus, et matris animam, hujus lancese gladius perforavit. Ponunt autem omnes se iterum ad sedendum juxta crucem, quid facere debeant nescientes.

Corpus enim * deponere et sepehre non possunt, quia vires non habent sufQcientes, nec instrumenta, quibus deponere ipsum possint. Recedere autem, sic eo remanente, non audent, et diu sic remanere, nocte appropinquante, non valent. Vides in quanta perplexitate sunt. 0 Deus benigne, quomodo permittis tuam ex omnibus electam, mundi speculum et rechnatorium nostrum, sic tribulari? Tempus autem esset, ut ahquantulum respirasset

Scripture echoes

↩Ps.21.2 — O LORD, in your strength the king rejoices, and in your salvation how greatly he exults!
↩John.19.31 — Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs of those crucified broken and the bodies taken down, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath — for that Sabbath was a great day.
↩John.19.31-John.19.32 — Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs of those crucified broken and the bodies taken down, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath — for that Sabbath was a great day. John.19.32 — So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who had been crucified with him.
↩John.19.33 — But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
↩John.19.25 — Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
↩John.19.34 — But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
↩Luke.2.35 — and a sword will pierce through your own soul also, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
↩Luke.2.35;John.19.34 — and a sword will pierce through your own soul also, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. John.19.34 — But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

Notes

1 ↩quodpoterofaciam is an unusual compound form, likely = quod potero faciam ('what I will be able to do'). Rendered as 'what I can.'
2 ↩aHquam is an uncertain reading, likely aliquam ('some'). Rendered as 'a pit.'
3 ↩tacta dolore cordis intrinsecus: 'touched/struck by grief of the heart within.' Rendered as 'struck by grief deep within her heart.'
4 ↩ad arma sua currere, scilicet ad humilitatem innatam: Mary's 'weapons' are identified as her innate humility. Rendered accordingly.
5 ↩amphus is uncertain, likely amplius ('further/more'). Rendered as 'any further.'
6 ↩vehtis is uncertain, likely velitis ('you wish/would'). Rendered as 'don't…you wish' in the prohibitive construction.
7 ↩brachiis cancellatis: unusual form, likely 'arms crossed/folded.' Rendered as 'arms crossed.'
8 ↩novitas rendered as 'outrage' in context of violence against Christ; the word can mean 'newness' or 'strange deed,' but here the sense is a fresh act of cruelty.
9 ↩Quotation from Luke 2:35 (Simeon's prophecy). The Latin reads 'Tuam, inquit, ipsius animam gladius pertransibit.' The pronoun ipsius is ambiguous — it may modify 'your soul' (i.e., 'your own soul') or refer to the child. The translation follows the traditional reading: 'your soul as well.'
10 ↩The lance (lancea) that pierced Christ's side is here called a 'sword' (gladius), echoing Simeon's prophecy. The dual piercing — of Christ's body and Mary's soul — is a key devotional motif.

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