Hora vespertina, meditatio
The Arrival of the Burial Party
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus approach with a large quantity of myrrh and aloes to bury the Lord.
And again they see others, several more, coming along the road toward them — Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus — bringing others with them, carrying instruments with which to take the body down from the cross; and they were carrying about a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes, and they were coming to bury the Lord.✦
Fear and Lamentation
The onlookers rise in great fear and cry out to God about the magnitude of the day's suffering.
Then they all rise with great fear. O God, how great is this suffering today!
Recognition and Blessed Assurance
John recognizes Joseph and Nicodemus, and the Lady, recovering her strength, blesses God for sending help and remembering them.
Then John, looking around, said: I recognize Joseph and Nicodemus there. Then the Lady, having recovered her strength, says: Blessed be our God, who sends us help; he has been mindful of us.
Section End
A section marker indicating the close of the current section.
[Section marker — not translated]
Read the original Latin
Iterum autem vident ahos plures per viam oei venientes, qui erant Joseph ab Arimathia et Ni- *"^ codemus, ducentes secum ahos, portantes in- chii strumenta, quibus corpus deponant de cruce; *^®'* et portabant quasi centum hbras myrrhae et aloes, et veniebant ad sepehendum Dominum. Tunc surgunt omnes cum timore magno. 0 Deus, quanta est ista afflictio hodie! Circa conspiciens autem Joannes dixit: Ego cognosco ibi Joseph et Nicodemum. Tunc Domina, resumptis viribus, dicit: Benedictus Deus noster, qui mittit nobis auxihum; memor fuit nostri, * Lnc. , II, 3S
Scripture echoes
- ↩John.19.38-John.19.40 — After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus—but secretly, for fear of the Jews—asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away his body. John.19.39 — Nicodemus also came—the one who had come to him by night at first—bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred litras in weight. John.19.40 — So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.
Meditationes Vitae Christi (Pseudo-Bonaventure), Castilian court context companion
A scene a day, for life
Chosen Portion continues this rhythm: one short reading and prayer every morning, free on iOS
The Meditationes portioned Christ's life into daily scenes for lay meditation — the exact daily-portion model Chosen Portion delivers to your phone.
- Keep the one-scene-a-day habit going after day 30, automatically
- 10 minutes each morning: reading, meditation prompt, closing prayer
- Free iOS install; your day-31 portion is ready when the plan ends