Quomodo Magdalena, et aliae duae Mariae venerunt ad monumentum; item de cursu Petri et Joannis
The Women's Pilgrimage of Sorrow
The three Marys journey to the tomb, pausing along the Via Dolorosa to recall and venerate each place of Christ's suffering.
Now Magdalene and the other two Marys were going, as I've said, to the tomb with their ointments.✦ So while they were outside the city gate, they called to mind the sufferings and torments of their Master, and at every place where something notable had been done against him or through him, they would pause briefly, kneeling down and kissing the ground, groaning and sighing, and saying: 'Here we met him carrying the cross on his neck, when his mother was half-dead; here he turned to the women — here, the cross, and so on.'✦1 See — he set it down, exhausted, and leaned for a moment on that stone. Here they pushed him so cruelly and violently that he had to walk faster, and they practically forced him to run. Here they stripped him and left him completely naked. Here they nailed him to the cross.✦2 And then, with loud crying and a flood of tears, they fell on their faces and worshiped the cross, kissing it while it was still stained with the precious blood of the Lord. Then, rising and heading toward the tomb, they said, 'Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?'✦3
The Empty Tomb and the Angel's Message
The women find the stone rolled away, hear the angel's reassurance, yet depart in fear believing the body has been taken.
And looking, they saw the stone rolled away, and an angel of the Lord sitting on it, who said to them, 'Do not be afraid,' and so on, as it is recorded in the Gospel.✦ But they were cheated of their hope, because they expected to find the body of the Lord, not heeding the angel's words. Terrified, they returned to the disciples, saying that the body of the Lord had been taken away.✦4
The Race to the Tomb
Peter and John run to the tomb, and the narrator exhorts the reader to observe the fervent love with which all the seekers pursue their Lord.
Then Peter and John ran to the tomb.✦ Look at them closely: they run, Magdalene and her companions run after them — they all run to seek their Lord, their heart and their soul. They run with great faith, with great fervor, and with great anguish.5
The Believers' Grief at the Absent Lord
The disciples find only burial cloths in the empty tomb, and the narrator calls for compassion as they depart in sorrow, unable to find their Lord.
When they arrived at the tomb and looked inside, they did not find the body, but they saw the linen cloths and the face-cloth, and they withdrew. Have compassion on them, for they are in great affliction. They seek their Lord and do not find him, and they do not know where else they should look; so grieving and weeping, they departed.
Read the original Latin
Magdalena vero, et aliae duae Mariae ibant, ut dixi, ad monumentum cum unguentis. Dum ergo fuerunt extraportam civitatis, revocabant ad memoriara afllictiones et pcenas Magistri sui, et in omnibus locis, in quibus aliquid notabiliter contra ipsum, vel per ipsum factum fuerat, aliquantulum subsistebant, genuflectentes, et osculantes terram, gemitus et suspiria dantes, et dicentes: Hic obviavimus ei cum cruce super collo, quando Mater ejus semimortua est: hic se vertit ad mulieres • hic cru^ II et seq. cem deposuit fatigatus, et super isto lapide se appodiavit parumper: hic sic crudeliter et fortiter impulerunt eura, ut velocius ambularet, et quasi eum currerc coegerunt; hic spoliaverunt eum, et totum nudum fecerunt; hic eum cri:cis patibulo aflixerunt. Et tunc cum magno clamore, et inundatione lacrymarum, procidentes in facies suas adoraverunt crucem, et osculatnB sunt eam, pretioso adhuc Domini sanguine rubricatam, Deinde surgentes, et euntesversus sepulcrum, dicebant: Quis revolvet nobis lapidem ab ostio monumenti? Et aspicientes, viderunt revolutum lapidem, et angelum Domini sedentem super cum, qui dicit eis ': Nolite timere, etc, ut in Evangelio continetur. lllee autem fraudatse spe sua, quia putabant corpus Domini invenire, non attendentes ad verba angeli, conterritae redeunt jad discipulos, diceutes, corpus Domini esse sublatum. Tunc ergo ^ Petrus et Joannes concurrerunt ad monumentum. Conspice bene eos: currunt ipsi, currunt Magdalena et socice post eos, omnes currunt ad quaerendum Dominum suum, cor suum et animam suam; currunt multum fideliter, multumque ferventer, multumque anxie.
Cum autem pervenerunt ad monumentum, respicientes in ipso non invenerunt corpus, sed viderunt linteamina et sudarium, et recesserunt. Compatere ipsis, quia in afQictione magna sunt. Quaerunt Dominum suum, et non inveniunt, et nesciunt ubi amplius quaerere debeant: ergo dolentes et flentes discesserunt
Scripture echoes
- ↩Mark.16.1-Mark.16.3;Luke.24.1;John.20.1 — And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might come and anoint him. Mark.16.2 — And very early on the first day of the week, they come to the tomb when the sun has risen. Mark.16.3 — And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?" Luke.24.1 — Now on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. John.20.1 — Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already removed from the tomb.
- ↩Luke.23.27-Luke.23.31;John.19.25 — And a great multitude of the people followed him, and also women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. Luke.23.28 — But turning toward them Jesus said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; but weep for yourselves and for your children." Luke.23.29 — For behold, the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.' Luke.23.30 — Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us,' and to the hills, 'Cover us.' Luke.23.31 — For if they do these things in the green wood, what will happen in the dry? John.19.25 — Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
- ↩Matt.27.29-Matt.27.35;Mark.15.20-Mark.15.24;Luke.23.33;John.19.23-John.19.24 — And they twisted together a crown of thorns and placed it on his head, and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' Matt.27.30 — And they spit on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. Matt.27.31 — And after they had mocked him, they stripped off the robe and put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him. Matt.27.32 — As they were going out, they found a man from Cyrene, named Simon; they compelled this man to carry his cross. Matt.27.33 — And they came to a place called Golgotha, which is the place of a skull. Matt.27.34 — They gave him wine to drink mixed with gall; and when he tasted it, he was not willing to drink. Matt.27.35 — And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. Mark.15.20 — And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. Mark.15.21 — They compel a certain man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country—the father of Alexander and Rufus—to take up his cross. Mark.15.22 — And they brought him to the place called Golgotha, which means, Place of a Skull. Mark.15.23 — They offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. Mark.15.24 — And they crucified him, and divided his garments, casting lots for them to decide what each one would take. Luke.23.33 — And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals—one on his right and one on his left. John.19.23 — So when the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his garments and made four parts, one part for each soldier, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was seamless, woven from the top throughout. John.19.24 — So they said to one another, 'Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see whose it shall be' — that the Scripture might be fulfilled that says, 'They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.' So the soldiers did these things.
- ↩Mark.16.3 — And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"
- ↩Matt.28.2-Matt.28.5;Mark.16.5-Mark.16.6;Luke.24.4-Luke.24.5 — And behold, a great earthquake occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, came forward, rolled away the stone, and sat on it. Matt.28.3 — And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was white as snow. Matt.28.4 — And for fear of him, the guards trembled and became like dead men. Matt.28.5 — But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are seeking Jesus, the one who was crucified." Mark.16.5 — And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. Mark.16.6 — But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him." Luke.24.4 — And it happened that while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood beside them in dazzling apparel. Luke.24.5 — And when the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, 'Why do you seek the Living One among the dead?'
- ↩Luke.24.4-Luke.24.8;John.20.2 — And it happened that while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood beside them in dazzling apparel. Luke.24.5 — And when the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, 'Why do you seek the Living One among the dead?' Luke.24.6 — He is not here, but has been raised. Remember how he spoke to you while he was still in Galilee, Luke.24.7 — saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again. Luke.24.8 — and they remembered his words John.20.2 — So she runs and comes to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and says to them, 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.'
- ↩John.20.3-John.20.4 — So Peter and the other disciple went out and were heading to the tomb. John.20.4 — The two were running together, and the other disciple outran Peter and arrived at the tomb first.
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin contains apparent scribal errors: 'memoriara' (for memoriam), 'afllictiones' (for afflictiones), 'pcenas' (for poenas), 'cru^ II et seq.' (abbreviated/cross-referenced). The translation follows the most plausible intended sense.
- 2 ↩The Latin 'cem' appears to be a corruption (possibly 'ecce' or 'videte'). 'eura' is likely for 'eum'. 'currerc' appears to be 'currere'. 'cri:cis' is an abbreviation for 'crucem in crucem' or similar. Translation follows the most plausible intended sense.
- 3 ↩'osculatnB' appears to be a scribal error for 'osculatae'. 'euntesversus' is a compound for 'euntes versus'. Translation follows the most plausible intended sense.
- 4 ↩'lllee' appears to be a corruption (possibly 'Illae' — 'they/those women'). 'fraudatse' is likely 'fraudatae'. 'jad' appears to be 'ad'. 'diceutes' is likely 'dicentes'. Translation follows the most plausible intended sense.
- 5 ↩'socice' appears to be a corruption of 'sociae' (companions). Translation follows the most plausible intended sense.
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