WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE THE BURIAL OF THE SACRED BODY OF THE MOST BLESSED
MARY.
In order that the Apostles, the disciples, and many others of the
faithful might not be too deeply oppressed by sorrow, and in order that some of
them might not die of grief caused by the passing away of the most blessed
Mary, it was necessary that the divine power, by an especial providence,
furnish them with consolation and dilate their heart for new influences in
their incomparable affliction. For the feeling, that their loss was
irretrievable in the present life, could not be repressed; the privation of
such a Treasure could never find a recompense; and as the most sweet, loving
and amiable intercourse and conversation of their great Queen had ravished the
heart of each one, the ceasing of her protection and company left them as it
were without the breath of life. But the Lord, who well knew how to estimate
the just cause of their sorrow, secretly upheld them by his encouragements and
so they set about the fitting burial of the sacred body and whatever the
occasion demanded.
The apostles held conference concerning the burial of the mother of their saviour
Accordingly the holy Apostles, on whom this duty specially devolved, held a conference concerning the burial of the most sacred body of their Queen and Lady. They selected for that purpose a new sepulchre, which had been prepared mysteriously by the providence of her divine Son. As they remembered, that, according to the custom of the Jews at burial, the deified body of their Master had been anointed with precious ointments and spices and wrapped in the sacred burial cloths; they thought not of doing otherwise with the virginal body of his most holy Mother. Accordingly they called the two maidens, who had assisted the Queen during her life and who had been designated as the heiresses of her tunics, and instructed them to anoint the body of the Mother of God with highest reverence and modesty and wrap it in the winding-sheets before it should be placed in the casket.
The two women that were sent to anoint the body of Blessed Mary
With great reverence and fear the two maidens
entered the room, where the body of the blessed Lady lay upon its couch; but
the refulgence (radiant light with powerful
rays) issuing from it barred and blinded them in such a manner that they could
neither see nor touch the body, nor even ascertain in what particular place it
rested.
The refulgent light issuing from the body of blessed Mary
In fear and reverence still greater than on their entrance, the maidens
left the room; and in great excitement and wonder they told the Apostles what
had happened. They, not without divine inspiration, came to the conclusion,
that this sacred Ark of the Covenant was not to be touched or handled in the
common way. Then Saint Peter and Saint John entered the oratory and perceived
the effulgence, and at the same time they heard the celestial music of the
angels, who were singing:
“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.” Others responded: “A Virgin before childbirth, in childbirth and after childbirth.”
From that time on many of
the faithful expressed their devotion toward the most blessed Mary in these
words of praise; and from them they were handed down to be repeated by us with
the approbation of the holy Church. The two holy Apostles, Saint Peter and Saint
John, were for a time lost in admiration at what they saw and heard of their
Queen; and in order to decide what to do, they sank on their knees, beseeching
the Lord to make it known. Then they heard a voice saying:
“Let not the sacred
body be either uncovered or touched.”
St. Peter and St. John with fear and reverence entered the room
Having thus been informed of the will of God, they brought a bier (casket), and, the effulgence having diminished somewhat, they approached the couch and with their own hands reverently took hold of the tunic at the two ends. Thus, without changing its posture, they raised the sacred and virginal Treasure and placed it on the bier in the same position as it had occupied on the couch. They could easily do this, because they felt no more weight than that of the tunic.
They took hold of the tunic at the two ends
On this bier the former
effulgence of the body moderated still more, and all of them, by disposition of
the Lord and for the consolation of all those present, could now perceive and
study the beauty of that virginal countenance and of her hands. As for the
rest, the omnipotence of God protected this his heavenly dwelling, so that
neither in life nor in death anyone should behold any other part except what is
common in ordinary conversation, namely, her most inspiring countenance, by
which She had been known, and her hands, by which She had laboured.
They could perceive the beauty of her face and hands
