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| The Book of John Concerning the Falling Asleep of Mary.
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The Book of John
Concerning the Falling Asleep of Mary.
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The Account of St. John the
Theologian2615
| 2615 The titles
vary considerably. In two mss. the author
is said to be James the Lord’s brother; in one, John Archbishop
of Thessalonica, who lived in the seventh century. | of the Falling
Asleep of the Holy Mother of God.
As the all-holy glorious mother
of God and ever-virgin Mary, as was her wont, was going to the holy
tomb of our Lord to burn incense, and bending her holy knees, she was
importunate that Christ our God who had been born of her should return
to her. And the Jews, seeing her lingering by the divine
sepulchre, came to the chief priests, saying: Mary goes every day
to the tomb. And the chief priests, having summoned the guards
set by them not to allow any one to pray at the holy sepulchre,
inquired about her, whether in truth it were so. And the guards
answered and said that they had seen no such thing, God having not
allowed them to see her when there. And on one of the days, it
being the preparation, the holy Mary, as was her wont, came to the
sepulchre; and while she was praying, it came to pass that the heavens
were opened, and the archangel Gabriel came down to her and said:
Hail, thou that didst bring forth Christ our God! Thy prayer
having come through to the heavens to Him who was born of thee, has
been accepted; and from this time, according to thy request, thou
having left the world, shall go to the heavenly places to thy Son, into
the true and everlasting life.
And having heard this from the holy archangel, she
returned to holy Bethlehem, having along with her three virgins who
ministered unto her. And after having rested a short time, she
sat up and said to the virgins: Bring me a censer, that I may
pray. And they brought it, as they had been commanded. And
she prayed, saying: My Lord Jesus Christ, who didst deign through
Thy supreme goodness to be born of me, hear my voice, and send me Thy
apostle John, in order that, seeing him, I may partake of joy; and send
me also the rest of Thy apostles, both those who have already gone to
Thee, and those in the world that now is, in whatever country they may
be, through Thy holy commandment, in order that, having beheld them, I
may bless Thy name much to be praised; for I am confident that Thou
hearest Thy servant in everything.
And while she was praying, I John came, the Holy
Spirit having snatched me up by a cloud from Ephesus, and set me in the
place where the mother of my Lord was lying. And having gone in
beside her, and glorified Him who had been born of her, I said:
Hail, mother of my Lord, who didst bring forth Christ our God, rejoice
that in great glory thou art going out of this life. And the holy
mother of God glorified God, because I John had come to her,
remembering the voice of the Lord, saying: Behold thy mother,
and, Behold thy son.2616
And the
three virgins came and worshipped. And the holy mother of God
says to me: Pray, and cast incense. And I prayed
thus: Lord Jesus Christ, who hast done wonderful things, now also
do wonderful things before her who brought Thee forth; and let Thy
mother depart from this life; and let those who crucified Thee, and who
have not believed in Thee, be confounded. And after I had ended
the prayer, holy Mary said to me: Bring me the censer. And
having cast incense, she said, Glory to Thee, my God and my Lord,
because there has been fulfilled in me whatsoever Thou didst promise to
me before thou didst ascend into the heavens, that when I should depart
from this world Thou wouldst come to me, and the multitude of Thine
angels, with glory. And I John say to her: Jesus Christ our
Lord and our God is coming, and thou seest2617
Him, as He promised to thee. And
the holy mother of God answered and said to me: The Jews have
sworn that after I have died they will burn my body. And I
answered and said to her: Thy holy and precious body will by no
means see corruption.
And she answered and said to me: Bring a censer, and cast
incense, and pray. And there came a voice out of the heavens
saying the Amen. And I John heard this voice; and the Holy Spirit
said to me: John, hast thou heard this voice that spoke in the
heaven after the prayer was ended? And I answered and said:
Yes, I heard. And the Holy Spirit said to me: This voice
which thou didst hear denotes that the appearance of thy brethren the
apostles is at hand, and of the holy powers that they are coming hither
to-day.
And at this I John prayed.
And the Holy Spirit said to the apostles:
Let all of you together, having come by the clouds from the ends of the
world, be assembled to holy Bethlehem by a whirlwind, on account of the
mother of our Lord Jesus Christ; Peter from Rome, Paul from
Tiberia,2618
| 2618 A place
near Rome; one ms. calls it Tiberis. | Thomas from
Hither India, James from Jerusalem. Andrew, Peter’s
brother, and Philip, Luke, and Simon the Cananæan, and
Thaddæus who had fallen asleep, were raised by the Holy Spirit out
of their tombs; to whom the Holy Spirit said: Do not think that
it is now the resurrection; but on this account you have risen out of
your tombs, that you may go to give greeting to the honour and
wonder-working of the mother of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
because the day of her departure is at hand, of her going up into the
heavens. And Mark likewise coming round, was present from
Alexandria; he also with the rest, as has been said before, from each
country. And Peter being lifted up by a cloud, stood between
heaven and earth, the Holy Spirit keeping him steady. And at the
same time, the rest of the apostles also, having been snatched up in
clouds, were found along with Peter. And thus by the Holy Spirit,
as has been said, they all came together.
And having gone in beside the mother of our Lord and
God, and having adored, we said: Fear not, nor grieve; God the
Lord, who was born of thee, will take thee out of this world with
glory. And rejoicing in God her Saviour, she sat up in the bed,
and says to the apostles: Now have I believed that our Master and
God is coming from heaven, and I shall behold Him, and thus depart from
this life, as I have seen that you have come. And I wish you to
tell me how you knew that I was departing and came to me, and from what
countries and through what distance you have come hither, that you have
thus made haste to visit me. For neither has He who was born of
me, our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of the universe, concealed it; for I
am persuaded even now that He is the Son of the Most High.
And Peter answered and said to the apostles:
Let us each, according to what the Holy Spirit announced and commanded
us, give full information to the mother of our Lord. And I John
answered and said: Just as I was going in to the holy altar in
Ephesus to perform divine service, the Holy Spirit says to me, The time
of the departure of the mother of thy Lord is at hand; go to Bethlehem
to salute her. And a cloud of light snatched me up, and set me
down in the door where thou art lying. Peter also answered:
And I, living in Rome, about dawn heard a voice through the Holy Spirit
saying to me, The mother of thy Lord is to depart, as the time is at
hand; go to Bethlehem to salute her. And, behold, a cloud of
light snatched me up; and I beheld also the other apostles coming to me
on clouds, and a voice saying to me, Go all to Bethlehem. And
Paul also answered and said: And I, living in a city at no great
distance from Rome, called the country of Tiberia, heard the Holy
Spirit saying to me, The mother of thy Lord, having left this world, is
making her course to the celestial regions through her
departure;2619
but go thou also
to Bethlehem to salute her. And, behold, a cloud of light having
snatched me up, set me down in the same place as you. And Thomas
also answered and said: And I, traversing the country of the
Indians, when the preaching was prevailing by the grace of Christ, and
the king’s sister’s son Labdanus by name, was about to be
sealed by me in the palace, on a sudden the Holy Spirit says to me, Do
thou also, Thomas, go to Bethlehem to salute the mother of thy Lord,
because she is taking her departure to the heavens. And a cloud
of light having snatched me up, set me down beside you. And Mark
also answered and said: And when I was finishing the
canon2620
| 2620 A canon is a part of
the Church service consisting of nine odes. The canon of the
third day is the canon for Tuesday. | of the third day in the city of
Alexandria, just as I was praying, the Holy Spirit snatched me up, and
brought me to you. And James also answered and said: While
I was in Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit commanded me, saying, Go to
Bethlehem, because the mother of thy Lord is taking her
departure. And, behold, a cloud of light having snatched me up,
set me beside you. And Matthew also answered and said: I
have glorified and do glorify God, because when I was in a boat and
overtaken by a storm, the sea raging with its waves, on a sudden a
cloud of light overshadowing the stormy billow, changed it to a calm,
and having snatched me up, set me down beside you. And those who
had come before likewise answered, and gave an account of how they had
come. And Bartholomew said: I was in the Thebais
proclaiming the word, and behold the Holy Spirit says
to me, The mother of thy Lord is
taking her departure; go, then, to salute her in Bethlehem. And,
behold, a cloud of light having snatched me up, brought me to you.
The apostles said all these things to the holy
mother of God, why they had come, and in what way; and she stretched
her hands to heaven and prayed, saying: I adore, and praise, and
glorify Thy much to be praised name, O Lord, because Thou hast looked
upon the lowliness of Thine handmaiden, and because Thou that art
mighty hast done great things for me; and, behold, all generations
shall count me blessed.2621
And after
the prayer she said to the apostles: Cast incense, and
pray. And when they had prayed, there was thunder from heaven,
and there came a fearful voice, as if of chariots; and, behold, a
multitude of a host of angels and powers, and a voice, as if of the Son
of man, was heard, and the seraphim in a circle round the house where
the holy, spotless mother of God and virgin was lying, so that all who
were in Bethlehem beheld all the wonderful things, and came to
Jerusalem and reported all the wonderful things that had come to
pass. And it came to pass, when the voice was heard, that the sun
and the moon suddenly appeared about the house; and an
assembly2622
of the
first-born saints stood beside the house where the mother of the Lord
was lying, for her honour and glory. And I beheld also that many
signs came to pass, the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, the lame
walking, lepers cleansed, and those possessed by unclean spirits cured;
and every one who was under disease and sickness, touching the outside
of the wall of the house where she was lying, cried out: Holy
Mary, who didst bring forth Christ our God, have mercy upon us.
And they were straightway cured. And great multitudes out of
every country living in Jerusalem for the sake of prayer, having heard
of the signs that had come to pass in Bethlehem through the mother of
the Lord, came to the place seeking the cure of various diseases, which
also they obtained. And there was joy unspeakable on that day
among the multitude of those who had been cured, as well as of those
who looked on, glorifying Christ our God and His mother. And all
Jerusalem from Bethlehem kept festival with psalms and spiritual
songs.
And the priests of the Jews, along with their
people, were astonished at the things which had come to pass; and being
moved2623
| 2623
Burning—ms. B.
[Thisms. is in Venice; see Tischendorf,
Apocalypses Apocryphæ, p. xliii., for designations of
mss.—R.] | with the heaviest hatred, and again
with frivolous reasoning, having made an assembly, they determine to
send against the holy mother of God and the holy apostles who were
there in Bethlehem. And accordingly the multitude of the Jews,
having directed their course to Bethlehem, when at the distance of one
mile it came to pass that they beheld a frightful vision, and their
feet were held fast; and after this they returned to their
fellow-countrymen, and reported all the frightful vision to the chief
priests. And they, still more boiling with rage, go to the
procurator, crying out and saying: The nation of the Jews has
been ruined by this woman; chase her from Bethlehem and the province of
Jerusalem. And the procurator, astonished at the wonderful
things, said to them: I will chase her neither from Bethlehem nor
from any other place. And the Jews continued crying out, and
adjuring him by the health of Tiberius Cæsar to bring the apostles
out of Bethlehem. And if you do not do so, we shall report it to
the Cæsar. Accordingly, being compelled, he sends a tribune
of the soldiers2624
| 2624 Lit., chiliarch,
i.e., commander of a thousand. | against the
apostles to Bethlehem. And the Holy Spirit says to the apostles
and the mother of the Lord: Behold, the procurator has sent a
tribune against you, the Jews having made an uproar. Go forth
therefore from Bethlehem, and fear not: for, behold, by a cloud I
shall bring you to Jerusalem; for the power of the Father, and the Son,
and the Holy Spirit is with you. The apostles therefore rose up
immediately, and went forth from the house, carrying the bed of the
Lady the mother of God, and directed their course to Jerusalem; and
immediately, as the Holy Spirit had said, being lifted up by a cloud,
they were found in Jerusalem in the house of the Lady. And they
stood up, and for five days made an unceasing singing of praise.
And when the tribune came to Bethlehem, and found there neither the
mother of the Lord nor the apostles, he laid hold of the Bethlehemites,
saying to them: Did you not come telling the procurator and the
priests all the signs and wonders that had come to pass, and how the
apostles had come out of every country? Where are they,
then? Come, go to the procurator at Jerusalem. For the
tribune did not know of the departure of the apostles and the
Lord’s mother to Jerusalem. The tribune then, having taken
the Bethlehemites, went in to the procurator, saying that he had found
no one. And after five days it was known to the procurator, and
the priests, and all the city, that the Lord’s mother was in her
own house in Jerusalem, along with the apostles, from the signs and
wonders that came to pass there. And a multitude of men and women
and virgins came together, and cried out: Holy virgin, that didst
bring forth Christ our God, do not forget the generation of men.
And when these things came to pass, the people of the Jews, with the priests also, being the
more moved with hatred, took wood and fire, and came up, wishing to
burn the house where the Lord’s mother was living with the
apostles. And the procurator stood looking at the sight from afar
off. And when the people of the Jews came to the door of the
house, behold, suddenly a power of fire coming forth from within, by
means of an angel, burnt up a great multitude of the Jews. And
there was great fear throughout all the city; and they glorified God,
who had been born of her. And when the procurator saw what had
come to pass, he cried out to all the people, saying: Truly he
who was born of the virgin, whom you have thought of driving away, is
the Son of God; for these signs are those of the true God. And
there was a division among the Jews; and many believed in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, in consequence of the signs that had come to
pass.
And after all these wonderful things had come to
pass through the mother of God, and ever-virgin Mary the mother of the
Lord, while we the apostles were with her in Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit
said to us: You know that on the Lord’s day the good news
was brought to the Virgin Mary by the archangel Gabriel; and on the
Lord’s day the Saviour was born in Bethlehem; and on the
Lord’s day the children of Jerusalem came forth with palm
branches to meet him, saying, Hosanna in the highest, blessed
is2625
He that cometh in the name of the
Lord;2626
| 2626 Matt. xxi. 9; Luke xix. 38; Ps. cxviii.
26. | and on the Lord’s day He rose from
the dead; and on the Lord’s day He will come to judge the living
and the dead; and on the Lord’s day He will come out of heaven,
to the glory and honour of the departure of the holy glorious virgin
who brought Him forth. And on the same2627
Lord’s day the mother of the Lord
says to the apostles: Cast incense, because Christ is coming with
a host of angels; and, behold, Christ is at hand, sitting on a throne
of cherubim. And while we were all praying, there appeared
innumerable multitudes of angels, and the Lord mounted upon cherubim in
great power; and, behold, a stream of light2628
| 2628 Lit., a going
forth of illumination. | coming to the holy virgin, because of
the presence of her only-begotten Son, and all the powers of the
heavens fell down and adored Him. And the Lord, speaking to His
mother, said: Mary. And she answered and said: Here
am I, Lord. And the Lord said to her: Grieve not, but let
thy heart rejoice and be glad; for thou hast found grace to behold the
glory given to me by my Father. And the holy mother of God looked
up, and saw in Him a glory which it is impossible for the mouth of man
to speak of, or to apprehend. And the Lord remained beside her,
saying: Behold, from the present time thy precious body will be
transferred to paradise, and thy holy soul to the heavens to the
treasures of my Father in exceeding brightness, where there is peace
and joy of the holy angels,—and other things besides.2629
| 2629 Perhaps the true
reading is: thou shalt dwell where there is peace and joy of the
holy angels. | And the mother of the Lord
answered and said to him: Lay Thy right hand upon me, O Lord, and
bless me. And the Lord stretched forth His undefiled right hand,
and blessed her. And she laid hold of His undefiled right hand,
and kissed it, saying: I adore this right hand, which created the
heaven and the earth; and I call upon Thy much to be praised name
Christ, O God, the King of the ages, the only-begotten of the Father,
to receive Thine handmaid, Thou who didst deign to be brought forth by
me, in a low estate, to save the race of men through Thine ineffable
dispensation; do Thou bestow Thine aid upon every man calling upon, or
praying to, or naming the name of, Thine handmaid. And while she
is saying this, the apostles, having gone up to her feet and adored,
say: O mother of the Lord, leave a blessing to the world, since
thou art going away from it. For thou hast blessed it, and raised
it up when it was ruined, by bringing forth the Light of the
world. And the mother of the Lord prayed, and in her prayer spoke
thus: O God, who through Thy great goodness hast sent from the
heavens Thine only-begotten Son to dwell in my humble body, who hast
deigned to be born of me, humble as I am, have mercy upon the
world, and every soul that calls upon Thy name. And again she
prayed, and said: O Lord, King of the heavens, Son of the living
God, accept every man who calls upon Thy name, that Thy birth may be
glorified. And again she prayed, and said: O Lord Jesus
Christ, who art all-powerful in heaven and on earth, in this appeal I
implore Thy holy name; in every time and place where there is made
mention of my name, make that place holy, and glorify those that
glorify Thee through my name, accepting of such persons all their
offering, and all their supplication, and all their prayer. And
when she had thus prayed, the Lord said to His mother: Let thy
heart rejoice and be glad; for every favour2630
and every gift has been given to thee from my Father in heaven, and
from me, and from the Holy Spirit: every soul that calls upon thy
name shall not be ashamed, but shall find mercy, and comfort, and
support, and confidence, both in the world that now is, and in that
which is to come, in the presence of my Father in the heavens.
And the Lord turned and said
to Peter: The time has come to begin the singing of the
hymn. And Peter having begun the singing of the hymn, all the
powers of the heavens responded with the Alleluiah. And then the
face of the mother of the Lord shone brighter than the light, and she
rose up and blessed each of the apostles with her own hand, and all
gave glory to God; and the Lord stretched forth His undefiled hands,
and received her holy and blameless soul. And with the departure
of her blameless soul the place was filled with perfume and ineffable
light; and, behold, a voice out of the heaven was heard, saying:
Blessed art thou among women. And Peter, and I John, and Paul,
and Thomas, ran and wrapped up her precious feet for the consecration;
and the twelve apostles put her precious and holy body upon a couch,
and carried it. And, behold, while they were carrying her, a
certain well-born Hebrew, Jephonias by name, running against the body,
put his hands upon the couch; and, behold, an angel of the Lord by
invisible power, with a sword of fire, cut off his two hands from his
shoulders, and made them hang about the couch, lifted up in the
air. And at this miracle which had come to pass all the people of
the Jews who beheld it cried out: Verily, He that was brought
forth by thee is the true God, O mother of God, ever-virgin Mary.
And Jephonias himself, when Peter ordered him, that the wonderful
things of God might be showed forth, stood up behind the couch, and
cried out: Holy Mary, who broughtest forth Christ who is God,
have mercy upon me. And Peter turned and said to him: In
the name of Him who was born of her, thy hands which have been taken
away from thee, will be fixed on again. And immediately, at the
word of Peter, the hands hanging by the couch of the Lady came, and
were fixed on Jephonias. And he believed, and glorified Christ,
God who had been born of her.
And when this miracle had been done, the apostles
carried2631
the couch, and
laid down her precious and holy body in Gethsemane in a new tomb.
And, behold, a perfume of sweet savour came forth out of the holy
sepulchre of our Lady the mother of God; and for three days the voices
of invisible angels were heard glorifying Christ our God, who had been
born of her. And when the third day was ended, the voices were no
longer heard; and from that time forth all knew that her spotless and
precious body had been transferred to paradise.
And after it had been transferred, behold, we see
Elisabeth the mother of St. John the Baptist, and Anna the mother of
the Lady, and Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and David, singing the
Alleluiah, and all the choirs of the saints adoring the holy relics of
the mother of the Lord, and the place full of light, than which light
nothing could be more brilliant, and an abundance of perfume in that
place to which her precious and holy body had been transferred in
paradise, and the melody of those praising Him who had been born of
her—sweet melody, of which there is no satiety, such as is given
to virgins, and them only, to hear. We apostles, therefore,
having beheld the sudden precious translation of her holy body,
glorified God, who had shown us His wonders at the departure of the
mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose2632
prayers and good offices may we all be
deemed worthy to receive,2633
under her
shelter, and support, and protection, both in the world that now is and
in that which is to come, glorifying in every time and place her
only-begotten Son, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever
and ever. Amen.
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