Bad Advertisement?
Are you a Christian?
Online Store:Visit Our Store
| The Passing of Mary: First Latin Form.
PREVIOUS SECTION - NEXT SECTION - HELP 
The Passing of Mary.
————————————
First Latin Form.
Concerning the Passing2634
| 2634 ms. B, the assumption. [For the list of
mss. used by Tischendorf, see his Apocal.
Apocr., p. xliii.—R.] | of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In that time before the
Lord came to His passion, and among many words which the mother asked
of the Son, she began to ask Him about her own departure, addressing
Him as follows:—O most dear Son, I pray Thy holiness, that when
my soul goes out of my body, Thou let me know on the third day before;
and do Thou, beloved Son, with Thy angels, receive it.2635
| 2635 ms. C adds: And cause all the apostles to be present
at my departure. | Then He received the prayer of His
beloved mother, and said to her: O palace and temple of the
living God, O blessed mother,2636
O queen of all
saints, and blessed above all women, before thou carriedst me in thy
womb, I always guarded thee, and caused thee to be fed daily with my
angelic food,2637
| 2637
Protevangelium of James, ch. 8, p. 363. | as thou
knowest: how can I desert thee, after thou hast carried me, and
nourished me, and brought me down in flight into Egypt, and endured
many hardships for me? Know, then, that my angels have always
guarded thee, and will guard thee even until thy departure. But
after I undergo suffering for men, as it is written, and rise again on
the third day, and after forty days ascend into heaven, when thou shalt
see me coming to thee2638
with angels
and archangels, with saints and with virgins, and with my disciples,
know for certain that thy soul will be separated from the body, and I
shall carry it into heaven, where it shall never at all have
tribulation or anguish. Then she joyed and gloried, and kissed
the knees of her Son, and blessed the Creator of heaven and earth, who
gave her such a gift through Jesus Christ her Son.
In the second year, therefore, after the ascension
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the most blessed Virgin Mary continued always
in prayer day and night. And on the third day before she passed
away, an angel of the Lord came to her, and saluted her, saying:
Hail, Mary, full of grace! the Lord be with thee. And she
answered, saying: Thanks to God. Again he said to
her: Receive this palm which the Lord promised to thee. And
she, giving thanks to God, with great joy received from the hand of the
angel the palm sent to her. The angel of the Lord said to
her: Thy assumption will be after three days. And she
answered: Thanks to God.2639
| 2639 ms. C: And she began to give great thanks to God in
these words: My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath
rejoiced in God my Saviour. |
Then she called Joseph of the city of
Arimathæa, and the other2640
disciples of the
Lord; and when they, both relations and acquaintances, were assembled,
she announced her departure to all standing there. Then the
blessed Mary washed2641
| 2641 ms. A, raised. Levavit instead of
lavit. | herself, and
dressed herself like a queen, and waited the advent of her Son, as He
had promised to her. And she asked all her relations to keep
beside2642
her, and give
her comfort. And she had along with her three virgins, Sepphora,
Abigea, and Zaël; but the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ had
been already dispersed throughout the whole world to preach to the
people of God.
Then at the third hour2643
| 2643 ms. C inserts: of the second day after the angel had
come to her with the palm. | there were great thunders, and rains,
and lightnings, and tribulation, and an earthquake,2644
while queen Mary was standing in her
chamber. John the evangelist and apostle was suddenly brought
from Ephesus, and entered the chamber of the blessed Mary, and saluted
her, and said to her: Hail, Mary, full of grace! the Lord be with
thee. And she answered: Thanks to God. And raising
herself up, she kissed Saint John. And the blessed Mary said to
him: O my dearest son, why hast thou left me at such a time, and hast not
paid heed to the commands of thy Master, to take care of me, as He
commanded thee while He was hanging on the cross? And he asked
pardon with bended knee. Then the blessed Mary gave him her
benediction, and again kissed him. And when she meant to ask him
whence he came, and for what reason he had come to Jerusalem, behold,
all the disciples of the Lord, except Thomas who is called Didymus,
were brought by a cloud to the door of the chamber of the blessed
Mary. They stood and went in, and saluted the queen with the
following words, and adored her: Hail, Mary, full of grace! the
Lord be with thee. And she eagerly rose quickly, and bowed
herself, and kissed them, and gave thanks to God. These are the
names of the disciples of the Lord who were brought thither in the
cloud: John the evangelist and James his brother, Peter and Paul,
Andrew, Philip, Luke, Barnabas, Bartholomew and Matthew, Matthias who
is called Justus,2645
Simon the
Chananæan, Judas and his brother, Nicodemus and Maximianus, and
many others who cannot be numbered. Then the blessed Mary said to
her brethren: What is this, that you have all come to
Jerusalem? Peter, answering, said to her: We had need to
ask this of thee, and dost thou question us? Certainly, as I
think, none of us knows why we have come here to-day with such
rapidity. I was at Antioch, and now I am here. All declared
plainly the place where they had been that day. And they all
wondered that they were there when they heard these things. The
blessed Mary said to them: I asked my Son, before He endured the
passion, that He and you should be at my death; and He granted me this
gift. Whence you may know that my departure will be
to-morrow.2646
| 2646 ms. C adds: And she showed them the palm which the
Lord had sent her from heaven by His angel. | Watch and
pray with me, that when the Lord comes to receive my soul, He may find
you watching. Then all promised that they would watch. And
they watched and prayed the whole night, with psalms and chants, with
great illuminations.
And when the Lord’s day came, at the third
hour, just as the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles in a
cloud,2647
so Christ
descended with a multitude of angels, and received the soul of His
beloved mother. For there was such splendour and perfume of
sweetness, and angels singing the songs of songs, where the Lord says,
As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters,2648
that all who were there present fell
on their faces, as the apostles fell when Christ transfigured Himself
before them on Mount Thabor, and for a whole hour and a half no one was
able to rise. But when the light went away, and at the same time
with the light itself, the soul of the blessed virgin Mary was taken up
into heaven with psalms, and hymns, and songs of songs. And as
the cloud went up the whole earth shook, and in one moment all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem openly saw the departure of St.
Mary.
And that same hour Satan entered into them, and
they began to consider what they were to do with her body. And
they took up weapons, that they might burn her body and kill the
apostles, because from her had gone forth the dispersions of Israel, on
account of their sins and the gathering together of the Gentiles.
But they were struck with blindness, striking their heads against the
walls, and striking each other.2649
| 2649 ms. C: By the divine vengeance, at that very instant
they began to strike and slay each other with their weapons, and struck
their heads against the walls like madmen. | Then
the apostles, alarmed by so much brightness, arose, and with psalms
carried the holy body down from Mount Zion to the valley of
Jehoshaphat. But as they were going in the middle of the road,
behold, a certain Jew,2650
Reuben by name,
wishing to throw to the ground the holy bier with the body of the
blessed Mary. But his hands dried up, even to the elbow; whether
he would or not, he went down even to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
weeping and lamenting because his hands were raised to the bier, and he
was not able to draw back his hands to himself. And he began to
ask the apostles2651
| 2651 ms. C adds: and firmly to promise that, if he were
made whole by their prayers, he would become a Christian. | that by their
prayer he might be saved and made a Christian. Then the apostles,
bending their knees, asked the Lord to let him loose. And he,
being healed that same hour, giving thanks to God and kissing the feet
of the queen of all the saints and apostles, was baptized in that same
place, and began to preach the name of our God Jesus Christ.
Then the apostles with great honour laid the body in the
tomb, weeping and singing through exceeding love and sweetness.
And suddenly there shone round them a light from heaven, and they fell
to the ground, and the holy body was taken up by angels into
heaven.
Then the most blessed Thomas was suddenly brought to the
Mount of Olivet, and saw the most blessed body going up to heaven, and
began to cry out and say: O holy mother, blessed mother, spotless
mother, if I have now found grace because I see thee, make thy servant
joyful through thy compassion, because thou art going to heaven.
Then the girdle with which the apostles had encircled the most holy body
was thrown down from heaven to the blessed Thomas. And taking it,
and kissing it, and giving thanks to God, he came again into the Valley
of Jehoshaphat. He found all the apostles and another great crowd
there beating their breasts on account of the brightness which they had
seen. And seeing and kissing each other, the blessed Peter said
to him: Truly thou hast always been obdurate and unbelieving,
because for thine unbelief it was not pleasing to God that thou
shouldst be along with us at the burial of the mother of the
Saviour. And he, beating his breast, said: I know and
firmly believe that I have always been a bad and an unbelieving man;
therefore I ask pardon of all of you for my obduracy and
unbelief. And they all prayed for him. Then the blessed
Thomas said: Where have you laid her body? And they pointed
out the sepulchre with their finger. And he said: The body
which is called most holy is not there. Then the blessed Peter
said to him: Already on another occasion thou wouldst not believe
the resurrection of our Master and Lord at our word, unless thou went
to touch Him with thy fingers, and see Him; how wilt thou believe us
that the holy body is here? Still he persists saying: It is
not here. Then, as it were in a rage, they went to the sepulchre,
which was a new one hollowed out in the rock, and took up the stone;
but they did not find the body, not knowing what to say, because they
had been convicted by the words of Thomas. Then the blessed
Thomas told them how he was singing mass in India—he still had on
his sacerdotal robes. He, not knowing the word of God, had been
brought to the Mount of Olivet, and saw the most holy body of the
blessed Mary going up into heaven, and prayed her to give him a
blessing. She heard his prayer, and threw him her girdle which
she had about her. And the apostles seeing the belt which they
had put about her, glorifying God, all asked pardon of the blessed
Thomas, on account of the benediction which the blessed Mary had given
him, and because he had seen the most holy body going up into
heaven. And the blessed Thomas gave them his benediction, and
said: Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to
dwell together in unity!2652
And the same cloud by which they had been brought
carried them back each to his own place, just like Philip when he
baptized the eunuch, as is read in the Acts of the Apostles;2653
and as Habakkuk the prophet carried food
to Daniel, who was in the lions’ den, and quickly returned to
Judæa.2654
And so
also the apostles quickly returned to where they had at first been, to
preach to the people of God. Nor is it to be wondered at that He
should do such things, who went into the virgin and came out of her
though her womb was closed; who, though the gates were shut, went in to
His disciples;2655
who made the deaf
to hear, raised the dead, cleansed the lepers, gave sight to the
blind,2656
and did many
other wonderful things. To believe this is no doubtful
matter.
I am Joseph who laid the Lord’s body in my
sepulchre, and saw Him rising again; and who, before the ascension and
after the ascension of the Lord, always kept his most sacred temple the
blessed ever-virgin Mary, and who have kept in writing and in my
breast the things which came forth from the mouth of God, and how the
things mentioned above were done by the judgment of God. And I
have made known to all, Jews and Gentiles, those things which I saw
with my eyes, and heard with my ears; and as long as I live I shall not
cease to declare them. And her, whose assumption is at this day
venerated and worshipped throughout the whole world, let us assiduously
entreat that she be mindful of us in the presence of her most pious Son
in heaven, to whom is praise and glory through endless ages of
ages. Amen.2657
| 2657 ms. C has this last section as follows: For I am
Joseph, who laid the body of our Lord Jesus Christ in my sepulchre, and
saw Him and spoke with Him after His resurrection; who afterwards kept
His most pious mother in my house until her assumption into the
heavens, and served her according to my power; who also was deemed
worthy to hear and see from her holy mouth many secrets, which I have
written and keep in my heart. That which I saw with mine eyes,
and heard with mine ears, of her holy and glorious assumption, I have
written for faithful Christians, and those that fear God; and while I
live I shall not cease to preach, speak, and write them to all
nations. And let every Christian know, that if he keep this
writing by him, even in his house, whether he be cleric, or lay, or a
woman, the devil will not hurt him; his son will not be lunatic, or
demoniac, or deaf, or blind; no one will die suddenly in his house; in
whatever tribulation he cries to her, he will be heard; and in the day
of his death he will have her with her holy virgins for his help.
I beseech continually that the same most pious and merciful queen may
be always mindful of me, and all who believe in her and hope before her
most pious Son, or Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy
Spirit, lives and reigns God through endless ages of ages.
Amen. |
————————————
E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
|
