Saint John - Chapter 20
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| Do not touch me. J-J Tissot |
Jesus saith to her: Mary. She turning, saith to him: Rabboni (which is to say, Master).
[17] Dicit ei Jesus : Noli me tangere, nondum enim ascendi ad Patrem meum : vade autem ad fratres meos, et dic eis : Ascendo ad Patrem meum, et Patrem vestrum, Deum meum, et Deum vestrum.
Jesus saith to her: Do not touch me, for I am not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren, and say to them: I ascend to my Father and to your Father, to my God and your God.
[18] Venit Maria Magdalene annuntians discipulis : Quia vidi Dominum, et haec dixit mihi.
Mary Magdalen cometh, and telleth the disciples: I have seen the Lord, and these things he said to me.
From The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by J-J Tissot (1897)
It is from the familiar sound of her own name that Mary Magdalene recognizes the risen Saviour. "Mary!" It is the name none but intimate friends use, and it is impossible not to respond to it. She is moved to the very depths of her soul by that one word, and she even a replies: "Master!" In an instant all her grief is gone; mad with joy she flings herself down, thinking to resume her role place at the feet of Jesus and emrace them as she had done on Calvary. But the time has gone by for such familiarity; Jesus has taken up again a life which He can no longer share with His disciples, He can now only permit them to indulge in distant homage. He therefore gently repels her who would fain touch Him and sends her, the "Apostle of the Apostles" as she is called in the Catholic liturgy, to take the brethren the news of His approaching Ascension.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
Ad Jesum per Mariam
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