Monday, April 6, 2020

The Body of Jesus carried to the stone of anointing

Saint John - Chapter 19


The Body of Jesus carried to the stone of anointing. J-J Tissot
[39] Venit autem et Nicodemus, qui venerat ad Jesum nocte primum, ferens mixturam myrrhae et aloes, quasi libras centum.
And Nicodemus also came, (he who at the first came to Jesus by night,) bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.

From The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by J-J Tissot (1897)

The head, face, hands, and arms, with the upper part of the sacred body, have been washed with lukewarm water, dried and anointed with spices by the Mother of Jesus.  The mourners then prepared to descend to the foot of Mount Calvary, where, near the entrance to the so called cave of Melchisedech, was a piece of rock flat enough to receive the corpse.  There, the disciples will complete the work begun by Mary, washing the feet, the legs and the lower part of the body.  They will then anoint with spiced unguents the wounds, the bruises and the gaping holes made by the nails.  Now that the body of Jesus rests in the shroud, upheld by His friends, it seems instinct with a majestic grandeur and majestic grandeur.  The hair and beard are carefully arranged; the limbs seemed to be stretched out in natural repose, and the features are restored to something of the beauty which rendered the Saviour so attractive in life.

The procession is soon formed; the sacred burden is carried by Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathæa, Saint John and the centurion.  The Virgin follows, supported by her nearest relations, whilst Mary Magdalene, who is scarcely able to walk, follows her; the group of Holy Women succeeding the chief mourners, chanting Psalms broken every now and then by their lamentations, which they no longer make any attempt to disguise.

The crown of thorns, with the sponges soaked with the precious blood and the vessels containing the water which has been used to wash the sacred corpse, are set apart, protected by a veil thrown over them.  As for the nails which had fastened Jesus to the instrument of His deaths, they were left with the cross and its title.  It would have been against the law to remove any of these things for they were the property of the Roman authorities.  It is to these scruples that we must, as it appears to me, attribute what would otherwise appear the inexplicable negligence of allowing the Cross and the nails to be buried beneath the rubbish which accumulated during the long centuries succeeding the death of Christ.


Totus tuus ego sum 
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam 

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