The Stone of Anointing

Saint John - Chapter 19

The Stone of Anointing. J-J Tissot

[40] Acceperunt ergo corpus Jesu, et ligaverunt illud linteis cum aromatibus, sicut mos est Judaeis sepelire.
They took therefore the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths, with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.

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

The disciples have completed their pious task; the body has been washed, embalmed, and, as was the custom amongst the Jews, linen bands have been wound round it before it was placed in its shroud.  Finally, a second shroud would be placed over the beloved face, hiding it from the tender gaze of the mourners.  Then the lamentations burst forth a fresh.  As long as there was anything left to be done for Him Who had been taken from them, the disciples feel as if He were restored to them, but now that all is done, their grief is once more intense.

For just one moment, however, there is silence; for, in the midst of the general distress, when all the disciples have prostrated themselves on the ground, Mary gives her last kiss to her dead Son.  That pious act accomplished, the subs and lamentations of the women are again heard, mingled with the chanting of funeral hymns and psalms.

The heavy clouds which had obscured the sky during the day are dispersed and the evening is fine.  In the soft air of the twilight a peculiar aroma rises and floats, it is that of dried medicinal herbs, its pungency and sharpness calling to mind the wild hilly districts where such plants grow, or the scent of the foliage crushed under the feet of worshippers in certain Temple services.

The women are now all grouped together, their faces veiled and their ample draperies entirely shrouding their figures, giving them the solemn, reserved appearance suitable to a funeral ceremony.  The Saviour has just been wrapped in the final shroud, the sacred and symbolictallith which we have several times referred to.  The resinous torches are lighted now, to show the way to the tomb of Joseph of Arimathæa, which is quite close by.  The procession is ready to begin its progress thither.  Mystics do not, of course, fail to find a figurative meaning in the proceeding we have just described.  "We too", says Enthymius, "when we receive at the altar the body of theSaviour,  should anoint it with fragrant spices, that is to say, with works of virtue and with effort combined with contemplation."

Totus tuus ego sum 

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam