Chapter 62: Of the devout visitation of the Holy Sepulchre of our Lord Jesus Christ

O LORD JESUS CHRIST, Comforter of all who are sad and sorrowful, I bless You, and give thanks to You, for the pious visit to Your Sepulchre of the holy women who came there early in the morning as soon as the sun was up, that they might make certain of what had been done there on that most holy night, blessed above all other holy nights.

I praise and heartily commend the pious zeal of those holy women, those noble ladies, who sought once more to anoint Your most sacred Body, for hasting to rise so early, while it was yet dark; and for going in a body, with all possible privacy and decorum, to Your Sepulchre, bearing the spices which they had prepared for anointing You. How great must have been their sorrow of heart, what floods of tears must they have shed, as they passed the Hill of Calvary, and beheld Your Cross, as they contemplated the scene of Your Passion, as they thought of all Your Wounds ! How great must have been the anxiety which oppressed them, and brought tears again to their eyes, when they caught sight of the Tomb and said one to another: " Who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the Sepulchre ? " What wonder if they wept; for they must have felt sure that of themselves they could not move so heavy a stone. Fear would have made them retrace their steps, but love urged them on, and bade them not be alarmed at the guard of soldiers. — " Oh, had but Peter and John been here," they will have said, " we might have depended on their ready help." — The stone was indeed very great, so heavy that ten strong men could scarce have moved it. But, holy women, it was better that the Apostles should stay at home unnoticed, and pray for you that God would protect you and fulfil all your desire, than that they should court danger by coming with you, and perhaps be killed by the soldiers. It would have added to your grief, and made your burden all the heavier to bear, if besides our Lord, His disciples had also been put to death.

What then will you do, and whither go? Stop, I pray you, awhile and pray; fear not, but go bravely on your way; trust in the Lord that help may soon be sent you from above, and that good news may be brought you by an Angel, who knows what has come to pass as regards your Lord, laid yesterday in the Tomb. God knows your hearts, who you are, and whence you come: He knows Whom you seek, what you are carrying in your hands, and what you are hiding under your mantles; for from the spices which you bear a sweet smell is going up before God into the Courts of Heaven, and the holy Angels are rejoicing in the sweetness of your holy prayers, and in that burning love you have for Jesus, and are now showing forth in the work you are doing for Him. Of a truth love knows no obstacles; it fears no one. Love presses ever onwards till it is in sight of the loved one. Make haste, then, go forward in silence, mark carefully the Tomb, and if it should be open, go boldly into it. If you shrink from going in, bide awhile and pray, raise your eyes to Heaven, and besiege its gate, with your moans and tears, till the Angel of the Lord shall descend from Heaven, and shall say to you: " Fear you not; for I know that you seek Jesus Who was crucified; come and see the place where the Lord was laid. He is not here, as you may see, He is risen, as He foretold you." If you have remembered well His words, you ought to have no doubt about His resurrection. It was love for Jesus which drew you out of the world; it was love for Jesus which has now led you to His Tomb. It was love for Jesus which made you mourn at His Passion; it is love for Jesus which will make you rejoice at His Resurrection. Wait but a little while and you shall see Him, and doubt shall be no longer possible. Look not for Him any more as lying in the grave; but seek Him as living with the Angels in Heaven: no more at the table of Martha in Bethany, but as sitting at the Right Hand of the Father in His Glory; no more as sailing in a small ship with Peter, but as reigning over all the choirs of Angels; no more as preaching on a mountain side, but as ruling over every creature in Heaven and on earth. Remember how He told you beforehand that the Son of Man must be crucified, and rise again the third day.

Depart now therefore consoled and comforted by the Angel. Go quickly and take the good news to the Lord's friends, tell the glad tidings to His mourning disciples; bid them not despair because they all forsook Jesus and fled. Bid them hope for pardon; specially tell Peter, who thrice denied his Lord, and has since never ceased to weep bitterly, that he should not be fearful, but should trust to the great and never-failing love of Jesus, of which he has had so many proofs; tell him that this very day he shall see his Lord, and shall be full of joy. Tell him all the things which you have seen and heard; for in very truth our Lord Jesus Christ has this night risen again.

O holy Peter, cease now to weep; rise up quickly and come, run with holy John, go boldly into the Tomb, and see lying there the linen clothes and the napkin of Jesus. Believe the word of the Angels, who say that Jesus is risen and is alive, and will go into Galilee, and will show Himself to His disciples. Be glad and rejoice with Christ, O holy Peter, chief shepherd of the Church, for He has risen again. Who is the Good Shepherd, Who vouchsafed to die upon the Cross for you, and for the sheep of His flock. O sweet answer from the mouth of the Angel, so full of comfort for the hearts of those who mourn; so full of hope of pardon for poor sinners, from the example of blessed Peter, and of many other Saints, who after having fallen rose up again stronger than before. Blessed be God, Who never turns away His Face from those who are troubled in heart, but saves those who are of a humble spirit, and makes strong in faith those who look only to Him, and desire no other Comforter.

O holy women, you who have heard all this good news concerning Jesus; should He meet you in the way and say to you, " Hail, my sisters ! " clasp His Feet, and let Him not go till He has blessed you ! Fall low upon your knees, adore Him, and greet Him with friendly words of peace, and that not for yourselves only, but for me too, a sinner humbly asking to be forgiven. Oh that the grace of shedding tears and of showing devotion such as yours when He appeared to you, might also be mine ! I am full of hope that He will readily grant your prayers for me, because of the holiness of your merits, and of your diligence in the services which you have so often rendered to Him.

I praise and honour You, O most gracious Jesus, for Your exceeding gentleness, and for the loving and comforting words with which You did greet the holy women when they met You in the way, allowing them to clasp Your most sacred Feet — those Feet Which were nailed to the Cross, Which are brighter than the sun, whiter than snow, lovelier than a carbuncle, more precious than gold, sweeter smelling than any balm or chrism.

O Almighty Lord Jesus, I give You most hearty thanks for sending from Heaven Your holy Angel to roll away the great stone from the Sepulchre to drive away the heathen guard from that holy place where You did safely rest, as a strong lion in his den; to prepare for the men and for the women who loved You free access to Your Tomb; to comfort those who were bewailing You as dead and buried; to confirm and strengthen the halting faith of those who were doubting Your Resurrection; and to rejoice with You at Your happy return from Your descent into Hell, and at the setting open of the gate of Heaven. Grief at Your Crucifixion had taken such full possession of the hearts of those holy women, that they had quite given up hoping for Your Resurrection, in spite of Your having so often foretold it. Nowhere could they have found comfort, had they not visited Your Sepulchre that morning; had they not heard from the mouth of the Angel that in very truth You had risen; had they not in confirmation of the truth seen You with their own eyes, and clasped with their own hands Your glorious Feet. But when all these things had been done, You did add to the comfort You had given them by Your loving greeting of them, and by laying upon them a joyful duty — a duty worthy of all acceptation and honour — lovingly consoling and encouraging them with the words: "Fear not; go, tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, there they shall see Me."

How delightful are those words to the ear, how sweet are they to the mind, how profitable are they for meditation, and for taking the place of gossip about the things of this world! How bright must have been the eyes that had seen the Lord, how pure the hands that had touched Jesus, how holy the lips that had printed on Him a kiss. How swift in walking and how quick in running must have been made the feet; how prompt in obedience must have been made the hearts; how joyful must have been made the lips of those who were bidden to tell the disciples that the Lord was risen. Great as was that Good Friday burden of sorrows when the ignominious Cross of Jesus was seen upon the Hill of Calvary, out of all proportion greater far must have been the joys of that first Easter Day, when the glorious tidings of His Resurrection were made known. The reproach of the Jews is turned into the exceeding great joy of the Apostles; the offence of the Cross has become the means of everlasting salvation; the tears of the Saints have given place to the songs of Angels; and the wounds made by the scourging and the nails have won for us the remission of our sins.

O most sweet Jesus Christ, kindle also in my heart, I pray You, the love of Your Holy Name, more precious than that of all the Saints in Heaven and in earth; that so, with Mary Magdalene and her companions, I may remember it every morning at the break of day, and may seek You in the sepulchre of my heart; may be utterly dead to the things of this world, and may cling devoutly to You in the silence and the solitude of prayer. Keep my heart from being hard, my body from being slothful, my eyes from being drowsy. Give me the grace of true contrition, fill me with the joy of true devotion, that so I may worthily celebrate, at this sacred Feast, the glory of Your Holy Name. Receive, at the hands of the holy Angels, who full of reverence and awe keep guard over Your Sepulchre, the first-fruits of my lips as a sacrifice of never-ending praise; and may those same Angels faithfully defend me by day and by night from every danger, whether of body or of soul.

And be You, O Lord, ever at my side, and chiefly at the hour of prayer, that wandering eyes and vain fancies may not lead me astray during the Divine Office, and cause me to forget You in Your holy Place. Of a truth it is there especially that I ought, as a prayerful suppliant, caught up to Heaven, and forgetful for Your sake of the things of earth — it is there especially that, as far as may be, made one in a pure heart with You, I ought with the utmost awe and recollectedness to approach Your glorious Presence. For what are the things of this world but vanity of vanities? Truly, as compared with the joys of Heaven, earthly gladness is in Your sight a thing of nought. Therefore, O my God, You Who are the Crown and the Glory of the Angelic host, grant, I beseech You, that I may ponder the words of the psalms, and of the other hymns and canticles, as they are said or sung in Church, and may take in their meaning, so far as in my human frailty I am able to grasp and understand it: and so be You with me till it is given me to stand before You, Who are the true Light, Who will then make light all that now within me is dark, and will make glad with perfect joy all the citizens of the Heavenly Jerusalem. Receive, I pray You, at my hands on the holy day of this great festival, in place of sweet-smelling ointment made of myrrh and frankincense, the many and bitter inward groanings of my heart for all my sins and negligences of thought, of word and of deed; that so as a new man, born again of the Spirit, clothed in white, and humbly confessing my sins, I may be found meet to appear with joy and gladness among Your Saints. Hereupon, then, I offer to You, instead of costly spices confected of balsam and honey, all the loving desires of my heart and all the pious exercises of all Religious in praise of the Holy Trinity, and in honour of Your joyful Resurrection, in union with the song of angels and the rejoicing of all the Saints who stand before You in Heaven. Amen.

A Prayer to the holy Angels, who watch over us in our life on earth

O holy Angels and Archangels, ministers of the Heavenly King, you who are clothed in white raiment, you who are fulfilled with those good gifts which last for ever, take pity, I pray you, upon me a poor weak sinner; and obtain for me, both now and always, God's help in my pilgrimage and exile upon earth; succour and defend one who is poor and destitute; and to one who is weak bring power to withstand the wiles of the devil and his own sinful lusts. Put upon me white robes, build me up in holy ways, in faith, and in hope and in the love of God; strengthen me in the inward man that I may grow in grace, weeping with those who weep, rejoicing with those who rejoice, and giving thanks always for all good works done anywhere for the honour of God; that so God, Who is all in all, may be blessed, praised and exalted for ever. Amen.