The Embalming of the Body of Jesus.
The Blessed Virgin seated herself upon a large cloth spread on the
ground, with her right knee, which was slightly raised, and her back
resting against some mantles, rolled together so as to from a species
of cushion. No precaution had been neglected which could in any way
facilitate to her--the Mother of Sorrows--in her deep affliction of soul, the
mournful but most sacred duty which she was about to fulfil in regard
to the body of her beloved Son. The adorable head of Jesus rested upon
Mary's knee, and his body was stretched upon a sheet. The Blessed Virgin
was overwhelmed with sorrow and love. Once more, and for the last time,
did she hold in her arms the body of her most beloved Son, to whom she
had been unable to give any testimony of love during the long hours of
his martyrdom. And she gazed upon his wounds and fondly embraced his
blood-stained cheeks, while Magdalen pressed her face upon his feet.
The men withdrew into a little cave, situated on the south-west side
of Calvary, there to prepare the different things needful for the
embalming; but Cassius, with a few other soldiers who had been
converted, remained at a respectful distance. All ill-disposed persons
were gone back to the city, and the soldiers who were present served
merely to form a guard to prevent any interruption in the last honours
which were being rendered to the body of Jesus. Some of these soldiers
even gave assistance when desired. The holy women held the vases,
sponges, linen, unction, and spices, according as required; but when
not thus employed, they remained at a respectful distance, attentively
gazing upon the Blessed Virgin as she proceeded in her mournful task.
Magdalen did not leave the body of Jesus; but John gave continual
assistance to the Blessed Virgin, and went to and fro from the men to
the women, lending aid to both parties. The women had with them some
large leathern bottles and a vase filled with water standing upon a
coal fire. They gave the Blessed Virgin and Magdalen, according as they
required, vases filled with clear water, and sponges, which they
afterwards squeezed in the leathern bottles.
The courage and firmness of Mary remained unshaken even in the midst
of her inexpressible anguish.15 It was absolutely impossible for her to
leave the body of her Son in the awful state to which it had been
reduced by his sufferings, and therefore she began with indefatigable
earnestness to wash and purify it from the traces of the outrages to
which it had been exposed. With the utmost care she drew off the crown
of thorns, opening it behind, and then cutting off one by one the
thorns which had sunk deep into the head of Jesus, in order that she
might not widen the wounds. The crown was placed by the side of the
nails, and then Mary drew out the thorns which had remained in the skin
with a species of rounded pincers, and sorrowfully showed them to her
friends.16 These thorns were placed with the crown, but still some of
them must have been preserved separately.
The divine face of our Saviour was scarcely recognisable, so
disfigured was it by the wounds with which it was covered. The beard
and hair were matted together with blood. Mary washed the head and
face, and passed damp sponges over the hair to remove the congealed
blood. As she proceeded in her pious office, the extent of the awful
cruelty which had been exercised upon Jesus became more and more
apparent, and caused in her soul emotions of compassion and tenderness
which increased as she passed from one wound to another. She washed the
wounds of the head, the eyes filled with blood, the nostrils, and the
ears, with a sponge and a small piece of linen spread over the fingers
of her right hand; and then she purified, in the same manner, the
half-opened mouth, the tongue, the teeth, and the lips. She divided
what remained of our Lord's hair into three parts, a part falling over
each temple, and the third over the back of his head; and when she had
disentangled the front hair and smoothed it, she passed it behind his
ears.17
When the head was thoroughly cleansed and purified, the Blessed
Virgin covered it with a veil, after having kissed the sacred cheeks of
her dear Son. She then turned her attention to the neck, shoulders,
chest, back, arms, and pierced hands. All the bones of the breast and
the joints were dislocated, and could not be bent. There was a
frightful wound on the shoulders which had borne the weight of the
Cross, and all the upper part of the body was covered with bruises and
deeply marked with blows of the scourges. On the left breast there was
a small wound where the point of Cassius's lance had come out, and on the
right side was the large wound made by the same lance, and which had
pierced the heart through and through. Mary washed all these wounds,
and Magdalen, on her knees, helped her from time to time; but without
leaving the sacred feet of Jesus, which she bathed with tears and wiped
with her hair.
The head, bosom, and feet of our Lord were now washed, and the
sacred body, which was covered with brown stains and red marks in those
places where the skin had been torn off, and of a bluish-white colour,
like flesh that has been drained of blood, was resting on the knees of
Mary, who covered the parts which she had washed with a veil, and then
proceeded to embalm all the wounds. The holy women knelt by her side,
and in turn presented to her a box, out of which she took some precious
ointment, and with it filled and covered the wounds. She also anointed
the hair, and then, taking the sacred hands of Jesus in her left hand,
respectfully kissed them, and filled the large wounds made by the nails
with this ointment or sweet spice. She likewise filled the ears,
nostrils, and wound in the side with the same precious mixture.
Meanwhile Magdalen wiped and embalmed our Lord's feet, and then again
washed them with her tears, and often pressed her face upon them.
The water which had been used was not thrown away, but poured into
the leathern bottles in which the sponges had been squeezed. I saw
Cassius or some other soldier go several times to fetch fresh water
from the fountain of Gihon, which was at no great distance off. When
the Blessed Virgin had filled all the wounds with ointment, she wrapped
the head up in linen cloths, but she did not as yet cover the face. She
closed the half-open eyes of Jesus, and kept her hand upon them for
some time. She also closed the mouth, and then embraced the sacred body
of her beloved Son, pressing her face fondly and reverently upon his.
Joseph and Nicodemus had been waiting for some time, when John drew
near to the Blessed Virgin, and besought her to permit the body of her
Son to be taken from her, that the embalming might be completed,
because the Sabbath was close at hand. Once more did Mary embrace the
sacred body of Jesus, and utter her farewells in the most touching
language, and then the men lifted it from her arms on the sheet, and
carried it to some distance. The deep sorrow of Mary had been for the
time assuaged by the feelings of love and reverence with which she had
accomplished her sacred task; but now it once more overwhelmed her, and
she fell, her head covered with her veil, into the arms of the holy
women. Magdalen felt almost as though her Beloved were being forcibly
carried away from her, and hastily ran forward a few steps, with her
arms stretched forth; but then, after a moment, returned to the Blessed
Virgin.
The sacred body was carried to a spot beneath the level of the top
of Golgotha, where the smooth surface of a rock afforded a convenient
platform on which to embalm the body. I first saw a piece of
open-worked linen, looking very much like lace, and which made me think
of the large embroidered curtain hung between the choir and nave during
Lent.18 It was probably worked in that open stitch for the water to run
through. I also saw another large sheet unfolded. The body of our
Saviour was placed on the open-worked piece of linen, and some of the
other men held the other sheet spread above it. Nicodemus and Joseph
then knelt down, and underneath this covering took off the linen which
they had fastened round the loins of our Saviour, when they took his
body down from the Cross. They then passed sponges under this sheet,
and washed the lower parts of the body; after which they lifted it up
by the help of pieces of linen crossed beneath the loins and knees, and
washed the back without turning it over. They continued washing until
nothing but clear water came from the sponges when pressed. Next they
poured water of myrrh over the whole body, and then, handling it with
respect, stretched it out full length, for it was still in the position
in which our Divine Lord had died--the loins and knees bent. They then
placed beneath his hips a sheet which was a yard in width and three in
length, laid upon his lap bundles of sweet-scented herbs, and shook
over the whole body a powder which Nicodemus had brought. Next they
wrapped up the lower part of the body, and fastened the cloth which
they had placed underneath round it strongly. After this they anointed
the wounds of the thighs, placed bundles of herbs between the legs,
which were stretched out to their full length, and wrapped them up
entirely in these sweet spices.
Then John conducted the Blessed Virgin and the other holy women once
more to the side of the body. Mary knelt down by the head of Jesus, and
placed beneath it a piece of very fine linen which had been given her
by Pilate's wife, and which she had worn round her neck under her cloak;
next, assisted by the holy women, she placed from the shoulders to the
cheeks bundles of herbs, spices, and sweet-scented powder, and then
strongly bound this piece of linen round the head and shoulders.
Magdalen poured besides a small bottle of balm into the wound of the
side, and the holy women placed some more herbs into those of the hands
and feet. Then the men put sweet spices around all the remainder of the
body, crossed the sacred stiffened arms on the chest, and bound the
large white sheet round the body as high as the chest, in the same
manner as if they had been swaddling a child. Then, having fastened the
end of a large band beneath the armpits, they rolled it round the head
and the whole body. Finally, they placed our Divine Lord on the large
sheet, six yards in length, which Joseph of Arimathea had bought, and
wrapped him in it. He was lying diagonally upon it, and one corner of
the sheet was raised from the feet to the chest, the other drawn over
the head and shoulders, while the remaining two ends were doubled round
the body.
The Blessed Virgin, the holy women, the men--all were kneeling round
the body of Jesus to take their farewell of it, when a most touching
miracle took place before them. The sacred body of Jesus, with all its
wounds, appeared imprinted upon the cloth which covered it, as though
he had been pleased to reward their care and their love, and leave them
a portrait of himself through all the veils with which he was
enwrapped. With tears they embraced the adorable body, and then
reverently kissed the wonderful impression which it had left. Their
astonishment increased when, on lifting up the sheet, they saw that all
the bands which surrounded the body had remained white as before, and
that the upper cloth alone had been marked in this wonderful manner. It
was not a mark made by the bleeding wounds, since the whole body was
wrapped up and covered with sweet spices, but it was a supernatural
portrait, bearing testimony to the divine creative power ever abiding
in the body of Jesus. I have seen many things relative to the
subsequent history of this piece of linen, but I could not describe
them coherently. After the resurrection it remained in the possession
of the friends of Jesus, but fell twice into the hands of the Jews, and
later was honoured in several different places. I have seen it in a
city of Asia, in the possession of some Christians, who were not
Catholics. I have forgotten the name of the town, which is situated in
a province near the country of the Three Kings.