Apparitions on Occasion of the Death of Jesus.
Among the dead who rose from their graves, and who were certainly a
hundred in number, at Jerusalem, there were no relations of Jesus. I
saw in various parts of the Holy Land others of the dead appear and
bear testimony to the divinity of Jesus. Thus I saw Sadoch, a most
pious man, who had given all his property to the poor and to the
Temple, appear to many persons in the neighbourhood of Hebron. This
Sadoch had lived a century before Jesus, and was the founder of a
community of Essenians: he had ardently sighed for the coming of the
Messias, and had had several revelations upon the subject. I saw some
others of the dead appear to the hidden disciples of our Lord, and give
them different warnings.
Terror and desolation reigned even in the most distant parts of
Palestine, and it was not in Jerusalem only that frightful prodigies
took place. At Thirza, the towers of the prison in which the captives
delivered by Jesus had been confined fell down. In Galilee, where Jesus
had travelled so much, I saw many buildings, and in particular the
houses of those Pharisees who had been the foremost in persecuting our
Saviour, and who were then all at the festival, shaken to the ground,
crushing their wives and children. Numerous accidents happened in the
neighbourhood of the Lake of Genazareth. Many buildings fell down at
Capharnaum; and the wall of rocks which was in front of the beautiful
garden of the centurion Zorobabel cracked across. The lake overflowed
into the valley, and its waters descended as far as Capharnaum, which
was a mile and a half distant. Peter's house, and the dwelling of the
Blessed Virgin in front of the town, remained standing. The lake was
strongly convulsed; its shores crumbled in several places, and its
shape was very much altered, and became more like what it is at the
present day. Great changes took place, particularly at the
south-eastern extremity, near Tarichea, because in this part there was
a long causeway made of stones, between the lake and a sort of marsh,
which gave a constant direction to the course of the Jordan when it
left the lake. The whole of this causeway was destroyed by the
earthquake. Many accidents happened on the eastern side of the lake, on
the spot where the swine belonging to the inhabitants of Gergesa cast
themselves in, and also at Gergesa, Gerasa, and in the entire district
of Chorazin. The mountain where the second multiplication of the loaves
took place was shaken, and the stone upon which the miracle had been
worked split in two. In Decapolis, whole towns crumbled to the earth;
and in Asia, in several localities, the earthquake was severely felt,
particularly to the east and north-east of Paneas. In Upper Galilee,
many Pharisees found their houses in ruins when they returned from
keeping the feast. A number of them, while yet at Jerusalem, received
the news of what had happened, and it was on that account that the
enemies of Jesus made such very slight efforts against the Christian
community at Pentecost.
A part of the Temple of Garizim crumbled down. An idol stood there
above a fountain, in a small temple, the roof of which fell into the
fountain with the idol. Half of the synagogue of Nazareth, out of which
Jesus had been drive, fell down, as well as that part of the mountain
from which his enemies had endeavoured to precipitate him. The bed of
the Jordan was much changed by all these shocks, and its course altered
in many places. At Macherus, and at the other towns belonging to Herod,
everything remained quiet, for that country was out of the sphere of
repentance and of threats, like those men who did not fall to the
ground in the Garden of Olives, and, consequently, did not rise again.
In many other parts where there were evil spirits, I saw the latter
disappear in large bodies amid the falling mountains and buildings. The
earthquakes reminded me of the convulsions of the possessed, when the
enemy feels that he must take to flight. At Gergesa, a part of the
mountain from which the devils had cast themselves with the swine into
a marsh, fell into this same marsh; and I then saw a band of evil
spirits cast themselves into the abyss, like a dark cloud.
It was at Nice, unless I am mistaken, that I saw a singular
occurrence, of which I have only an imperfect remembrance. There was a
port there with many vessels in it; and near this port stood a house
with a high tower, in which I saw a pagan whose office was to watch
these vessels. He had often to ascend this tower, and see what was
going on at sea. Having heard a great noise over the vessels in the
port, he hurriedly ascended the tower to discover what was taking
place, and he saw several dark figures hovering over the port, and who
exclaimed to him in plaintive accents: 'If thou desirest to preserve the
vessels, cause them to be sailed out of this port, for we must return
to the abyss: the great Pan is dead.' They told him several other things;
laid injunctions upon him to make known what they were then telling him
upon his return from a certain voyage which he was soon to make, and to
give a good reception to the messengers who would come to announce the
doctrine of him who had just died. The evil spirits were forced in this
manner by the power of God to inform this good man of their defeat, and
announce it to the world. He had the vessels put in safety, and then an
awful storm arose: the devils cast themselves howling into the sea, and
half the city fell down. His house remained standing. Soon afterwards
he went on a great journey, and announced the death of the great Pan,
if that is the name by which our Saviour had been called. Later he came
to Rome, where much amazement was caused by what he related. His name
was something like Thamus or Thramus.