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The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.Anne Catherine Emmerichplace was empty and desolate, as every one had left on account of the events on the previous daywhich had rendered it impure. The Blessed Virgin appeared to me to visit it for the sole purposeof taking leave of the place where she had passed her youth.The Temple was, however, open; the lamps lighted, and the people at liberty to enter the vestibuleof the priests, which was the customary privilege of this day, as well as of that which followed thePaschal supper. The Temple was, as I said before, quite empty, with the exception of a chancepriest or server who might be seen wandering about; and every part bore the marks of the confusioninto which all was thrown on the previous day by the extraordinary and frightful events that hadtaken place; besides which it had been defiled by the presence of the dead, and I reflected andwondered in my own mind whether it would be possible ever to purify it again.315The sons of Simeon, and the nephews of Joseph of Arimathea, were much grieved when they heardof the arrest of their uncle, but they welcomed the Blessed Virgin and her companions, and conductedthem all over the Temple, which they did without difficulty, as they held the offices of inspectorsof the Temple. The holy women stood in silence and contemplated all the terrible and visible marksof the anger of God with feelings of deep awe, and then listened with interest to the many stupendousdetails recounted by their guides. The effects of the earthquake were still visible, as little had beendone towards repairing the numerous rents and cracks in the floor, and in the walls. In that part ofthe Temple where the vestibule joined the sanctuary, the wall was so tremendously shaken by theshock of the earthquake, as to produce a fissure wide enough for a person to walk through, and therest of the wall looked unsteady, as if it might fall down at any moment. The curtain which hungin the sanctuary was rent in two and hung in shreds at the sides; nothing was to be seen around butcrumbled walls, crushed flagstones, and columns either partly or quite Shaken down.The Blessed Virgin visited all those parts which Jesus had rendered sacred in her eyes; she prostrated,kissed them, and with tears in her eyes explained to the others her reasons for venerating eachparticular spot, whereupon they instantly followed her example. The greatest veneration was alwaysshown by the Jews for all places which had been rendered sacred by manifestations of the Divinepower, and it was customary to place the hands reverently on such places, to kiss them, and toprostrate to the very earth before them. I do not think there was anything in the least surprising insuch a custom, for they both knew, saw, and felt that the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob,was a living God, and that his dwelling among his people was in the Temple at Jerusalem;consequently it would have been infinitely more astonishing if they had not venerated those holyparts where his power had been particularly demonstrated, for the Temple and the holy places wereto them what the Blessed Sacrament is to Christians.Deeply penetrated with these feelings of respect, the Blessed Virgin walked through the Templewith her companions, and pointed out to them the spot where she was presented when still a child,the parts where she passed her childhood, the place where she was affianced to St. Joseph, and thespot where she stood when she presented Jesus and heard the prophecy of Simeon: the remembranceof his words made her weep bitterly, for the prophecy was indeed fulfilled, and the sword. of griefhad indeed transfixed her heart; she again stopped her companions when she reached the part of182
The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.Anne Catherine Emmerich316the Temple where she found Jews teaching, when she lost him at the age of twelve, and sherespectfully kissed the ground on which he then stood. When the holy women had looked at everyplace sanctified by the presence of Jesus, when they had wept and prayed over them, they returnedto Sion.The Blessed Virgin did not leave the Temple without shedding many tears, as she contemplatedthe state of desolation to which it was reduced, an aspect of desolation which was rendered stillmore depressing by the marked contrast it bore to the usual state of the Temple on the festival day.Instead of songs and hymns of jubilee, a mournful silence reigned throughout the vast edifice, andin place of groups of joyful and devout worshippers, the eye wandered over a vast and drearysolitude. Too truly, alas, did this change betoken the fearful crime which had been perpetrated bythe people of God, and she remembered how Jesus had wept over the Temple, and said, ‘Destroythis Temple and In three days I will build it up again.’ She thought over the destruction of theTemple of the Body of Jesus which had been brought about by his enemies, and she sighed with alonging desire for the dawning of that third day when the words of eternal truth were to beaccomplished.317It was about daybreak when Mary and her companions reached the Cenaculum, and they retiredinto the building which stood on its right-hand side, while John and some of the disciples reënteredthe Cenaculum, where about twenty men, assembled around a lamp, were occupied in prayer. Everynow and then new-comers drew nigh to the door, came in timidity, approached the group roundthe lamp, and addressed them in a few mournful words, which they accompanied with tears. Everyone appeared to regard John with feelings of respect; because he had remained with Jesus until heexpired; but with these sentiments of respect was mingled a deep feeling of shame and confusion,when they reflected on their own cowardly conduct in abandoning their Lord and Master in thehour of need. John spoke to every one with the greatest charity and kindness; his manner was modestand unassuming as that of a child, and he seemed to fear receiving praise. I saw the assembledgroup take one meal during that day, but its members were, for the most part, silent; not a soundwas to be heard throughout the house, and the doors were tightly closed, although, in fact, therewas no likelihood of any one disturbing them, as the house belonged to Nicodemus, and he had letit to them for the time of the festival.The holy women remained in this room until nightfall; it was lighted up by a single lamp; the doorswere closed, and curtains drawn over the windows. Sometimes they gathered round the BlessedVirgin and prayed under the lamp; at other times they retired to the side of the room, covered theirheads with black veils, and either sat on ashes (the sign of mourning), or prayed with their facesturned towards the wall; those whose, health was delicate took a little food, but the others fasted.I looked at them again and again, and I saw them ever occupied in the same manner, that is to say,either in prayer or in mourning over the sufferings of their beloved Master. When my thoughtswandered from the contemplation of the Blessed Virgin to that of her Divine Son, I beheld the holysepulchre with six or seven sentinels at the entrance—Cassius standing against the door of the cave,apparently in deep meditation, the exterior door closed, and the stone rolled close to it.Notwithstanding the thick door which intervened between the body of our Saviour and myself Icould see it plainly; it was quite transparent with a divine light, and two angels were adoring at the183
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