163. Resuming our interpretation of the Gospel, let us consider the steps that were taken for the dead Deific Body of Christ to be taken down from the Cross and given honourable burial. As we have already mentioned in the course of this chapter, among Jesus’ followers present on Calvary were the three secret disciples Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea and Gamaliel; they, after the Master’s Death, consulted His Divine Mother about how to give honourable burial to the Deific Body of Her Son. But let us examine the sacred text. Saint Matthew: «And when it was evening, there came a certain rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the Body of Jesus» (Matt. XXVII, 57—58a). Saint Mark: «And when evening was now come, (because it was the parasceve, that is, the day before the Sabbath) Joseph of Arimathea, a noble counsellor, who was also himself looking for the Kingdom of God, came and went in boldly to Pilate and begged the Body of Jesus» (Mark XV, 42-43). Saint Luke: «And behold there was a man named Joseph who was a counsellor, a good and a just man (the same had not consented to their counsel and doings), of Arimathea, a city of Judea; who also himself looked for the Kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and begged the Body of Jesus» (Luke XXIII, 50-52). Saint John, after relating as we know the mystery of the Lance-thrust, says that «after these things, Joseph of Arimathea, (because he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews) besought Pilate that he might take away the Body of Jesus» (John XIX, 38a). We teach that at 4.04 p.m. on Good Friday the 25th of March of the year 34, Joseph of Arimathea, accompanied by Nicodemus, went from Calvary to Jerusalem to request Pilate to deliver to him the Deific Body of Christ for honourable burial. Meanwhile Gamaliel for his part remained on Calvary with John so as, by his authority, to secure greater respect for those at the foot of the Cross, and to take part also in the descent and burial of Christ. Hence for this mission God made use of the prestigious authority which, as former Sanhedrists, the three secret disciples enjoyed before Pilate, the citizens and even before the Sanhedrin itself, for it was also appropriate that it become public knowledge that these three illustrious personages, disciples of the Lord, were those principally entrusted with giving honourable burial to Him Who ignominiously had been slain on Calvary. But before relating what they did in Jerusalem, let us consider what happened to the other Apostles, the disciples and the pious women who, as we know, mingled with the crowd, witnessed the Master’s sufferings. As Satan knew for certain when Christ expired that the Most Divine Crucified was the true Promised Messias and that by His Death mankind had been redeemed, he, no longer able to vent his infernal rage on Him, endeavoured, with divine leave, to harm His faithful followers. To do so he fostered yet more the dejection that already partly weighed upon them at Christ’ apparent defeat in the face of His enemies. For, John excepted, the other Apostles and many of the disciples and holy women, during Christ’s agony had still not given up the hope that He would use His divine power to free Himself from His persecutors, as He had sometimes done, and with majestic and invincible authority implant the Kingdom of God for which they so greatly yearned; and, though knowing this to be spiritual they still had not dismissed the notion that it might also be temporal. The dejection of the group of Jesus’ followers exceedingly increased when they beheld, following the Lance-thrust, His open Deific Side; since they then lost the vain longing for His power to prevail over His enemies before the eyes of those present. Peter and the rest were not lacking the graces needed to overcome that trial permitted by God; and besides, as we already know, Christ’s Death had been accompanied by prodigious and unmistakable signs that confirmed His victory and triumph over the Evil One and his infernal legions. Hence when the Divine Mary observed that distress was taking hold of the Apostles and the other followers of Jesus above mentioned, and that their anxiety was increasing, She did not wish them to remain there to assist at Christ’s descent and burial; wherefore She maternally told them to go to the Cenacle so that, recollected in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament reserved in the Tabernacle, they be strengthened to overcome the trial. In that way the most loving Mother prevented Satan from reaping fruit from Her children’s lamentable state of confusion, and also from the fear that gripped them of possible reprisals, since in the measure that people left Calvary they stood out the more. All of which would have resulted in a fresh dispersal similar to that which had occurred in the Garden of Olives. That is why - with the exception of John, of the pious women accompanying the Virgin at the foot of the Cross, of Gamaliel and of other followers of Christ - at 4.30 p.m. the other Apostles and the majority of the disciples and the holy women, with the utmost caution left Calvary for the Cenacle. We make clear that, even though among these disciples and holy women there were those who were steadfast, it was advisable that they go with the rest to give them guidance and encouragement.

164. As soon as Joseph of Arimathea reached Jerusalem, with Nicodemus he made for the Roman Procurator’s palace; for he was anxious to take charge of Christ’s Body in order to give Him honourable burial on Calvary itself, and thereby prevent interment by the soldiery in the shameful manner that they employed with offenders. As is seen in Saint Mark, «Pilate wondered that He should be already dead» (Mark XV, 44a); and this was because, when Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus informed him of certain details concerning what had occurred on Calvary, Pilate then discovered that Jesus had died at 3 p.m.; as opposed to the report received from Annas and Caiphas who as we know, quite some time after Jesus’ Death, had informed Pilate that He was still alive in order that His legs might also be broken. Faced with this discrepancy and wishing to be informed directly by the converted Centurion Abenadar, to whom he had entrusted the custody of Christ on Calvary and who was there still, Pilate sent word to him to come to the palace, as Saint Mark likewise relates: «And sending for the Centurion, he asked him if he were already dead» (Mark XV, 44b). Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took advantage of the delay to render to the Procurator testimony of Christ’s innocence, of His salvific mission as the Onlybegotten of God and promised Messias, and of the wickedness of the Sanhedrin in delivering Christ up to his authority of Roman Procurator to be slain. Saint Mark goes on to say: «And when he had understood it by the Centurion, he gave the Body to Joseph» (Mark XV, 45). Saint Matthew relates: «Then Pilate commanded that the Body should be delivered» (Matt. XXVII, 58b). Saint John: «And Pilate gave leave» (John XIX, 38b). In other words, once Abenadar had corroborated the time of Christ’s Death, the Roman Precurator gave him the express order for Joseph of Arimathea to take charge at his discretion of the descent and burial of the Deific Body; whereupon the Centurion returned to Calvary. As we interpret from the sacred texts, after his interview with Pilate «Joseph bought fine linen» (Mark XV, 46a) in Jerusalem, namely a linen sheet over four metres long and somewhat more than one metre wide, destined to wrap the Deific Body of Christ for burial. The other secret disciple also provided himself with necessary articles, like those mentioned in the following text of Saint John: «And Nicodemus also came (he who at the first came to Jesus by night), bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight» (John XIX, 39); that is some three and a half kilos in all. The two secret disciples then returned to Calvary together. When they arrived, the majority of the people had returned to the city, except for those accompanying the Divine Mary at the foot of the Cross, Gamaliel with other followers of Jesus, the soldiers and some few spectators, since it was nearly time for the solemnity of the Sabbath to begin; and for that reason the descent and burial of Christ could be undertaken with the required decorum. The fact that Saint Mark identifies Joseph of Arimathea as a noble counsellor and Saint Luke states that he was a counsellor, was to emphasize the prestige that he enjoyed with the Roman authorities as a former member of the Sanhedrin, and not because he was such at the time, since as we know he had resigned two days before the Death of Christ. It is fitting, moreover, to recall that when Saint John says of Joseph of Arimathea that «he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews» (John XIX, 38), it must be understood that he acted thus out of prudence, as has already been taught; and also that when the same Evangelist says of Nicodemus, «He who at the first came to Jesus by night» (John XIX, 39), he is referring to the disciple’s meeting with the Master at Bethany in the year 31, at which he was converted, as we know.

165. The Evangelists give but the barest account of the descent of the Deific Body of Christ from the Cross, Saint Matthew: «And Joseph taking the Body...» (Matt. XXVII, 59a); Saint Mark: «And taking Him down...» (Mark XV, 46b); Saint Luke: «And taking Him down...» (Luke XXIII, 53a); Saint John: «He came therefore and took away the Body of Jesus» (John XIX, 38c); «They took therefore the Body of Jesus» (John XIX, 40a). This Holy Council teaches that the taking down of the Body of Christ from the wood of the Cross was commenced with the utmost care as soon as Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus returned to Calvary, taking part in that delicate mission, in addition to the three secret disciples, the Apostle John, Lazarus and certain other followers of Jesus. To do so, behind each arm of the Cross they rested a ladder of the common type used by the Romans to unnail the bodies of the condemned. Joseph of Arimathea then climbed the ladder resting against the right arm of the Cross, and Nicodemus that against the left arm, while John, Gamaliel, Lazarus, Sidonius and other followers remained below to remove the nail from the feet and then receive the Deific Body of Christ. Once up on the Cross, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus removed from the Most Sacred Head of Christ the three horns of mockery embedded in the crown. For the descent, to support the Most Sacred Cadaver’s weight It was first secured at the breast and axillae using a long cloth gathered in various folds; which was put in place from above by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, and in turn taken hold of by them at its extremities. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had brought this cloth to Calvary; but it was not the great linen cloth purchased to wrap around the Deific Body for burial. Their greatest concern was to remove the three deeply embedded nails out of the hard wood without harming the Hands and Feet of the Divine Master. But, O marvellous prodigy! at the very moment that both secret disciples made ready respectively to unnail Christ’s Divine Hands, the Latter came away by themselves without any difficulty, leaving the two nails embedded in the Cross; with the consequent freeing of the upper part of Christ’s Body, which was supported by the cloth firmly grasped by the two secret disciples. It was then that Lazarus proceeded to the removal of the nail in the Most Sacred Feet, which came away by themselves without any difficulty, leaving the nail fast in the wood. Then, according as Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus gently and without effort played out the supportive linen cloth, the Deific Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ was lowered from the Cross: an indescribably moving scene; for as Saint Amme Catherine Emmerich correctly states, they did everything with so much care as if fearing to cause Jesus some hurt, whereby they displayed towards the Sacred Body the love and veneration they had held for the Saviour during His life. The unforgettable scene was contemplated with the deepest respect and silence by the pious beholders, who wept profusely. We teach that the ignominiously blemished Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ was taken down from the Cross at exactly 5 p.m. and directly laid in the most loving bosom of the Divine Mary, She seated and having Mary Cleophas and Mary Salome as support to Her right and left respectively. As soon as the Deific Body of the Son had been set in the lap of the Most Sorrowful Mother, She miraculously removed His crown of thorns, without any of the sharp points remaining embedded in the Most Sacred Cranium. From the purest hands of the Most Holy Virgin Mary the crown then passed to the Magdalen, who wrapped it in a small cloth in order afterwards to take it to the Cenacle. The Divine Mary then cleansed the wounds of the Most Divine Face of Her Son dead in Her lap. Concerning this most beautiful passage of the descent of Christ’s Body from the Cross and the placing in the lap of His Mother, we cite here the following words of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the then Bishop Father Ferdinand, now His Holiness Pope Gregory XVII, in the message of the 10th of December 1977: <>. As we interpret from Saint Mary of Jesus of Agreda, when the Divine Mary saw Her most beloved Son in Her arms, wounded and His comeliness disfigured, the sorrows of Her Immaculate Heart were renewed; but, in the possession of Her Most Divine Treasure, at the same time it was for Her a supreme joy. We add that the Divine Mary, with supreme worship and reverence, adored Her Divine Son in Her lap, and in union with Her the whole heavenly Court, as likewise John, the holy women and the other followers of Jesus present. Immediately after Christ’s descent, the Holy Cross was drawn out of the rock of Calvary by order of the convert Centurion Abenadar, and was deposited in a grotto - distinct from the sepulchre - situated on Calvary within the garden owned by Joseph of Arimathea, and which afterwards would also be a place of veneration for the early Christians. Close by and outside that grotto they buried the crosses of the two thieves, for the bodies of Saint Dismas and Gestas had been taken down by the Romans before 6 p.m., when the Sabbath began. The Most Sacred Cross of our Redemption became concealed under the ground at Calvary owing to war and construction. Almost three centuries later Saint Helen, mother of be emperor Constantine, in the course of the excavations that she by divine inspiration ordered to be carried out on Calvary, miraculously encountered the Lord’s Cross, the three nails and the two crosses of the thieves. The sublime mystery of the descent of the Body of Christ and His placing in the bosom of His Divine Mother, is venerated in the Church as the Fourteenth Station of the Way of the Cross.

166. But let us now consider, in the light of the teachings of His Holiness Pope Gregory XVII, how the Holy Burial of the Most Divine Body of Christ and Its placing in the sepulchre were carried out. After the Divine Mary had offered Her dead Divine Son to the Father, <>. Forthwith the Most Sorrowful Mother, to conceal the horrible disfigurement of the sweet and beautiful Holy Face of Our Lord Jesus Christ from those present, covered it with a cloth or veil for the transfer from Calvary to the Holy Sepulchre. At 5.14 p.m. on that Good Friday, the lifeless Body of the Redeemer of the world was taken from the most pure lap of the Most Holy Virgin Mary by Saint John, the three secret disciples and other followers of Christ, and placed in the linen cloth used for the descent from the Cross; and in that way they took Him from the rock of Calvary down to the grotto of the sepulchre owned by Joseph of Arimnathea. During the transfer the Divine Mary, accompanied by Her sisters Mary Cleophas and Mary Salome, by Mary Magdalen and Martha, and by others, followed the Most Sacred Cadaver. It is well to clarify that the grotto of the sepulchre comprised two sections: the larger one served as vestibule; the other, inner one was the burial chamber properly speaking, and was connected to the former by way of an opening of no great height, through which one had to stoop a little to enter. When inside the sepulchre, and before placing the Deific Body in the burial chamber, they removed the linen cloth used for the transfer so as to place the Body on the completely unfolded Holy Shroud; Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus then proceeded lavishly to anoint It with a balm of aloes and myrrh. Before Christ’s Deific Body was covered by the part of the Holy Shroud not occupied by the Most Sacred Cadaver, Joseph of Arimathea removed the sacred scarf or shroud or veil that covered the Holy Face, and which, though retaining the stains of the Most Precious Blood, had not received the impress of the Holy Face. The two secret disciples, then folding over the unoccupied part of the Holy Sindone at the Most Sacred Head, covered the Deific Body of Jesus. When that had been done, the two saintly men Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, inspired by the Holy Ghost, with becoming respect and prudence removed the loincloth covering the delicate parts of the dead Deific Body. It is well to make clear that although Our Lord Jesus Christ shed all His Blood on Calvary, there remaining none in the interior of His Body, He desired outside of It miraculously to preserve the Bloodstains emanating from His Most Sacred Wounds and other injuries, in order that His bloody immolation continue to be manifested to the people. Concerning this episode, Saint Matthew says: «Joseph...wrapped Him in a clean linen cloth» (Matt. XXVII, 59b); Saint Mark: «Joseph...wrapped Him in the fine linen» (Mark XV, 46c); Saint Luke: «He wrapped Him in fine linen» (Luke XXIII, 53b); Saint John: «They...bound Him in linen cloths, with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury» (John XIX, 40b). The Evangelist then give us some details about Christ’s sepulchre. Saint John says: «Now there was in the place where He was crucified a garden: and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein no man yet had been laid. There, then, because of the Parasceve of the Jews, they laid Jesus: because the sepulchre was nigh at hand» (John XIX, 41-42). Saint Matthew relates that Joseph of Arimathea «laid It in his own new monument, which he had hewed out in a rock. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the monument and went his way» (Matt. XXVII, 60). Saint Mark also says that Joseph of Arimathea «laid Him in a sepulchre which was hewed out of a rock. And he rolled a stone to the door of the sepulchre» (Mark XV, 46d). Saint Luke says: «He...laid Him in a sepulchre that was hewed in rock, wherein never yet any man had been laid. And it was the day of the parasceve: and the sabbath drew on» (Luke XXIII, 53c-54). We teach that at 5.45 p.m. John, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus placed the Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the burial chamber, the Most Sacred Head at the far end and to the right on entering, and the feet towards the door. The ceremony took place in the presence of the Divine Mary, Her sisters, Mary Magdalene, Martha and the other followers of Christ who were in the vestibule, though the first two Evangelists we interpret speak only of Mary Cleophas, Mary Salome and Mary Magdalen. Saint Matthew: «And there was there Mary Magdalen and the other Mary, over against the sepulchre» (Matt. XXVII, 61). Saint Mark: «And Mary Magdalen and Mary the mother of Joseph, beheld where He was laid» (Mark XV, 47). Hence each Evangelist complements the other to indicate that the three Marys, inside the sepulchre, saw from the vestibule how the Body of Christ was placed in the burial chamber; for with the expression `the other Mary’, Saint Matthew is referring to Mary Salome, since Mary the mother of Joseph, surnamed Barsabas, is Mary Cleophas. Saint Luke, we interpret, speaks of the pious women’s presence at the Holy Burial, and of the adoration all rendered to Christ’s Body after He was placed in the sepulchre: «And the women that were come with Him from Galilee, following after, saw the sepulchre and how His Body was laid» (Luke XXIII, 55). We teach that after the Most Sacred Cadaver had been adored by the Divine Mary and the others present, all went out so as to enable Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus to sprinkle the remaining myrrh throughout the burial chamber, as was the custom. The entrance to the grotto was then sealed using a huge round stone that was ready for the purpose. Hence the Holy Sepulchre was sealed at exactly 6 p.m., when the solemn Jewish Sabbath began. As we gather from the Evangelist Saint John (XIX, 42), the Deific Body of Christ was buried in the tomb hewed out of rock by Joseph of Arimathea in his garden on Calvary because that tomb was close by; for the proximity of the Sabbath had not allowed time to bury Him in the family tomb of the Garden of Olives, wherein, as we know, there was amongst others the accidental body of Saint Joseph. All this was foreseen by God in order for Christ’s place of burial to be close by the rock of Calvary and on the very spot where the first man Adam had died. The fact that the Evangelists give prominence to the figure of Joseph of Arimathea - even saying that it was he that took the Body down from the Cross, wrapped It in a linen cloth and placed It in the tomb, which he moreover sealed - was to record that that secret disciple was, in accordance with the divine plan, the person principally in charge and chiefly responsible for giving the Most Sacred Body of the Onlybegotten of God distinguished treatment, a decorous funeral and honourable burial. But as we stated, he carried all this out with the help of the rest. It is Saint Luke, we interpret, who concludes this Gospel passage saying: «And returning...on the Sabbath day they rested, according to the Commandment» (Luke XXIII, 56). In the light of this text we teach that, the Holy Sepulchre sealed, the Divine Mary returned to the Cenacle in Jerusalem, accompanied by John, the pious women, the secret disciples, Lazarus, and also Sidonius, who now joined as a disciple; and that when reunited with the Apostles, disciples and holy women there, in prayer and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament all celebrated the solemnity of the Sabbath, the day established in the Decalogue. But it is necessary to point out that the Divine Mary, at the same time as She was physically alive in the Cenacle, in the sepulchre shared in the Death of Christ, since She was mystically dead and buried with Him, in virtue of the enthronement of a Particle of Her maternal Heart in the Deific Heart; for as we know the mutual indwelling of their Hearts was never sundered. The corporeal Deific Nature of Jesus in the sepulchre was watched over and adored by the angelic choirs and by all the rest of the saved. We will not now consider the words «they prepared spices and ointments» of verse 56 of Saint Luke, because chronologically they pertain to a task performed after the sabbath rest, as we shall see. The sublime mystery of the funeral and burial of Christ is venerated in the Church in the Fifteenth Station of the Way of the Cross.

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167. As we interpret from the Gospel, the impious High Priests Annas and Caiphas and the other members of the Sanhedrin were not completely satisfied and contented at the Death of Christ and the burial of His Body; for, well aware as they were of His Divinity, they knew for certain that He would rise again as He had publicly foretold. Moreover they were not ignorant of, among others, the prophecy of the Holy Prophet David when he places in Christ’s mouth the following words addressed to the Father: «Because Thou will not leave My Soul in Hell; nor wilt Thou give Thy Holy One to see corruption» (Ps. XV, 10), a sentence manifesting Christ’s prompt Resurrection. For although His most glorious Soul was separated from His Deific Body after His Death on Calvary, within the third day both elements would be reunited for the glorious Resurrection of the naturally incorruptible Deific Body. That is why the Psalmist, with the word `Hell’, represents the Limbo of the Just, which in Christ’s case was heavenly Glory. As the astute Sanhedrists had the foreboding that the Resurrection would discredit them more than even His life of preaching and miracles, their endeavour now was to conceal or render fruitless that extraordinary event. Therefore an urgent session of the whole Sanhedrin was convoked that same evening, already the solemn Sabbath, at which it was agreed to request Pontius Pilate to send guards to keep watch over the sepulchre; these they would afterwards bribe to say the opposite to what was true, as we shall see. Saint Matthew say: «And the next day, which followed the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees came together to Pilate, saying: Sir, we have remembered that the seducer said, while He was yet alive: After three days I will rise again. Command therefore the sepulchre to be guarded until the third day: lest perhaps His disciples come and steal Him away and say to the people: He is risen from the dead. And the last error shall be worse than the first» (Matt. XXVII, 62-64). As we interpret from the sacred text, after dawn on Saturday the 26th of March of the year 34, Annas and Caiphas sent a commission of Sanhedrists to Pilate. These had no scruples this time about entering the Praetorium to meet with the Procurator. There they astutely warned him of the very serious harm that would result to Jewish faith and traditions, and even to the security of the empire, were it at any time to be propagated that Christ had risen as He Himself had foretold; and that it was very likely that the disciples themselves would steal the Body, in order afterwards falsely to disseminate the Resurrection among the people, which would be an even greater fraud than His having proclaimed Himself the Son of God. The Sanhedrists’ hypocritical and deceitful warning to Pilate was out of fear that the people might believe in Christ’s Resurrection following possible portentous signs, with the consequent danger that His fame as Messias be restored and His followers gain even greater support than when He had preached and worked miracles, a risk they wished to avoid at all costs. However the Sanhedrin’s request did not place Pontius Pilate in any kind of predicament, for greater condescension had been to send the Innocent One to Death. That is why, as we see in Saint Matthew, correctly interpreted, «Pilate saith to them: You have guards. Go guard Him as you know» (Matt. XXVII, 65), placing then twelve duly uniformed soldiers at the disposal of the Pontiff’s envoys. As the Evangelist goes on to say, «they departing, made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone and setting guards» (Matt. XXVII, 66). That is, the Sanhedrist commission, accompanied by the twelve Romans, went from the Praetorium itself to the Holy Sepulchre; and after duly taping and sealing the great stone blocking the entrance, they left the soldiers there to take turns of guard duty. As can be seen in the Gospel, neither did the Sanhedrin on this occasion have any scruple at breaking the Sabbath rest by way of the impious council meeting, the visit to Pilate and the work at the tomb.

168. The Sabbath rest over, there took place what Saint Mark relates: «And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalen and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought sweet spices, that coming they might anoint Jesus» (Mark XVI, 1), Saint Luke merely says that the women «Prepared spices and ointments» (Luke XXII 1, 56b). We teach that shortly after 6 p.m. on Saturday the 26th of March of the year 34, the Most Holy Virgin’s two sisters, as also Mary Magdalen and Martha, left the Cenacle to buy spices and ointments in the city with the object of spreading them upon the Lord’s recumbent Body in the visit they would make on Sunday to the Holy Sepulchre, where they expected to find Him dead. Saint John relates: «And on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalen cometh early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre» (John XX, 1). Saint Luke: «And on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared» (Luke XXIV, 1). Both Evangelists are referring to the departure of Mary Cleophas, Mary Salome, Mary Magdalen, Martha, as also Joanna Chusa the wife of the Ruler, from the Cenacle to go to the Holy Sepulchre. They all set out together at 5.30 a.m. on Sunday the 27th of March of the year 34 when it was still somewhat dark. The first two Evangelists relate, according to our interpretation, the arrival of the five holy women at the sepulchre. Saint Matthew: «And after the Sabbath, when it began to dawn on the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalen and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre» (Matt. XXVIII, 1). Saint Mark: «And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they come to the sepulchre, the sun being now risen» (Mark, XVI, 2); in other words, the pious women reached the sepulchre after Christ had risen, and with the sun already up. Saint Mark relates what the women said to one another along the way: «Who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulchre?» (Mark XVI, 3). But their deliberations were suddenly cut short by a great earthquake, of which we shall speak later, that occurred at exactly 6 a.m. when the glorious Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ took place - namely at dawn on Sunday the 27th of March of the year 34. Accordingly, when they reached the entrance to the grotto, it was no longer blocked by the huge stone, as a sign that Christ had risen. Saint Mark and Saint Luke allude to this exact moment when they say: «And looking, they saw the stone rolled back. For it was very great» (Mark XVI, 4); «And they found the stone rolled back from the sepulchre» (Luke XXIV, 2). Saint John, more concerned with Mary Magdalene says: «And she saw the stone taken away from the sepulchre» (John XX, 1b).

169. Before continuing the Gospel narrative, let us consider the following mysteries of the Lord’s Resurrection. As we know, the Deific Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ was dead for 39 hours: from 3 p.m. on Good Friday until 6 a.m. on Easter Sunday, and was therefore buried for 36 hours. In the Holy Gospel we find that Christ foretold His future Glorious Resurrection in two distinct ways: on one occasion He said that He would be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights (Matt. XII, 40); whereby on that occasion He meant that His Resurrection would take place after He had been buried for three days, each of 24 hours. But on four distinct occasions Christ also said that He would rise on the third day after His Death: the first is contained in Saint Matthew (XVI, 21), Saint Mark (VIII, 31) and Saint Luke (IX, 22); the second in Saint Matthew (XVII, 22) and Saint Mark (IX, 30); the third in Saint Matthew (XX, 19), Saint Mark (X, 34) and Saint Luke (XVIII, 33); and the fourth in Saint John: «Destroy this Temple; and in three days I will raise it up» (John II, 19), that is, on the third day, referring to the Temple of His Body. We make clear that though in chapter VIII, verse 31, Saint Mark says `after three days’, this must be understood in the same sense as the other Gospel texts: `on the third day’. Accordingly, when Christ said He would rise on the third day after His Death, He meant that He would rise within the third day following His Death, and therefore on Sunday. Considering the different Gospel expressions, we see how Jesus, when He said that He would be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights, was manifesting the decree of the divine plan of His Resurrection in its rigour; and, on the other four occasions, He was indicating the generous fulfillment thereof for love of the elect, whom He wished to make partakers as soon as possible of the joy of His Resurrection. Hence Christ brought forward that admirable event the hours between 6 a.m. on the Sunday He rose and 6 p.m. the following day, Monday, when He was to have risen. His Holiness Pope Gregory XVII masterfully defines that at the very instant of His triumphant Resurrection, by His divine power Our Lord Jesus Christ reintegrated into His cadaverous Deific Body: (1) The fragments thereof; (2) His Most Precious Blood; (3) His Most Divine Soul. Moreover, the very instant that Our Lord Jesus Christ reintegrated His Most Divine Soul into His Deific Body, by His divine power He forever ceased to assume the passible state. The reintegrations were wrought in a single instant according to the above order. Concerning the fragments of detached Deific Flesh, which by the ministry of Saint Uriel were deposited in one of the ciboria of the Cenacle, as also the Deific Blood shed, likewise deposited in the other ciborium: when all these elements were reintegrated into the Body of Christ at His Resurrection, they ceased to assume the respective accidents of bread and wine under which they had been substantially contained, although the Most Blessed Sacrament at the same time continued to be reserved there in the ciboria under both sacred sacramental species consecrated in the Mass of the Cenacle. Moreover, also reintegrated into the Body of Christ was the particle of the Child Jesus which had been severed at His Circumcision, as also the Blood then shed - which we now teach were seven drops; which relics had been in the Divine Mary’s keeping. We make clear that whatever hair of Christ’s Head or any other hair, or fragment of finger or toe-nail, that became detached from Christ’s Deific Body in the torments of His Passion, since they were hypostatically united to the Divine Word they were deposited by Saint Uriel in the ciborium of the Cenacle under the sacred species of bread, and at the Resurrection were also reintegrated into the Deific Body of Christ along with His Flesh in sacramental form in that ciborium. In his sermon on Pentecost Sunday Saint Peter said: «This Jesus hath God raised again» (Acts II, 32), to express that Christ’s Resurrection was wrought by the infinite power of His Divine Nature. His Holiness Pope Gregory XVII infallibly teaches <>. In other words, when Christ emerged from the enfolding Holy Shroud, the part thereof that had covered the front of His Deific Body came down until resting flat on the part of the Shroud upon which the Deific Body had lain and which had been in contact with His dorsum. The Supreme Palmarian Pontiff also teaches that <>. We add that the impression was on the side of the Shroud that had been indirect contact with the Lord’s Body. We confirm that the Holy Sindone or Holy Shroud extant in the Cathedral of Turin, Italy, is really and truly the piece of linen that enfolded the Deific Cadaver of Christ in the Holy Sepulchre; and that the cloth extant in the sacred chamber of the Cathedral of Oviedo, Spain, is the shroud or veil with which the Most Holy Virgin Mary covered the Holy Face of Her Most Divine Son for His transfer to the Holy Sepulchre.