24 MARCH – PALM SUNDAY (SECOND SUNDAY OF THE PASSION)

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Holy Church has so arranged the service of today that it should express both joy and sorrow. Joy, by uniting herself with the loyal Hosannas of the City of David, and sorrow, by compassionating the Passion of her Divine Spouse. The whole function is divided into three parts, which we will now proceed to explain.

The first is the BLESSING OF THE PALMS, and we may have an idea of its importance by the solemnity used by the Church in this sacred rite. One would suppose that the Holy Sacrifice has begun, and is going to be offered up in honour of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Introit, Collect, Epistle, Gradual, Gospel, even a Preface, are said as though we were, as usual, preparing for the immolation of the Spotless Lamb, but, after the triple Sanctus! Sanctus! Sanctus! the Church suspends these sacrificial formulas and turns to the Blessing of the Palms. The prayers she uses for this Blessing are eloquent and full of instruction, and together with the sprinkling with Holy Water and the Incensation, impart a virtue to these branches, which elevates them to the supernatural order, and makes them means for the sanctification of our souls and the protection of our persons and dwellings. The faithful should hold these Palms in their hands during the procession, and during the reading of the Passion at Mass, and keep them in their homes as an outward expression of their faith, and as a pledge of God’s watchful love.

It is scarcely necessary to tell our reader that the palms or olive branches, thus blessed, are carried in memory of those with which the people of Jerusalem strewed the road, as our Saviour made His triumphant entry, but a word on the antiquity of our ceremony will not be superfluous. It began very early in the East. It is probable, that as far as Jerusalem itself is concerned, the custom was established immediately after the Ages of Persecution. Saint Cyril, who was bishop of that city in the fourth century tells us that the palm tree from which the people cut the branches when they went out to meet our Saviour was still to be seen in the Valley of Cedron. Such a circumstance would naturally suggest an annual commemoration of the great event. In the following century we find this ceremony established, not only in the Churches of the East, but also in the monasteries of Egypt and Syria. At the beginning of Lent many of the holy monks obtained permission from their Abbots to retire into the desert that they might spend the sacred season in strict seclusion, but they were obliged to return to their monasteries for Palm Sunday, as we learn from the Life of Saint Euthymius, written by his disciple Cyril. In the West, the introduction of this ceremony was more gradual: the first trace we find of it is in the Sacramentary of Saint Gregory, that is, the end of the sixth or the beginning of the seventh century. When the faith had penetrated into the north it was not possible to have palms or olive branches: they were supplied by branches from other trees. The beautiful prayers used in the Blessing, and which are based on the mysteries expressed by the palm and olive trees, are still employed in the blessing of our willow, box, or other branches, and rightly, for they represent the symbolical ones which nature has denied us.

The second of today’s ceremonies is the PROCESSION which comes immediately after the Blessing of the Palms. It represents our Saviour’s journey to Jerusalem and His entry into the city. To make it the more expressive, the branches that have just been blessed are held in the hand during it. With the Jews, to hold a branch in one’s hand was a sign of joy. The Divine Law had sanctioned the practice, as we read in the following passage from Leviticus where God commands His people to keep the Feast of Tabernacles: “And you will take to you, on the first day, the fruits of the fairest tree, and branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook, and you will rejoice before the Lord your God” (Leviticus xxiii. 40). It was, therefore, to testify their delight at seeing Jesus enter within their walls that the inhabitants, even the little children, of Jerusalem, went forth to meet Him with palms in their hands. Let us, also, go before our King, singing our Hosannas to Him as the Conqueror of death, and the Liberator of His people.

During the Middle Ages it was the custom in many churches to carry the Book of the Holy Gospels in this Procession. The Gospel contains the words of Jesus Christ, and was considered to represent Him. The procession halted at an appointed place or Station: the Deacon then opened the sacred Volume and sang from it the passage which describes our Lord’s entry into Jerusalem. This done, the cross, which, up to this moment, was veiled, was uncovered. Each of the clergy advanced towards it, venerated it, and placed at its foot a small portion of the palm he held in his hand. The procession then returned, preceded by the cross, which was left unveiled until all had re-entered the church. In England and Normandy, as far back as the eleventh century, there was practised a holy ceremony which represented, even more vividly than the one we have just been describing, the scene that was witnessed, on this day, at Jerusalem: the Blessed Sacrament was carried in procession. The heresy of Berengarius against the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist had been broached about that time, and the tribute of triumphant joy here shown to the Sacred Host was a distant preparation for the feast and procession, which were to be instituted at a later period.

A touching ceremony was also practised in Jerusalem during today’s Procession, and, like those just mentioned, was intended to commemorate the event related by the Gospel. The whole community of the Franciscans (to whose keeping the Holy Places are entrusted), went in the morning to Bethphage. There the Father Guardian of the Holy Land, being vested in pontifical robes, mounted upon an ass on which garments were laid. Accompanied by the Friars and the Catholics of Jerusalem, all holding palms in their hands, he entered the city, and alighted at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where Mass was celebrated with all possible solemnity.

We have mentioned these different usages, as we have done others on similar occasions, in order to aid the faithful to the better understanding of the several mysteries of the Liturgy. In the present instance they will learn that, in today’s Procession the Church wishes us to honour Jesus Christ as though He were really among us, and were receiving the humble tribute of our loyalty. Let us lovingly go forth to meet this our King, our Saviour, who comes to visit the Daughter of Sion, as the Prophet has just told us. He is in our midst. It is to him that we pay honour with our palms. Lt us give Him our hearts too. He comes that He may be our king. Let us welcome Him as such, and fervently cry out to him: Hosanna to the Son of David!

At the close of the Procession a ceremony takes place which is full of the sublimest symbolism. On returning to the church the doors are found to be shut. The triumphant Procession is stopped, but the songs of joy are continued. A hymn in honour of Christ our King is sung with its joyous chorus and at length, the Sub-deacon strikes the door with the staff of the cross. The door opens, and the people, preceded by the clergy, enter the church, proclaiming the praise of Him who is our Resurrection and our Life. This ceremony is intended to represent the entry of Jesus into that Jerusalem, of which the earthly one was but the figure — the Jerusalem of heaven which has been opened for us by our Saviour. The sin of our first parents had shut it against us, but Jesus, the King of glory, opened its gates by His cross, to which every resistance yields. Let us, then, continue to follow in the footsteps of the Son of David, for He is also the Son of God, and He invites us to share His kingdom with Him. Thus, by the procession which is commemorative of what happened on this day, the Church raises up our thoughts to the glorious mystery of the Ascension by which heaven was made the close of Jesus’s mission on earth. Alas, the interval between these two triumphs of our Redeemer are not all days of joy, and no sooner is our procession over, than the Church that had laid aside for a moment the weight of her grief, falls back into sorrow and mourning.

The third part of today’s service is the OFFERING OF THE HOLY SACRIFICE. The portions that are sung by the choir are expressive of the deepest desolation, and the history of our Lord’s Passion, which is to be now read by anticipation, gives to the rest of the day that character of sacred gloom which we all know so well. For the last five or six centuries, the Church has adopted a special chant for this narrative of the holy Gospel. The historian, or the Evangelist, relates the events in a tone that is at once grave and pathetic: the words of our Saviour are sung to a solemn yet sweet melody, which strikingly contrasts with the high dominant of the several other interlocutors and the Jewish populace. During the singing of the Passion the faithful should hold their palms in their hands, and, by this emblem of triumph, protest against the insults offered to Jesus by His enemies. As we listen to each humiliation and suffering, all of which were endured out of love for us, let us offer Him our palm as to our dearest Lord and King. When should we be more adoring, than when He is most suffering?

This Sunday, besides its liturgical and popular appellation of Palm Sunday, has had several other names. Thus it was called Hosanna Sunday in allusion to the acclamation with which the Jews greeted Jesus on his entry into Jerusalem. Our forefathers used also to call it Pascha Floridum, because the Feast of the Pasch (or Easter), which is but eight days off, is today in bud, so to speak, and the faithful could begin from this Sunday to fulfil the precept of Easter Communion. It was in allusion to this name that the Spaniards, having on the Palm Sunday of 1513 discovered the peninsula on the Gulf of Mexico, called it Florida. We also find the name of Capitilavium given to this Sunday, because during those times when it was the custom to defer till Holy Saturday the baptism of infants born during the preceding months (where such a delay entailed no danger), the parents used on this day to wash the heads of these children, out of respect to the Holy Chrism with which they were to be anointed. Later on this Sunday was, at least in some churches, called the Pasch of the Competents, that is, of the Catechumens who were admitted to Baptism: they assembled today in the church, and received a special instruction on the Symbol, which had been given to them in the previous scrutiny. In the Gothic Church of Spain, the Symbol was not given till today. The Greeks call this Sunday Baiphoros, that is, Palm-Bearing.

Gospel – Matthew xxi. 1‒9

At that time when Jesus drew near to Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, He sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village that is over against you, and immediately you will find an ass tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to me. And if any man will say anything to you, say that the Lord has need of them, and forthwith he will let them go.” Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Tell the daughter of Sion, ‘Behold, your King comes to you, meek and sitting on an ass, and a colt the foal of her that is used to the yoke.’ And the disciples going, did as Jesus commanded them, and they brought the ass and the colt, and laid their garments on them, and made him sit thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way. Others cut boughs from the trees and strewed them on the way. And the multitude that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David! blessed is he that comes in the Name of the Lord.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Early in the morning of this day Jesus sets out for Jerusalem, leaving Mary his Mother and the two sisters Martha and Mary Magdalene, and Lazarus, at Bethany. The Mother of Sorrows trembles at seeing her Son thus expose Himself to danger, for His enemies are bent upon his destruction, but it is not Death, it is Triumph, that Jesus is to receive today in Jerusalem. The Messiah, before being nailed to the Cross, is to be proclaimed King by the people of the great city. The little children are to make her streets echo with their Hosannas to the Son of David, and this in presence of the soldiers of Rome’s emperor, and of the High Priests and Pharisees — the first, standing under the banner of their eagles, the second, dumb with rage.

The Prophet Zacharias had foretold this Triumph which the Son of Man was to receive a few days before His Passion, and which had been prepared for Him from all eternity. Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Sion! Shout for joy, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold your King will come to you: the Just and the Saviour. He is poor, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass (Zacharias ix. 9) Jesus, knowing that the hour was come for the fulfilment of this prophecy, singles out two from the rest of His disciples, and bids them lead to Him an ass and her colt, which they would find not far off. He had got to Bethphage, on Mount Olivet. The two disciples lose no time in executing the order given them by their divine Master, and the ass and the colt are soon brought to the place where He stands.

The holy Fathers have explained to us the mystery of these two animals. The ass represents the Jewish people, which had been long under the yoke of the Law. The colt upon which, as the Evangelist says, no man yet had sat (Mark ix. 9), is a figure of the Gentile world which no-one had ever yet brought into subjection. The future of these two peoples is to be decided in a few days hence: the Jews will be rejected for having refused to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah: the Gentiles will take their place to be adopted as God’s people, and become docile and faithful.

The disciples spread their garments upon the colt, and our Saviour, that the prophetic figure might be fulfilled, sat upon him and advances towards Jerusalem. As soon as it was known that Jesus was near the city, the Holy Spirit worked in the hearts of those Jews who had come from all part, to celebrate the Feast of the Passover. They go out to meet our Lord, holding palm branches in their hands and loudly proclaiming him to be King (Mark xi. 7; Luke xix. 35 They that had accompanied Jesus from Bethany join the enthusiastic crowd. Whilst some spread their garments on the way, others cut down boughs from the palm trees and strewed them along the road. Hosanna is the triumphant cry, proclaiming to the whole city that Jesus, the Son of David, has made His entrance as her King (Luke xix. 38).

Thus did God, in His power over men’s hearts, procure a triumph for His Son, and in the very city which, a few days after, was to clamour for His Blood. This day was one of glory to our Jesus, and the holy Church would have us renew each year the memory of this triumph of the Man-God. Shortly after the birth of our Emmanuel we saw the Magi coming from the extreme East, and looking in Jerusalem for the King of the Jews, to whom they intended offering their gifts and their adorations: but it is Jerusalem herself that now goes forth to meet this King. Each of these events is an acknowledgement of the Kingship of Jesus: the first from the Gentiles, the second from the Jews. Both were to pay Him this regal homage before he suffered His Passion. The inscription to be put upon the Cross by Pilate’s order will express the kingly character of the Crucified: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Pilate the Roman Governor, the pagan, the base coward, has been unwittingly the fulfiller of a prophecy, and when the enemies of Jesus insist on the inscription being altered, Pilate will deign them no answer but this: “What I have written, I have written.”

Today it is the Jews themselves that proclaim Jesus to be their King: they will soon be dispersed in punishment for their revolt against the Son of David, but Jesus is King, and will be so forever. Thus were literally verified the words spoken by the Archangel to Mary when he announced to her the glories of the child that was to be born of her: “The Lord God will give him the throne of David, his father, and he will reign in the house of Jacob forever” (Luke i. 32). Jesus begins his reign on the earth this very day, and though the first Israel is soon to disclaim His rule, a new Israel formed from the faithful few of the old will rise up in every nation of the earth and become the kingdom of Christ, a kingdom such as no mere earthly monarch ever coveted in his wildest fancies of ambition.

Epistle – Philippians ii. 5‒11

Brethren, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man. He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. For which cause God also has exalted Him, and has given Him a name which is above all names: (Here genuflect) that in the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth and under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.

Thanks be to God.

Gospel – The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew (xxvi‒xxvii).

At that time Jesus said to His disciples: “You know that after two days will be the Pasch, and the Son of man will be delivered up to be crucified.” Then were gathered together the chief priests and ancients of the people into the court of the High Priest who was called Caiphas, and they consulted together that by subtlety they might apprehend Jesus and put Him to death. But they said: “Not on the Festival day, lest perhaps there should be a tumult among the people.” And when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the Leper, there came to Him a woman having an alabaster-box of precious ointment, and poured it on His head as He was at table. And the disciples seeing it had indignation, saying: “To what purpose is this waste? For this might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.” And Jesus knowing it, said to them: “Why do you trouble this woman? For she has wrought a good work upon me. For the poor you have always with you, but me you have not always. For she, in pouring this ointment upon my body, has done it for my burial. Amen, I say to you, wherever this gospel will be preached in the whole world, that also which she has done, will be told for a memory of her.”

Then went one of the twelve who was called Judas Iscariot to the chief priests and said to them: “What will you give me, and I will deliver Him unto you?” But they appointed him thirty pieces of silver. And from then on he sought an opportunity to betray Him. And on the first day of the Azymes the disciples came to Jesus, saying: “Where wish you that we prepare for you to eat the Pasch?” But Jesus said: “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, The Master says my time is near at hand. I will keep the Pasch at your house with my disciples.” And the disciples did as Jesus appointed to them, and they prepared the Pasch.

Now when it was evening, He sat down with His twelve disciples. And while they were eating, He said: “Amen, I say to you, that one of you is about to betray me.” And they being very much troubled, began everyone to say: “Is it I, Lord?” But He answering said: “He that dips his hand with me in the dish, he will betray me. The Son of man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man will be betrayed. It were better for him if that man had not been born.” And Judas that betrayed Him, answering said: “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him: “You have said it.” And while they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke, and gave to His disciples, and said: “Take and eat. This is my body.” And taking the chalice He gave thanks and gave to them, saying: “Drink all of this, for this is my blood of the new testament, which will be shed for many for the remission of sins. And I say to you, I will not drink from henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I will drink it new with you in the kingdom of my Father.”

And a hymn being said, they went out into mount Olivet. Then Jesus said to them: “All you will be scandalised in me this night. For it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed. But after I will be risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.” And Peter answering said to Him: “Although all shall be scandalised in you, I will never be scandalised.” Jesus said to him: “Amen, I say to you, that in this night, before the cock crows, you will deny me thrice.” Peter said to Him: “Yes, though I should die with you, I will not deny you.” And in like manner said all the disciples.

Then Jesus came with them into a country place which is called Gethsemani, and He said to His disciples: “Sit here till I go yonder and pray.” And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to grow sorrowful, and to be sad. Then He said to them: “My soul is sorrowful unto death. Stay here and watch with me.” And going a little further he fell upon His face, praying and saying: “My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” And He came to His disciples, and finding them asleep, He said to Peter: “What! Could you not watch one hour with me? Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again the second time He went and prayed, saying: “My Father, if this chalice may not pass away, but I must drink it, your will be done.” And He came again, and found them sleeping for their eyes were heavy. And leaving them, He went again and He prayed the third time, saying the selfsame words. Then He came to His disciples and said to them: “Sleep now and take your rest. Behold the hour is at hand, and the Son of man will be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go: behold he is at hand that will betray me.”

As He yet spoke, behold Judas, one of the twelve came, and with him a great multitude with swords and clubs, sent from the Chief Priests and the ancients of the people. And he that betrayed Him gave them a sign, saying: “Whoever I will kiss, that is he, hold him fast.” And forthwith coming to Jesus he said “Hail, Rabbi!” And he kissed Him. And Jesus said to him: “Friend, whereto have you come?” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus, and held Him. And behold one of them that were with Jesus, stretching forth his hand, drew out his sword. And striking the servant of the High Priest, cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him: “Put up again your sword into its place, for all that take the sword will perish with the sword. Do you think that I cannot ask my Father, and He will give me presently more than twelve legions of Angels? How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, that so it must be done?” In that same hour Jesus said to the multitude: “You have come out as it were to a robber, with swords and clubs, to apprehend me. I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and you laid not hands on me.” Now all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.

Then the disciples all leaving Him, fled. But they holding Jesus, led Him to Caiphas the High Priest, where the scribes and the ancients were assembled. And Peter followed Him afar off, even to the court of the High Priest. And going in, he sat with the servants, that he might see the end. And the chief priests and the whole council sought false witness against Jesus, that they might put Him to death. And they found not, whereas many false witnesses had come in. And last of all there came two false witnesses and they said: “This man said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and after three days to rebuild it.” And the High Priest rising up said to Him: “Answer you nothing to the things which these witness against you?” But Jesus held his peace. And the High Priest said to Him: “I adjure you, by the living God, that you tell us if you be the Christ the Son of God.” Jesus said to Him: “You have said it. Nevertheless I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of the power of God, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” Then the High Priest rent his garments, saying: “He has blasphemed, what further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now you have heard the blasphemy: what think you?” But they answering, said: “He is guilty of death.” Then did they spit in His face, and buffet Him, and others struck His face with the palms of their hands, saying: “Prophesy to us, Christ, who is he that struck you?”

But Peter sat without in the court, and there came to him a servant-maid, saying: “You were also with Jesus the Galilean.” But he denied before them all, saying: “I know not what you say.” And as he went out of the gate another maid saw him, and she said to them that were there: “This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth.” And again he denied with an oath: “That I know not the man.” And after a little while they came that stood by, and said to Peter: “Surely you also are one of them, for even your speech discovers you.” Then he began to curse and swear that he knew not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the words of Jesus which he had said: “Before the cock crows, you will deny me thrice.” And going forth, he wept bitterly.

And when morning was come, all the chief priests and ancients of the people took counsel against Jesus that they might put Him to death. And they brought Him bound, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. Then Judas who betrayed Him, seeing that He was condemned, repenting himself, brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and ancients, saying: “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood.” But they said: “What is that to us? Look you to it.”And casting down the pieces of silver in the Temple, he departed and went and hanged himself with an halter. But the chief priests having taken the pieces of silver, said: “It is not lawful to put them into the corbona, because it is the price of blood.” And after they had consulted together, they bought with them the potter‒s field, to be a burying-place for strangers. For this cause that field was called Haceldama, that is, the field of blood, even to this day. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremias the prophet, saying: “and they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was prized, whom they prized of the children of Israel. And they gave them unto the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed to me.”

And Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked Him, saying: “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus said to him: “You say it.” And when He was accused by the chief priests and ancients, He answered nothing. Then Pilate said to Him: “Do you not hear how great testimonies they allege against you?” And He answered him to never a word, so that the governor wondered exceedingly. Now upon the solemn day the governor was accustomed to release to the people one prisoner, whom they would. And he had then a notorious prisoner, that was called Barabbas. They therefore being gathered together, Pilate said: “Whom will you that I release to you, Barabbas, or Jesus that is called Christ?” For he knew that for envy they had delivered Him. And as he was sitting in the place of judgement, his wife sent to him, saying: “Have nothing to do with that just man. For I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.” But the chief priests and ancients persuaded the people that they should ask Barabbas, and make Jesus away. And the governor answering, said to them: “Whether will you of the two to be released to you?” But they said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said to them: “What shall I do then with Jesus that is called Christ?” They say all: “Let him be crucified.” The governor said to them: “Why, what evil has he done?” But they cried out the more, saying: “Let him be crucified.” And Pilate seeing that he prevailed nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, taking water he washed his hands before the people, saying: “I am innocent of the blood of this just man: look you to it.” And the whole people answering, said: “His blood be on us and on our children.” Then he released to them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus delivered Him to them to be crucified.

Then the soldiers of the governor taking Jesus into the hall, gathered together to him the whole band, and stripping Him, they put a scarlet cloak about Him. And plaiting a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And bowing the knee before Him, they mocked Him, saying: :Hail, king of the Jews.” And spitting on Him, they took the reed, and struck His head. And after they had mocked Him, they took off the cloak from Him, and put on His own garments, and led Him away to crucify Him.

And going out they met a man of Cyrene, named Simon: him they forced to take up the cross. And they came to the place that is called Golgotha, which is the place of Calvary. And they gave Him wine to drink mingled with gall. And when He had tasted, He would not drink. And after they had crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: “They divided my garments among them, and on my vesture they cast lots.” And they sat and watched Him. And they put over His head His cause written: “This is Jesus the King of the Jews.” Then were crucified with Him two thieves. One on the right hand, and one on the left.

And they that passed by, blasphemed Him, wagging their heads, and saying: “You that destroy the temple of God, and in three days rebuilds it, save your own self: if you be the Son of God, come down from the cross.” In like manner also the chief priests, with the scribes and ancients, mocking, said: “He saved others. Himself he cannot save: if he be the king of Israel, let him. now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God: let him now deliver him, if he will have him: for he said: I am the Son of God.” And the self same thing the thieves also that were crucified with Him reproached Him with. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over the whole earth, until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying: “Eli, Eli, lamma sabacthani?” That is, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some that stood there and heard, said: “This man calls Elias.” And immediately one of them running, took a sponge and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave Him to drink. And the others said: “Let us see whether Elias will come and deliver him.” And Jesus again crying with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

And behold the veil of the Temple was rent in two from the top even to the bottom, and the earth quaked, and the rocks were rent. And the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints that had slept arose, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, came into the holy city and appeared to many. Now the centurion, and they that were with him watching Jesus, having seen the earthquake and the things that were done, were sore afraid, saying: “Indeed this was the Son of God.” And there were there many women afar off who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, among whom was Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. 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 the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded that the body should be delivered. And Joseph taking the body, wrapped it up in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new monument, which he had hewn out in a rock. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the monument, and went his way. And there was there Mary Magdalen, and the other Mary sitting over against the sepulchre.

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 that 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 will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them: “You have a guard. Go, guard it as you know.”And they departing, made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone and setting guards.