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The Death and Assumption of the Virgin - 1 |
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Sources The Legend of the Virgin's death and physical Assumption into Heaven is not mentioned in the gospels, but it is referred to by the early church fathers such as Jerome. The earliest surviving written accounts date from the fourth to the sixth centuries, and the story as told in the Golden Legend is based on these texts. The earliest that survives, known as 'The Six Books', or 'The Departure of my Lady Mary from the World' dates from the fourth century. The best known of these texts is by a writer called John the Theologian - 'An account of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God'. This is written as if by St John John the Evangelist. There are others - they can all be found at the University of Oregon website here. The quotes used here come from these sources. The intention of these apocryphal authors is clear - to sanctify the Virgin Mary by paralleling the events of her death with the events of the death of Christ: the resurrection after three days, and the bodily ascension into heaven. |
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The Summoning of John Following the annunciation to the virgin of her forthcoming death, John is summoned from Ephesus, and miraculously carried to the Virgin's house outside Jerusalem: And while she was praying, I John came, the Holy Spirit having snatched me up by a cloud from Ephesus, and set me in the place where the mother of my Lord was lying. And having gone in beside her, and glorified Him who had been born of her, I said: Hail, mother of my Lord, who didst bring forth Christ our God, rejoice that in great glory thou art going out of this life. And the holy mother of God glorified God, because I John had come to her, remembering the voice of the Lord, saying: Behold thy mother, and, Behold thy son. And the three virgins came and worshipped. And the holy mother of God says to me: Pray, and cast incense. And I prayed thus: Lord Jesus Christ, who hast done wonderful things, now also do wonderful things before her who brought Thee forth; and let Thy mother depart from this life; and let those who crucified Thee, and who have not believed in Thee, be confounded. And after I had ended the prayer, holy Mary said to me: Bring me the censer. And having cast incense, she said, Glory to Thee, my God and my Lord, because there has been fulfilled in me whatsoever Thou didst promise to me before thou didst ascend into the heavens, that when I should depart from this world Thou wouldst come to me, and the multitude of Thine angels, with glory. And I John say to her: Jesus Christ our Lord and our God is coming, and thou seest Him, as He promised to thee. And the holy mother of God answered and said to me: The Jews have sworn that after I have died they will burn my body. And I answered and said to her: Thy holy and precious body will by no means see corruption. And she answered and said to me: Bring a censer, and cast incense, and pray. And there came a voice out of the heavens saying the Amen. And I John heard this voice; and the Holy Spirit said to me: John, hast thou heard this voice that spoke in the heaven after the prayer was ended? And I answered and said: Yes, I heard. And the Holy Spirit said to me: This voice which thou didst hear denotes that the appearance of thy brethren the apostles is at hand, and of the holy powers that they are coming hither to-day. (Account of John the Theologian.) Note: The Golden Legend text is very similar and is clearly based on this. I have used it in my study of the Duccio Maesta here if you would like to compare the the two texts.) The arrival of the Apostles The rest of the living apostles now arrive by whirlwind, though, as we will see later, Thomas was late as usual. Flights from India were presumably delayed. And the Holy Spirit said to the apostles: Let all of you together, having come by the clouds from the ends of the world, be assembled to holy Bethlehem by a whirlwind, on account of the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ; Peter from Rome, Paul from Tiberia, Thomas from Hither India, James from Jerusalem. Andrew, Peter's brother, and Philip, Luke, and Simon the Cananaean, and Thaddaeus who had fallen asleep, were raised by the Holy Spirit out of their tombs; to whom the Holy Spirit said: Do not think that it is now the resurrection; but on this account you have risen out of your tombs, that you may go to give greeting to the honour and wonder-working of the mother of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, because the day of her departure is at hand, of her going up into the heavens. And Mark likewise coming round, was present from Alexandria; he also with the rest, as has been said before, from each country. And Peter being lifted up by a cloud, stood between heaven and earth, the Holy Spirit keeping him steady. And at the same time, the rest of the apostles also, having been snatched up in clouds, were found along with Peter. And thus by the Holy Spirit, as has been said, they all came together. (Account of John the Theologian). |
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The Death (Dormition)
of the Virgin This is the account of the death by Melito of Sardis. Duccio shows us Christ's appearance at her bedside holding the soul of the Virgin shown as a child. And when they had sat down in a circle consoling her, when they had spent three days in the praises of God, behold, on the third day, about the third hour of the day, a deep sleep seized upon all who were in that house, and no one was at all able to keep awake but the apostles alone, and only the three virgins who were there. And, behold, suddenly the Lord Jesus Christ came with a great multitude of angels; and a great brightness came down upon that place, and the angels were singing a hymn, and praising God together. Then the Saviour spoke, saying: Come, most precious pearl, within the receptacle of life eternal. Then Mary prostrated herself on
the pavement, adoring God, and said: Blessed be the name of Thy glory, O
Lord my God, who hast deigned to choose me Thine handmaid, and to entrust
to me Thy hidden mystery. Be mindful of me, therefore, O King of glory,
for Thou knowest that I have loved Thee with all my heart, and kept the
treasure committed to me. Therefore receive me, Thy servant, and free me
from the power of darkness, that no onset of Satan may oppose me, and that
I may not see filthy spirits standing in my way. And the Saviour answered
her: When I, sent by my Father for the salvation of the world, was hanging
on the cross, the prince of darkness came to me; but when he was able to
find in me no trace of his work, he went off vanquished and trodden under
foot. But when thou shall see him, thou shall see him indeed by the law of
the human race, in accordance with which thou hast come to the end of thy
life; but he cannot hurt thee, because I am with thee to help thee. Go in
security, because the heavenly host is waiting for thee to lead thee in to
the joys of paradise. And when the Lord had thus spoken, Mary, rising from
the pavement, reclined upon her couch, and giving thanks to God, gave up
the ghost. And the apostles saw that her soul was of such whiteness, that
no tongue of mortals can worthily utter it; for it surpassed all the
whiteness of snow, and of every metal, and of gleaming silver, by the
great brightness of its light. |
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