The Resurrection in the Mystical Tradition

In celebration of the Resurrection of Our Lord on Easter Sunday, we present this account from the Church's mystical tradition of Our Lord's Resurrection, and his appearance to Our Lady, who had patiently waited, prayed and guided the apostles and holy women after the horrific events of Good Friday. – Ed.

The sun had already set when the Blessed Virgin, St. John and the Holy Women returned to the Cenacle in Jerusalem late on the afternoon of Good Friday.

Going into the hall in which they had attended the Last Supper on the previous evening, the Mother of God thanked John and her companions for having remained with her throughout the Passion of her Son, and in His name she promised them a special reward for having been so faithful. She also offered herself as a lifelong servant and friend to all the women.

They acknowledged this favor by kissing her hands and asking for her blessing, which she gave them. Then they begged her to take some rest and food, but Mary replied:

"My rest and consolation shall be to see my Son and Lord arisen from the dead. Yet you, my dear friends, must satisfy your needs, while I retire alone with my son John."

When she was alone in her room with St. John, she fell on her knees and said:

"Do not forget the words which my Son spoke to us on the Cross. You are my master and a priest of God. Henceforth all my joy shall be to serve you until my death, and my consolation shall be to obey you as my superior."

John humbly yielded to her wishes, and at her request went to provide some refreshment for the Holy Women, while Mary spent several hours alone in her room, meditating sadly on the Passion of her divine Son.

The other women—all except the three Marys—took some food and discussed the terrible events of that unforgettable day. They were filled with profound grief as they withdrew to their rooms for the night.

At midnight the Blessed Virgin and the Holy Women arose and prayed together for a while under a lamp.

At about four o'clock in the morning of the Sabbath, St. John came to console Mary, and she asked him to find Peter, speaking to him kindly, and bring him to see her. John was also to offer friendly greetings to the other Apostles and to give them hope of pardon for having left their Master during His Passion.

John met Peter coming to the Cenacle after having spent the night weeping and repenting in a cave near the Holy City. They found some of the Apostles and went to the Cenacle.

Peter alone went in to see Mary first. Falling at her feet, he said with sobs of intense sorrow:

I have sinned, Lady. I have sinned before my God, and I have offended my Master and you!"

The Blessed Virgin knelt beside him and said:

"Let us ask pardon for your guilt from my Son and your Master."

Then she prayed for Peter and reminded him of the Lord's many acts of mercy toward great sinners and of his own obligation as head of the Apostles to give an example of strength in the Faith.

Next the other Apostles, weeping bitterly, presented themselves before Mary and asked her pardon for having forsaken her Son during His sufferings. The very sight of her caused them to feel perfect contrition for their sins and renewed love for their Master. The Mother of God encouraged them by promising her intercession in obtaining the pardon which they sought, and when they left her, they were inflamed with new fervor and strengthened by new grace.

They felt an inward reverence for St. John and a feeling of confusion in his presence, as he had been the only Apostle who accompanied his Lord to Calvary. But John showed only love and kindness to them all, and with the simplicity of an unspoiled child he gave place to everyone.

Throughout the Sabbath Day the Holy Women either prayed or mourned with the Blessed Virgin in the large hall of the Cenacle. The weak ones among them took a little nourishment, but the rest fasted all day.

The Mother of God continued to witness in vision the actions of her divine Son after His death. She saw Him visit the patriarchs and souls of the Blessed in Limbo. And now she saw the Savior, in the company of the Patriarchs, hovering above the city, while He showed them the various places where He had suffered during the Passion. As they passed near the Cenacle, Jesus directed their attention to the Blessed Virgin and said to them:

"There is Mary, My Mother."

Early on Easter morning, at the very instant when the holy soul of Christ re-entered and revived His sacred body in the sepulcher, Mary experienced a mystical ecstasy in which her grief and sorrow were transmuted into ineffable joy and bliss. Just at that moment, after knocking, St. John stepped into her oratory, and finding her in the midst of a heavenly splendor and utterly transfigured with supernatural exultation, he understood that his Lord had just then arisen from the tomb.

Meanwhile the glorious body and soul of the Redeemer came forth from the holy sepulcher shining with all the brilliance of His divinity, and the risen Lord immediately showed Himself to His Blessed Mother, together with all the saints and patriarchs of the Old Testament. He was clothed in a long, white robe with a mantle that waved gently in the breeze as He advanced, reflecting all the colors of the rainbow, while His large wounds sparkled brightly.

Mary prostrated herself on the ground and humbly worshipped her resurrected Son until He took her hand, raised her, and drew her to Himself in a marvelous mystical embrace. Then in an ecstasy of fervent joy and love she heard a Voice saying to her: "My beloved, ascend higher!" And at the same time she was given a more profound and intimate vision of the Divinity than she had ever had before.

Next she turned to the holy Patriarchs and the souls of the Blessed, and as they bowed before her, she recognized and spoke to her beloved parents, St. Ann and St. Joachim, her good husband St. Joseph, and her friend St. John the Baptist. All of them honored her as the Mother of the Redeemer of the world. And together they praised the Lord with hymns for His glorious victory over death, until He left them in order to show Himself to Mary Magdalene.

Later when Mary Magdalene and the others came to Mary and told her about Jesus' appearing to them, she listened quietly and kindly and strengthened their faith by quoting some of the scriptural prophecies concerning the Resurrection of the Messiah.

During the week that followed, when Thomas arrived and hesitated to believe that the Master had indeed risen from the dead, the other Apostles went to Mary and complained about his obstinacy. Seeing that they were becoming angry with him, she calmed them by assuring them that Thomas' disbelief would in the end bring great benefit to others and glory to God, and she urged them to wait and hope and not to be so easily disturbed. Meanwhile she prayed fervently for Thomas, and therefore the Savior soon enlightened him by allowing him to touch His sacred wounds.

The late Raphael Brown was a well-known author and secular Franciscan who wrote and translated many Catholic and Franciscan Works. The above article is an excerpt from his book, The Life of Mary as Seen by the Mystics, Tan, 1991.