Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost 

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

     The holy women, when the Lord arose from the dead, were near the little gate belonging to 

Nicodemus. 

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 The sun had not yet risen, but it was beginning to be light outside. The women had not yet 

entered the garden of the holy sepulchre. They did not yet know that the Resurrection had taken place. 

     Now I saw the Lord floating in glory up through the rock. The earth trembled, and an angel in warrior garb 

shot like lightning from Heaven down to the tomb, rolled the stone to one side, and seated himself upon it. 

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Jesus rose from the dead and left the tomb before the angel rolled back the stone. Jesus did not need to have 

the stone rolled back to leave the tomb; rather, the stone was rolled back so that holy persons could enter the 

tomb and give witness to the Resurrection. The angel seated himself on the stone; the guards at the tomb fell to 

the ground, stunned, as if dead. Only after these events did the holy women enter the garden. They did not see 

the stone being rolled back from the tomb, nor did they witness the Resurrection as it actually occurred.

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    The Gospel of Matthew does not state that the women saw the stone being rolled back, but only that the 

women spoke to the angel after the stone was rolled back. The Gospel of John tells us that Mary Magdalene 

  saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb  (Jn 20:1), which implies that she arrived after the 

stone had been rolled back. Mark and Luke also indicate the same, that the stone was already rolled away 

when the women arrived (Mk 16:4; Lk 24:2). Since Jesus rose from the dead before the stone was rolled back, 

He rose from the dead before the holy women arrived at the tomb. 

At the Tomb 

    According to Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, the events at the tomb of Our Lord were as follows. As 

the four holy women approached the tomb, they saw the fallen guards and their lanterns. They became 

frightened, and two of them, Mary Cleophas and Joanna Chusa, did not enter the garden immediately, but 

went a short distance beyond it. Mary Magdalene hurried into the garden, and Salome followed a short 

distance behind her.

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    Mary Magdalene and Salome approached the tomb and saw that the stone had been rolled back. Magdalene 

entered and saw the empty burial cloths of Jesus Christ. She then ran to the Apostles to inform them of what 

she had seen. Salome also entered the tomb, after Magdalene had left, and she also saw the burial cloths and 

the place where the body of Jesus had lain. But while Magdalene was on her way to inform the Apostles, 

Salome left the garden to inform the other women of the empty tomb.

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    Cassius was also in the garden of the holy sepulchre. He was a Roman soldier, the same soldier who pierced 

the side of Jesus with a lance, after Jesus had died on the Cross.

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 He saw the angel roll back the stone, and he 

entered the tomb first (before the holy women), to see the burial cloths and the empty place where the body of 

Jesus had lain. 

    Cassius had hoped to see the risen Lord Jesus, but when he did not see Jesus, he left the garden to inform 

Pilate of these events. After leaving the garden, on his way towards the city, he met the holy women (Salome, 

Mary Cleophas, Joanna) and encouraged them to go in and see the tomb.

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    Salome, Mary Cleophas, and Joanna therefore decided to enter the garden and approach the tomb. They 

entered the sepulchre and saw two angels, who spoke to them and told them of the Resurrection of Jesus 

Christ. The angel told them to inform the disciples of these events. These three holy women left the tomb and 

the garden, but they did not go to the disciples, as the angel had instructed them. They were full of joy, but 

also very afraid. They started back towards the city, but they did not tell anyone what happened yet (Mk 

16:8).

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    In the mean time, Mary Magdalene was in Jerusalem. She went to the door of the Cenaculum where the 

Apostles were staying, but she did not go inside. Peter and John answered the door and she told them that 

someone had taken the body of Jesus from the tomb. She did not yet understand that Jesus had risen from the 

dead. Mary Magdalene then immediately returned to the garden of the sepulchre.

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    Peter and John went back inside and spoke to the other disciples. Then they followed after Magdalene 

towards the tomb. She reached the tomb well before John and Peter, because they had gone back inside and so 

had left for the tomb after she was already well on her way.

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