Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost 

taken Jesus' body from the tomb (Jn 20:2), because she had not yet met the risen Jesus, and not yet heard the 

angel speak about the Resurrection. 

The Gospel of Mark 

    Mark's Gospel adds additional information not presented in Matthew's Gospel. Mark tells us that the two 

Marys were accompanied to the tomb by Salome (Mk 16:1). Mark's Gospel also clarifies the point that the 

women did not see the stone being rolled back; it was already rolled back when they arrived (Mk 16:3 4). 

    The Gospel of Mark tells us that the women were afraid after hearing the angel speak of the Resurrection: 

  and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.  (Mk 16:8). The Gospel of Mark describes the 

women as remaining silent, whereas the Gospel of Matthew describes the women as informing the disciples of 

the Resurrection. Yet these two different accounts of these events are both true. Mark tells us that the women 

 said nothing to anyone  because the women at first did not follow the angel's instruction to inform the 

disciples of the Resurrection they were too afraid. And Matthew's Gospel adds that the women were able to 

overcome their fear after they met Jesus. After meeting the angel, the women were at first afraid and unwilling 

to tell anyone of these events. That is why Jesus tells the women not to be afraid when He instructs them to go 

inform His disciples. The women's fear was preventing them from following the angel's instruction to tell the 

disciples of the Resurrection, until they met Jesus. 

      Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he 

had cast out seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. But 

when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.  (Mk 16:9 11). 

    Here the Gospel of Mark begins the story of the Resurrection a second time. Mary Magdalene meets the 

risen Lord, then informs the disciples,  as they mourned and wept.  (Mk 16:10). They are mourning and 

weeping partly because they were previously informed that the body of Jesus was not in the tomb. (It was 

Magdalene who informed them that Jesus' was  missing, as we learn in John's Gospel.) But when Mary 

Magdalene now tells them that Jesus is alive and has appeared to her, they do not believe (Mk 16:11). They 

did not yet believe that Jesus had risen; they were mourning and weeping because He died and because His 

body was missing. Thus the Gospel of Mark implies the disciples were informed of these events twice, just as 

the Gospel of John also reveals (Jn 20:2, 18). 

The Gospel of Luke 

    Luke's Gospel explains to us that the women who visited the tomb are the women who accompanied Jesus 

from Galilee (Lk 23:55). They found the stone already rolled away from the tomb, and they saw two angels 

(who seem to them like men) who informed them of the Resurrection (Lk 24:1 7). All this is in agreement with 

the other Gospels and the account given by Blessed Anne Catherine. 

    The Gospel of Luke gives the names of the women who went to the apostles to inform them of the 

Resurrection. These include Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Joanna (Lk 24:10). Luke's 

Gospel does not mention Salome, but adds that there were other women with them who also informed the 

apostles of these events. Does this mean that more than four women visited the tomb that wonderful morning? 

No other women than those four are named in Sacred Scripture, and Blessed Anne Catherine does not 

mention any other women at the tomb. Therefore, those four holy women were not accompanied by other 

women. However, Luke's Gospel states plainly that there were other women with Mary Magdalene, Mary 

Cleophas and Joanna. Since the word women is plural, Salome could not have been the only other woman 

referred to here. Thus those four holy women were not accompanied by any other women when they went to 

the tomb early on the Resurrection morning, but they must have been joined by other women when they went 

to inform the Apostles. 

The Gospel of John 

    The Gospel of John gives us a detailed account of Mary Magdalene at the tomb. She finds the tomb empty, 

but does not yet know of the Resurrection. She informs Peter and John only that the body of Jesus is missing 

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