17

 Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology, revised edition, no. 219, p. 114. 

18

 Blessed Anne Catherine make this point clear in her descriptions of Joseph and Mary. See, for one example: 

Emmerich, The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, p.191. 

19

 Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, 6.423. See also Jack Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology, revised edition, 

no. 20, p. 11; and Emmerich, The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, p. 273. 

20

 Finegan,  Handbook of Biblical Chronology, revised edition, no. 633, p. 368. See also, Eusebius,  Ecclesiastical 

History, books I V, trans. Kirsopp Lake, Eusebius, Volume I, Loeb Classical Library, (Cambridge, 

Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1998), 5.23 25. 

21

 Emmerich, The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, p. 160 161. 

22

 An ordinary sundial can be used to keep track of sun time. In this method of time keeping, sunrise generally 

marked as 6:00 a.m. and sunset as 6:00 p.m., even when the daylight hours are more than 12 times 60 minutes. 

So, using a sundial is the modern equivalent of the ancient Jewish method of measuring daytime hours. 

23

 Standard Time, using worldwide time zones, was developed in the late 1800's. 

24

 Emmerich, The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, p. 222. 

25

 Emmerich, The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, p. 225. 

26

 Today, one could calculate exactly how many minutes after sunrise marked the third hour of a particular 

day. However, this result would contain a degree of precision not in general use among the Jews of that time 

and not indicated by Sacred Scripture. 

27

 On April 7, at Jerusalem, using the modern time zone standard, sunrise occurred at 05:23 and solar noon 

occurred at 11:41. The midpoint between sunrise and solar noon was therefore 08:32 standard time. Thus 9 

a.m. solar time was equivalent, on that day, to 08:32 standard time. 

28

 By modern time zone method, the sixth hour (apparent solar noon) would be 11:41 hours Jerusalem 

standard time, when the sun reached its zenith in the sky, on April 7.  

29

 Ronald L. Conte Jr., The Bible and the Future of the World, (Grafton, Massachusetts: Catholic Planet, 2001), 

, chapter 5. This book contains additional comments on this point and its 

relationship to the future sufferings of the Church. 

30

 Emmerich, The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, p. 273. 

31

 Emmerich, The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, p. 268 273. 

32

 Noon solar time was equivalent to 11:41 Jerusalem Standard Time, using the modern time zone method of 

tracking time. 

33

 The length of time from the sixth hour to the ninth hour can be calculated by dividing into 12 parts the 

amount of time from sunrise on April 7 at 05:23 to sunset at 18:00, which is 12 hours 37 minutes. Thus each 

solar hour on that day was about 63 minutes long and the time from the sixth hour to the ninth hour was 

about 3 hours and 9 minutes. Solar transit (noon sun time) occurred that day at 11:41 hours (according to 

RedShift 3 astronomy software). 

34

 The longest solar eclipse, occurring between 

A.D.

 1 and 

A.D.

 100, was 11 minutes and 18 seconds in 

duration (Nov. 4, 

A.D.

 96). Data on solar eclipses taken from the NASA/GSFC Sun Earth Connection 

Education Forum. Fred Espenak, Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses, NASA/GSFC,  

. 

35

 By the modern time zone method, the third hour, measured as the midpoint between noon sun time (11:41) 

and sunset (18:00), would be approx. 14:50 hours (2:50 p.m.) at Jerusalem on April 7 during that time period 

(

A.D.

 1 to 

A.D.

 50). 

36

 Emmerich, The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, p. 294. 

37

 Saint Faustina Kowalska of the Most Blessed Sacrament,  Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul, (Stockbridge, 

Massachusetts: Marians of the Immaculate Conception, 1996), margin number 1320. 

38

 Saint Faustina Kowalska, Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul, margin number 1572. 

39

 Solar transit (noon sun time) occurred that day at 11:41 hours. The ninth hour occurred 3 hours and 9 

minutes later, at 14:50 hours (2:50 p.m.). Even so, the exact time of Christ's death on the Cross was not 

exactly the ninth hour and is not precisely known. 

40

 Emmerich, The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, p. 97 124. 

296