As the all-holy glorious mother of God and ever-{*filter*} Mary, as was her
wont, was going to the holy tomb of our Lord to burn incense, and bending
her holy knees, she was importunate that Christ our God who had been born of
her should return to her. And the Jews, seeing her lingering by the divine
sepulchre, came to the chief priests, saying: "Mary goes every day to the
tomb." And the chief priests, having summoned the guards set by them not to
allow any one to pray at the holy sepulchre, inquired about her, whether in
truth it were so. And the guards answered and said that they had seen no
such thing, God having not allowed them to see her when there. And on one of
the days, it being the preparation, the holy Mary, as was her wont, came to
the sepulchre; and while she was praying, it came to pass that the heavens
were opened, and the archangel Gabriel came down to her, and said: "Hail,
thou that didst bring forth Christ our God! Thy prayer having come through
to the heavens to Him who was born of thee, has been accepted; and from this
time, according to thy request, thou having left the world, shalt go to the
heavenly places to thy Son, into the true and everlasting life."
And having heard this from the holy archangel, she returned to holy
Bethlehem, having along with her three {*filter*}s who ministered unto her. And
after having rested a short time, she sat up and said to the {*filter*}s: "Bring
me a censer, that I may pray." And they brought it, as they had been
commanded. And she prayed, saying: "My Lord Jesus Christ, who didst deign
through Thy supreme goodness to be born of me, hear my voice, and send me
Thy apostle John in order that, seeing him, I may partake of joy; and send
me also the rest of Thy apostles, both those who have already gone to Thee,
and those in the world that now is, in whatever country they may be, through
Thy holy commandment, in order that, having beheld them, I may bless Thy
name much to be praised; for I am confident that Thou hearest Thy servant in
everything."
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 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 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."
And at this I John prayed.
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
Cananean, and Thaddeus who 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.
And having gone in beside the mother of our Lord and God, and having adored,
we said: "Fear not, nor grieve; God the Lord, who was born of thee, will
take thee out of this world with glory." And rejoicing in God her Saviour,
she sat up in the bed, and says to the apostles: "Now have I believed that
our Master and God is coming from heaven, and I shall behold Him, and thus
depart from this life, as I have seen that you have come. And I wish you to
tell me how you knew that I was departing and came to me, and from what
countries and through what distance you have come hither, that you have thus
made haste to visit me. For neither has He who was born of me, our Lord
Jesus Christ, the God of the universe, concealed it; for I am persuaded even
now that He is the Son of the Most High."
And Peter answered and said to the apostles: "Let us each, according to what
the Holy Spirit announced and commanded us, give full information to the
mother of our Lord." And I John answered and said: "Just as I was going in
to the holy altar in Ephesus to perform divine service, the Holy Spirit says
to me, 'The time of the departure of the mother of thy Lord is at hand; go
to Bethlehem to salute her.' And a cloud of light snatched me up, and set me
down in the door where thou art lying." Peter also answered: "And I, living
in Rome, about dawn heard a voice through the Holy Spirit saying to me, 'The
mother of thy Lord is to depart, as the time is at hand; go to Bethlehem to
salute her.' And, behold, a cloud of light snatched me up; and I beheld also
the other apostles coming to me on clouds, and a voice saying to me, 'Go all
to Bethlehem.'" And Paul also answered and said: "And I, living in a city at
no great distance from Rome, called the country of Tiberia, heard the Holy
Spirit saying to me, 'The mother of thy Lord, having left this world, is
making her course to the celestial regions through her departure; but go
thou also to Bethlehem to salute her.' And, behold, a cloud of light having
snatched me up, set me down in the same place as you." And Thomas also
answered and said: "And I, traversing the country of the Indians, when the
preaching was prevailing by the grace of Christ, and the king's sister's
son, Labdanus by name, was about to be sealed by me in the palace, on a
sudden the Holy Spirit says to me, 'Do thou also, Thomas, go to Bethlehem to
salute the mother of thy Lord, because she is taking her departure to the
heavens.' And a cloud of light having snatched me up, set me down beside
you." And Mark also answered and said: "And when I was finishing the canon
of the third day in the city of Alexandria, just as I was praying, the Holy
Spirit snatched me up, and brought me to you." And James also answered and
said: "While I was in Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit commanded me, saying, 'Go
to Bethlehem, because the mother of thy Lord is taking her departure.' And,
behold, a cloud of light having snatched me up, set me beside you." And
Matthew also answered and said: "I have glorified and do glorify God,
because when I was in a boat and overtaken by a storm, the sea raging with
its waves, on a sudden a cloud of light overshadowing the stormy billow,
changed it to calm, and having snatched me up, set me down beside you." And
those who had come before likewise answered, and gave an account of how they
had come. And Bartholomew said: "I was in the Thebais proclaiming the word,
and behold the Holy Spirit says to me, 'The mother of thy Lord is taking her
departure; go, then, to salute her in Bethlehem.' And, behold, a cloud of
light having snatched me up, brought me to you."
The apostles said all these things to the holy mother of God, why they had
come, and in what way; and she stretched her hands to heaven, and prayed....
And after the prayer she said to the apostles: "Cast incense, and pray." And
when they had prayed, there was thunder from heaven, and there came a
fearful voice, as if of chariots; and, behold, a multitude of a host of
angels and powers, and a voice, as if of the Son of man, was heard, and the
seraphim in a circle round the house where the holy, spotless mother of God
and {*filter*} was lying, so that all who were in Bethlehem beheld all the
wonderful things, and came to Jerusalem and reported all the wonderful
things that had come to pass. And it came to pass, when the voice was heard,
that the sun and the moon suddenly appeared about the house; and an assembly
of the first-born saints stood beside the house where the mother of the Lord
was lying, for her honour and glory. And I beheld also that many signs came
to pass, the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, the lame walking, lepers
cleansed, and those possessed by unclean spirits cured; and every one who
was under disease and sickness, touching the outside of the wall of the
house where she was lying, cried out: "Holy Mary, who didst bring forth
Christ our God, have mercy upon us." And they were straightway cured. And
great multitudes out of every country living in Jerusalem for the sake of
prayer, having heard of the signs that had come to pass in Bethlehem through
the mother of the Lord, came to the place seeking the cure of various
diseases, which also they obtained. And there was joy unspeakable on that
day among the multitude of those who had been cured, as well as of those who
looked on, glorifying Christ our God and His mother. And all Jerusalem from
Bethlehem kept festival with psalms and spiritual songs.
And the priests of the Jews, along with their people, were astonished at the
things which had come to pass; and being moved with the heaviest hatred,
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