Afterwards she arranged the Stations better, and I saw her inscribing on the stones the meaning of each Station, the number of paces and so forth. Peter then gave her Holy Communion. (SB), [193] The late arrival of Thomas is included in the tradition preserved by St. John Damascene, but among the early legends only in that entitled of Joseph of Arimathea' (17). [193] I saw the summoning angel come to him. ET on EWTN: Holy Mass and Rosary on Saturday, April 29, 2023 - Memorial of Saint. Today I saw nobody in the Blessed Virgin's room except one woman. I found Mount Calvary built up and desolate. Later Philip came with a companion from Egypt. [182]. We do know Mary would have been a young virgin when she had Jesus. She was related to the Holy Family in the following way: St. Anne's mother Ismeria had a sister called Emerentia, both living in the pasture-lands of Mara between Mount Horeb and the Red Sea. When I once more looked down to earth, I saw the Blessed Virgin's body lying on the couch. Tell my little niece not to interrupt me but to wait patiently in the other room for a time.' The little house stood near a wood among pyramid-shaped trees with smooth trunks. She was fourteen years, four months and fifteen days old when her espousals to Saint Joseph were solemnized. Consequently, scholars believe that our Lord ministered for three and a half years before His death on the cross, making Jesus 33 years old when He died. Neither of them were in a town, but were taking their rest in public shelters such as are found by the roadside in these hot countries. I saw that he set up a stone in that country on which he knelt and prayed, and that the marks of his knees were imprinted upon the stone. In front of the Blessed Virgin's bed stood a small, low, three-cornered stool, like the one on which the kings had laid their presents before her in the Cave of the Nativity. Narrow paths lead southwards to a hill near the top of which is an uneven plateau, some half-hour's journey in circumference, overgrown, like the hill itself, with wild trees and bushes. The dwellings of the other families were all scattered about at some distance. I now saw six of the Apostles already gathered here -- Peter, Andrew, John, Thaddeus, Bartholomew, and Matthias -- and also one of the seven deacons, Nicanor, who was always so helpful and anxious to be of service. There were always two praying at the head and foot of the holy body. Jesus was baptized to fulfill all righteousness and began His earthly ministry around 30 years old. This church dates back to the 5th century. This garment covered only the back of the brown undergarment, leaving the bodice and whole front of the latter visible. On being asked, in the middle of a conversation on everyday matters, how old the Blessed Virgin was when she died, Catherine Emmerich suddenly looked away and said: She reached the age of sixty-four years all but three and twenty days: I have just seen the figure X six times, then I, then V; is not that sixty-four?' After the Apostles, the disciples who were present approached the Blessed Virgin's couch and received the same blessing. So he went still farther north, right across China, to where Russia is now, where he received a second summons which sent him hurrying to Ephesus. (SB), [183] None of the apocryphal legends of the Assumption suggest that Our Lady lived at Ephesus: most suggest Jerusalem, and the Greek legend ( John , 4) gives Bethlehem. His complexion was pale, and he had a high forehead, large eyes, and black curly hair. Lamps were burning above the altar. The two angel-choirs in the clouds met beneath her soul and separated it from her holy body, which in the moment of separation sank back on the couch with arms crossed on the breast. As I looked about me, distressed at all the devastation, my heavenly Bridegroom appeared to me in the form in which He had once appeared to Mary Magdalen in this place, and comforted me. As Easter Sunday approaches and Christians everywhere remember Jesus journey to the cross, we cant help but wonder about those who stuck by His side till the bitter endespecially His earthly mother. John had had a house built for the Blessed Virgin before he brought her here. Seeing her thus entered into the glory of heaven, I forgot the whole scene round her body on the earth. I always saw them like this, but forgot to say so. After their feet had been washed, they approached Mary's couch and greeted her with reverence. The holy man became a titular bishop in 1844 and died in 1849. In the meantime Peter had completed the Holy Sacrifice. A girl was considered the right age for marriage when she could physically bear children, a milestone marked by the start of her monthly cycle. The Bible doesn't mention the virgin mary's death at all. It seems to be made of different woods, and the figure of Christ is white. Mary.s meditation on the different kinds of wood forming the cross were communicated to me, but alas I have forgotten this beautiful lesson. To the right of this oratory, against a niche in the wall, was the sleeping place or cell of the Blessed Virgin. This approximation comes from multiple informed but inexact calculations, including the date of 4-6 B.C. If, however, Jesus was born in 4 BCE and was her first child, then Mary was likely born no earlier than 20 BCE. He had a short black curly beard, divided in the middle. The Protevangelium account of the life of St. Anne became the foundation for establishing the liturgical feasts of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (September 8) and the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (December 8), which is usually observed as a holy day of obligation.The dedication of Mary at the Temple became so important in church doctrine that by 1585 Pope Sixtus V . [On the morning of August 13 ^th, 1822, Catherine Emmerich said: Last night I had a great vision of the death of the Blessed Virgin, but have completely forgotten it all.'. 295. Peter approached her and gave her extreme unction, much in the way in which it is administered now. How old was Virgin Mary (mother of Jesus) when she had Jesus? If this part of the house was needed as one large room, these screens, which did not nearly reach to the ceiling, were taken apart and put aside. Luke 3:23 tells us, Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. This makes sense, given Jewish traditions prohibiting rabbinical teaching until age 30 (Numbers 4:3). (SB), [184] The road from Jerusalem', one would suppose, would be the main road eastwards through Colossae, etc., but the suggestion that Mary's house was nearer the sea' than Ephesus (p. 160 ) indicates a road southward along the coast. While this was being done the Apostles were reciting prayers as if in choir. -- " That Mary, the Immaculate and ever Virgin Mother of God, at the end of the course of her life on earth, was taken up, body and soul, into the glory of heaven." In the evening about seven o'clock she said in her sleep: Now James the Greater has come from Spain by Rome with three companions, Timon, Eremenzear, and still another.' What love and tenderness we see in Marys presence at the cross. The upright piece is somewhat broader than the arms. As she received the Blessed Sacrament I saw a radiance pass into Mary, who sank back as though in ecstasy, and spoke no more. About this time he began to perform some remarkable miraculous cures. p. 167 on their tiredness) contrasts strikingly with that of the legends. Since she was a virgin, Mary couldnt understand how this blessing could occur. There was an indescribable solemnity about her. It means that the year 48 after Christ's Birth is the year of the Blessed Virgin's death. (Luke 3:23-38; Matthew 1:1-16). But in ancient times, Jewish families traditionally arranged marriages for their sons and daughters while they were still in their youth. When she woke up again, the writer asked her what she was singing, and she answered, still heavy with sleep: I was following in the procession with that woman there: now she has gone!' She told John what was to be done with her body, and bade him divide her clothes between her maidservant and another poor girl from the neighborhood who sometimes came to help. 33 yrs later after no child support he died . Had His mother not been a widow at that time, Jesus gracious provision for her would have been unnecessary. In the meantime the Apostles had assisted at the Holy Sacrifice offered by Peter and received Communion with him, after which I saw Peter and John, still in great bishops' cloaks, going from the front part of the house to the death chamber. Besides Mara she had two other daughters, and the sons of one of these became disciples. As she grew older, her face became ever paler and more transparent. When Jesus was 12 years old, He and his parents went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. Every place touched by the sponge was covered up again at once; the middle of the body remained wrapped up and nothing whatever was exposed. The Blessed Virgin, after praying, blessed each one by laying her crossed hands on their foreheads. It had a lid, and was of the same shape as the Chalice at the Last Supper. The Blessed Virgin in saying this pointed to the cupboard standing opposite her sleeping cell, and I saw her maidservant go and open the cupboard and then shut it again. The unchallenged facts about her life establish that Jesus cleansed her of seven demons (Luke 8:2 and Mark 16:9), probably . It was during Mary's engagement that she learned through an angelic visitation of the plans God had for her to serve as Jesus Christ's mother on Earth. The house was divided into two compartments by the hearth in the center of it. I expect that the news of her death, burial-place, and assumption into heaven were permitted by God to be indefinite and only a matter of tradition in order that Christianity in its early days should not be in danger of heathen influences then so powerful. Mary was probably about 16 when Jesus was born, so she would have been born around the year 20 BC.The Blessed Virgin Mary is assumed to have been about 14 years old when she married. It was all simple and dignified. Whereupon the holy virgin and martyr Susanna [189] came to me and encouraged me, saying that she would be my companion on the journey. A covering was stretched on it and fastened to a knob at each of the four corners. Jewish marriages were contracted between the bride and grooms families, usually within a narrow circle of familial clans. I saw her wearing this dress at the wedding of Cana. (SB), [189] St. Susanna was a Roman maiden, martyred in AD. In it stood a cross about the length of a man.s arm in which were inserted two arms rising outwards and upwards, in the form of the letter Y, the shape in which I have always seen Christ.s Cross. [Please refer to Figure 24.] All rights reserved. Venmo | 178 views, 11 likes, 0 loves, 10 comments, 2 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from The Rock Church: Jesus is the "Word made flesh" and the "Son of. She paced out all the measurements, and John had the memorial stones set up for her. It is Transitus Mariae which tells us of Mary's burial at Gethsemane. I saw the Blessed Virgin as very full of years, but no sign of old age appeared in her except a consuming yearning by which she was as it were transfigured. [191] They had long staffs with crooks and knobs of different shapes in their hands which showed their rank. The issue is obscured by AC's supposition that Ephesus must be several hours distant from the coast' (ib.). Undoubtedly, a sword did pierce Marys soul as she watched Jesus blood pour from His body, knowing there was nothing she could do to comfort Him. I saw that she was weak; her face was quite white and as though transparent. Jewish marriage customs in Biblical times were far different than modern Western traditions. MARY.S MAIDSERVANT AND JOHN THE APOSTLE. That is one reading. I cannot clearly recollect whether there were holy bones in one of the boxes or elsewhere. No doubt she wore this ceremonial dress here at the Way of the Cross in Ephesus in memory of having worn it during Jesus' sufferings on His way to Calvary. 44 at the latest. The Apostles, disciples, and all others present then came in to see the beloved face once more before it was covered up. After three years' sojourn here Mary had a great longing to see Jerusalem again, and was taken there by John and Peter. Gethsemani is on one side of the valley. Jude Thaddeus and Simon were in Persia when the summons reached them. It completely covered only the back, where it fell to the feet in a few long folds. Based on Jewish tradition, Marys father would have consulted her about his decision to make Joseph her husband, but only as a formality and only after negotiations for Marys bride price (or mohar) were settled. She herself chose a cave in the Mount of Olives, and the Apostles caused a beautiful sepulcher to be prepared here by the hands of a Christian stonemason. Mary Heli (who was the wife of Cleophas, the mother of Mary Cleophas, and the grandmother of the Apostle James the Less, Thaddeus, and Simon) was by then a very old woman. Everywhere they worked miracles according to the needs of the people. It was already dusk, and four lights were carried on poles round the coffin. Before taking Mary into his home, Joseph's previous wife (with whom he had had several children) died. On the breast was laid a wreath of white, red, and sky-blue flowers as a token of virginity. As Easter Sunday approaches and Christians everywhere remember Jesus journey to the cross, we cant help but wonder about his mother who stuck by His side till the bitter end. Some of the Apostles and disciples went on ahead, others followed with the women. The newcomers tenderly embraced those who were already there, and I saw many of them weeping for joy and for sorrow, too -- happy to see each other again and grieved that the occasion for their meeting was so sad. (SB), [186] Her tomb at Gethsemani is mentioned in the Greek legend (48). The matter is also confused by the historical problems of the date of the birth of Christ and the date of the Crucifixion and Ascension, and cannot be decided with any certainty. On the cross itself the Figure of Our Lord was roughly outlined, the lines of the carving being rubbed with darker color so as to show the Figure plainly. At that time I saw no picture and no fixed cross to designate the Stations, nothing but plain memorial stones with inscriptions, but afterwards, as the result of constant visits and attention, I saw the place becoming increasingly beautiful and easy of approach. During these visions I had by my side, amongst the many relics I possess, those of Andrew, Bartholomew, James the Greater, James the Less, Thaddeus, Simon Zelotes, Thomas, and several disciples and holy women. Thomas was of low stature and had red-brown hair. Andrew, who was on his way from Jerusalem, where he had suffered persecution, was not far from him. At this moment I can remember what follows. The others indicate the Vale of Josaphat, usually identified with the Kedron Valley between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. These twelve stones were all alike, all engraved with Hebrew inscriptions, but their positions were different. 42-44. I believe that this grave must still exist under the earth and will one day come to light. Therefore, Pixner concludes that Mary died around the time of the 'Council of Jerusalem', as this would have ensured all the apostles would have been in Jerusalem (Pixner, 404). I saw that Peter, who was already stiff from age and his exertions, sat up and rested his hands on his knees as he listened to the angel. It was a festival garment, worn in this way according to old Jewish custom. After speaking a few solemn words, he gave the Sacrament to the Blessed Virgin. [195] My gaze followed her soul and saw it enter the heavenly Jerusalem by that shining path and go up to the throne of the most Holy Trinity. I did, however, make my way there to pray, and again Our Lord came to strengthen and comfort me. About Matthew I again saw today that he was the son of Alpheus by a former marriage, and was thus the stepson of Alpheus' second wife Mary, the daughter of Cleophas. But the angel assured her that the Holy Spirit would accomplish the miracle, and Mary humbly and joyfully agreed to the Holy mission. It is recited in the Breviary on the Octave-Day or during the Octave, and is in fact the simplest collection of popular legends about the Assumption. But here there are difficulties about other statements: from AC's remarks on p. 98 we can deduce that she was eighteen at the birth of Christ, though from p. 57 we gather she was fourteen when she left the Temple and was married. During Mary and Josephs betrothal period, God sent the angel Gabriel to visit Mary and inform her that she was the chosen vessel to bring the Son of God into the world (Luke 1:26-38). These Stations were all in hollows like little round basins. Is it morning or evening?' [At another time Catherine Emmerich said that St. Andrew had also helped in this work.] Herod Agrippa I. After they had knelt for a long time in prayer before it, John rose and drew from his breast a metal box. As he came in he girt up his long white ample garment in his girdle, then took off this girdle and put on another one, inscribed with letters, which he drew out from under his robe. How is it, then, that historys most glorious moment is surrounded by fearful fishermen, despised tax collectors, marginalized women, feeble politicians, and traitorous friends? Paul was not summoned. She was living in the spirit, as it were. Timon was one of the seven deacons ( Acts 6.. 15), and is so called by AC (infra, p. 169 ). The Blessed Virgin came in from her bedchamber completely enveloped in a white robe, and leaning on her maidservant.s arm. I saw him on his way at a great distance. They had tools with them with which to enlarge the tomb, for it was here that the Blessed Virgin's body was to rest. Herod Agrippa I. Mary's house was the only one built of stone. The case against a Grand Junction man accused of moving the body of a 16-year-old girl who had died of a fentanyl overdose is making its way through the Mesa County District Court system. The Bible does not tell us how old Mary was when she died. Based on the context of the scriptures, it is likely that something like 25-30. At the same time I had the feeling that it was the cloth which priests use at Mass, after drinking the Precious Blood, to cleanse the chalice; Mary, in wiping the. Near here is a castle inhabited by a king who seems to have been deposed. One of Rhoda's two sons was the first husband of Maroni, who, when he died, married as a childless widow Eliud, a nephew of St. Anne, and went to live at Naim. The indescribably long journeys made by the Apostles were not accomplished without miraculous assistance from the Lord. When Peter went up to her, I saw that he had a scroll of writing in his hand. This is one reason why Mary and Josephs genealogies originate from the same ancestral lines. He had just converted a king and his family. [August 12 ^th, 1821:] There are now not more than twelve men gathered together in Mary's house. We don't know much about Mary's parents because Mary never lived in their home, and Elizabeth didn't accompany Mary to see them. He shepherded hordes of lost and wandering followers. Catholic friar Paul Gaechter argues that Mary was probably betrothed between 12 and 13. The women took the Blessed Virgin's body from her death-bed in its wrappings, and laid it in a long basket which was so piled up with thick, roughly woven coverings or mats that the body lay high above it. When she said this, she was already seeing what happened after Mary's death. Wikimedia Commons. She was completely enveloped in a white sleeping coverlet, even her arms being wrapped in it. Christianity.com is a member of the Salem Web Network of sites including: Copyright 2023, Christianity.com. It was barely nine inches in length and breadth and contained five boxes closed by silver lids. They all carried little pots of fresh herbs. (SB)[193] The late arrival of Thomas is included in the tradition preserved by St. John Damascene, but among the early legends only in that entitled of Joseph of Arimathea' (17). Back then, it made sense for the grooms family to offer payment for a wife. This made me think of the power of healing in the name of Jesus which is specially bestowed upon priests, and how in our days this grace has been particularly manifested in the person of Prince Hohenlohe. The ceiling of this cell was also of wickerwork rising into a vault from the center of which was suspended a lamp with several arms. Here for several days she was so weak and ill and so often suffered from fainting attacks that her companions again and again thought her end was near and made preparations for her burial. In the night I saw Peter and Andrew asleep on their journey in different places but not very far apart from each other. I saw Thomas come up to me like the others, but he did not come into the vision of Mary's death; he was far away and came too late. 17K views, 727 likes, 654 loves, 3.7K comments, 237 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from EWTN: Starting at 8 a.m. Peter, who was the celebrant, wore a robe which was very long at the back but did not trail on the ground. I also saw five disciples, and can remember with particular clearness Simeon Justus and Barnabas (or Barsabas), whose bones were beside me. On the altar had been placed a vessel in the shape of a cross made of a substance lustrous with mother-of-pearl. In many of the places where they had taught, the Apostles had already built little churches. (SB)[185] These visits to Jerusalem may be the source of the legends that suppose her death to have taken place there. Her little room was open on all sides. He usually stayed in Ephesus and its neighborhood, and it was here that the summons reached him. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.(Luke 2:34-35). Figure 24. The Bible does not tell us directly how old Mary was when she gave birth to Jesus. After she had marked this Way of the Cross with twelve Stations, she went there with her maidservant in quiet meditation: at each Station they sat down and renewed the mystery of its significance in their hearts, praising the Lord for His love with tears of compassion. The most outstanding was that performed on June 21st, 1821, when Princess Mathilda von Schwarzenberg was released from her paralysis of the previous eight years. One of these I saw particularly clearly; to be sure, he helped many people whose hearts were, I saw, being gnawed by ugly creatures (these, no doubt, signified sins), but others, who lay stricken with bodily illness and whom he could certainly have helped, he neglected to assist owing to distractions, which caused disturbances and obstacles within him. Her head and whole figure were wrapped in a long cloth; she was covered by a brown woolen blanket. The Blessed Virgin died after the ninth hour, at the same time as Our Lord. She came to Jerusalem from Ephesus once again, [185] eighteen months before her death, and I saw her again visiting the Holy Places with the Apostles at night, wrapped in a veil. Such was the impression I had at the sight of the cloth beside the cross. A little way behind it was the summit of the rocky hill from which one could see over the trees and hills to Ephesus and the sea with its many islands. She was very thin, but I saw no wrinkles; there was no sign whatever in her of any withering or decay. Upon finding Jesus, Mary asked, Son, why have you treated us like this? In the last days of her life I never saw her take any nourishment except now and then a spoonful of juice which her maidservant pressed from a bunch of yellow berries like grapes into a bowl near her couch. The Blessed Virgin went in front of them all. They were then greater than the high priest when he carried on his breast the holy treasure of the Old Covenant. Cline, Austin. Nor can I for the moment be sure whether Christ.s Cross itself was made of these different kinds of wood, or whether Mary had made this cross in this way only for devotional reasons. It stood between two small vases filled with fresh flowers. Guido Reni, Education of the Virgin. 3 Surprising Reasons to Be Like Doubting Thomas. They lived very quietly and in profound peace. [188] These were James the Less and Matthew, who is his step-brother, since Alpheus married when a widower Mary the daughter of Cleophas, having had Matthew by a former wife. It is a very lonely place, but has many fertile and pleasant slopes as well as rock-caves, clean and dry and surrounded by patches of sand. See n. 193, p. 167 . I saw, too, how He told the inconsolable Mary Magdalen to hide herself in the desert, and her sister Martha to found a community of women; He Himself would always be with them. Today, most couples in the West marry for love, and according to recent census findings, most U.S. couples wed when theyre around 31 years old. The dogmatic decree of Nov. 1st, 1950, however, makes no pronouncement about the death of Our Lady. Between the Blessed Virgin's dwelling and Ephesus runs a little stream which winds about in a very singular way. How old was she when he died on the cross, and when did she realize what route her son's life was going to take? They are following the Way of the Cross and are preparing the grave of the Mother of God.' It was the Apostles' custom to carry this cross on their travels hanging on their breasts under their garments. If she was then sixty-four years old (as AC says here), she was born in 20 B.C. It was brought from its place to the right of the hearth (which was in daily use) to be set up against the wall and used at the service, after which it was put back again. And Mary was seventy-two years old when she herself died, and was three days later assumed into Heaven, in the year 58. They were still engaged in putting on their vestments when James the Greater arrived with three companions. They cut off the Blessed Virgin's beautiful locks of hair to be kept in remembrance of her.
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how old was the virgin mary when she died