how old was the virgin mary when she died

[August 13 ^th, 1821:] I saw the service being celebrated today as before. She was, however, quite different from me, as light as air, and when I tried to take hold of her I could not do it. Great avenues lead up to the city, and the ground under the trees is covered with yellow fruit. 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. The holy man became a titular bishop in 1844 and died in 1849. Learn more about the meaning and significance behind the Easter holiday and Holy Week celebrations: What is Palm Sunday?What is Maundy Thursday?What is Good Friday?What is Holy Saturday? Then I saw a wonderfully moving vision. 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. He touched her hands and feet with ointment, marking forehead and breast with the sign of the cross. He recruited, loved, and cherished His disciples. This Herod reigned AD. Mary and Joseph started home without Him, thinking He . The Blessed Virgin could not see the altar from her bed, but during the Holy Sacrifice she sat upright on her couch in deep devotion. The sepulcher prepared for her on the Mount of Olives was always held in honor, and later a church was built over it, and John Damascene (so I heard in the spirit, but who and what was he?) He performed miracles beyond anyones wildest imaginations. I also saw coming into Mary's house Mary Heli, the elder sister of the Blessed Virgin, and her younger stepsister, a daughter of Anna by her second husband. Mary did not live in Ephesus itself, but in the country near it where several women who were her close friends had settled. He came with Timon the deacon from Spain, and after passing through Rome had met with Eremenzear and still another. To reach the Station of the Holy Sepulcher one went over this hill and came to the stone in a hollow. After speaking a few solemn words, he gave the Sacrament to the Blessed Virgin. A young man was considered ready for marriage when he had mastered the skills needed to support a family. 1. (SB)[191] The mission-fields of the various Apostles as mentioned by AC on these pages generally correspond to the traditional legends as preserved in the Lives of the Saints, the Breviary, the Acta Bollandiana, and local cult. Yesterday at midday I saw that there was already great grief and mourning in the Blessed Virgin's house. Peter then gave her Holy Communion. The indescribably long journeys made by the Apostles were not accomplished without miraculous assistance from the Lord. 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. He was in India when he received the warning, but before that he had decided to go farther north to Tartary, and could not make up his mind to abandon this plan. John visited him often and ended by converting him. As she received the Blessed Sacrament I saw a radiance pass into Mary, who sank back as though in ecstasy, and spoke no more. They found their son in the temple courts three days later, astounding all who heard Him (Luke 2:41-48). John had had a house built for the Blessed Virgin before he brought her here. But Scripture is clear that Mary, from a young age, surrendered her life to the Fathers will, and in the prime of her life, a sword pierced her soul as she watched her son, our Savior, die for the sins of the world. The floor sank at the entrance, and then one saw the burial-place before one like a narrow altar with the rock-wall projecting over it. Tell my little niece not to interrupt me but to wait patiently in the other room for a time.' 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. They carried out their task with great respect and reverence, washing the body with their hands without looking at it, for the cloth which was held over it hid it from their eyes. The development of the doctrine of Mary can be traced . Mary.s couch, which was placed against the wall, was a box one and a half feet high and of the breadth and length of a narrow plank. He foretold that when the sea should reach this stone, another would come to that country preaching Jesus Christ. The way led into a wood, and upon a hill in this wood she had marked the place of Calvary, and the grave of Christ in a little cave in another hill. He was very slim and active, his face was long, narrow, and delicate, and on his bare head his long fair hair was parted and brushed back behind his ears. If she was then sixty-four years old (as AC says here), she was born in 20 B.C. Once I saw John come into the house, looking much older too, and very thin and haggard. They were still engaged in putting on their vestments when James the Greater arrived with three companions. The district is lonely and unfrequented. 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. They all carried little pots of fresh herbs. Everywhere was light and radiance, as at Christ's Ascension. 4 Reasons Why We Have a Hard Time Talking about Loneliness. According to Christianity.com, Mary was 46 to 49 years old when Jesus died. I saw that she was weak; her face was quite white and as though transparent. The others indicate the Vale of Josaphat, usually identified with the Kedron Valley between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. Yesterday I could not help starting to sing and then everything was gone.']. 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. Timon was one of the seven deacons ( Acts 6.. 15), and is so called by AC (infra, p. 169 ). The rather radical interpretation that Joseph was a very old widower to explain away Jesus' six siblings and the sexless marriage in order to preserve an externally implied notion that Mary must remain a virgin even after the conception and birth of Christ, lest it "sully" her . for the birth of Christ, 30 A.D. for his death, and the marrying age of 13 years old for young Jewish women at the time. To the right of this oratory, against a niche in the wall, was the sleeping place or cell of the Blessed Virgin. [Please refer to Figure 23.] Her debut childrens book, What Is A Family? 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. ANSWER: We do not know for sure the place or circumstances of the death of Virgin Mary. Today I saw nobody in the Blessed Virgin's room except one woman. It completely covered only the back, where it fell to the feet in a few long folds. 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), [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). Her face was white as snow and as though transparent. She was very weak and pale, and seemed as though completely consumed with yearning. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. Rhoda had married far away from the home of her family: she lived first in the region of Shechem, then in Nazareth and at Casaloth on Mount Thabor. THE EFFECT OF RELICS OF THE APOSTLES ON THE VISIONS. This is one reason why Mary and Josephs genealogies originate from the same ancestral lines. Why Did Jesus Give Believers the Beatitudes? The Blessed Virgin lay back on her pillows pale and still. It was as if she were only here in appearance, as if her spirit had already passed beyond and her whole being was far away. Her appearance was indescribably moving. However, we can assume that Mary was at least eighteen when she gave birth to Jesus. Mary's face was radiant with smiles as in her youth. When did the Virgin Mary marry Joseph? Thomas was of low stature and had red-brown hair. It had a lid, and was of the same shape as the Chalice at the Last Supper. In the third year of Jesus' ministry, when Our Lord was healing the sick and teaching beyond the Jordan at Bethabara (also called Bethania), I saw the Blessed Virgin wearing this dress in Jerusalem, where she was living in a beautiful house near the house of Nicodemus, who, I think, owned that house also. The Blessed Virgin received the Blessed Sacrament. When I once more looked down to earth, I saw the Blessed Virgin's body lying on the couch. 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. RT @rich33301: Virgin birth begot from rape of a 14 yr old married virgin, Mary & was probably too scared to scream & wake up her husband. He put a sort of maniple on his arm and a stole round his neck. It was all simple and dignified. 29 Apr 2023 23:20:01 She was not from a noble family, but she was brought to prominence by the visit of the Angel Gabriel. 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. These stones were not always uncovered; there was a mat or cover fastened at one side which, when nobody was praying there, was pulled over the stone and held down on the other side with two pegs. I saw her lying on a low, very narrow couch in her little sleeping-alcove all hung with white, in the room behind and to the right of the hearth-place. I always saw them like this, but forgot to say so. When she was about 15 years old. Annette Marie Griffin is an award-winning author and speaker who has managed and directed childrens and youth programs for more than 20 years. RELATIVES AND FRIENDS OF THE HOLY FAMILY WHO ALSO LIVE IN EPHESUS. Andrew, who was on his way from Jerusalem, where he had suffered persecution, was not far from him. They wound them tightly round the body from the ankles to below the breast, leaving the head, breast, hands, and feet free. I saw all, the farthest as well as the nearest, being summoned by visions to come to the Blessed Virgin. The men muffled their heads in the piece of stuff which they wore round their necks and held a mourning service. Peter, who was the celebrant, wore a robe which was very long at the back but did not trail on the ground. What love and tenderness we see in Marys presence at the cross. 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. Its interesting to note that the passage also marks the first time Jesus calls God His Heavenly Father.. Lamps were burning above the altar. This garment covered only the back of the brown undergarment, leaving the bodice and whole front of the latter visible. 3 Surprising Reasons to Be Like Doubting Thomas. Her head rested on a round cushion. The Blessed Virgin's mother wore one, too. 1. 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. Between these clouds a path of light poured down upon Mary, and I saw a shining mountain leading up from her into the heavenly Jerusalem. 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 . [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. The issue is obscured by AC's supposition that Ephesus must be several hours distant from the coast' (ib.). (SB), [188] AC's matter-of-fact account of the arrival of the Apostles (and cf. The Apostles prayed for a while, and then, raising herself rather less, she received the Chalice from John. Mary is known from biblical references, which are, however, too sparse to construct a coherent biography. 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. Historians agree that Mary was most likely between 12 and 14 years old when Jesus was born. The other two came from Jerusalem. The gospel texts provide no information about when Mary was born or when she died. Four times did I see the Apostles relieve each other in watching and praying by the holy body. In this continued state of fervor she then recounted the following:]. The little hill on which the Cross had stood had been leveled and surrounded by banks and ditches to prevent access to it. I saw Peter again bringing her the Blessed Sacrament after the service; he brought it to her in the cross-shaped vessel. She seemed to be swaying with intense longing. In the center one was the Blessed Sacrament, and in the others chrism, oil, salt, other holy things, and some shreds of what was perhaps cotton. Britannica states that she "flourished" from 25 B.C. Two women then held a broad cloth stretched above the body, while two others removed the head-covering and wrappings under this cloth, leaving the body clothed only in the long woolen robe. The dogmatic decree of Nov. 1st, 1950, however, makes no pronouncement about the death of Our Lady. She stretched out her arms towards it in infinite longing, and I saw her body, all wrapped up, rise so high above her couch that one could see right under it. They were then greater than the high priest when he carried on his breast the holy treasure of the Old Covenant. Mary.s meditation on the different kinds of wood forming the cross were communicated to me, but alas I have forgotten this beautiful lesson. 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. 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). This has led some to claim that these children were the "brothers" of Jesus that are . Women typically married in their early to mid teens. At its foot there lay a piece of parchment with something written on it; Christ.s words, I think. 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. He was a very long way off. While this was being done the Apostles were reciting prayers as if in choir. Mary, also called St. Mary or the Virgin Mary, (flourished beginning of the Christian era), the mother of Jesus, venerated in the Christian church since the apostolic age and a favourite subject in Western art, music, and literature. His complexion was pale, and he had a high forehead, large eyes, and black curly hair. This is not properly written out; but I see them as separate figures because I do not understand big sums in Roman letters. (Luke 3:23-38; Matthew 1:1-16). She could only say a few words to them. The Apostles then returned to the altar in the front part of the house in a solemn procession with the sacred vessels and continued the service. The Station of Mount Calvary was the only one not in a hollow, but on a hill. They are following the Way of the Cross and are preparing the grave of the Mother of God.' 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.' 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. Bartholomew was in Asia, east of the Red Sea. I saw him on his way at a great distance. One tradition attests that she died in Jerusalem. Amazingly, a number of others in the house, including Myrtle's husband Karl & his aunt, were still alive, although trapped, and would survive. When she came to that door behind the palace where she had met Jesus sinking under the weight of the Cross, she too sank to the ground in a swoon, overcome by agonizing memories, and her companions thought she was dying. So I went with her over sea and land, and we soon reached Jerusalem. 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. Amongst the holy women living in the Christian settlement near Ephesus and visiting the Blessed Virgin in her house was the daughter of a sister of Anna, the prophetess of the Temple. The two Apostles did a good deal of work in it, and also arranged a door to close the entrance to the tomb. There must have been a mat or piece of leather attached to the carrying-poles, for I saw the coffin hanging between them as if in a cradle. Some of them had not yet been built in stone, but were made of plaited reeds plastered with clay; yet all those I saw had at the back the semicircular or three-sided apse, like Mary's house at Ephesus. I did, however, make my way there to pray, and again Our Lord came to strengthen and comfort me. As she grew older, her face became ever paler and more transparent. After the Apostles, the disciples who were present approached the Blessed Virgin's couch and received the same blessing. "Some theologians feel that, since death is a consequence of . If she was then sixty-four years old (as AC says here), she was born in 20 B.C. It is Transitus Mariae which tells us of Mary's burial at Gethsemane. 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. Emerentia had three daughters: Elizabeth, the mother of the Baptist, Enue (who was present as a widow at the birth of the Blessed Virgin in St. Anne's house), and Rhoda, whose daughter Mara was, as I have said, now at Ephesus. I saw that one of them bent right down over Mary and was embraced by her. It is worth here quoting the actual definition: "Immaculatam Deiparam semper Virginem Mariam, expleto terrestris vitae cursu, fuisse corpore et anima ad caelestem gloriam assumptam." [August 11 ^th, 1821:] Today I saw a ninth Apostle, Simon, arrive. By the time, however, that the sepulcher was ready, [186] she had recovered and was strong enough to journey back to her home in Ephesus, where she did in fact die eighteen months later. A transparent handkerchief was folded back from the face, which shone white between the bunches of herbs. Rhoda's daughter Mara, who was present at Mary's death at Ephesus, was married and lived near Bethlehem. It was made of different kinds of wood. Timon was one of the seven deacons ( Acts 6.. 15), and is so called by AC (infra, p. 169 ). California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Mary may have been around 47 to 49 years old when Jesus died. At first she went by herself, measuring the number of steps, so often counted by her, which separated the places of Our Lord's different sufferings. These Stations were all in hollows like little round basins. 19K views, 788 likes, 658 loves, 4.4K comments, 240 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from EWTN: Starting at 8 a.m. (It is remarkable that Catherine Emmerich was not shown numbers with our ordinary Arabic figures, with which she was familiar, but never saw anything but Roman figures in her visions). Another tradition points to the city of Ephesus, where she is said to have lived for a short time prior to her death. Then I saw the coffin lifted onto a bier and carried out of the house on the shoulders of Peter and John. Opposite it, to the left of the oratory, was a cell where her clothes and other belongings were kept. REGARDING MARY'S AGE. The Apostles were praying in the front part of the house as though they were in choir. Several, the Latin (3), the Greek (3), and Pseudo-Joseph of Arimathea (4), refer to her visit to the sepulcher. When she was living in Jerusalem, she had never failed, ever since Our Lord.s. So I saw all the Blessed Virgin's garments and will describe them later. He was the farthest off, and did not arrive until after Mary's death. He told the truth wherever He wentwhatever the costeven unto death. Herod Agrippa I. I saw her once traveling to Nazareth with Seraphia (Veronica) before Jesus' baptism. Before taking Mary into his home, Joseph's previous wife (with whom he had had several children) died. In the night I saw Peter and Andrew asleep on their journey in different places but not very far apart from each other. The farthest corner or apse of this room was divided off by a curtain and formed Mary.s oratory. Every day they take it in turns to go there, morning and evening, and I creep up quietly to join in behind them. "According to the customs of her time and country, Mary, at her betrothal with Joseph, was between twelve and twelve and one-half years old. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. I saw the Apostles and disciples arrive mostly in a very tired condition. The Apostles, disciples, and women knelt round it praying. It was shining; her face was radiant; her eyes were closed, and her arms, crossed on her breast. Nov 23, 2017 at 18:10. Maroni had by this Eliud a son whom Our Lord raised from the dead in Naim after his mother had become a widow for the second time. [183] Mary's dwelling was on a hill to the left of the road from Jerusalem some three and a half hours from Ephesus. In other words, while tradition has always . InThe Characters of Easter,youll become acquainted with the unlikely collection of ordinary people who witnessed the miracle of Christs death and resurrection. It was shown to me in the spirit how at that time, when she begged Him that she might not live for long in this vale of tears after He had ascended, Jesus told her in general what spiritual works she was to accomplish before her end on earth. His garment was very long and hung in folds, and was of a thin grayish-white material. Thaddeus went first with a smoking censer. The maidservant had brought a table which she covered with red and white cloths. In the meantime the altar was set up and the Apostles vested themselves for the service in their long white robes and broad girdles with letters on them. I cannot clearly recollect whether there were holy bones in one of the boxes or elsewhere. The fireplace was on the floor opposite the door; it was sunk into the ground beside a wall which rose in steps on each side of it up to the ceiling. The women now laid a covering over the holy body, and the Apostles and disciples betook themselves to the front part of the house. 12. The men then went back into the front part of the house and prepared for the service, while the women who were present came up to the Blessed Virgin's couch, knelt down and received her blessing. Jesus, becoming aware of His true identity, spent His time in the temple with the priests and teachers, amazing them with His wisdom. 295. Jude Thaddeus and Simon were in Persia when the summons reached them. To my great joy I saw that Mary's soul, as it entered heaven, was followed by a great number of souls released from purgatory; and again today, on the anniversary, I saw many poor souls entering heaven, amongst them some whom I knew. She had paced out and measured all the distances between the Stations of that Via Crucis, and her love for her Son made her unable to live without this constant contemplation of His sufferings. Mary most likely lived out her remaining years in John's home, according to John 19:27. Only a few women remained with the Blessed Virgin. The identity of Eremenzear is unknown, but AC 169 states (p. 168 ) that he joined James and Timon later and had been a disciple of Our Lord. As legend says, Mary did not live in the city of Ephesus itself because she liked . It had been walled up and buried under rubbish, and above, on the top of the rock, a building like a little temple was being put up. They had tools with them with which to enlarge the tomb, for it was here that the Blessed Virgin's body was to rest. It is wild but not desolate, and scattered about it are a number of trees, pyramid-shaped, with big shady branches below and smooth trunks. Lights (I think both tapers and lamps) were burning on it. They must have changed places, for later on I saw six of the Apostles acting as bearers -- at the head, James the Greater and James the Less; in the center, Bartholomew and Andrew; and behind, Thaddeus and Matthew. Jewish marriages were contracted between the bride and grooms families, usually within a narrow circle of familial clans. A woman was kneeling beside Mary's couch and every now and then held her upright. p. 167 on their tiredness) contrasts strikingly with that of the legends. 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?' The house was divided into two compartments by the hearth in the center of it. 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. These cells were used as bedrooms for Mary's maidservant and for other women who came to visit her. I followed her Way of the Cross with her and some five other holy women. Another of the women living in Mary's neighborhood, whom I had also seen on her way to Nazareth before Jesus' baptism, was a niece of Elizabeth's called Mara. They laid aside their staffs, cloaks, girdles, and pouches, letting their long white undergarments fall to their feet. Today I saw a number of women, among whom I remember a daughter of Veronica and the mother of John Mark, coming to prepare the body for burial. The Apostles stood in two rows reaching from the altar to her couch, and bowed low as Peter passed between them bearing the Blessed Sacrament. When they were on their travels they wore their garments girt up high round their waists. This Herod reigned AD. They wore long white woolen cloaks which they could draw over their heads as hoods. It had no particular ornamentation, and was more roughly carved than the crosses which come from the Holy Land nowadays. 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.
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