the exact position in which it was lying in the tomb--and carry it
uncovered and disfigured with wounds across the rock, which trembled as
they passed. It then appeared to me that Jesus presented his body,
marked with the stigmas of the Passion, to his Heavenly Father, who,
seated on a throne, was surrounded by innumerable choirs of angels,
blissfully occupied in pouring forth hymns of adoration and jubilee.
The case was probably the same when at the death of our Lord, so many
holy souls re-entered their bodies, and appeared in the Temple and in
different parts of Jerusalem; for it is not likely that the bodies
which they animated were really alive, as in that case they would have
been obliged to die a second time, whereas they returned to their
original state without apparent difficulty; but it is to be supposed
that their appearance in human form was similar to that of our Lord,
when he (if we may thus express it) accompanied his body to the throne
of his Heavenly Father.

At this moment the rock was so violently shaken, from the very
summit to the base, that three of the guards fell down and became
almost insensible. The other four were away at the time, being gone to
the town to fetch something. The guards who were thus thrown prostrate
attributed the sudden shock to an earthquake; but Cassius, who,
although uncertain as to what all this might portend, yet felt an
inward presentiment that it was the prelude to some stupendous event,
stood transfixed in anxious expectation, waiting to see what would
follow next. The soldiers who were gone to Jerusalem soon returned.

I again beheld the holy women: they had finished preparing the
spices, and were resting in their private cells; not stretched out on
the couches, but leaning against the bedclothes, which were rolled up.
They wished to go to the sepulchre before the break of day, because