So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who had at first come to him by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. The subdued and serene atmosphere of Christ s death mutates into a scene of bloody horror and shrill lamentation. What Mary fiercely embraces is not a corpse but the life divine she is carrying in her heart. Identification Love is a multi-splendored thing, but never lame.
Love is fierce in passion and dedication.
I am no Mary, no Magna Mater , but I am not either a lame duck of love. They took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb where no one had ever been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, as the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. Christ s death takes on a new meaning, that of a memorial of faith and everlasting presence.