Melito, servant of God, bishop of the church of Sardis,
unto the brethren which are established in peace in Laodicea, reverend in the
Lord, greeting.
I remember that I have oft-times written concerning a
certain Leucius, who, after that with us he had been a companion of the
apostles, with alienated sense and rash mind departed from the way of
righteousness and put into his books many things concerning the acts of the
apostles and spake many and diverse things of their mighty deeds, but concerning
their teaching lied much, affirming that they taught otherwise, and establishing
his own wicked position as if by their words. Nor did he account this
sufficient, but also corrupted with so evil a pen the departure of the blessed
Mary ever virgin, the mother of God, that it is unlawful not only to read but
even to hear it in the church of God. We therefore at your petition have written
simply those things which we heard from the apostle John, and have sent them
unto your brotherhood, believing no alien doctrines which sprout from heretics]
Therefore, when the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was
hanging on the tree fastened by the nails of the cross for the life of the whole
world, He saw about the cross His mother standing, and John the evangelist, whom
He peculiarly loved above the rest of the apostles, because he alone of them was
a virgin in the body. He gave him, therefore, the charge of holy Mary, saying to
him: Behold thy mother! and saying, to her: Behold thy son! From that hour the!
holy mother of God remained specially in the care of John, as long as she had
her habitation in this life. And when the apostles had divided the world by lot
for preaching, she settled in the house of his parents near Mount Olivet.
In the second year, therefore, after Christ had vanquished
death, and ascended up into heaven, on a certain day, Mary, burning with a
longing for Christ, began to weep alone, within the shelter of her abode. And,
behold, an angel, shining in a dress of great light, stood before her and gave
utterance to the words of salutation saying: Hail! thou blessed by the Lord,
receive the salutation of Him who commanded safety to Jacob by His prophets.
Behold, said He a palm branch--I have brought it to thee from the paradise of
the Lord--which thou wilt cause to be carried before thy bier, when on the third
day thou shalt be taken up from the body. For, lo, thy Son awaits thee with
thrones and angels, and all the powers of heaven. Then Mary said to the angel: I
beg that all the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ he assembled to me. To whom
the angel said: Behold, to-day, by the power of my Lord Jesus Christ, all the
apostles will come to thee. And Mary says to him: I ask that thou send upon me
thy blessing, that no power of the lower world may withstand me in that hour in
which my soul shall go out of my body, and that I may not see the prince of
darkness. And the angel said: No power indeed of the lower world will hurt thee;
and thy Lord God, whose servant and messenger I am, hath given thee eternal
blessing; but do not think that the privilege of not seeing the prince of
darkness is to be given thee by me, but by Him whom thou hast carried in thy
womb; for to Him belongeth power over all for ever and ever. Thus saying, the
angel departed with great splendor. And that palm shone with exceeding great
light. Then Mary, undressing herself, put on better garments. And, taking the
palm which she had received from the hands of the angel, she went out to the
mount of Olivet, and began to pray, and say: I had not been worthy, O Lord, to
bear Thee, unless Thou hadst had compassion on me; but nevertheless I have kept
the treasure which Thou entrustedst to me. Therefore I ask of Thee, O King of
glory, that the power of Gehenna hurt me not. For if the heavens and the angels
daily tremble before Thee, how much more man who is made from the ground, who
possesses no good thing, except as much as he has received from Thy benignant
bounty! Thou art, O Lord, God always blessed for ever. And thus saying, she went
back to her dwelling.
And, behold, suddenly, while St. John was preaching in
Ephesus, on the Lord's day, at the third hour of the day, there was a great
earthquake, and a cloud raised him and took him up from the eyes of all, and
brought him before the door of the house where Mary was. And knocking at the
door, he immediately went in. And when Mary saw him, she exulted in joy, and
said: I beg of thee, my son John, be mindful of the words of my Lord Jesus
Christ, in which He entrusted me to thee. For, behold, on the third day, when I
am to depart from the body, I have heard the plans of the Jews, saying, Let us
wait for the day when she who bore that seducer shall die, and let us burn her
booty with fire. She therefore called St. John, anti led him into the secret
chamber of the house, and showed him the robe of her burial, and that palm of
light which she had received from the angel, instructing him that he should
cause it to be carried before her couch when she was going to her tomb.
And St. John said to her: How shall I alone perform thy
funeral rites, unless my brethren and fellow-apostles of my Lord Jesus Christ
come to pay honour to thy body? And lo, suddenly by the commandment of God all the
apostles were lifted up on a cloud and caught away from the places where they
were preaching and set down before the door of the house wherein Mary dwelt....
And on the third day, about the third hour of the day ... suddenly the Lord
Jesus Christ came with a great multitude of angels, and a great light came down
upon the place, and the angels were singing hymns and praising the Lord. Then
the Savior spoke, saying: "Come thou, most precious pearl, enter into the
treasury of eternal life...."
And as the Lord [concluded His discourse], Mary arose from
the pavement and laid herself upon her bed, and giving thanks to God she gave up
the ghost. But the apostles saw her soul, that it was of such whiteness that no
tongue of mortal men can worthily express it, for it excelled all whiteness of
snow and of all metal and silver that glitters with great brightness of light.
Then the Savior spoke, saying: Arise Peter, and take the
body of Mary and bear it unto the right-hand side of the city toward the east,
and thou wilt find there a new sepulchre where ye shall place it, and wait till
I come unto you. And when the Lord had so said, He delivered the soul of the
holy Mary to Michael, who was set over paradise and is the prince of the people
of the Jews: and Gabriel went with them. And immediately the Savior was received
up into heaven with the angels....
Then therefore the apostles laid the holy body upon a bier
and said to one another: "Who shall bear the palm before her bier? Then
John said to Peter: "Thou who art before us in the apostleship ought to
bear this palm before her bed." And Peter answered him: "Thou only of
us art a virgin chosen of the Lord, and hast found such favor that thou didst
lie on His breast: and when He hung for our salvation on the tree of the cross,
committed her unto thee with His own mouth. Thou therefore ought to carry this
palm; and let us take up the body to bear it unto the place of the
sepulchre." Therefore Peter lifted up the head of the body and began to
sing, saying: "Israel is come out of Egypt, alleluia." And with him
the other apostles bore the body of the blessed Mary, and John carried the palm
of light before the bier. And the rest of the apostles sang with exceedingly
sweet voices....
The apostles carrying Mary came into the place of the
valley of Josaphat, where the Lord had showed them, and laid her in a new tomb
and shut the sepulchre. But they sat down at the door of the tomb as the Lord
had charged them: and lo, suddenly the Lord Jesus Christ came with a great
multitude of angels, and light flashing with great brightness, and said to the
apostles: "Peace be with you." And they answered and said: "Let
Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, for we have hoped in Thee."
Then the Savior spoke unto them, saying: "Before I
ascended up unto My Father, I promised you, saying that ye who have followed Me,
in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His majesty,
ye also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Now
this woman did I choose out of the tribes of Israel by the commandment of My
Father, to dwell in her. What then will ye that I do with her?" Then said
Peter and the other apostles: "Lord, Thou didst choose this Thine handmaid
to become Thine immaculate chamber, and us Thy servants for Thy ministry. All
things didst Thou foreknow before the words of Thy Father, with whom to Thee and
the Holy Ghost there belongeth equal Godhead and infinite power. If therefore it
might come to pass before the power of Thy grace, it appears right to us Thy
servants that, as Thou having overcome death now reign in glory, so shouldst
Thou raise up the body of Thy mother and take her with Thee rejoicing into
heaven.
The Savior commanded Michael the archangel to bring the
soul of the holy Mary. And behold, Michael the archangel rolled the stone from
the door of the sepulchre, and the Lord said: "Rise up my love and my
kinswoman: thou that didst not suffer corruption by union of the flesh, shall
not suffer dissolution of the body in the sepulchre." And immediately Mary
rose up from the grave and blessed the Lord, and fell at the Lord's feet, and
worshipped Him, saying: "I am not able to render Thee worthy thanks, O
Lord, for Thine innumerable benefits which Thou hast granted me, Thine handmaid.
Let Thy name be blessed forever, redeemer of the world, thou God of
Israel."
And the Lord kissed her and departed, and delivered her
unto the angels to bear her into paradise. And He said to the apostles:
"Come near unto Me"; and when they had come near, He kissed them and
said: "Peace be unto you; as I have been always with you, so will I be,
even unto the end of the world."
And immediately when the Lord had so said, He was lifted
up in a cloud and received into heaven, and the angels with Him, bearing the
blessed Mary into the paradise of God.
