e leathern bottles and a vase filled with water standing upon a
coal fire. They gave the Blessed Virgin and Magdalen, according as they
required, vases filled with clear water, and sponges, which they
afterwards squeezed in the leathern bottles.

The courage and firmness of Mary remained unshaken even in the midst
of her inexpressible anguish.15 It was absolutely impossible for her to
leave the body of her Son in the awful state to which it had been
reduced by his sufferings, and therefore she began with indefatigable
earnestness to wash and purify it from the traces of the outrages to
which it had been exposed. With the utmost care she drew off the crown
of thorns, opening it behind, and then cutting off one by one the
thorns which had sunk deep into the head of Jesus, in order that she
might not widen the wounds. The crown was placed by the side of the
nails, and then Mary drew out the thorns which had remained in the skin
with a species of rounded pincers, and sorrowfully showed them to her
friends.16 These thorns were placed with the crown, but still some of
them must have been preserved separately.

The divine face of our Saviour was scarcely recognisable, so
disfigured was it by the wounds with which it was covered. The beard
and hair were matted together with blood. Mary washed the head and
face, and passed damp sponges over the hair to remove the congealed
blood. As she proceeded in her pious office, the extent of the awful
cruelty which had been exercised upon Jesus became more and more
apparent, and caused in her soul emotions of compassion and tenderness
which increased as she passed from one wound to another. She washed the
wounds of the head, the eyes filled with blood, the nostrils, and the
ears, with a sponge and a small piece of linen spread over the fingers
of her right hand; and then she purified, in the same manner, the
half-opened mouth, the tongue, the teeth, and the lips. She divided
what remained of our Lord's hair into three parts, a part falling over
each temple, and the third over the back of his head; and when she had
disentangled the front hair and smoothed it, she passed it behind his
ears.17

When the head was thoroughly cleansed and purified, the Blessed
Virgin covered it with a veil, after having kissed the sacred cheeks of
her dear Son. She then turned her attention to the neck, shoulders,
chest, back, arms, and pierced hands. All the bones of the breast and
the joints were dislocated