nothing but her Divine Master, and in her raptures of love have totally
forgotten the wonderful events which were causing such astonishment and
joy in Heaven. I saw Magdalen arise quickly, as soon as our Lord
disappeared, and run to look again in the sepulchre, as if she believed
herself under the influence of a dream. She saw the two angels still
seated there, and they spoke to her concerning the resurrection of our
Lord in the same words as they had addressed the two other women. She
likewise saw the empty winding-sheet, and then, feeling certain that
she was not in a state of delusion, but that the apparition of our Lord
was real, she walked quickly back towards Golgotha to seek her
companions, who were wandering about to and fro, anxiously looking out
for her return, and indulging a kind of vague hope that they should see
or hear something of Jesus.

The whole of this scene occupied a little more than two or three
minutes. It was about half-past three when our Lord appeared to
Magdalen, and John and Peter entered the garden just as she was leaving
it. John, who was a little in advance of Peter, stopped at the entrance
of the cave and looked in. He saw the linen clothes lying on one side,
and waited until Peter came up, when they entered the sepulchre
together, and saw the winding-sheet empty as has been before described.
John instantly believed in the Resurrection, and they both understood
clearly the words addressed to them by Jesus before his Passion, as
well as the different passages in Scripture relating to that event,
which had until then been incomprehensible to them. Peter put the linen
clothes under his cloak, and they returned hastily into the town
through the small entrance belonging to Nicodemus.

The appearance of the holy sepulchre was the same when the two
Apostles entered as when Magdalen first saw it. The two adoring angels
were seated, one at the head, and the other at the extremity of the
tomb, in precisely the same attitude as when his adorable body was
lying there. I do not think Peter was conscious of their presence. I
afterwards heard John tell the disciples of Emmaus, that when he looked
into the sepulchre he saw an angel. Perhaps he was startled by this
sight, and therefore drew back and let Peter enter the sepulchre first;
but it is likewise very possible that the reason of his not mentioning
the circumstance in his gospel was because humility made him anxious to
conceal the fact of his hav