On the dreadful day of the Crucifixion, the mother was found standing by the cross, with her sister and Mary Magdalene. "When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved [that is, St. John], he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home."[14]
[14] John, chapter xix. verses 26, 27.
We can imagine the mother's anguish in seeing her son suffer this cruel and ignominious death. He had lived only to do good, and now he was dying an innocent sacrifice to his enemies. At such a moment the mother might truly feel that a sword was piercing her soul, as the old man Simeon[15] had once prophesied of her, many years before.
[15] Luke, chapter ii. verse 35.
"Wearied was her heart with grieving,
Worn her breast with sorrow heaving,
Through her soul the sword had passed.
"Ah! how sad and broken-hearted
Was that blessed mother, parted
From the God-begotten One!
"How her loving heart did languish
When she saw the mortal anguish
Which o'erwhelmed her peerless Son."[16]
[16] From Stabat Mater.
Time passed, and Jesus now being dead, his friends were permitted by the governor to remove him from the cross. Joseph of Arimathea took the lead, as he was to lay the body in a new sepulchre recently made in his garden. Nicodemus was also there, bringing linen and spices for the burial, and the loving women lingered to see these preparations.