Meditations on the
Resurrection
Richard Salbato
Before Each Hail Mary
1. Moments after Christ’s death on the cross, His soul descended into
the great fissure in the ground caused by the earthquake. Countless Angels
followed Him. Darkness overcame the land and people began to run away in
terror. Strong winds came up, and lightening struck through the red fog. The
Roman soldiers decided to leave, but first they had to make sure Christ and the
thieves were dead.
In order to hurry up their deaths, the soldiers broke the legs of the thieves.
This would keep them from holding up their bodies; their ribs would crush their
lungs, and they would suffocate.
They came to do the same to Jesus. Cassius, the captain of the guard stopped them:
“He is already dead.” He lowered his lance and drove it through the right side
of Our Lord, into His Heart. When he pulled out the lance, the last drops of
blood and water came forward. The new covenant of His blood had begun. Cassius
is now known by his Christian name, Longinus.
2. With Pilate's permission, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took the body of
Jesus down from the cross, and placed it into the arms of His Mother. Our Lady,
Our Queen, and Our Mother, took the limp body of Her Son and held him to her.
She pressed Her face against His bloodied cheek. After
some time, she loosened Her hold on Him and kissed
Him. Looking out at the world, She offered a prayer
for the salvation of all mankind. Mary washed the wounds on His face and pulled
out one thorn that had broken off in His forehead. The holy women wrapped the
body in linen-clothes with herbs and spices. When He was wrapped in a burial
shroud, they took Him to a cave-sepulcher that Joseph of Arimathea had
originally bought for himself. They laid Jesus on a stone shelf, and rolled a
large stone in front of the door. Two Roman guards stood by and guarded the
door to the sepulcher.
3. The Divinity of Jesus united to His human soul, descended to the underworld,
a kind of limbo, where the souls of the just awaited their redemption. Passing
first through the multitudes of faithful from John the Baptist to Adam and Eve,
Jesus quickly went all the way to the gates of Hell. His Angels broke open the
gates of Hell. The dammed were forced to their knees by the Good Angels with
Christ. At a signal from Jesus, chains were placed on Lucifer and some of his
demons. The gates of Hell were then closed again. These chains do not stop
Lucifer entirely, but they do put great restrictions on him. He can no longer
abuse the innocent, but only those willing to get inside the limits of the
chains. During the end of days, these chains will be removed for a short time.
4. Jesus then went back to the realm of the just who were awaiting their
redemption. He met first with Adam and Eve, and then Moses and Abraham. He
spoke to the entire multitude of His New and
5. The faithful Patriarchs of the Old Law followed Jesus back to the earth and
to the sepulture were His body lay. A great earthquake hit the garden and the
great stone rolled away from the door. Jesus went back into the tomb and
entered His body. Now both His body and soul rose up into a standing position
and floated above the ground. Suddenly a great bolt of lightening shot out from
the inside of His Body leaving His image on the Shroud. The Angels with him
removed the wrappings and folded them up and placed them on the stone shelf.
They did the same with the face cloth and the Shroud.
6. Meanwhile, Mary had left the holy women and begun to trace the path that Her
Son had just taken. Mary Herself made the first Stations of the Cross. She
thought about His sufferings as She climbed up to
7. The holy women went to the tomb to pray but when they reached the gates of
the garden they could see that the great stone was cast aside and the door to
the tomb open. Looking inside they saw that the tomb was empty. They ran away
in fear to tell the Apostles. They believed that the Pharisees had stolen the
body. Magdalene stayed behind in tears and prayed before the open tomb. Jesus
appeared behind her in a normal body. “Woman, why do you weep?” Without looking
up, she answered: “They have taken my Lord, and I do not know where they have
taken him.”
“Who do you seek?” Again without looking up, she said: “Sir, if you have taken
him, show me where you have lain him and I will take
him away.”
“Mary!” Jesus said. Swinging around now because she recognized his voice, she
said: “Rabboni!” She fell to the ground and tried to
hug His feet.
“Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father. Go and tell the
Apostles that I live and to wait for Me in the upper
room of the Cenacle.”
8. Jesus disappeared. Taking the entire multitude of faithful from Adam and Eve
to John, the Baptist and followed by the entire angelic host, Jesus rose to the
Gates of Heaven. Lifting His wounded right hand He opened the gates of Heaven
for the first time. The entire multitude followed Him to the center of Heaven,
and to the foot of the throne of God.
9. Upon hearing that Jesus had risen from the dead,
the Apostles did not believe Mary Magdalene, however, Peter and John ran to the
tomb to see for themselves. John, being much younger, reached the tomb first,
but out of respect for Peter’s authority, waited outside and did not enter
until Peter arrived and went in. Peter saw the linen clothes and the shroud
folded to one side. They went back to report to the other Apostles what they
had seen. The Apostles were still frightened and locked the doors behind them.
10. Jesus came and passed right through the bolted door. “Peace be to you.” He walked through them showing His wounded hands
and added: “As the Father has sent Me, I, also, send you. Jesus then breathed
on them. The only time that God had ever breathed on a human being was when God
breathed life into Adam. Receive the Holy Spirit, He said. Whose sins you shall
forgive, they are forgiven. Whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.”
God showed them how to give life back to a soul that was dead in sin.
Thomas was not there when Jesus appeared and did not believe. When Christ
appeared again He took Thomas’ finger and put it into the wound of His hand,
and said: “Be not faithless, but believe. Blessed are they that have not seen,
but believe.”
Thomas knelt down and said: “My Lord and my God.”