From The Life of The Blessed Virgin Mary, translated from Syriac to Malayalam by Rev. Fr. Kuriyakos Pallikkapparambil (1926 AD), and translated from Malayalam to English by Dr. Sarah Knight (https://www.gorgiaspress.com/life-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary)
Juphanio’s confession and witness
On Thursday when night was falling, the Holy Spirit said to the Apostles: ‘When dawn breaks, take Mary and set off along the path that leads to the little brook that flows beside the Mount of Olives. There you will see one inside the other, three caves. Inside the inner small cave there is a raised platform. Take Mary and place her bed on that platform and minister to her until such a time as I speak to you.’
At dawn the Apostles did as they were told. When the Jews saw that, they mocked them, saying: ‘See how that traitor’s disciples are carrying Mary away!’
As Mary was leaving Jerusalem the Jews said to each other: ‘She thinks she has prevailed.’
Mary looked at them.
Now there was a powerfully built bruiser of a man there called Juphanio. The Scribes of Israel said to him: ‘O Juphanio! Go near Mary and just blow on her! She’ll fall off her bed! She and that traitor’s disciples think that they have triumphed over Jerusalem.’
Juphanio reached out his hands and took hold of Mary’s bed. The Angel of the Lord struck him with a fiery sword and cut off both his arms and they hung from the bed like rope. He came after the Apostles crying: ‘O Apostles of the Messiah! Have mercy on me!’
The Apostles said to him: ‘Why do you call upon us? Call upon Mary the Mother of God. Was it not her bed you tried to destroy?’
Juphanio said: ‘O Mother of God! Have mercy on me!’
And Mary said to Peter: ‘Take his arms off the bed and give them to him.’
Peter took Juphanio’s arms off the bed and holding them against their places said: ‘In the name of my Lord and of the Virgin Mary who is the Mother of God, may these arms cleave to their places.’
And they cleaved to their places.
Peter took a dry staff and gave it to Juphanio and said to him: ‘Go to the Jews and by this staff, show them the power of God. Perhaps they will be remorseful.’
Mary said to him: ‘Why did you do this?’
Then going from the Apostles to stand by the side of the bed, Juphanio said: ‘Mother of God, pray for me! Let me proclaim your glories among the Jews. I will reject all those who reject your Son.’
Juphanio went away, and when he reached the gates of Jerusalem, he stuck that staff upright by the gate-jamb of the city. It straight away took root and grew branches and leaves.
Then Juphanio cried out in a loud voice and said: ‘Blessed is the Messiah born of the Lady Mary.’
The Jews demanded of him: ‘Tell us what has happened to you.’
Juphanio said to them: ‘I have become a disciple of Jesus the Messiah who is the Son of the God of Glory. I glorify and exalt Mary His mother. When both my arms were cut off and were hanging from the bed like ropes I prayed to them, and they were returned to me. By her power my arms were restored. They gave me a dry staff. You behold! It stands with sprouted branches and leaves. Therefore, I believe she is indeed the Mother of God.’
The Jews said to him: ‘O Juphanio! Are you mad?’
And Juphanio said to them: ‘If as you say I am mad, think upon how the dry staff has sprouted.’
And the Jews said to him: ‘You yourself explain that to us.’
Juphanio said to them: ‘Peter gave me this staff and also said to me: ‘If you touch anyone suffering from any affliction with this staff that person will be healed.’
And then a man who had been blind from birth came to him and when that staff was placed on him he was healed. The blind man praised the Messiah.
Now it turned out anyone who was sick would receive healing if they touched Juphanio. Moreover, Juphanio ordered all those who were healed that they should cry out with a loud voice that Mary was Blessed, and Blessed was the Messiah born of her. God brought healing to many sick people through Juphanio.
The Apostles move Mary to the cave
When the Apostles reached at the place near the brook they discovered three caves. Placing the Mother of God in the inner cave situated to the east, the Apostles and the Angels together ministered to her for three days and nights.
The Jews sought them, but they could not find them. The Holy Spirit had blinded their eyes. Without knowing it they too happened to arrive at the mouth of the cave. While they were talking they were struck by the sweet scent of incense and the mouth of the cave was opened. When they looked they saw the bed placed in there and the Angels and the Apostles together ministering, and three of them insolently entered into that cave. But immediately a fire blazed out and killed them and their dead bodies were swallowed up by the earth.
When the friends of those men who had perished in the fire saw this happening, they ran away from there in terror. Because they publicised this everywhere, many came to believe in Mary and the Messiah.
However, the Chief Priests bribed those men in order that those men did not publicize the matter. To stop more people from believing in Mary and the Messiah they also admonished them to deny that they ever knew about those men who had perished.
Those men did as the Chief Priests had ordered. It became a frequent occurrence that that as soon as they heard that anyone had gone to the Lady Mary and had received any benefit from her, the Chief Priests would summon them and compel them with bribes not to publicise any help they received from the Lady Mary, and directed them rather to say that they received healing from sickness by the Chief Priests placing the Book of Uraitho on their heads. Moreover, if any man declared that he had received any sort of help from the Virgin Mary they would have him killed and done away with, so intense was their spite towards that Most Blessed Lady. If Mary had not had the protection of the Messiah they would have killed her. They used to say: ‘It’s harmful to us that Mary remains alive. When she dies we must burn her body in fire.’
The evil Jews like hungry wolves eagerly awaited to spill and drink the blood of the Blessed Ewe, the Mother of God, but the Messiah guarded and protected his Holy Mother. All those who love the Messiah and His Holy Mother are enemies of the Jews. Those who love the Jews are distant from the love of Jesus the Messiah.
Glory be to Him for ever and ever, Amen.
Book 6
In this book is stated the departure of the Blessed Virgin Mary from this world.
May her prayers be our fortress for ever, Amen.
When the Holy Apostles were ministering to the Holy Mother in the cave, the Holy Spirit announced to them: ‘In the sixth month God sent the Archangel Gabriel from heaven to the mother of your Master, and after greeting her in peace he announced to her about the Most Holy Son that was to be born of her for the salvation of the whole world. The sixth month is the month of Medam. [1] The first of this month is by another reckoning the 25th of Meenam. [2] It was at the ninth hour when Mary was working on the curtain to the sanctuary of the Temple of God that the Father and the Son between them had conceived this thought and God in his mercy had sent his Son incarnated as man. And God sent the Archangel Gabriel to make this announcement of salvation to the world, to preach this before his Master and to greet in peace the whole generations.
‘Gabriel cried with a loud voice saying: ‘Peace be unto you O Mary, full of grace! The Lord is with you. God will dwell in you.’
‘With the Archangel’s greeting of peace, the Son descended to the Virgin and dwelt in her. When he bowed before Mary it was not before Mary alone that he was bowing but before the Lord as well. Gabriel had come down at high speed. When he said: ‘Peace be unto you; the Lord is with you,’ indeed at that moment the Power of the Most High entered into her with his words.
‘When the Heavenly Hosts on High saw that the Father had sent the Son into the womb of Mary, they praised God who had deigned to take the body of Adam who was subject to death. On the first day of Medam the Annunciation regarding your Master was made to the Virgin and He dwelt in her until the month of December and in accordance with the Annunciation, on the 24th of December on the Lord’s Day at the ninth hour she gave birth.
‘So, tomorrow being the day of the birth of your Master, bring fragrant things, stand in awe, and set out the censer and offer incense. The Holy Patriarchs, all the way down from Adam, together with the Apostles and Martyrs, will come together to give peace at the departure of the Mother of God from this world. Then the Messiah will come in the company of his Angelic Hosts and see her. Because tomorrow is the day when she gave birth to Him, and on the same day as she gave birth, she will take her leave of this world.’
The Apostles asked the Holy Spirit: ‘Tomorrow at what hour will He come down to us from the skies?’
And the Holy Spirit said to them: ‘Believe this that He will come to you tomorrow Sunday, the Lord’s Day, at the ninth hour. It was on Sunday that the Annunciation was made, on Sunday He came down to the earth, and on Sunday the Saviour was born in Bethlehem. On Sunday the children of Jerusalem came forth with Hosannas and glorified Him and on Sunday He rose from the dead. And as it was also on Sunday that he will come to judge the living and the dead, and it was on Sunday that this creation began and David’s Tabernacle came to be, stay awake on this Great Day which is Sunday with adoration and praise all night long. Do not be weakened in this.’
This is what has been said by a Holy Father who became worthy to see a Divine Vision: ‘One Lord’s Day after the Morning Psalms were said, I saw a fire-clad person on a high throne adorned in indescribable light standing at the door of the Sanctuary. Many people were gathered round about Him. To some He gave Golden Talents, to some Silver Talents, to some Copper Talents, and some He sent away with nothing. I was amazed at this and said: ‘O Lord who is robed in fire and light! By thy mercy thou rule over all Creation, even as thou belittled thyself for the salvation of our race from the destruction of death, by thy grace thou reign and rule over all Creation. By thy hands out of nothing everything came to be. O Lord! Reveal to me I pray, what this sight is that I have seen. Hide it not from my weakness.’
Then an Angel came to him and said to him: ‘The men who received the Golden Talents are the ones who began worship on the night of Sunday and earnestly continued until dawn and waited upon the Lord all night long without tiring. Those who received the Silver Talents are those who prayed less. Those who received Copper Talents are those who did not observe the Lord’s Day according to the Law and idly spent all night engaged in obscene talk. Those who went away with nothing are those who spent all night sleeping, engaged in the contemptible affairs of the Devil. He who stays awake and attentively spends all the night of Sunday will come to know after the Holy Eucharist, that the blessing of the Holy Spirit is upon him. It is on the Lord’s Day that He will come to judge the living and the dead.
The Holy Spirit made known these things to the Apostles, after which they were also told: ‘Tomorrow which is Sunday your Master will come out of heaven in the company of all Creation and He will bestow honour upon His Mother. Those who do not confess His Mother will be put to shame in His coming.’
The Apostles praised God for these matters they came to know in this manner. When night fell the Angels together with the Apostles ministered before the Holy Mother. On Sunday the 24th day of the month of Dhanu, [3] at the hour of dawn, the Holy Spirit came to the Apostles again and said: ‘Arise, set out the censer and offer incense and receive the Creations that arrive to converse with the Blessed Lady.’
Then there arrived the Prophets, the Saints, the Confessors and the seventy-two Evangelists. The Holy Martyrs who had been entombed rose from the dead and arrived. All the Righteous, those alive and those who had died, arrived to greet the Holy Lady. The First Mother Eve, the Virgin Mary’s mother Hannah and John’s mother Elizabeth came and bowed before her. Those maidens who had been ministering to her continually also bowed before her.
Hannah put her lips to the Holy Virgin’s chest and said: ‘Blessed is the Messiah who had chosen you even before the beginning of the world. From the time you were conceived in my womb I knew God will dwell in you.’
Eve blessed the Virgin Mary in a loud voice and bowed before her again.
Then Elizabeth and those maidens said to Eve: ‘This indeed is the Virgin who brought forth the Messiah who is the Saviour of the World. It is of her Son the Messiah that our First Father Adam had declared that even from Persia in the East they will bring to Him gifts in Bethlehem. Indeed, she is the One who had given birth to the God who had come down from heaven, taken the form of Adam, was raised again and is seated in heaven.’
And Eve said: ‘Indeed it is she who gave birth to the God who saved Adam and his children.’ Eve praised the God who had saved Adam and his children.
Thereafter, seeing that the Chariots of the Patriarchs were approaching, Peter went forward and moved aside the women who were gathered around her. Then Adam and Seth and Noah came and bowed to the Blessed lady.
And Adam spoke saying: ‘O God who came down from heaven and dwelt in her who is my daughter! I praise thee! I heard thy voice in hell, and I saw thee taking human form. I will praise thee ceaselessly because thou hath lifted me up to the heights.’
Then there appeared the chariots of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as that of David. They too came and bowed before the Holy Virgin. Those who were alive and those dead, all those men and women who had been waiting to see her were gathered there together to see the glory in which the Blessed Virgin Mary was to depart from this world.
Again, the Holy Spirit spoke to the Apostles and said: ‘Set out the censor and offer incense because your Master is coming to see His Holy and Blessed Mother.’
The Apostles did accordingly, and all Creation prayed with them. Then a sound was heard from heaven, of Angelic Hosts singing Hallelujah! to the Messiah King. Then all at once the doors of heaven were opened. There was not another sound to be heard at that time, neither in heaven nor on the earth. That moment when the Messiah King set forth in great majesty and descended from heaven to see His Mother was truly terrifying and awesome. Innumerable were the rows and banks of Angelic Orders, of Seraphim, Cherubim, Ophanim, Thrones, Dominions, Archangels and Angels, and many others that came down from heaven in their multitudes. They were all clad in fire. They raised a tremendous sound, some with their wings and some with their voices. Some had their faces covered with their wings. They stood afar and bowed to the Virgin. Enrobed in His Father’s glory the Messiah came down. Angelic Hosts went before him. From the Mount of Olives all the way to the brook near the cave a fragrant dew was falling. The Angelic Hosts that went before Him were all clad in fire. The fragrance of roses spread all around. Nothing else was to be seen from heaven except great brilliance and clouds of fragrance. Bearing censers filled with incense the Hosts descended upon the Mount of Olives and over that brook. Luminous clouds and burning fire covered that cave. Above it there appeared a dazzling vault set on fiery pillars. Beneath that vault in the cave the Lady Mary lay on her bed. The Heavenly Hosts stood respectfully gazing upon the Holy Virgin. Then Enoch, Elijah and Moses could be seen seated in three Chariots of Glory stationed between heaven and earth awaiting Messiah the King.
The Holy Spirit said to the Apostles: ‘Set out the censor and offer incense, for the Messiah is here!’ and immediately was heard the terrible and thunderous sound of the great procession of chariots and the wingbeats of the Cherubs that went before the Messiah coming in His splendour and majesty. One hundred and twenty thousand Heavenly Hosts were seen holding trumpets and horns. Messiah the King was clad in the Glories of Himself and His Father. He held in His Holy Hand a Cross and descended in a Chariot of Cherubim down to His Blessed Mother and stopped. Then all Creation fell down and worshipped Him.
The Lord called to His mother and said: ‘Mary!’
She answered: ‘Rabooli!’ which means ‘Master’.
And the Messiah said to Mary: ‘Do not grieve. Arise and see the glory given to me by my Father. I have come to see thee.’
And Mary looked up and saw the indescribable glories that no man could speak of or apprehend.
The Messiah said to her: ‘O Mother! Do not grieve. Believe in everything I have spoken to thee. Thy body will be transferred to paradise and will remain there until the end of days. Until that day when I come again and undo the heavens and the earth and grant blessings to the saintly ones and sorrow to the wicked, the Angels will stand in reverence and attend to thee bearing lamps and censors of incense. Mary! The glories that thou hast seen today come from my Father. The glory that will attend to my coming again at the end of days no human eyes will not be able to bear to see.’
Mary said to the Messiah: ‘O Son! Stretch forth thy hand and lay it on my eyes and bless me!’
And the Messiah did so. And she took hold of His Holy Hands and kissed them and said: ‘I adore the hands that with a gesture of thy Holy Word created heaven and earth without effort. Thou are truly the Son of the living God. Thou are the Reconciler of the world. All they that confess and believe in thee will be blessed by thee.
When she said this they that were gathered there, those from heaven and from the earth sang praises to the Messiah.
And the Apostles said: ‘O Blessed Mother! Bless this world that thou are departing from, and all those that hold thy remembrance. We believe and confess that God had sent His Son, and that He dwelt in you, and that all that lay their trust in Him will be saved.’
Then Mary prayed and said: ‘O God, who by His Holy will came down from heaven and deigned to dwell in me, may thy reconciliation and peace be upon those who call upon the name of the Messiah, the Son of the Glorious God, and may thy mercy be upon them. O thou Son of the Living God! Receive the prayers of all men who call upon thee and supplicate themselves to thee in the name of thy Mother. Remove from them all punishment and rods of retribution. Rid their land of famines. Bless the aged and protect the infants. Grant thy succour to all those who call upon thee in my name.’
Then she kissed the Messiah’s hand again and said: ‘My Lord! I know that thy Holy Will is all-powerful in heaven and earth. I implore thee: accept the prayers and supplications and sacrifices and tears of all men who hold my remembrance and put their trust in me to intercede for them. Remove from those lands where prayers are said in my name, famine and destruction, slavery, and all adversity. O Lord, bless the crown and ears of their crops. May they dwell in prosperity. Protect and defend them that no harm may come to them from locusts, worms, hailstones, and storms. Heal their sick. When any of them are in trouble or in the bondage of the Devil call upon thee in the name of the Mother of God, grant them succour. May those who are in bondage be set free. May those caught in storms in the high seas when they call upon thee in the name of the Mother of God return to their homes in peace. When they bring fruits of the fields as offerings in my name, bless those fields that they may become fertile and plentiful in yield. Remove thy punishment and rod of retribution from all those men who pray to thee in my name and may they dwell in peace and reconciliation. Exalt their Holy Temples. May there be peace and reconciliation in the Palace and in the Seat of Judgement and may there be blessings and joy over all the earth.’
When Mary prayed in this manner and offered peace, the Messiah declared to her: ‘I will show my mercy to those who lay their trust in thy name according to your wish. I will guard from adversity those who hold thy remembrance, offer prayers in thy name and honour the day of thy departure from this world. I will show mercy upon those who remember thee. I will bless them and forgive them their sins. The blessing of my Heavenly Father will always be upon them.’
Then all Creation bowed and offered adorations to the Messiah.
The Messiah called Mar John and said to him: ‘Do not grieve on account of Mary.’
Mar John said to Him: ‘O Master! Mary has not died.’
Then the Messiah said to Peter: ‘Now for a while you read the Psalms and let everyone say Hallelujah!’
When they had done this, Lord Jesus the Messiah prayed, and the Angels offered up adorations. Then the soul of Mary was sent to her heavenly abode.
At the time of her death Mary said to the Messiah: ‘Rabooli! Peace to thee! I remain awaiting thy Second Coming.’
Straight away Peter, Paul and John ran to her side. John put his hands on the Blessed Lady’s eyes and closed them. Peter and Paul took hold of her arms and legs and laid them straight. They did not remove her tunic but covered her body while in it. The Holy Spirit clothed her in a fiery robe and waist band, and her face exuded a heavenly fragrance.
Then John laid his face on her chest and wailed. The Apostles were all drowned in sorrow and wept in great grief.
John said: ‘O thou Mistress of the Whole World! Thou hath departed from us!’
Then Messiah the King commanded that the Blessed Virgin Mary be placed in the Chariot of Light. The Twelve Apostles lifted her body and placed it in the Chariot. They went forth in great glory with the Twelve Apostles bearing the Blessed Lady’s Chariot and the Seraphim going before her blowing on their horns. All Creation went before and after them singing hymns. The Lady Mary’s mother and Eve and Elizabeth were with her. Escorting them were Chariots of Fire on either side. Following behind were the chariots bearing Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, all the Righteous Ones, the Malpans, the Holy Fathers and the Saints. Behind them were the Twelve Apostles bearing the Chariot of the Blessed Virgin Mary, their arms raised to heaven. The Holy Spirit kept sprinkling the Essence of Rose upon her face. The Angels and the Fiery Seraphs went before her singing praises. All the Hosts above and below sang praises. A sweet fragrance spread to the four corners of the world. When Mary entered into Paradise accompanied by the praises and hymns of glory of those above and those below, her chariot was placed amidst the trees, and behold! The Angels and Seraphs minister before her until the day of resurrection.
Jesus the Messiah reached forth his Holy Hand and blessed His mother and then He ascended into heaven and sat at the right hand of His Father.
The Apostles returned to the Mount of Olives borne in the same Luminous Clouds. As they journeyed, they glorified God and sang praises saying: ‘Glory to thee O Lord! How many are the miracles and astonishing signs we have witnessed at the death of the Blessed Lady, thy Mother! There is no God other than thee! Glory to thee, Glory to the Father and to the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Glory to thee that thou gathered us from the diverse parts of the world to witness the departure of thy Mother from this world and to receive her blessings. O Lord, in the same way thou had invited us to the death of thy mother, invite us into thy Kingdom as well. Thou alone are the Eternal God.’
When the Apostles had prayed and praised like this, they made a decision to write down everything they had seen and heard at the death of the Holy and Blessed Virgin Mary.
In the year 315 (of the Egyptian Year, 345 of the Greeks, and 63[4] of the Year of Our Lord) when all the Apostles were gathered together, those alive as well as those departed, the Blessed Virgin Mary departed from this world. Jesus the Messiah came down from heaven and took his mother’s body to paradise and sent her soul to the Abode of Light. They are witnesses to all the miracles that happened in heaven and on earth.
The 12 Apostles wrote that the remembrance of the Holy Mother of God the Blessed Virgin Mary was to be celebrated three times in the year. They saw that when her remembrance was being celebrated, Heavenly Hosts dressed in Robes of White stood before God singing praises, and peace reigned in all parts of the world.
Although the memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s death is on the same day as when she gave birth to the Messiah which is the 25th, because it is not possible to commemorate the Lord’s birth and that event on the same day, the Apostles decided and instituted that everyone should hold that Memorial Day on the next day and receive blessings. It was also instituted that on that day there shall be no room anywhere in the world for wars or bloodletting or lamenting, but only for peace, because that remembrance is especially pleasing to the Messiah. Again it was decided that the 15th of the month of May the Holy Mother of God shall be commemorated for the protection of the Ears of Wheat, and that in the whole of the month of May special prayers are to be said in the name of the Holy Virgin so that the ears of grain may not perish and cause famine in the whole world, for without the help of the prayers of the Holy Virgin, within an instant the Angels of Wrath could work all manner of destruction on the earth. The Apostles also instituted that special prayers and sacrifices were to be said on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, and that those days were to be specially observed keeping oneself free from sin and that fasting was to be observed on Wednesdays and Fridays.
The Apostles also instituted that for the protection of the grape-vines bearing bunches of grapes, and of all the fruiting trees, the remembrance of the Holy Virgin was to be observed on the 15th of the month of August and if it were not so, hailstones of God’s wrath will rain upon them and destroy all trees and fruit, and that those who eat of the fruits of their farming labours without observing this memory will suffer loss and sorrow, and fathers will turn against sons and sons against fathers and commit murder.
The Apostles decreed that in these three months the remembrance of the Blessed Virgin Mary shall be observed so that worms and insects will not destroy the fruits of trees and that men may be cured of all manner of severe diseases, and that on those days of remembrance the Chief Priests and the people shall observe fasting until the ninth hour and at the ninth hour there shall be offered prayers, and just as the power of the Heavenly One came and dwelt upon the Blessed Virgin Mary, the power of her prayers will always be in the sanctuary where the prayers are said.
The Apostles also commanded that offerings and sacrifices and oblations were to be offered in the memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary and that whenever such oblations are offered and men pray calling upon her name, her presence will be there in each one of those places and they will receive many blessings.
The Apostles decreed that upon the Days of her Remembrance, there shall be read the Old and New Testaments, the Penkeetho [5] that contains her story, as well as the prayers, both the prose and the hymns that are read on other High Holy Days, and that all those that go to attend those memorial days take incense and candles in her honour, and that they buy and have these things prepared and ready in advance.
And then the Apostles set out the censer and offered incense and they prayed to the Messiah and called upon Him to bless the years and the months, saying: ‘Let the month of April come bearing glorious fruit. Let May come bearing sheaves of joy. May June come bearing gifts of great happiness. Let July come bearing the thanksgivings of men in threshing yards filled with joy. May August come praising God as it is the month when ripe bunches of grapes are seen unblemished on the vines. May the month of September come praising the Messiah who blesses the years and the months. Let October come with praises hearing the voice of the farmer. May November come with dew drops falling from the skies making joyful the earth and its tenants and may it come with goodness. May December arrive joyfully with lightening that falls on all Creation, and with misty darkness. May January come with snow and frost that delights the earth. May the month of February come bearing honours to our Lord. May the month of March come with lambs and ewes.’
When the Apostles had spoken in this manner, they prayed saying: ‘O Lord our God who sent His Son to us to save the world from going astray! May thy heavenly blessing be upon the earth and its tenants. When oblations are made in the name of the Mother of God, may thy mercy be upon us and may she appear to us.’
When they prayed like this their prayers reached heaven and Lord Jesus the Messiah came to them in a Cloud of Light. The Messiah said to them: ‘Be of good courage. Do not be afraid, for everything you ask for you will receive. Your wishes will be fulfilled continually before the Heavenly Father.’
The Apostles bowed their heads and received blessings from Jesus the Messiah, and standing there, they said among themselves: ‘Let’s go down from the Mount of Olives to that cave near the brook. We must write down how the Blessed Virgin Mary departed from this world and was borne on Clouds of Light and how the Messiah took her to the Paradise of Eden.’
And the Apostles went down from the Mount of Olives to the cave beside the brook and they offered incense and prayed, and then said among themselves: ‘We must write down in this book that we who are the Apostles are witnesses before God to all the miracles that attended the departure of the Mother of God from this world, and that all those who believe the things in this book will have eternal life and those who disbelieve them will be punished. This is the Blessed Lady who was chosen before the beginning of the world for the Son of God to dwell in and to be born of her. It is proper and right that the remembrance of the Holy and Blessed Lady Mary be celebrated with fasting, prayers, wakefulness, tears, service of God and matters of the Holy Spirit. Then there will spread in all corners of the world sweet fragrance and blessings.’
This book was written in Latin, Greek and Hebrew languages. The Apostles entrusted it with the Messiah’s beloved disciple John also known as the Son of Thunder, and he accepted the responsibility.
Then the Apostles wishing to return to the places from where they had set out, called upon Jesus the Messiah and prayed. When they prayed the Messiah came to them. Enoch and Elijah and Moses were with Him, and the Apostles prayed there for a long while. The tears of the Apostles flowed like rivulets and fell to the ground so much so that the earth where they stood became like wet moulding clay. There arose a sweet fragrance from that earth which filled the Apostles with delight. The Holy Spirit continued to burn upon them in a fiery blaze.
The Messiah said to them: ‘O Chosen Ones by my Father and the Holy Spirit! Blessed are you. Great is the glory that awaits you. You have witnessed the glory with which Mary my Mother departed from this world.’
Then the Apostles said to the Messiah: ‘Lord! We have seen it. We believe thou art the Messiah the Son of the Living God. Blessed is the Father in Heaven who sent thee to this world. They that believe in thee and thy Father and the Holy Spirit will attain remission from all their sins.’
Then the Messiah held out His Holy Right Hand over their heads and said to them: ‘Go in peace now to the different places each one of you came from. I will fulfil all your wishes.’
And after saying this and blessing them He ascended into heaven.
The Apostles prayed in that place where they were to part from each other and praised Him for loving them this much. Then the Holy Spirit got ready the Clouds of Light for them. They sat in their Luminous Clouds and departed, each one to the place he had come from, and those who had died to their tombs.
At the place where they parted from each other the Apostles prayed and gave peace to each other saying: ‘We will meet again at the end of days.’
The other Apostles begged Peter and Paul that this Penkeetho be divided between Peter, Paul, and John. As they were about to do this there was a sound heard from heaven which said to them: ‘O Blessed Men! Go in peace! And await my Coming again.’
Then the Apostles departed and arriving at their places they preached and taught and made known all the matters concerning how the Holy Mother of the Messiah left this world.
May the prayers of the Prophets, the Apostles, the Martyrs, the Confessors the Saints, the Righteous Ones and the presbyters be our succour.
May all those who believe in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the Blessed Virgin Mary be blessed.
May the blessing of the Blessed and Holy Mother be upon all Churches and Monasteries and Assemblies of the Righteous established in the name of the Messiah.
May all those who celebrate her remembrance be worthy of being remembered in heaven and on earth.
May the Lord be gracious and merciful to all those who read and write these books in this world and the next – Amen.
[1] The 9th month in the Malayalam calendar, corresponding to April-May.
[2] The 8th month in the Malayalam calendar, corresponding to March-April.
[3] The fifth month in the Malayalam calendar, corresponding to December-January.
[4] The year ‘63’ appears to be the first translator’s error. The Greek Year 345 is 34 CE.
[5] Syriac Prayer Book for the yearly cycle of Sundays and festivals.
