DAILY CONTEMPLATION

August 4, 2026 ~ Epep 28, 1742

Observe that the tears shed for Christ do not lose their reward,
nor is it long before love for Him bears fruit.
Rather, His grace and rich restitution will follow closely in the wake of pain.
Notice how—as Mary was sitting there, her cheeks bedewed with mourning
for her beloved Lord whom she had lost—
notice how the Savior granted to her the knowledge of the mystery about Him
through the mouth of holy angels.
They tell her to stop crying because this was no occasion for tears.
She was making a subject for rejoicing a cause of grief.
Why, indeed, they say, when death has been subdued, and corruption has lost its power
and our Savior Christ has risen again and made a new pathway for the dead
back to incorruption and to life … you should be glad, even ecstatic! …
And why, after speaking with the angels and not having yet heard anything from them, did Mary turn back?
I think that while she was speaking, Christ suddenly appeared behind her and struck the angels with awe.
And when they saw their Ruler, they showed immediately by their attitude,
their gaze, and their movements that they saw the Lord.
This is what drew the woman’s attention and caused her to turn around.
This is how He appeared to them, but this is not how He appeared to the woman
in order not to terrify her at the first sight of Him.
Rather, He appears to her in a more humble and ordinary form,
as is clear from her reaction, supposing that He was the gardener.
It was appropriate to lead [her] to higher matters not all at once but gently.
He therefore in turn asks her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?”
Church fathers