And so, in the midst of the still night twilight (John 20:1), the first day of the week, after the sorrowful Sabbath, in the midst of danger from the embittered Jews, who had already attempted to lay hands on the disciples of Christ, and at the time when the Apostles of the Crucified One with broken souls locked themselves in their room, Mary Magdalene with some pious women, despising the threatening danger, fearlessly went to the tomb of the Saviour, carrying aromas and myrrh [22] (Luke 23:56; Mark 16:1). prepared for the anointing of the body of Christ, in order to render the last tribute of love and reverence to the Departed. Mary Magdalene did not know about the guard assigned by the Jews to the cave of the Holy Sepulchre, and about the sealing of the entrance to it by the high priests, since all this happened after the removal of all the worshippers of Jesus from the garden (Matthew 27:6266) of Joseph of Arimathea. But now, on the way from Jerusalem to the cave of the Holy Sepulchre, Mary Magdalene remembered that the entrance to that cave had been closed by Joseph and Nicodemus with such a large, heavy stone, which neither she nor her companion could roll away from the entrance. And so, in confusion about this obstacle, the myrrh-bearers said among themselves:

"Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?.. (Mark 16:3)

Thinking about this, Mary Magdalene, ahead of the other myrrh-bearers and coming closer to the cave of the tomb, suddenly saw that the stone that had troubled her had already been rolled away from the entrance to the cave (John 20:1; Mark 16:4).

Among the Jews of that time, the stone that blocked access to the coffin of the deceased was considered inviolable, as if consecrated. And the rolling away of the stone from the entrance to the cave of the Holy Sepulchre showed that something special had happened to the body of the Buried One there. What exactly? - It was simpler and first of all to think that the body of Jesus was taken by someone from this cave of Joseph of Arimathea and could have been placed elsewhere. And this thought, of losing the opportunity to give Him the last honor, struck Mary Magdalene so much that she immediately, without entering the cave, ran back to Jerusalem in order to inform the Apostles Peter and John about what had happened at the tomb of Christ. She was confident that, having been informed by her, the Apostles would take the most active part in the search for the body of Jesus:

"We have carried the Lord away from the tomb, and we do not know where we have laid Him," she says to the Apostles (John 20:2).

And indeed the most zealous Apostles Peter and John immediately went to the tomb [23]. They both ran together; but John fled faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; stooping, he saw the shrouds lying there, but he did not enter the cave of the tomb. Simon Peter comes after him, goes into the tomb and sees the swaddling clothes lying and the cloth that was on the head of Jesus, not lying with the swaddling clothes, but especially in another place, - and everything that was piled up in order. Then John also entered, saw, and silently believed that Christ had risen; for if anyone were to carry the body of Jesus to another place, he would do so without uncovering it, just as if someone were to steal it, he would not take care to take off the cloth, twist it, and put it in another place, but would take the body as it lay; and myrrh and aloe, used by Nicodemus at the burial of Christ, glue the swaddling clothes to the body very tightly, - explains St. John Chrysostom (John 20:39) - But the Apostles did not depart from the empty tomb of their Teacher with the same feeling: Peter, instead of faith, only with surprise "went back, marveling in himself at what had happened" (Luke 24:12)

When the Apostles left the empty Sepulcher of Christ in such a confused and weak mood, Mary Magdalene returned to him again. Reaching the cave of the Sepulchre, she began to weep and, inconsolably grieving, bent down (John 20:11) into the low entrance of the cave in order to look further into the place where her Savior was buried. And there he saw, in white robes, sitting, two angels [24], one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus lay. And they said to her:

- Wife, why are you crying?

Mary answered them:

"They have carried away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him!"

Mary's grief was so great that she did not realize that it was not people who were speaking to her, but angels, who had taken the form of people to ease her grief with their bright, solemn festive appearance at the place of Christ's sad burial, and she answered them with the same words with which she told the Apostles about the disappearance of the body of Christ from the Sepulchre. And the angels, preparing Mary Magdalene for the proclamation of the wondrous resurrection of Christ by their solemn radiant appearance, nevertheless do not tell her, as they did to the other myrrh-bearers, that He Whom she is seeking with such zeal. He rose gloriously, because it pleased the Lord to rank Mary Magdalene herself among the immediate heralds of the Resurrection of Christ.

And so, at the time when Mary Magdalene, in her answer to the angels, told them the reason for her weeping, Christ the Savior suddenly appeared behind Mary, whereupon the angels assumed a particularly respectful attitude towards Him; But Mary Magdalene, noticing the change in them, turned back and saw "Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus" (John 20:14). - The burden of sorrowful thoughts, abundant tears prevented her from seeing Him Standing behind her well, and, obviously, Christ the Savior Himself did not want her to recognize Him at once, just as He did not suddenly reveal Himself to the travelers of Emmaus (Luke 24:1332), and now Mary Magdalene took Him for the gardener (John 20:15) of the garden of Joseph of Arimathea, in which this cave of the Holy Sepulchre was located.

Not recognized by Mary Magdalene, Christ said to her:

- Wife, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?