- 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?

Hearing in these words a compassionate sympathy for her sorrow, Mary replied with a trusting request:

- Lord, if you have carried Him, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him (John 20:15).

How much self-sacrificing love and deepest devotion Mary Magdalene expressed in these brief and simple words! She does not call the supposed gardener Jesus Christ by His name, but only says "Him" She herself revered her Teacher so highly that she believes that others should know Him and be interested in Him. She begs the pretended gardener to reveal to her where the body of Jesus has been taken, since the gardener of this garden must have known the secret of the disappearance of this body from the tomb of Joseph. The abduction could not have happened without his knowledge, because he was entrusted with this garden. And if Joseph himself, the owner of the garden, had moved the body to another place, it could not have been done without the knowledge of the gardener. And Mary Magdalene asks this gardener to indicate the location of the body of Christ so that she can take Him:

"I'll take Him," she says.

With her immeasurable love for the Lord, Mary completely forgets about her weak strength and hopes to take and carry away the body of her Savior herself. Her zeal and love are so great and ardent that she considers herself excessively strong. And not receiving a quick answer to her lively question, Mary Magdalene, as is characteristic of a very anxious person, again turned to the angels, wishing, perhaps, to hear something from them about Jesus, or to find out the reason that prompted them to assume a particularly reverent attitude. The Lord, touched by the height and power of her love, already familiar to Mary in a grace-filled voice, calls her by name:

-Maria! (John 20:16)

Now Mary Magdalene heard that voice of her Saviour, remembered for the rest of her life, by the power of which He cast out a crowd of demons from her, that heavenly voice that penetrated and quickened every soul, that wondrous voice that delighted the souls of His listeners with His heavenly bliss. And Mary now felt the close presence of the Divine Teacher, in Whom all her blessings, all her happiness consisted, and an inexpressible joy filled Mary's whole soul. From the fullness of happiness she could not speak, and, turning again to the Lord, she recognized Him with enlightened eyes, and exclaiming with delight only one word: "Teacher!" (John 20:16) - threw herself at the feet of Christ the Savior