And behold as they turned to go, there met them Mary, the mother of Jesus, with her companions. Mary had a white mantle round her head, from beneath which her long dark hair hung down. She hastened to her son, crying, "Jesus, dearest son, I hastened after thee with my friends, in eager longing to see thee once more before thou goest, all whither?" Jesus clasped her hands gently and replied, "Mother, I am on the way to Jerusalem." "To Jerusalem," said his mother. "There is the temple of Jehovah, whither I once carried thee in my arms to offer thee to the Lord." "Mother," said Jesus in solemn sadness, "the hour is come when according to the will of the Father I shall offer myself. I am ready to complete the sacrifice which the Father demands from me." "Ah," cried Mary with bitter and piteous cry, "I foresee what kind of a sacrifice that will be." John and Mary Magdalene had joined the mother of Jesus, and the two Marys standing together united their lament. "How much we had wished," said the Magdalene, "to keep back the master and make him remain with us." "It is of no use," said Simon gloomily, "his purpose is fixed." Then said Jesus to his mother, tenderly beholding her, "My hour is come." All the disciples cried, "Oh, ask the Father that he should let it pass by." Then all the women said, "The Father has always listened to thee." But Jesus said: "How is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, deliver me from this hour! But for this hour came I into the world." But Mary hearing him, exclaimed as in a trance, "Oh, venerable Simon, now will be fulfilled that which thou once prophesied to me, 'A sword shall pierce through thine own soul!'" And as she spoke Mary Magdalene gently supported her from falling. Jesus said in terms of gentle reproach, "Mother, the will of the Father was also ever sacred to thee." His word rallied her courage and she replied, "It is so to me still. I am the handmaid of the Lord. What he requires of me I will bear patiently. But one thing I beg of thee, my son." "What desirest thou, my mother?" "That I may go with thee into the fierce conflict of suffering, yea, even unto death!" "Oh, what love!" exclaimed John, who stood tearfully beside the two Marys, wistfully looking for some ray of hope to illumine the darkness beyond. Jesus embraced her lovingly. "Dear mother, thou wilt suffer with me, thou wilt fight with me in my death struggle, but thou wilt also rejoice with me in my victory, therefore be comforted." "Oh, God!" she cried in heartrending accents, "give me strength that my heart may not break." "We all weep with thee, thou best of mothers," said the holy women, adding their tears to those of the mother of Jesus. "I will go with thee, my son, to Jerusalem," said Mary. And the holy women declared they also would go with her.