making known to her first of all Thy creatures the certainty of Thy glorious Resurrection, and in place of her tearful lamentings and many questionings, bestowing upon her abundant joy and gladness.
I praise and magnify Thee for Thy loving appearance, and for the gentle words which Thou didst speak, to the disconsolate Mary Magdalene, when Thou didst question her and say: "Why weepest thou ? Whom, seekest thou?"
O good Jesus, O most sweet Master, Who knowest all things before they come to pass, why dost Thou ask of her that which Thou knowest full well ? Thou knowest that what she is seeking and longing for is that which indeed beyond all else she loves, Thyself alone. It is because in the Tomb she found Thee not, because she has lost that which in all the world was most precious to her, that she weeps, and is sad. As often as she thinks of Thee, as often as she hears Thee spoken of, as often as she sees Thy Tomb, or calls to mind Thy Cross, or anything else that has had to do with Thee, that moment her heart sinks within her, and she weeps; for love knows no rest till it finds what it has been seeking, possesses what it loves, and holds fast what it has been longing for.
Be not angry then, O Lord, if even on so high a festival as this holy Easter Day, she sheds tears in Thy presence. It is her love for Thee; it is her great devotion to Thee, which has given her no sleep nor rest, which has driven her from her couch before the break of day that she might come and anoint Thee — it is these things which have made her as Thou seest. It is because she has not found Thee that she weeps, and that her grief on Thy account is so intense. With so great love does she burn, with such intense longing is she on fire,
