towards the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalen, and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre, bringing with them ointments and spices. At this moment there was a great earthquake, for an Angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His countenance was a shining light, and his raiment as white as snow. The keepers became as dead men.

And the Angel said unto the women, Fear not. Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is not here; he is risen. But go, and tell his disciples and Peter that Jesus is gone before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him, as he said And in fear they fled quickly.

unto you.

Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalen, who mistook him for the gardener; and she went and told all those disciples who had been with him, but they would not believe. He afterwards appeared to the two Marys, and then to Peter, who went and told it in the city; and the chief priests being informed of all the things that were done, they immediately assembled with the elders, and took counsel, and gave much money to the soldiers and guard to say that his disciples came and stole him away whilst they slept; a saying allowed by the Jews to this day.

Two of his disciples, Cleophas and another, went into a village, a short distance from Jerusalem, and on their road were joined by Jesus, but they did not recognize him. He said unto them, What manner of communication is it that ye have with each other, as ye appear so sad? And Cleophas answered and said, Thou only art a stranger in Jerusalem, that hast not known the things just come to

pass. And he said, What things? And they said, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a mighty prophet before God and all people. And he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all which the prophets have spoken. Then he began to speak of Moses and all the prophets, and he expounded unto them all the things in the scriptures concerning himself. And he went in to tarry with them, and as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and gave it to them. And they immediately knew him; but he instantly vanished out of their sight. They returned to Jerusalem, saying, The Lord has risen indeed, and appeared to Simon. And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known unto them whilst he was breaking bread. And as they thus spoke, Jesus stood in the midst of them, and said, Peace be unto you. They were terrified; and Jesus said, Why are ye troubled? Behold my hands and my feet. They believed in wonder. And he said, Have ye any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish and a honeycomb, and he did eat. And he told them all things must be fulfilled that were spoken in the scriptures by Moses and the prophets concerning him, and ye are witnesses that it behoved Christ to suffer death upon the cross, and rise again the third day. Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high. And he led them as far as Bethany, and blessed them; and at that moment he was carried up into heaven. This was on the fortieth day after the resurrection.

CHRIST'S

ASCENSION INTO

HEAVEN.

Sixtieth
Medal.

Christ's ascension into Heaven

And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, continually blessing and praising God in the temple. And they prayed that they might choose a proper disciple in the room of Judas, and the lot fell upon Matthias, which filled up the number, twelve; for it is written in the book of Psalms, "Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein, and his bishopric let another take."

Ten days after this, it being the feast of the Pentecost, a feast that was instituted by the Israelites to return thanks to God for the law given them from Mount Sinai, on the fiftieth day after their coming out of Egypt, and about the third hour of the day, at nine o'clock in the morning, being in all about seven weeks after the resurrection of Christ, the

utterance.

apostles retired to a house at Jerusalem, which is said to have been that of Mary, the mother of John, and suddenly they heard a great noise, like the rushing of a mighty wind from heaven; at the same time they perceived among them tongues of fire, cloven or parted, and which rested on each of them. They were all immediately filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak different languages as the Spirit gave them There were then at Jerusalem some pious Jews of all nations, who were astonished to hear such a variety of languages, but the other Jews at Jerusalem mocked them, saying, These people are full of wine. Peter said, Ye know that at festivals no man eats or drinks before noon, therefore ye know that this cannot be; for it is now only the ninth hour. And many who heard Peter were filled with compunction. This fact overpowered the major part of the multitude, and three thousand embraced the Christian religion, in consequence of this extraordinary miracle.

At noon of this day, Peter and John went up to pray in the temple. Here they performed the first miracle, for, as they passed the beautiful gate of Corinthian brass, they perceived a lame man intensely watching them. The apostles stopped, when Peter, looking him in the face, said, Silver and gold I have none, but such as I have I will give unto thee; in the name of Jesus of Nazareth rise up, and walk. The crowd were electrified on seeing the man's limbs recover their former strength, when he followed the apostles into the temple, leaping, and praising God; and this man's infirmity being known to most of the people, produced an extraordinary

sensation. Peter availed himself of the opportunity to address the crowd in favour of Christianity, and full five thousand were converted, The captain of the temple, with the Sadducees, rushed in to oppose the progress of the Christian faith, and seized both Peter and John, and dragged them to prison.

On the following morning, the Sanhedrim were assembled, and Peter and John brought to trial; the recovered lame man also stood beside them; and, upon their defence, they cited the command of God for their preaching; and, as the miracle had been witnessed by most of the inhabitants of the city, the Sanhedrim dismissed them, with a forcible injunction never again to teach in the name of Jesus; but Peter and John boldly answered, Whether it be right in the sight of God, to hearken unto you more than God, judge ye. The number of converts had increased to such an extent, that it became prudent to appoint a distinct number of persons to distribute the alms. Seven were chosen from the faithful, on whom the apostles laid hands, and ordained them under the title of deacons; they were all dispersed Jews, and they were all zealous in their calling. Stephen appears to have been the most fervent of them all. He preached at Jerusalem, so authoritatively from the Old Testament, that Jesus was the Christ, that the mob shouted that he spoke blasphemy; and they dragged him on the outside of the walls of the city, and stoned him to death, he at the same time praying that God would not lay this act to the sin of an infatuated populace. This saint became the first martyr.

Among the persons present at this disgraceful

A D. 37.