lamented in this way, Mary of Magdala rushed in a second time, crying
that she had seen the Lord. Unable to recognize him, she thought him
the gardener: but He said, 'Mary!' She cried 'Rabboni!' and fell at his
feet. He commanded her to go to the disciples, and vanished. But they,
the disciples, did not believe her; and when she wept for joy, some
upbraided her, some thought that sorrow had disturbed her mind, for she
said, too, that she had seen angels at the grave, but they, running
thither a second time, saw the grave empty. Later in the evening
appeared Cleopas, who had come with another from Emmaus, and they
returned quickly, saying: 'The Lord has indeed risen!' And they
discussed with closed doors, out of fear of the Jews. Meanwhile He
stood among them, though the doors had made no sound, and when they
feared, He said, 'Peace be with you!'

"And I saw Him, as did all, and He was like light, and like the
happiness of our hearts, for we believed that He had risen from the
dead, and that the seas will dry and the mountains turn to dust, but His
glory will not pass.

"After eight days Thomas Didymus put his finger in the Lord's wounds and
touched His side; Thomas fell at His feet then, and cried, 'My Lord and
my God!' 'Because thou hast seen me thou hast believed; blessed are
they who have not seen and have believed!' said the Lord. And we heard
those words, and our eyes looked at Him, for He was among us."

Vinicius listened, and something wonderful took place in him. He forgot
for a moment where he was; he began to lose the feeling of reality, of
measure, of judgment. He stood in the presence of two impossibilities.
He could not believe what the old man said; and he felt that it would be
necessary either to be blind or renounce one's own reason, to admit that