to think whether this would have pleased her. Whilst he thought this, there was pointed out to him a writing upon the earth, thus expressed; ' Abbot Zosimus, bury and compassionate the body of Mary; render to the earth that which is the earth's, and dust to dust. Add also to pray moreover for me, (who am) departing from this world, on the ninth night of the month that [is called] April, that is, the Ides of April, on the feast-day of the Lord, and after the time of the Eucharist.' When the old man had read the letters, he first of all looked to see who had written them, because she herself said before that she had never learnt anything of the kind. Yet he looked extremely pleased that he knew her name, and he perceived clearly that as soon as she had received the divine mysteries at the Jordan, in the same hour she had arrived thither [i.e. at the bourn], and had immediately departed from this world. And the journey which Zosimus had performed with much toil in twenty days, all that Mary had fulfilled in the course of an hour, and immediately departed to God. Then Zosimus glorified God, and suffused his own body with tears, and said: ' Now is the time, poor Zosimus, for thee to perform that which is bidden thee. But what am I, unhappy one, to do? For I know not wherewith to dig, now that I lack both spade and mattock.' Whilst he thus spake secretly in his heart, he saw there as it were a piece of wood lying, and that but a little one. Therewith he began to dig very diligently; and [the earth] was very hard, and he could not dig into it, because he was much weakened, both by fasting and by the long toil, and he was exhausted with sighing and sweat, and sighed heavily from the depth of his heart. When he looked around him, he saw a lion of exceeding bigness stand beside the holy body; and it licked the traces of its [the body's] feet. Then was he afrrighted, for fear of the huge wild beast; and most of all, because the holy woman had before said to him, that she had never seen a wild beast there. But he soon protected himself on every side by the sign of the cross, and by the power of her who lay there. Then began the lion to fawn upon
