The Sedulity of Devout Women at the Sepulchre

Consider the unwavering dedication of the women who came to anoint the body of our Lord. Their sedulity—their persistent, uninterrupted devotion—admitted no indifference in their religious offices. From Friday evening until Sunday morning, they labored in service, so sedulous that Saint Athanasius believed they visited the sepulchre four separate times, and Jerome argued this very repetition testified not to the evangelists' unreliability, but to the women's refusal to remain distant from their devout exercise.

Matthew records they came "in the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week." Mark states "very early in the morning, the first day of the week, at the rising of the sun." Luke notes they "prepared their spices, and rested the Sabbath, and came early the next day." John declares they came "when it was yet dark." Their apparent contradictions dissolve when we recognize the depth of their commitment.

True devotion is serious, sedulous, impatient—never marginal, never occasional. It is not conditional upon preference or circumstance. The Pharisee who could enumerate his fastings lacked what these faithful women possessed: an obligation of fervour and continuance that made the sepulchre the centre of their unceasing service. Devotion forms the body of the text itself, not its parenthetical gloss.