Apparitions on Occasion of the Death of Jesus.
Among the dead who rose from their graves, and who were certainly a hundred in
number, at Jerusalem, there were no relations of Jesus. I saw in various parts of the Holy
Land others of the dead appear and bear testimony to the divinity of Jesus. Thus I saw
Sadoch, a most pious man, who had given all his property to the poor and to the Temple,
appear to many persons in the neighbourhood of Hebron. This Sadoch had lived a century
before Jesus, and was the founder of a community of Essenians: he had ardently sighed for
the coming of the Messias, and had had several revelations upon the subject. I saw some
others of the dead appear to the hidden disciples of our Lord, and give them different
warnings.
Terror and desolation reigned even in the most distant parts of Palestine, and it was not
in Jerusalem only that frightful prodigies took place. At Thirza, the towers of the prison in
which the captives delivered by Jesus had been confined fell down. In Galilee, where Jesus
had travelled so much, I saw many buildings, and in particular the houses of those Pharisees
who had been the foremost in persecuting our Saviour, and who were then all at the festival,
shaken to the ground, crushing their wives and children. Numerous accidents happened in
the neighbourhood of the Lake of Genazareth. Many buildings fell down at Capharnaum;
and the wall of rocks which was in front of the beautiful garden of the centurion Zorobabel
cracked across. The lake overflowed into the valley, and its waters descended as far as
Capharnaum, which was a mile and a half distant. Peter’s house, and the dwelling of the
Blessed Virgin in front of the town, remained standing. The lake was strongly convulsed; its
shores crumbled in several places, and its shape was very much altered, and became more
like what it is at the present day. Great changes took place, particularly at the south-eastern
extremity, near Tarichea, because in this part there was a long causeway made of stones,
between the lake and a sort of marsh, which gave a constant direction to the course of the
Jordan when it left the lake. The whole of this causeway was destroyed by the earthquake.
Many accidents happened on the eastern side of the lake, on the spot where the swine
belonging to the inhabitants of Gergesa cast themselves in, and also at Gergesa, Gerasa, and
in the entire district of Chorazin. The mountain where the second multiplication of the
loaves took place was shaken, and the stone upon which the miracle had been worked split
in two. In Decapolis, whole towns crumbled to the earth; and in Asia, in several localities,
the earthquake was severely felt, particularly to the east and north-east of Paneas. In Upper
Galilee, many Pharisees found their houses in ruins when they returned from keeping the
feast. A number of them, while yet at Jerusalem, received the news of what had happened,
and it was on that account that the enemies of Jesus made such very slight efforts against the
Christian community at Pentecost.
A part of the Temple of Garizim crumbled down. An idol stood there above a fountain,
in a small temple, the roof of which fell into the fountain with the idol. Half of the
synagogue of Nazareth, out of which Jesus had been drive, fell down, as well as that part of
the mountain from which his enemies had endeavoured to precipitate him. The bed of the
Jordan was much changed by all these shocks, and its course altered in many places. At
Macherus, and at the other towns belonging to Herod, everything remained quiet, for that
country was out of the sphere of repentance and of threats, like those men who did not fall
to the ground in the Garden of Olives, and, consequently, did not rise again.
In many other parts where there were evil spirits, I saw the latter disappear in large
bodies amid the falling mountains and buildings. The earthquakes reminded me of the
convulsions of the possessed, when the enemy feels that he must take to flight. At Gergesa,
a part of the mountain from which the devils had cast themselves with the swine into a
marsh, fell into this same marsh; and I then saw a band of evil spirits cast themselves into
the abyss, like a dark cloud.
It was at Nice, unless I am mistaken, that I saw a singular occurrence, of which I have
only an imperfect remembrance. There was a port there with many vessels in it; and near
this port stood a house with a high tower, in which I saw a pagan whose office was to watch
these vessels. He had often to ascend this tower, and see what was going on at sea. Having
heard a great noise over the vessels in the port, he hurriedly ascended the tower to discover
what was taking place, and he saw several dark figures hovering over the port, and who
exclaimed to him in plaintive accents: ‘If thou desirest to preserve the vessels, cause them to
be sailed out of this port, for we must return to the abyss: the great Pan is dead.’ They told
him several other things; laid injunctions upon him to make known what they were then
telling him upon his return from a certain voyage which he was soon to make, and to give a
good reception to the messengers who would come to announce the doctrine of him who
had just died. The evil spirits were forced in this manner by the power of God to inform this
good man of their defeat, and announce it to the world. He had the vessels put in safety, and
then an awful storm arose: the devils cast themselves howling into the sea, and half the city
fell down. His house remained standing. Soon afterwards he went on a great journey, and
announced the death of the great Pan, if that is the name by which our Saviour had been
called. Later he came to Rome, where much amazement was caused by what he related. His
name was something like Thamus or Thramus.