Page:Traditions of Palestine (microform) (IA traditionsofpale00martrich).pdf/103



“Mourn, O thou most desolate! for there is no sorrow like unto thine. Yet when thou weepest, let my tears mingle with thine. Send me not from thee, for shall not the son speak comfort unto his mother? My hand shall uphold thine age, and lay thee in the sepulchre of thy fathers.”

“Call me not mother. As a mother, I was blessed among women: as a mother, I shall rejoice no more.”

“Nay; but remember who sanctified me unto thee as a son, saying, ‘Behold thy mother!’—And herein shall we yet have comfort. Now, thy soul is wrung with grief, and I also fear to meet men lest the bitterness of my spirit should break forth. But this bitterness shall pass away: and then will we speak of the things wherein we have rejoiced. In the