The Holy Women Memorial
The Holy Women of Calvary
Location – Church of the Holy Sepulcher
Map Coordinates - 31.778460, 35.229556
Merged Gospels stories - 282, 288
Both of these altars are in the custody of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The most prominent one is a tall white memorial dedicated to the Holy Women who watched Jesus being crucified from a distance.
The holy women watch Jesus being crucified from a distance (The Merged Gospels, story 282).
The Holy Women Monument.
You often hear about this monument being dedicated to the three Marys. However, both Matthew and Mark say that there were many women in this group, among whom were the three Marys – Mary, his mother, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the wife of Clopas.
The women watch Jesus being buried (The Merged Gospels, story 285)
The physical location of this Biblical event is purely speculative. After all, the women could have viewed the crucifixion from any distance, or any orientation, so the location of this memorial is probably as good as any.
The Altar of the Myrrh-Bearing Women.
Just to your right before you enter the rotunda is an altar is dedicated to the women who came to anoint Jesus’ body with spices and perfumes on Easter Sunday morning after He had already been resurrected. It is also remembered as the place where the Virgin Mary fainted upon seeing for the first time her crucified Son, Jesus.
The women approach the tomb (The Merged Gospels, story 288)
The Altar of the Myrrh-Bearing Women
In the Bible you read how these women watched Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea in order to see where Jesus was buried. They did this because Jesus was taken down from the cross hastily, and His body was not completely prepared for burial. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea had cleansed the body, but they hadn’t anointed it with spices and perfumes. That task was left to the women who watched Him being buried, to be completed on the Sunday morning after the Sabbath.
It is also believed that at this altar the same women heard the good tidings of the angel, "He is not here, for He has risen" (Matthew 28:2-8).