Mary is filled with joy as she lies down more tired than usual. She closes her eyes, and she is inside the new Jerusalem, it seems, that is beyond her home here in Ephesus. She is in a large field that is inside the new Jerusalem, and she is lying down as in a field of golden ripened wheat. She tries to keep her eyes closed, but the light of the field floods the room where she was trying to sleep, and she is wide awake. She begins to rise. Or are her eyes still closed and she is but dreaming that His hand is reaching down to her? She is still in the beautiful field but she can still hear John turning in his sleep in the other room, though the sound grows fainter and the light grows brighter around her. The overshadowing cloud is lifting as is she. She sees John. He is sitting up in bed, eyes toward heaven, looking at her. He is smiling. He is lifting his arms as if lifting her, then releasing her like a feather caught on the breath that is the Holy Spirit. Amen. So be it.
— from the book Nourishing Love: A Franciscan Celebration of Mary by Murray Bodo, OFM
//Franciscan Media//