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| Mathis Gerung, The Woman Cured of the Hemorrhage and the Raising of the Daughter of Jairus From the Ottheinrich Bible German (Regensburg), c. 1530 Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek MS Cgm 8010(2), fol. 52r In this illumination we see both stories, interwoven just as they are in Scripture. In the top half of the picture we see Jairus speaking to Jesus. Jairus is dressed in his religious regalia, which identifies him as a synagogue official. Jesus, dressed in violet, is flanked by Saints James and Peter, while James' brother, John, stands beside Peter. In front of Peter kneels the woman with the hemorrhage, dressed in white (quite impractical for someone in her situation, but definitely attention getting from the artist's perspective). She reaches out her right hand to touch Jesus tunic. In the bottom half of the picture we see mourners at the door of Jairus' house, and inside it we see her parents, Jesus and the three disciples he brought in with him, while the girl begins to respond to Jesus' command to "Arise!" |
“When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea.
One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward.
Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying,
"My daughter is at the point of death.
Please, come lay your hands on her
that she may get well and live."
He went off with him,
and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him.
There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years.
She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors
and had spent all that she had.
Yet she was not helped but only grew worse.
She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd
and touched his cloak.
She said, "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured."
Immediately her flow of blood dried up.
She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him,
turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched my clothes?"
But his disciples said to Jesus,
"You see how the crowd is pressing upon you,
and yet you ask, 'Who touched me?'"
And he looked around to see who had done it.
The woman, realizing what had happened to her,
approached in fear and trembling.
She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth.
He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you.
Go in peace and be cured of your affliction."
While he was still speaking,
people from the synagogue official's house arrived and said,
"Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?"
Disregarding the message that was reported,
Jesus said to the synagogue official,
"Do not be afraid; just have faith."
He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside
except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official,
he caught sight of a commotion,
people weeping and wailing loudly.
So he went in and said to them,
"Why this commotion and weeping?
The child is not dead but asleep."
And they ridiculed him.
Then he put them all out.
He took along the child's father and mother
and those who were with him
and entered the room where the child was.
He took the child by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum,"
which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise!"
The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around.
At that they were utterly astounded.
He gave strict orders that no one should know this
and said that she should be given something to eat.”
(Mark 5:21-43
Gospel for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
The Gospel reading for this Sunday presents us with two
miracles of Jesus and with the two people who were brave enough to overcome
society’s pressures on them and reach out to him with hope and faith. One is a woman, the other is a man.
The woman is someone who has suffered from bleeding for
twelve years. The Gospel writer doesn’t
tell us the specific cause of this bleeding, but it is usually assumed to be
vaginal bleeding, a particularly nasty thing to suffer from for such a long
time. We are told that she has suffered
at the hands of many doctors and spent all her money trying to find a
cure. In a pre-scientific age, I have no
doubt that would be the case and that the “cures” would have been savage and
expensive as well as ineffectual. It
would be centuries before the exact mechanism that causes a woman’s monthly
confrontation with blood was understood and even longer to find the (usually)
radical measures that can eliminate it.
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| The Woman with the Hemorrhage Touches Jesus From a Picture Bible French, 1197 Amiens, Bibliotheque municipale Metropole MS 108, fol. 172v |
This ailment would have been extremely difficult to deal with in any ancient society, but in first century Judea it would have been made worse by the laws and customs by which Jews lived. In many ancient societies, and until relatively recently even in modern ones, menstruating women have been considered “unclean” at worst and distasteful at best. They were often required to separate themselves from others while the blood flowed and to perform purification rituals at the end. As every woman knows, even today there are some problems related to ones’ period that can be hard to live with, even with modern sanitation, medication and sanitary products. In a pre-industrial, pre-plumbing world it must have been a nightmare. Most women only had to deal with the difficulties and social stigma for a short time, say five days or so, and then could perform the rituals that would enable them to resume their ordinary position in their household.
However, a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years was in an altogether worse position. Instead of being “unclean” for a few days, she was perpetually unclean. Unclean people such as lepers and those with her condition were not allowed to take part in normal community activities, not even to go to their local synagogue. They were isolated in their living arrangements and shunned by their neighbors and, most likely, their own families. And perpetual bleeding would probably have left them extremely anemic, hence weak and prey to opportunistic infections.
Thus, this particular woman, on that particular day, took a
brave step in even approaching the crowd around Jesus. She could not be certain that she could even
reach him without someone driving her away.
When he was stopped by the man in this story, whom we will discuss
below, she took the desperate step of reaching out her hand and grabbing the
hem of Jesus clothing, thinking "maybe if I can just touch him, it will help". And, immediately,
we are told, the bleeding stopped! What
joy she must have felt, and what terror.
Because he had noticed and was searching the faces of the crowd to
determine who had touched him. She
confessed “in fear and trembling” and received the best gift of all, his
confirmation that her faith in him had healed her.
The second person of courageous faith included in this week’s
Gospel is Jairus. Jairus is described as
a “synagogue official”. Leaders of the
synagogues were not necessarily fans of Jesus, whom they thought was
undermining their own authority. Thus,
Jairus really stuck his neck out to approach Jesus at all. But his need was great. His daughter, whom it is obvious that he
really loved, was dying. So, he threw
himself at the feet of Jesus and begged him to come and save her, disregarding
any other consideration except his love for his dying child. And Jesus came to his house with him. But when they arrived, Jairus was met with
the news that his little girl was dead.
Mourning had already begun.
Jesus, however, ignored the mourners and summoned the girl from the
sleep of death and she returned to the land of the living. Then,
characteristically, Jesus suggests that she be given something to eat. This proves her to be alive, since ghosts and
apparitions do not eat food. The faith
of her father, Jairus, overcome with love for his child, and willing to risk the censure of his colleagues to approach Jesus, has saved her.
,%20c.%201480-1485_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20Francais%20177,%20fol.%20189v.jpg) |
| Jean Colombe, Jairus at the Feet of Christ From a Vita Jesu Christi by Ludolf of Saxony French (Bourges), c. 1480-1485 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Francais 177, fol. 189v |
Both these people serve as models for all Christians. No matter how hopeless the situation may be, reaching out to Jesus with faith can overcome it. And, further, it is worth the risk to our own persons to reach out to him in spite of scorn, derision and outright hatred. These two people are, in a way, the model for all the Christian martyrs that have come after them. They did not lose their lives, but they had reasons to fear that their action would make life hard for them, and still, they fell at his feet and silently begged for his help.
The Iconographic Tradition
These stories are very dramatic ones, important ones, as
examples for those trying to live a Christian life.
However, they do not seem to have inspired artists to depict
them. Whereas the healing of lepers,
blind men and paralytics seem to have inspired numerous works of art, these two
linked stories have not. Further,
although the stories are linked, for it appears that the woman had the
opportunity to touch Jesus’ robes while he was stopped by Jairus at his feet,
they are usually depicted separately, as though they were not from the same
Gospel passage.
Dual Images
A few such dual images do occur, although they are few and far between.
Among the earliest are two images from an ivory casket, known as the Brescia Lipsanotheca, which dates from the second half of the fourth century.
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| The Woman with the Hemorrhage From the Brescia Lipsanotheca (Front View) Early Christian, Late 4th Century Brescia, Museo di Santa Giulia |
While they are part of the same work of art, the two images are shown separately, on different sides of the container.
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| The Raising of the Daughter of Jairus From the Brescia Lipsanotheca (Left Side) Early Christian, Late 4th Century Brescia, Museo di Santa Giulia |
,%20c.%20879-882_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20Grec%20510,%20fol.%20143v.jpg) |
| Illustrations for Mark 5:21-43 From the Orations by Gregory Nazianzenus Byzantine (Constantinople), c. 879-882 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Grec 510, fol. 143v In this very damaged Byzantine picture one can still make out the phases of this Gospel story. At the far left stands Jesus, clad in deep purple, speaking to him is Jairus, in a white garment reminiscent of a priestly chasuble. Then there is a slight gap. The next scene, in the center of the page is of the afflicted woman, wearing a light violet skirt and a gold colored shawl, kneeling at the feet of Jesus, who is shown addressing her. Behind her are two other male figures, wearing rose. These are the brothers James and John. Saint Peter is shown in white, to the right of Jesus. On the right side we see the house of Jairus, who is standing in the doorway, making a gesture of welcome to Jesus. Inside the house Jairus' daughter lies in bed, surrounded by mourning women. |
,%20c.%201530_Munich,%20Staatsbibliothek_MS%20Cgm%208010(2),%20fol.%2052r.jpg) |
| Mathis Gerung, The Woman Cured of the Hemorrhage and the Raising of the Daughter of Jairus From the Ottheinrich Bible German (Regensburg), c. 1530 Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek MS Cgm 8010(2), fol. 52r This is discussed in detail at the top of the page. |
,%20Pl%2019_Dutch,%201622_AMsterdam,%20Rijskmuseum.jpg) |
| Boetius Adamszoon Bolswert, Two Miracles of Christ From Vitae passionis et mortis Jesu Christi Somini nostri mysteria by Jean Bourgois (Published in Antwerp, 1622), Plate 19 Dutch, 1622 Amsterdam, Rijskmuseum Bolswert's illustration for this life of Christ shows the story of these two interwoven miracles, beginning from the top right. There we see the Sea of Galilee and a ship at anchor on it. Below that we see Jesus and his disciples standing on the shore, with Jairus and two attendants at his feet. Below that again we see the crowd following Jesus and the woman on her knees reaching out to touch the hem of his tunic. Finally, at the bottom we see the scene inside the house of Jairus as Jesus touches the girl and bids her to "Arise!" |
Separate Images
But, mostly the images fall into two separate works, one the
healing of the woman and the other the raising of the girl. And this differentiation goes back to the
very beginning of Christian art.
The Bleeding Woman
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| Jesus Healing the Woman with the Hemorrhage Early Christian Roman, 3rd Century Rome, Catacomb of Peter and Marcellinus |
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| The Sarcophagus of Agape and Crescentianus Early Christian Roman, c. 325-350 Vatican City, Musei Vaticani, Museo Pio-Cristiano Since it is one of several biblical images on the front of this early sarcophagus, I have placed a blue arrow just below the figure of the woman, so you can find it more easily. |
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| The Healing of the Woman with the Hemorrhage Detail of an Ivory Plaque Roman, c. 400-415 Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Objets d'art du Moyen Age, de la Renaissance et des temps modernes |
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| Jesus Heals the Woman with the Hermorrhage Early Byzantine, 6th Century Ravenna, Church of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo |
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| Jesus Heals the Woman with the Hermorrhage Byzantine, c. 1180s Monreale, Cathedral |
,%20c.%201190-1210_Munich,%20Bayerische%20Staatsbibliothek_MS%20Clm%20835,%20fol.%2070r.jpg) |
| Jesus Heals the Woman with the Hemorrhage From the Munich Golden Psalter English (Oxford), c. 1190-1210 Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek MS Clm 835, fol. 70r The figure of Jesus holds a scroll with his words to her ""Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace." |
,%20c.%201355-1365_New%20York,%20Pierpoint%20Morgan%20Library_MS%20M%20769,%20fol.%20283v.jpg) |
| Jesus Heals the Woman with the Hemorrhage From a Weltchronik by Heinrich of Munich German (Regensburg), c. 1355-1365 New York, Pierpoint Morgan Library MS M 769, fol. 283v |
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| Jesus and the Woman with the Hemorrhage From a Vie de Jesus Christ French, c. 1470-1480 Paris, Bibliotheque Mazarine MS 976 |
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| Paolo Veronese, Jesus and the Woman with the Hemorrhage Italian, c. 1565-1570 Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie |
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| David Vinckboons, Forest Landscape with the Miracle of the Woman with the Hemorrhage Dutch, c. 1600-1610 New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Isaac Moillon, Miracle of the Woman with the Hemorrhage French, c. 1646 Beaune, Hotel Dieu |
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| Germain Paget, Jesus and the Woman with the Hemmorhage French, 1859 Morez, Musée de la Lunette |
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| James Tissot, The Woman with the Hemorrhage Touches Jesus Also known as L'hémoroïsse French, c. 1886-1896 New York, The Brooklyn Museum |
The Raising of the Daughter of Jairus
This image also has a long history in Christian art. The earliest image I found were part of the story of the entire Gospel reading and are shown above. This appears as a separate story somewhat later than does the healing of the hemorrhaging woman.
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| The Raising of the Daughter of Jairus German, c. 980 Oberzell, Church of Saint George |
,%20c.%201000_Munich,%20Bayerische%20Staatsbibliothek_MS%20Clm%204453,%20fol.%2044r.jpg) |
| The Raising of the Daughter of Jairus From the Gospels of Otto III German (Reichenau), c. 1000 Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek MS Clm 4453, fol. 44r |
,%20c.%201150_Munich%20Staatsbibliothek_MS%20Clm%2015903,%20fol.%2076v.jpg) |
| The Raising of the Daughter of Jairus From the Pericopes of Saint Erentrud Austrian (Salzburg), c. 1150 Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek MS Clm 15903, fol. 76v |
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| The Raising of the Daughter of Jairus Byzantine, c. 1180s Monreale, Cathedral |
,%20c.%201190-1210_Munich,%20Bayerische%20Staatsbibliothek_MS%20Clm%20835,%20fol.%2069r.jpg) |
| The Raising of the Daughter of Jairus From the Munich Golden Psalter English (Oxford), c. 1190-1210 Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek MS Clm 835, fol. 69r Here Jesus holds a scroll with the Gospel text that reads "Little girl, I say to you, arise!" |
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| The Raising of the Daughter of Jairus From a Picture Bible French, 1197 Amiens, Bibliotheque municipale MS 108, fol. 172r This picture tells the story in two scenes. In the upper one Jairus kneels in an imploring attitude at the feet of Jesus. In the bottom we see Jesus reaching over the girl's bed to take her by the hand. |
,%20c.%201371-1372_The%20Hague,%20Meermano%20Museum_MS%20RMMW10%20B%2023.%20fol.%20%20499r.jpg) |
| Jean Bondol and Others, The Raising of the Daughter of Jairus From a Grande Bible Historiale Completée by Guiard des Moulins French (Paris), c. 1371-1372 The Hague, Meermano Museum MS RMMW 10 B 23. fol. 499r |
,%20c.1430_The%20%20Hague,%20KB_MS%20KB%2078%20D%2038%20II,%20fol.%20158v.jpg) |
| Claes Brouwer, The Raising of the Daughter of Jairus From a History Bible Dutch (Utrecht), c.1430 The Hague, KB MS KB 78 D 38 II, fol. 158v |
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| Paolo Veronese, The Raising of the Daughter of Jairus Italian, Second Half of the16th Century Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Peintures |
,%20c.%201520-1525_New%20York,%20The%20Metropolitan%20Museum%20of%20Art,%20European%20Sculpture%20and%20Decorative%20Arts.jpg) |
| The Raising of the Daughter of Jairus Flemish (Leuven), c. 1520-1525 New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, European Sculpture and Decorative Arts |
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| Santi di Tito, The Raising of the Daughter of Jairus Italian, c. 1570 Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie |
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| Agnolo Bronzino, The Raising of the Daughter of Jairus Italian, c. 1571-1572 Florence, Church of Santa Maria Novella, Gaddi Chapel |
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| Jesus Raising the Daughter of Jairus French, 19th Century Saint-James, Parish Church of Saint James |
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| Felix Auvray, Jesus Raises the Daughter of Jairus French, First Half of 19th Century Valenciennes, Musee des Beaux-Arts |
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| Friedrich Overbeck, Jesus Raises the Daughter of Jairus German, 1815 Berlin, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |
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| Benito Saez Garcia, Jesus Raises the Daughter of Jairus Spanish, c. 1838 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado |
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| Eduard Julius Bendemann, Jesus Raises the Daughter of Jairus German, 1873 New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Drawings and Prints |
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| Alfred Dehodencq, Jesus Raising the Daughter of Jairus French, c. 1876 Dijon, Musée national Magnin |
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| James Tissot, Jesus Raises the Daughter of Jairus French, c. 1886-1896 New York, The Brooklyn Museum |
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| Charles Lorin, Jesus Raising the Daughter of Jairus French, 1895 Tourouvre (Normandy), Parish Church of Saint Aubin |
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| Emmanuel Michel Benner, Jesus Raising the Daughter of Jairus French, 1902 Paris, Musée national Jean-Jacques Henner |
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| Victor Oscar Guetin, Jesus Raises the Daughter of Jairus French, 1902 Paris, Musée de l'Ecole nationale supérieure des beaux-arts |
Excerpts
from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of
the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001,
1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington,
DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be
reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
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