Stone of Anointing — Where Christ's Body Was Prepared for Burial
Posted by Brother Oscar
A Sacred Place of Love, Mourning, and Hope Inside the Holy Sepulchre
Just inside the entrance of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, before you reach Golgotha or the Tomb, you encounter a long slab of reddish limestone lying flat against the floor. Pilgrims fall to their knees without being told to. They press their foreheads to the cool surface. They weep. No sign instructs them. Something older does.
This is the Stone of Anointing — the place where, by the oldest tradition of Jerusalem's Christian community, the body of Jesus was laid after it was taken down from the Cross. Here, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus washed and anointed Him, wrapped Him in linen strips with a mixture of myrrh and aloes, and prepared Him for burial. It is one of the most emotionally immediate sites in all of Christianity — not because of its grandeur, but because of what it asks of you. To stand here is to stand at the threshold between the Cross and the empty Tomb.
The Gospel Account: What Happened Here
The Stone of Anointing commemorates a specific, documented moment found across all four Gospels. After the death of Jesus on the Cross, a man named Joseph of Arimathea — described by Luke as "a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action" — went to Pilate and asked for the body. This was no small act. Joseph was a member of the Sanhedrin, the same council that had condemned Jesus. Claiming the body publicly meant risking everything: his standing, his safety, his reputation. The road that led to this stone began at Golgotha, just metres away within the same church, where the Crucifixion had taken place hours before.
He was joined by Nicodemus, who appears in John's Gospel as the Pharisee who came to Jesus by night, asking "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God" (John 3:2). By the time of the burial, Nicodemus had moved from the shadows into the open. He brought "a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds" (John 19:39) — an extraordinary quantity, far more than a minimum burial would require. This was not a hurried act. It was an act of honour. Together, the two men wrapped the body of Jesus "with the spices, in strips of linen", in keeping with Jewish burial custom (John 19:40).
The spices themselves are worth pausing on. Myrrh was a resinous gum extracted from the Commiphora tree, prized across the ancient Near East as a perfume, a medicine, and an embalming agent. It was expensive enough to be listed alongside gold and frankincense among the gifts of the Magi at Christ's birth (Matthew 2:11) — and it reappears here at His death, framing His earthly life between two acts of costly devotion. Aloes, in this context, refers not to the succulent plant familiar today but to eaglewood (Aquilaria), a fragrant timber imported from South and Southeast Asia, among the most expensive aromatic materials available in the ancient world. Seventy-five Roman pounds of these combined substances would have represented a small fortune — a quantity fit for the burial of a king. Nicodemus was making a statement. The one crucified as a pretender to kingship was being honoured, in death, as a king.
The Gospel accounts also record that women were present. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses watched as the body was laid in the tomb (Mark 15:47). Luke tells us that the women followed, observed the tomb, and then went home to prepare their own spices and perfumed oils (Luke 23:55–56). They intended to return and complete the anointing — which is exactly what they were doing when they arrived at the empty tomb on the third day. Mary Magdalene, who had stood at the foot of the Cross and remained through the burial, became the first witness to the resurrection. The Stone of Anointing stands at the intersection of these two acts of devotion: the burial preparation by Joseph and Nicodemus, and the intended completion by the women who refused to abandon Him. That the resurrection met them both — the men who anointed in grief, and the women who came to finish what could not be finished — gives the site a particular depth.
History of the Stone: What We Know
The stone pilgrims touch today is not from the first century. The current slab dates to the Crusader reconstruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the 12th century, when major restorations were carried out after the Crusaders took Jerusalem in 1099. But the tradition it commemorates is far older. Pilgrim accounts from the 4th century onward — following the construction of the original Constantinian basilica after 326 AD — describe veneration at a site associated with Christ's body preparation. The location has held continuous significance in Christian memory for seventeen centuries.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre itself has been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times: damaged by the Sassanid Persian invasion of 614 AD, partially destroyed under the Caliph al-Hakim in 1009, and then reconstructed by Byzantine and later Crusader builders. Through each upheaval, the memory of specific sites within the church — Golgotha, the Tomb, and the place of anointing — survived in the living tradition of Jerusalem's Christian community. That continuity is remarkable. It is explored in detail in the article on the Holy Sepulchre through the ages, which traces the church from its Constantinian origins to the present day. For a closer look at the most recent chapter of that story — the complex negotiations and physical restoration work ongoing in the modern era.
Today, the Stone is under the shared custody of six Christian denominations — Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian Apostolic, Coptic, Ethiopian, and Syriac Orthodox — who maintain the Church of the Holy Sepulchre together under an arrangement called the Status Quo. Though they pray in different languages and follow different rites, all six traditions venerate this stone. That unity across deep ecclesiastical differences says something about the power of what the site represents. One of the most vivid expressions of shared devotion at the church each year is the Holy Fire ceremony, held on Holy Saturday, when flame is said to emerge miraculously from the Tomb and is passed by candlelight through the church and out into the city — a ritual observed without interruption for over a thousand years.
| Period | Key Event at the Site |
|---|---|
| c. 30 AD | Body of Jesus laid, washed, and anointed before burial (John 19:38–40) |
| 326 AD | Constantine builds original basilica; site formally identified and enclosed |
| 614 AD | Persian invasion damages the church; site survives in tradition |
| 1009 AD | Church largely destroyed by Caliph al-Hakim; rebuilt with Byzantine support |
| 12th century | Crusader restoration; current form of the Stone slab installed |
| 1810 | Major restoration after fire; stone relocated slightly within entrance area |
| Present | Venerated daily by pilgrims from across the world; oils poured continuously |
The Meaning of Anointing in Scripture
Anointing runs through the entire Bible as a sign of something set apart. In the Old Testament, anointing marked kings, prophets, and priests at the moment of their calling. When the prophet Samuel anointed David, "the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him from that day forward" (1 Samuel 16:13). The act was not ceremonial — it was transformative. Oil was the visible sign of an invisible commissioning. This is why the title "Christ" — from the Greek Christos, translating the Hebrew Mashiach — means simply the Anointed One. Every anointing in Israel's history pointed forward to Him. The role of sacred oil and water as signs of covenant and calling is explored more broadly in our article on holy water: its origins, meaning, and daily practice.
What makes the Stone of Anointing so theologically striking is the paradox it embodies. Every prior anointing in Scripture was an anointing into power — into kingship, into prophecy, into priesthood. Here, the Anointed One is laid down in apparent defeat. The one who healed the sick cannot heal Himself. The one who raised Lazarus lies still. And yet the prophets had already named this moment. Isaiah had written: "Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering… he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53:4–5). Zechariah had said: "They will look on the one they have pierced" (Zechariah 12:10). The anointing at the stone was not a failure — it was a fulfillment. It is also the moment where the death and resurrection of Jesus hinge: the body laid here in grief is the same body that the tomb could not hold.
There is one more Gospel moment that illuminates the Stone. During the last days before the Crucifixion, a woman poured costly perfume over Jesus, and those present objected to the waste. Jesus silenced them: "She did it to prepare me for burial" (Matthew 26:12). That earlier anointing — which seemed extravagant, even foolish — was already a preparation for this moment. And both anointings — before the Cross and after — were themselves preparations for the resurrection that followed. The oils placed on His body in grief were, unknowingly, placed on a body that would not stay buried. As St. Paul would later write: "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that… we too may live a new life" (Romans 6:4).
The Stone of Anointing teaches that what appears to be an ending in God's hands is often the beginning of something no one could have anticipated. A Place of Touch, Prayer, and Deep Emotion
Unlike many sacred sites where visitors stand behind barriers or observe from a distance, the Stone of Anointing invites physical encounter. You walk toward it. You kneel. You press your hands or forehead against the polished surface. There is nothing preventing you from doing so, and nearly everyone does. Pilgrims place rosaries on it, hold crosses to it, rest photographs of sick relatives on the stone as if asking for something to pass from the stone into the image. The air above it is thick with the scent of perfumed oils poured continuously by clergy and pilgrims — recalling the myrrh and aloes of John 19:39. Candles flicker. Prayers rise in Greek, Latin, Armenian, Arabic, English, Spanish, and languages harder to identify. Every sense is drawn in.
This physical closeness is not accidental to Christianity — it is central to it. The faith is incarnational. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). God did not remain at a philosophical distance from human suffering; He entered it in a body that bled, wept, and died. The Stone of Anointing is a quiet testimony to that reality. It says: this happened here. Real hands touched this body. Real grief was present. Salvation was not abstract — it was carved out in flesh and stone.
For many pilgrims, the moment of touching the stone collapses time. The distance between the first century and the present disappears. The Gospel account is no longer a text — it becomes present. "Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen" (John 19:40). In that stillness, the believer stands alongside Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. What was once an act of burial becomes, for the pilgrim, an act of communion. Many people describe it as the most powerful moment of their entire pilgrimage to Jerusalem — more so, sometimes, than standing at the Tomb itself. Some say they carried a grief into the church that felt different when they walked back out.
These sensory expressions of faith — oil, incense, candlelight, touch — belong to a wider tradition of sacred elements used across the Christian world as ways of praying with the body, not only the mind.
Bringing Your Prayer to the Stone of Anointing
Not everyone can board a plane to Jerusalem. Distance, illness, cost, age — these things keep most of the world's Christians from ever standing in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in person. But the desire to be spiritually present at these sites remains real. For those unable to make the physical pilgrimage, our Prayer Request at the Stone of Anointing allows your personal intentions to be carried to this very site. Each prayer is brought to the stone with care, accompanied by a candle lighting and a small donation made in your name — a way of uniting your heart with the place where Christ's body was lovingly prepared.
This is not a substitute for presence — it is a continuation of it. The same impulse that moved Joseph of Arimathea to act, to honour Christ when it was costly, is present in every person who sends their prayer from far away. Something of that devotion crosses the distance.
Many believers find that holding something physical during prayer helps the mind stay present rather than drift. At the Stone of Anointing, it is the stone itself that does this work — cool, solid, real. At home, an olive wood comfort cross, shaped to fit in the palm, can serve something of the same purpose: a point of contact between the body and the prayer, a small weight that says this is real. The olive wood comes from the same land where Joseph and Nicodemus worked by torchlight. That is not nothing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Stone of Anointing in Jerusalem?
The Stone of Anointing is a large limestone slab inside the entrance of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where, by ancient tradition, the body of Jesus was laid after the Crucifixion and prepared for burial by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus (John 19:38–40). It has been venerated by Christian pilgrims since at least the 4th century.
Is the Stone of Anointing mentioned in the Bible?
The stone itself is not named in Scripture, but the act it commemorates is described in John 19:38–40, where Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus wrap Christ's body in linen with myrrh and aloes. The site has been associated with this moment by Jerusalem's Christian community since the early centuries of the Church.
Is the Stone of Anointing the original stone from the time of Jesus?
The current slab dates to the Crusader-era restoration of the 12th century, not the first century. The location itself, however, reflects a tradition of veneration rooted in the earliest Christian communities of Jerusalem — centuries before the Crusaders arrived.
Why do pilgrims touch and kiss the Stone of Anointing?
Touching the stone is an act of bodily devotion rooted in the incarnational theology of Christianity — the conviction that God entered fully into human flesh and suffering. Pilgrims place rosaries, crosses, and personal items on the stone as a way of uniting their grief or hope with the moment Christ's body was prepared for burial.
Why does the Stone of Anointing smell of perfumed oil?
Clergy and pilgrims regularly pour fragrant oils over the stone, recalling the myrrh and aloes used in Christ's burial as described in John 19:39. This living liturgical practice transforms the stone from a historical marker into an active site of continuous worship.
Can I send my prayer to be placed at the Stone of Anointing?
Yes — through the Prayer Request at the Stone of Anointing service, your personal intentions are carried to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and placed at the stone, accompanied by a candle lighting made in your name.
Where Love Was Given Completely
The Stone of Anointing is not only about death. It is about what human beings do when love is stronger than fear. Joseph risked his position. Nicodemus stepped out of the dark. The women who stood nearby — Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome — remained when the disciples had fled. What they did at and around that stone was not an act of despair. It was an act of faithfulness to a person they loved, even when every circumstance told them the story was over.
The resurrection, three days later, did not erase that faithfulness — it confirmed it. The stone was not a monument to defeat but a place where love held on through the night, not yet knowing what morning would bring. For every believer who has ever sat in grief not knowing how things would turn out, the Stone of Anointing has something to say. "He is not here; he has risen, just as he said" (Matthew 28:6). The stone where He was anointed for burial is now one of the most visited sacred sites on earth. Some endings are beginnings in disguise.
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