Hear The Story of that Holy Vessel which is called the Grail, in which the precious blood of the Saviour was gathered on the day when He was crucified to redeem mankind from Hell. Such was His purpose in coming to this world, being born of the Virgin Mary at Bethlehem.

At the time when Our Lord was upon the Earth, most of the land of Judaea was answerable to Rome, and the governor’s name was Pilate. This Pilate had in his service a soldier named Joseph of Arimathea, who followed Christ to many places and loved him deeply in his heart, but dared not show it openly, for Our Lord had many enemies set against Him. And not only enemies: He had a disciple, too, who was not as a follower should be. He was ill-disposed towards his fellow disciples, and began to distance himself from them, serving them harshly and unkindly; they were very wary of him. But Our Lord, being God, knew all. This disciple’s name was Judas, and his hatred towards Our Lord was conceived on account of an ointment; I shall tell you now of his treachery.

At this time it was the custom that a chamberlain received a tenth of all moneys that came into his lord’s purse, and when Mary Magdalene poured an ointment upon Our Lord’s feet Judas was enraged, counting in his heart that the ointment was worth three hundred pence. He did not want to lose his due; he reckoned his tenth was worth thirty pence, and was determined to secure that amount. At the earliest opportunity he sought to recover those thirty pence from God’s enemies.

Three nights before the Passover, Christ’s enemies were at the house of a man named Caiaphas, discussing how they could capture Him. Joseph of Arimathea was present as they talked, and their wicked words grieved him terribly. In the middle of their discussion Judas appeared, and when they saw him they fell silent, for they distrusted him, believing him to be a good disciple of Jesus.

Judas spoke out and asked them: ‘Why are you assembled here?’

And they replied: ‘Where is that master of yours?’