The first holy site which we had a chance to venerate was the Stone of Anointing. It is a rectangular sheet of marble, yellow-rose in color, located under a gold canopy and surrounded by large candlestands and unextinguished matte-colored lamps. The marble covers the spot, the stone on which St. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus prepared the Pure Body of the Savior for burial after His having been removed from the Cross; they anointed Him with myrrh and wrapped Him in burial clothes. Carved around the outside of the marble sheet is an inscription in Greek: "The noble Joseph, taking down Thy most pure Body from the Tree, wrapped it in clean linen and sweet spices and laid it in a new tomb." To the left of the Stone of Anointing is a circular marble slab with a latticework cover. This is the Station of the Holy Women (or the "Place of sorrow"), where the Mother of God stood, surrounded by the holy women and St. John the Theologian, when the Body of the Savior was removed from the Cross.