The Orthodox Church, on Holy Tuesday, "honors" two events: first, Jesus' harsh denunciation of the religious leaders of Israel, which is commemorated in the Gospel of Matthew (22:15-23:39) and the well-known parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25,1:13-XNUMX).
The woman who, despite her many sins, sought sincere repentance by washing the feet of the God-Man with myrrh, dominates the afternoon service of Holy Tuesday.
In the evening, the Matins of Holy Wednesday is sung in the Churches. The hymnology is dominated by the fact of the anointing of the Lord's feet with myrrh by a sinful woman (the hymnists mention her as a prostitute) and her wiping them with her hair, in the house of a Pharisee, where he was invited. At the same time, one of the most popular troparions of religious hymnology is sung, "Lord, the woman fallen in many sins", better known as the Troparion of Cassian, after the name of the hymnographer Cassian (810-865), who composed it.
This is a poetic rendering of the incident described in the Gospels about the sinful woman who showed her repentance by washing Christ's feet with myrrh and wiping them with her hair.
Who was Cassiani?
Cassiani was one of the most important hymnographers of the Church, as well as a poet and composer. She was one of the first medieval composers whose works have survived and can be interpreted by modern scholars and musicians.
Her life was associated with legends and traditions surrounding her relationship with Emperor Theophilus (813-842), as reported by sansimera.
According to the Byzantine chroniclers Symeon Magistros, John Zonaras and Leo Grammaticus, Euphrosyne, mother of the young emperor Theophilus, following the family tradition for the election of a bride, invited the most beautiful and prominent daughters of the empire to the Court in 830 AD. Twelve "beautiful virgins" responded to the invitation and went to the Palace. Euphrosyne, after receiving them, sent a message to Theophilus to come and give the golden apple to the one he would choose as his wife.
The ready-made answer that annoyed the emperor
The young emperor was dazzled by Cassiani's beauty and, wanting to test her intelligence, asked her: "How then do evil things flow from women?" ("From women do evil things begin," alluding to Eve). Cassiani gave examples of her wit, replying "But also from women do the best, the noblest things flow," alluding to the Virgin Mary. That was it! Theophilus, either because the answer seemed impudent to him, or because the woman's intelligence frightened him, did not listen to his heart and gave the golden apple to the beautiful, but modest Theodora.
Cassiane, after her rejection by the emperor, became a nun and dedicated herself to the worship of God and poetry. She died around 865.
Kassiani's hymnographic work is not rich, but it is distinguished for its style and originality. In addition to the troparion that made her famous, she composed the first four verses of the Canon of Holy Saturday "Aphron geraleae" and the first doxasticus of the Christmas vespers "Avgoustos monarchisantos epi tis geis". She also wrote proverbs and epigrams in iambic meter.
The trope of Cassiana
"Lord, the Woman walking in many sins,
the sensuous Deity, odoriferous I assumed class,
a painful smell to you, before the burial it cuts.
Alas! I said, that there is an oestrus of debauchery,
gloomy and moonless, love of sin.
Accept my sources of tears,
the cloud that conducts the water of the sea
bend to the sighs of the heart,
the bed of the Heavens, let it empty you
kiss your innocent feet
let's deodorize these again, the corns on my head
those in Paradise Eve the evening,
I hid them in fear as they sounded.
The multitudes of my sins and the abysses of your crimes,
will you explain them mentally, my Savior?
Don't be fooled by my slave, I have infinite mercy".
The interpretation
Translation of the Kassiani troparion by Fotis Kontoglou:
"Lord, the woman who fell into many sins,
as if he felt your divinity, became fragrant and anointed you with herbs
before your burial and she said stinking:
Woe to me, for in me is a dark night and no moon,
the rage of innocence and the love of sin.
Receive from me the sources of tears,
you who mutate the sea water with the clouds.
Bend to the sighs of my heart,
you who raised the sky and came down to earth.
I will kiss your immaculate feet,
and I will mop them up again with the tentacles of my head;
These feet, which like Eve at dusk, she heard walking,
she hid from her fear.
The crowds of my sins
and the abyss of your woes, who can unravel them,
my lifeguard Savior?
Do not despise your slave,
"You who have immeasurable mercy."
Source: in.gr
