Holy Week 2009 – Tuesday – The Hymn of Kassiani

Greetings Dear Readers,

I want you to stop for a moment and consider two things. The first is the story of the woman who bathed Christ’s feet with Nard and her tears, and used her hair as a towel. When chided by Judas (whom we will spend some time with later this week) and the other disciples, Christ responded that what the woman was doing was the proper thing to do. Christ even went so far as to assure that this woman’s story would be told in the Gospels as a memorial to her actions.

I have been blessed to call prostitutes and those who license themselves to the darkness friend. I know women who literally sell themselves as slaves to the passions of others. Some of them have seen past my own falleness and found Christ. Others were not willing to see Christ and moved on, still my friend, still someone I valued.

In many places in the world tonight these women will gather in churches for the celebration of Kassiani. They will listen as an ancient hymn is sung that speaks of Christ’s overreaching mercy and one such woman’s response to it.

"Woe to me," she says,
"for nightis a frenzy of license to me,a dark, moonless love of sin.
"Receive the fountains of my tears,
O You who gather the sea-waters into cloudsIncline to the groanings of my heart,
O You who laid low the heavens by Your humility.
"I shall kiss Your immaculate feet,wipe them again with the hair of my head,
those feet at whose sound Eve in Paradise hid for fear.
"The multitude of my sins, the depths of your judgments,who can search them out,
O Savior of souls?
Do not despise me, Your handmaiden,
O You whose mercy admits of no measure."

Christ told his closest friends that this woman had done what she could for him. He pointed out that she was preparing him for burial. So many women are used and abused by the world and yet we dare look down upon what they do while we stand proudly in our own sin needing so much mercy from God. Perhaps we need to be more in touch with the brokenness this woman had.

“The alabaster case of oil is open,
Washing the feet of Jesus,
The sweet perfume is poured.
I am like that cask I must broken,
So from my heart can pour,
A life unto my Lord.” – Terry Talbot

As we draw near to the days of the garden, the scourging, the trial, the cross, and the tomb, perhaps we should examine where we stand with others. Are we judging who the woman is, or who she is to Christ? Are we saying our intentions matter and ignoring the intentions of others? Are we being poured out to honor Jesus or are we judging and rejecting those who offer all they can with what little they have, whilst knowing the truth of their own need for mercy and forgiveness of sin?

“Father break me
Take me through the fire
Oh Father hold me, mold me
Just as you desire.
I am just a cup to overflow your will
And I know I must be empty to be filled.” - Terry Talbot

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn