The Seventh Eothinon, Two Sermons

The Seventh Eothinon

Two Sermons

TOKENS   By Fr. Richard Demetrius Andrews (2010) http://stgeorgegoc.org/pastors-corner/fr-ricks-sermons/7th-eothinon-running-to-resurrection This is the first of five post-resurrectional accounts taken from the Gospel of John. We only read this passage liturgically in the Sunday Orthros cycle, so perhaps four to five times a year.  The ‘first day of the week’ (v.1) is Sunday. The Greek mia ton Sabbaton translates literally as ‘first of seven.’ That day of course is Sunday or Kyriake in Greek, the Lord’s Day, the Day of Resurrection. Sunday is also known as the Eighth Day or the new and unending day of God’s eternal kingdom. Jewish festal cycles were typically seven days. This is probably why Jesus and John the Baptist were circumcised on the eighth day according to the ancient custom of the Mosaic Law. In Orthodox Christianity, festal cycles are typically eight days long. The Apodosis or Leave-taking or completion of major Feasts occurs on the eighth day. One example would be the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, which begins on August 15th and ends on August 23rd. Now, let us understand what appears to be a foot race between Peter and ‘the other disciple’ (v.3). Who is ‘the other disciple’? Remember the appearance of the risen Lord to the two disciples in the Fifth Eothinon (Lk 24:12-35) and how one was identified as Cleopas but the other was not referred to by name? It is believed that this disciple is the evangelist Luke because it was common at that time for authors not to refer to themselves by name in their own writings. So, in today’s passage we are quite certain that the other disciple is John the Evangelist. We hear that Peter and John both ran together but John outran Peter and came to the tomb first. Yet, it was Peter who entered the tomb first (v.6). It seems that John wants to say, ‘Even though Peter entered the tomb first, I beat him in the race.’ However, listen to how St. Gregory of Nazianzus (4th cent.) interprets this element of the story. “Be a Peter or a John. Hasten to the sepulcher, running together. Running against one another, vying in the noble race. And even if you are beaten in speed, win the victory of showing who wants it more. Not just looking into the tomb but going in.” The Orthodox Study Bible notes this: “The response of Peter & John (‘the other disciple’) reveals each one’s disposition. John’s reaching the tomb first indicates his faith his lofty and full of understanding, and indeed, he is the first to have ‘believed’ (v.8). Peter’s faith, on the other hand, is more direct and bold, shown by his immediate entrance into the tomb.  What did Peter see when he entered the tomb? (vv.6-7). I’m sure many of us have seen the email circulating titled ‘Why Did Jesus Fold the Napkin?’ It states that the Jewish custom at the time was to fold your napkin if you were returning to the table for dinner. If you were done, you would throw it aside not folded. It concludes that the message in the scriptural passage is that Jesus is returning. However, while we believe that, yes, Jesus will return at the Parousia, the Second Coming to give final judgment and establish His kingdom forever, this is not the message of this passage. First, of all the Greek word that has been translated as either ‘napkin’ or ‘handkerchief’ is soudarion. The only other place this word is used in scripture is to refer to the burial cloth covering Lazaros face (Jn 11;44). The main message of the neatly folded burial cloth is to show that Jesus body was not taken by thieves because if it were, they would not have taken the time to fold the clothes. In other words, Jesus resurrection is real, not fake. The soudarion or face cloth is mentioned to note that it was in a different place, separate from the rest of the burial clothes. Fr. Paul Tarazi states the meaning is: “The effect is to stress the separation between the coverings of the body and of the head after the Resurrection. Jesus, the head of the Church, is alone glorified now, while His believers must be content to wait for their turn. He shows the way that the members or body will eventually follow” (see Jn13:33,36; 14:2-3). When John enters the tomb after Peter, it simply says that, he saw and believed (v.8). Tarazi also postulates that like the rest of this passage and the whole of John’s gospel, there is a strong message being sent to the evangelist’s readers. He states that: “There are no new themes from earlier in John, which include: 1) Priority of Pauline Gentile Church as first to accept gospel, represented by Mary Magdalene as the first to the tomb and first to see the resurrected Lord; 2) Peter’s vacillation, in that both he and the beloved disciple enter and see the empty tomb but only ‘the beloved’ believes. Jesus’ body was bound in linen clothes to symbolize the attempt to bind His Church in the teachings of Judaism. As we see the linen clothes left behind, the irrelevance of Judaism is made manifest.” This may seem shocking because little attention has been given to the early struggle between the followers of Paul and of Peter, who were typically Judaizing Christians. We know that Peter and Paul later reconciled, and Christianity goes the way of St. Paul leaving behind most of the Mosaic Law. In conclusion, let us run with excitement, like Mary Magdalene, Peter and John to the Church on the day of Resurrection. Then, let us return to our homes in order to share the gospel with our newly invigorated faith in God. Amen!

EVIDENCE By the Rev. Garibaldi McFlurry (2011) http://garymcmurray.blogspot.com/2011/04/easter-sermon-john-20-1-10-empty-tomb.html Everyone is searching for life, and a bit more of it. Whether it is the TV programmes that want to make you ‘Ten Years Younger’, the home, fashion and lifestyle magazines with top tips for living, or the people having their bodies frozen in the hope of being revived when science catches up with science fiction. The tragedy, though, is that in trying to find life, they ignore the only source of real life. You see, John tells us how we can have life - it’s the reason he wrote his gospel. You can have life - and it comes through believing, through trusting that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. These resurrection records are written so that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. We begin with those first ten verses. Can we be certain that Jesus is the Christ from this passage? For the next few minutes, I want you to imagine that we are in St Elizabeth’s Court. We’re going to hear the eyewitness evidence from some key witnesses. We’re going to hear what Mary, John and Peter all saw; examine the evidence, and decide on your verdict. First up, we have what Mary saw (v. 1). The tomb was cut out of the rock, like a cave, and a big stone sat in front of the entrance, closing it over - but the stone wasn’t where it should be. Mary’s first thought isn’t that Jesus is alive - it’s that his body has been stolen. Now you might ask yourself why she would think that, but you need to remember that you’ve heard this story many times, you know how it ends. You read through the passion and crucifixion knowing all the time that Jesus is going to rise. It’s ok, you want to say, we know he’ll be alive on Sunday. The diciples weren’t expecting it. Mary doesn’t immediately think that Jesus is alive. His body must have been stolen. All we know for certain is that there is no body. The tomb is empty. Our second witness is the disciple whom Jesus loved. A lot of ink has been spilled on his identity, but it’s safe to say this is John himself - rather than writing his own name, he refers to himself in this way, because he has personally known and received Jesus’ love. He and Peter set off on the race to the tomb, having heard what Mary saw. John, the younger of the two, makes it to the tomb first, but he doesn’t go in - he just stoops at the entrance. And what is it he sees? (v. 5) We call it the empty tomb, but John sees the linen cloths. What were these linen cloths? Look back to 19:40. After Jesus had died, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus come to bury Jesus in the tomb. They bring almost five and a half stone of spices, myrrh and aloes, and some linen cloths. The cloths are wrapped around the body, with the spices in between the layers of wrapping. But now, as John sees from outside, the linen cloths are there, but the body isn’t. It’s not that you could unwrap the cloths and then arrange them the same way - rather, it’s as if the body has just vanished, and the cloths remain as they were, collapsed under the weight of the spices. So as John retires from the witness stand, we now know that the body has disappeared, but it’s not just that it has been removed - it has supernaturally passed through the graveclothes. And so it wasn’t as if the stone was rolled away to let Jesus out, but rather to let the witnesses in to see the empty tomb. Peter is up next, the slower runner, but the more forward of the two, so characteristically, he barges on into the tomb. What does he see? In a way, his testimony is similar to John’s, with one further detail provided (v. 7). In the Jewish custom, the head was wrapped in a separate piece of cloth. It was actually fairly big, wrapped like a turban around the head of the deceased. We find the same thing with Lazarus - ‘his face wrapped with a cloth.’ There in the tomb, Peter sees that it retains the shape of being wrapped, but is separate from the linen cloths. It wasn’t that Jesus simply woke up and then unwrapped himself and stumbled outside; nor that someone else unwrapped his body and stole it - the cloths remain in position, but the body has gone. As we review the evidence, let’s think carefully what it all means. The tomb is open, but the body hasn’t been stolen - the linen graveclothes remain. The body hasn’t simply been unwrapped - the linen clothes remain in position, and the face cloth is in its own place, still as it had been. The evidence points in only one direction - Jesus is alive. It’s the conclusion John reaches, as we come to the final ‘saw’ (v. 8). John saw and believed that Jesus must be alive. But the remarkable thing is that they really should have known all along. We mentioned earlier about Mary expecting to find a dead body, not a living Lord - Peter and John came with the same expectation. It’s very honest of John here, isn’t it - repeatedly in his gospel we find him admitting that the disciples were a bit useless at understanding what Jesus was saying and about what was happening (v. 9). There’s no hint as to which Scripture John actually has in mind, but it’s probably Psalm 16:10, which Peter preaches on the day of Pentecost: ‘For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.’ The details are fulfilled to the letter - we can be certain therefore that Jesus is indeed the Christ. And as we believe him, we will have life in his name. It’s not just made up, it’s not just clever stories. The eye witness evidence is clear: Jesus is alive.

This insert is a gift from our Byzantine School.  We invite you to join us on the last Thursday of each month at 6 pm, as we explore the selection of liturgy “specials” for each week, and other issues related to the liturgical services of our Church. Next mtg – 12/17/15! Please consult the Sunday Bulletin for our regular announcements, or contact Tasos, ioanniam@yahoo.com or (937)232-9665.

Dear Eugenia and Polychronius,

To add further to the discussion on St. Kassiana, I am contributing the
following translation and personal thoughts.

Here is an excerpt translated from *A Historical Survey of the Hymnographers
& Hymnography of the Greek Church*, by the renowned hagiologist and church
historian Archbishop Philaret (Gumilevsky) of Chernigov (St. Petersburg:
Tuzov Press, 1902), pp. 272-275:

Kassia, Kassiana, Eikasia. In manner of life a pious nun; by education, a
learned woman; by birth, a noble virgin. She lived at the beginning of the
9th century, during the reign of Emperor Theophilus and his successor.
Kodinus, describing the antiquities of Constantinople, mentions the
monastery of Eikasia, which was founded by this virgin nun. ³The Monastery
of Eikasia,² he writes, ³was built by the virgin Eikasia, a pious nun,
beautiful of face and of mind.² Zonaras describes the circumstances which
led to Cassia¹s forsaking the world and building the monastery.
³Theophilus,² he writes, ³intending to choose a consort for himself,
summoned eleven beautiful virgins, among whom was the virgin Kassia, who
surpassed the others in beauty, and was as learned as she was nobly born.
Theophilus examined them, holding in his hand a golden apple which he would
give to the one who pleased him most. When he came to Eikasia he said,
marveling at her beauty: ŒAll that is evil hath come from a woman.¹
Eikasia, meekly, her cheeks blushing red with chastity, replied: ŒBut from a
woman all that is more sublime hath come.¹ Defeated by the words of the
virgin, Theophilus walked away and gave the golden apple to Theodora, a
native of Paphlagonia. Not having gained a royal marriage, Eikasia
established the monastery which bears her name, in which she lived for
herself and for the Lord. Excelling in her education, she wrote letters in
which there is no trace of pedantry or pleasantry. Thus did she reach the
end of her life, having betrothed herself to the heavenly King instead of an
earthly king, and having inherited the heavenly kingdom instead of an
earthly kingdom.² Leo Grammaticus records the same incident in his history
of Theophilus.
Kodinus says that during the reigns of Theophilus and his son, Michael,
Kassia composed many canons, stichera and other works, which are quite
marvelous. The same is said by the early 11th century anonymous author who
describes events of the past.
In the services of the Church we no longer see canons ascribed to Kassia,
except for one canon only, that of Great Saturday, which, however, was
reworked by Mark, Bishop of Otranto. This is what Theodore Prodromos writes
of the latter circumstance in his explanation of the canon of Great
Saturday: ³Through Ode V, this canon is the work of Mark, Bishop of Otranto;
but Odes VI through IX are by the great hymnographer Cosmas [of Maiuma];
furthermore, as we know from unwritten tradition, long before [Mark of
Otranto] a certain wise and chaste virgin, Kassia, was the composer of these
hymns, i.e. Odes I through V, i.e. she completed the canon. Later men who
edited the canons, considering it improper to attach to the hymns of a woman
odes of that ascetic Cosmas, commissioned Mark to compose troparia, while
retaining the former irmoi. This tradition is quite plausible. For Mark
did not incorporate the initial letters of the irmoi in his acrostic,
although to do so would have been to his advantage. For the initial letter
Œkappa¹ of the irmos Œkymati thalasses¹ [ŒVolnoyu morskoyu¹] and the letter
Œsigma¹ of the next irmos, ŒSe ton epi ydatOn¹ [ŒTebe na vodakh¹] are taken
from the acrostic; but he, setting the irmoi aside as the work of another
and not of himself, wrote the troparia from Œkappa¹ ŒKyrie Thee mou¹
[ŒGospodi Bozhe moi¹], and from Œsigma¹ ŒSymbola tes taphes sou¹ [ŒThe
tokens of Thy burial¹].² It is hence evident that the canon (i.e, through
Ode V) and the irmoi are not the work of Mark. Moreover, one can see this
from the fact that the words ³but we like the maidens² are included in the
irmos of Ode I. That the subject of this verse is a maiden clearly
indicates that the ode belongs not to a man, but to a woman. Since there
were two choirs during the exodus of the Israelites who originally sang this
ode--one consisting of men, the other of women--she, leaving aside the choir
of men, since she is a woman, said, ³we sing like the maidens². Yea, and
the very acrostic of the canon is dual, and, so to say, like twin-peaked
Parnassus. For the canon of Great Saturday was once a tetradion [a four-ode
hymnic composition]: its acrostic was comprised of only part of an iamb,
i.e., ³prosabbaton the, sabbaton melpO mega²--²The pre-Saturday. I hymn the
Great Saturday.² Half of its iamb applies to Great Friday, i.e. the
pre-Saturday, and the rest applies to Saturday, i.e. I hymn the Great
Saturday. But when the canon was continued and a full canon was made out of
the tetradion, the acrostic was also extended, and instead of the incomplete
iamb a complete one was made, i.e. ³kai simeron de sabbaton melpO mega². In
the Slavonic Triodion, one reads in the superscription of the canon: ³The
canon of Great Saturday, from Ode I to Ode VI, is the work of Mark, Bishop
of Hydrous. The irmoi are the work of a certain woman named Cassia. The
Odes from VI to the end are the work of kyr Cosmas.² Thus, in our present
canon of the work of Cassia only the irmoi remain.
As regards other canons, following Prodromos we must admit that it is
probable that certain portions of them, as is the case with the canon of
Great Saturday, are retained in our present canons, undetected by later
readers.
Among the stichera of Cassia, we find the following in the divine services:
1) for the Nativity of Christ, ³When Augustus reigned alone upon the
earth...²; 2) on Great and Holy Wednesday, ³O Lord, the woman who had fallen
into many sins...²; 3) feast of the martyrs Gurius, Salmonas & Habib,
November 15th (not attributed in the Slavonic Menaion, but attributed in the
Greek) ³Edessa rejoiceth...²; feast of the Nativity of the Forerunner, June
24th (³Today is fulfilled the saying of Isaiah...²; and for the feast of the
martyrs Eustratius & companions, December 13th (Let us hymn and piously
praise the God-bearing martyrs...²).
Having said that Kassia composed many stichera, Kodinus adds: ³such are
those of the harlot and the ointment, for all of these belong to her.² The
words of Kodinus indicate that he knew of many stichera written by Kassia
for the penitent woman, and not merely the one which has come down to us.
As regards the worth of the stichera reliably attributed to Kassia, one
must admit that the first two [above] truly deserve our admiration: as much
as the former is solemn and triumphal, so much is the latter full of a
profound sense of contrition. In the latter, Kassia has quite faithfully
expressed the feelings which filled the soul of the penitent sinful woman
who washed the Savior¹s feet with tears; to express such feelings of one who
greatly loved the Lord, Who was rejected by others, Kassia had to sense in
her own soul the fullness of bitter contrition over the corruption of our
soul, she herself had to be filled with that trusting love for the Savior of
sinners, for which men condemned both the sinful woman and the Savior of
sinners. ³Accept my fountains of tears. O Thou Who pourest forth the
waters from the clouds of the sea, bend Thine ear to the sighs of my heart;
O Thou who bowed down the heavens in Thine ineffable abasement, permit me to
kiss and wipe with the hairs of my head Thine all-pure feet, the noise
whereof Eve heard at noonday, and hid herself in fear. My sins are
many...but who can fathom the depths of Thy judgments? O Savior of souls,
my Savior, Who hast infinite mercy, reject me not, thy handmaid.² One must
say that there are not many who are capable of such profound contrition.

The entry on Kassia in *The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium* also includes
the information that Kassiane is identical to Kassia and Eikasia: ³KASSIA,
also Kassiane, Eikasia, and other forms of the name, poet....² The entry
cites an article by E. Catafygiotu Topping, which appeared in the "Greek
Orthodox Theological Review", Vol. 26 (1981), pp. 201-209, which someone may
have easy access to, and may contain more information of interest to our
group.

The only Greek-language Church calendar of the saints I have in my library,
the *Agioreitikos Epitrapezios Imerodeiktis, Etous 1977*, by the Monk
Dorotheos of the Skete of Xenophontos (published for Mount Athos in
Thessalonica), confirms the date of commemoration for St. Kassiane as 7
September (O.S.): ³Kassianes tes poietrias,...osia.² (The commemoration of
Kassiana the poetess,...monastic saint.)

Some years ago, I was able to consult St. Justin (Popovich¹s) Lives of the
Saints (in Serbian) concerning this saint. When I am able, I will do so
again. If memory serves, he also confirms the sanctity of St. Kassiana and
the date of her commemoration.

As to the variable forms of the name, it is my opinion the Kassia (a name
quite possibly derived from a plant mentioned in the Old Testament--Ex. 30:
24; Ps. 44: 8; Eze. 27: 19) was the saint¹s lay name, under which she earned
her reputation for erudition and as a poetess. Since it is a common
practice in convents to give nuns male names with female endings (e.g., the
abbess of our Mount of Olives Convent is named Moisea), it may well have
been that at her tonsure Cassia was given a female form of Cassian (i.e.,
Cassiana), after St. John Cassian.

I hope to contribute more on this topic as time and access to sources
permit.

Sincerely,

Isaac Lambertsen. Dear Eugenia and Polychronius,

To add further to the discussion on St. Kassiana, I am contributing the
following translation and personal thoughts.

Here is an excerpt translated from *A Historical Survey of the Hymnographers
& Hymnography of the Greek Church*, by the renowned hagiologist and church
historian Archbishop Philaret (Gumilevsky) of Chernigov (St. Petersburg:
Tuzov Press, 1902), pp. 272-275:

Kassia, Kassiana, Eikasia. In manner of life a pious nun; by education, a
learned woman; by birth, a noble virgin. She lived at the beginning of the
9th century, during the reign of Emperor Theophilus and his successor.
Kodinus, describing the antiquities of Constantinople, mentions the
monastery of Eikasia, which was founded by this virgin nun. ³The Monastery
of Eikasia,² he writes, ³was built by the virgin Eikasia, a pious nun,
beautiful of face and of mind.² Zonaras describes the circumstances which
led to Cassia¹s forsaking the world and building the monastery.
³Theophilus,² he writes, ³intending to choose a consort for himself,
summoned eleven beautiful virgins, among whom was the virgin Kassia, who
surpassed the others in beauty, and was as learned as she was nobly born.
Theophilus examined them, holding in his hand a golden apple which he would
give to the one who pleased him most. When he came to Eikasia he said,
marveling at her beauty: ŒAll that is evil hath come from a woman.¹
Eikasia, meekly, her cheeks blushing red with chastity, replied: ŒBut from a
woman all that is more sublime hath come.¹ Defeated by the words of the
virgin, Theophilus walked away and gave the golden apple to Theodora, a
native of Paphlagonia. Not having gained a royal marriage, Eikasia
established the monastery which bears her name, in which she lived for
herself and for the Lord. Excelling in her education, she wrote letters in
which there is no trace of pedantry or pleasantry. Thus did she reach the
end of her life, having betrothed herself to the heavenly King instead of an
earthly king, and having inherited the heavenly kingdom instead of an
earthly kingdom.² Leo Grammaticus records the same incident in his history
of Theophilus.
Kodinus says that during the reigns of Theophilus and his son, Michael,
Kassia composed many canons, stichera and other works, which are quite
marvelous. The same is said by the early 11th century anonymous author who
describes events of the past.
In the services of the Church we no longer see canons ascribed to Kassia,
except for one canon only, that of Great Saturday, which, however, was
reworked by Mark, Bishop of Otranto. This is what Theodore Prodromos writes
of the latter circumstance in his explanation of the canon of Great
Saturday: ³Through Ode V, this canon is the work of Mark, Bishop of Otranto;
but Odes VI through IX are by the great hymnographer Cosmas [of Maiuma];
furthermore, as we know from unwritten tradition, long before [Mark of
Otranto] a certain wise and chaste virgin, Kassia, was the composer of these
hymns, i.e. Odes I through V, i.e. she completed the canon. Later men who
edited the canons, considering it improper to attach to the hymns of a woman
odes of that ascetic Cosmas, commissioned Mark to compose troparia, while
retaining the former irmoi. This tradition is quite plausible. For Mark
did not incorporate the initial letters of the irmoi in his acrostic,
although to do so would have been to his advantage. For the initial letter
Œkappa¹ of the irmos Œkymati thalasses¹ [ŒVolnoyu morskoyu¹] and the letter
Œsigma¹ of the next irmos, ŒSe ton epi ydatOn¹ [ŒTebe na vodakh¹] are taken
from the acrostic; but he, setting the irmoi aside as the work of another
and not of himself, wrote the troparia from Œkappa¹ ŒKyrie Thee mou¹
[ŒGospodi Bozhe moi¹], and from Œsigma¹ ŒSymbola tes taphes sou¹ [ŒThe
tokens of Thy burial¹].² It is hence evident that the canon (i.e, through
Ode V) and the irmoi are not the work of Mark. Moreover, one can see this
from the fact that the words ³but we like the maidens² are included in the
irmos of Ode I. That the subject of this verse is a maiden clearly
indicates that the ode belongs not to a man, but to a woman. Since there
were two choirs during the exodus of the Israelites who originally sang this
ode--one consisting of men, the other of women--she, leaving aside the choir
of men, since she is a woman, said, ³we sing like the maidens². Yea, and
the very acrostic of the canon is dual, and, so to say, like twin-peaked
Parnassus. For the canon of Great Saturday was once a tetradion [a four-ode
hymnic composition]: its acrostic was comprised of only part of an iamb,
i.e., ³prosabbaton the, sabbaton melpO mega²--²The pre-Saturday. I hymn the
Great Saturday.² Half of its iamb applies to Great Friday, i.e. the
pre-Saturday, and the rest applies to Saturday, i.e. I hymn the Great
Saturday. But when the canon was continued and a full canon was made out of
the tetradion, the acrostic was also extended, and instead of the incomplete
iamb a complete one was made, i.e. ³kai simeron de sabbaton melpO mega². In
the Slavonic Triodion, one reads in the superscription of the canon: ³The
canon of Great Saturday, from Ode I to Ode VI, is the work of Mark, Bishop
of Hydrous. The irmoi are the work of a certain woman named Cassia. The
Odes from VI to the end are the work of kyr Cosmas.² Thus, in our present
canon of the work of Cassia only the irmoi remain.
As regards other canons, following Prodromos we must admit that it is
probable that certain portions of them, as is the case with the canon of
Great Saturday, are retained in our present canons, undetected by later
readers.
Among the stichera of Cassia, we find the following in the divine services:
1) for the Nativity of Christ, ³When Augustus reigned alone upon the
earth...²; 2) on Great and Holy Wednesday, ³O Lord, the woman who had fallen
into many sins...²; 3) feast of the martyrs Gurius, Salmonas & Habib,
November 15th (not attributed in the Slavonic Menaion, but attributed in the
Greek) ³Edessa rejoiceth...²; feast of the Nativity of the Forerunner, June
24th (³Today is fulfilled the saying of Isaiah...²; and for the feast of the
martyrs Eustratius & companions, December 13th (Let us hymn and piously
praise the God-bearing martyrs...²).
Having said that Kassia composed many stichera, Kodinus adds: ³such are
those of the harlot and the ointment, for all of these belong to her.² The
words of Kodinus indicate that he knew of many stichera written by Kassia
for the penitent woman, and not merely the one which has come down to us.
As regards the worth of the stichera reliably attributed to Kassia, one
must admit that the first two [above] truly deserve our admiration: as much
as the former is solemn and triumphal, so much is the latter full of a
profound sense of contrition. In the latter, Kassia has quite faithfully
expressed the feelings which filled the soul of the penitent sinful woman
who washed the Savior¹s feet with tears; to express such feelings of one who
greatly loved the Lord, Who was rejected by others, Kassia had to sense in
her own soul the fullness of bitter contrition over the corruption of our
soul, she herself had to be filled with that trusting love for the Savior of
sinners, for which men condemned both the sinful woman and the Savior of
sinners. ³Accept my fountains of tears. O Thou Who pourest forth the
waters from the clouds of the sea, bend Thine ear to the sighs of my heart;
O Thou who bowed down the heavens in Thine ineffable abasement, permit me to
kiss and wipe with the hairs of my head Thine all-pure feet, the noise
whereof Eve heard at noonday, and hid herself in fear. My sins are
many...but who can fathom the depths of Thy judgments? O Savior of souls,
my Savior, Who hast infinite mercy, reject me not, thy handmaid.² One must
say that there are not many who are capable of such profound contrition.

The entry on Kassia in *The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium* also includes
the information that Kassiane is identical to Kassia and Eikasia: ³KASSIA,
also Kassiane, Eikasia, and other forms of the name, poet....² The entry
cites an article by E. Catafygiotu Topping, which appeared in the "Greek
Orthodox Theological Review", Vol. 26 (1981), pp. 201-209, which someone may
have easy access to, and may contain more information of interest to our
group.

The only Greek-language Church calendar of the saints I have in my library,
the *Agioreitikos Epitrapezios Imerodeiktis, Etous 1977*, by the Monk
Dorotheos of the Skete of Xenophontos (published for Mount Athos in
Thessalonica), confirms the date of commemoration for St. Kassiane as 7
September (O.S.): ³Kassianes tes poietrias,...osia.² (The commemoration of
Kassiana the poetess,...monastic saint.)

Some years ago, I was able to consult St. Justin (Popovich¹s) Lives of the
Saints (in Serbian) concerning this saint. When I am able, I will do so
again. If memory serves, he also confirms the sanctity of St. Kassiana and
the date of her commemoration.

As to the variable forms of the name, it is my opinion the Kassia (a name
quite possibly derived from a plant mentioned in the Old Testament--Ex. 30:
24; Ps. 44: 8; Eze. 27: 19) was the saint¹s lay name, under which she earned
her reputation for erudition and as a poetess. Since it is a common
practice in convents to give nuns male names with female endings (e.g., the
abbess of our Mount of Olives Convent is named Moisea), it may well have
been that at her tonsure Cassia was given a female form of Cassian (i.e.,
Cassiana), after St. John Cassian.

I hope to contribute more on this topic as time and access to sources
permit.

Sincerely,

Isaac Lambertsen.