LENTEN TUNES: Hymn of St. Kassiane
One service that is not often celebrated in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada is the Bridegroom Matins (orthros), served on the Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings of Holy Week (although often replaced by the Sacrament of Holy Unction on Holy Wednesday) for the following day (Sunday evening for Monday).
As quickly mentioned in last week’s article about “Alleluia,” the Bridegroom matins reflect on the Old Testament parable of the ten virgins awaiting the groom outside the gate, with some virgin’s oil running out etc. Matins begins with the tropar to the Bridegroom, which is prefaced by the alleluia which was discussed last week (which featured the said Bridegroom tropar). Each day has a specific theme: Holy Monday - Christ as the Bridegroom; Holy Tuesday - blessed Joseph, the son of Jacob the Patriarch, seen as a prototype of Christ; and Holy Wednesday - the parable of the 10 virgins.
The Story of the Hymn of St. Kassiane
However, unique to Holy Tuesday’s matins is the commemoration of St. Kassiane (Kassia, Kasiani etc.), who lived in the 9th century in Constantinople, and who is known for her many hymns. However, her most well-known hymn - that of Holy Wednesday, has a very unique story, almost that of a love story! What tradition has told us (and there are several variations) is that the Emperor Theophilus was in love with her but somehow it did not work out, and instead, Kassiane joined the ranks of monasticism and went her own way. One day, after many years, Theophilus surprised Kassiane by coming to the monastery she lived at. She was in the midst of writing this very hymn, about the mercy that Christ had on the sinful woman, when she heard the steps of the emperor arriving. Again, according to tradition, she arose and hid herself quickly whereupon Theophilus sat down and read her poetry (hymnography) and supposedly added a line, which Kassiane ultimately kept in the hymn. And the rest of what we know is that the emperor went his way, leaving Kassiane in peace, and Kassiane continued her own monastic life. But to think - a love story as such in the Orthodox Church?!
About the Arrangement
To be sure, this is not the melody that would have been used in St. Kassiane’s day, however it is an utterly magnificent, attention-grabbing melody very reminiscent of elvish-music we might hear in films. So this year, while our parish does not currently celebrate orthros of Holy Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, give this recording a listen and allow your mind and heart to meditate on this text that has travelled to us through the 1200 years!
The Lyrics
“The woman who had fallen into many sins, O Lord, yet when she perceived Your divinity, she joined the ranks of the Myrrhbearing Women. In tears she brought You myrrh before Your burial. She cried, “Woe is me! For I live in the night of licentiousness, shrouded in the dark and moonless love of sin. But accept the fountain of my tears, O You Who gathered the waters of the sea into clouds. Bow down Your ear to the sighing of my heart, O You Who bowed the heavens in Your ineffable condescension. Once Eve heard Your footstep in Paradise in the cool of the day, and in fear she ran and hid herself. But now I will tenderly embrace those pure feet, and wipe them with the hair of my head. Who can measure the multitude of my sins, or the depth of Your judgments, O Savior of my soul? Do not despise Your servant in Your immeasurable mercy.”
— St. Kassiane (9th c.)
Sources:
https://orthodoxwiki.org/Christ_the_Bridegroom
https://orthodoxwiki.org/Kassiani_the_Hymnographer