Durandus on the Mass of Spy Wednesday

The following excerpts are taken from book VI, chapter 70 of William Durandus’ commentary on the liturgy, the Rationale Divinorum Officiorum. Greatly as we reverence his work, our friend is, like many medieval authors, an incorrigible digresser; furthermore, some of the features of the Mass of Spy Wednesday, one of the most beautiful of the entire year, were arranged a bit differently in the missal he knew. I have therefore reordered and paraphrased the text in various places, to make the train of his thought clearer, and to correspond to the Missal of St Pius V. The reader may also find useful this article from two years ago which explains the text of this Mass in detail, especially in regard to the reading from Isaiah 62 and 63 as a prophecy of the Incarnation.

Wednesday is the day on which the Lord was sold by Judas, because He willed not only to suffer for us, but also to be sold, so that He might deliver us from the selling by which our first parent sold us to the devil through the eating of the forbidden fruit, whence Isaiah says (52, 3), “You were sold for free, and you shall be redeemed without money.” Likewise, many sell themselves to the devil for momentary pleasure, just as Adam sold himself for the eating of the forbidden fruit. Therefore, the Sun of justice was sold for our salvation on Wednesday, the day on which the visible sun was formed for the light of the world. (Gen. 1, 14-19)

The Betrayal of Judas, as depicted by Giotto in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy, 1304-06.

Now the Lord prayed kneeling, as is said in today’s Gospel (the Passion according to St Luke, 22, 1 – 23, 53). Therefore, in the introit, the Church invites that “in the name of Jesus every knee be bent, of those in heaven”, because He repaired their ruin, “of those on earth”, because He delivered them, “and of those below the earth”, because He led them from the pit in which there was no water, as Zachariah says (9, 11). It is sung in the third tone because of the three things which are invited to bend the knee.

There follows, “and let every tongue confess that our Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.” This is taken from the Apostle (Phil. 2, 11) …

Introitus In nómine Jesu omne genu flectátur, caelestium, terrestrium et infernórum: quia Dóminus factus est oboediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis: ideo Dóminus Jesus Christus in gloria est Dei Patris. Psalmus Dómine, exaudi oratiónem meam: et clamor meus ad te veniat. In nómine Jesu…

Introit (Phil. 2, 10; 8 and 11) In the name of Jesus let every knee bend, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: because the Lord hath become obedient unto death, but the death of the Cross. Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father. Psalm 101, 2 O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to thee. In the name of Jesus…

It can also be said that two things are necessary for us, namely, prayer and patience, according to that which the Lord says, “Pray for those who persecute and slander you.” (Matt. 5, 44) We are invited to these two things in the introit: to prayer, when it says, “in the name of Jesus let every knee be bent”; and to patience, by the Savior’s example, regarding whom it is added, “Christ has become for us obedient unto death,” etc. For one is not obedient in tribulation if he does not willingly tolerate it.

Two lessons are read, because on this day the Lord was betrayed for two peoples and by two peoples; and in some churches, they kneel at both of them, because He is adored by both people … and because the first Man incurred two deaths, namely of the flesh and of the soul, and Christ has delivered us from both.

In the first reading (Isa. 62, 11; 63, 1-7), “Say to the daughter of Zion: Behold, thy savior cometh,” … The Angels said (for the incarnation remained hidden from some of them), “Who is this who cometh from Edom?”, that is, from the earth, “with stained garments”, that is, with the members of the body, which are the garments of divinity, “stained purple with blood from Bosra.”

Bosra is a city in Moab, whose name means “strong” or “fortified”, … but its name is transferred to Jerusalem, which once the Lord strengthened by His help, but the inhabitants having become Moabites… they tainted the garments of the king with the purple of blood. He answered, “I who speak justice, and fight forth unto salvation.” And they said, “Why then is thy garment red?”, as if to say, Why have you been bloodied by the pressing of the Cross, if you speak justice? But he answers, “I have trodden the wine press alone”, that is, for all, so that all may be delivered, “and from the nations there is no other man with me.”

The Risen Christ and the Mystical Winepress, by Marco dal Pino, often called Marco da Siena, 1525-1588 ca. Both of the figures of Christ in this painting show very markedly the influence of Michelangelo’sLast Judgment.

And just as the Savior laid down His soul for the redemption of our souls, so also He subjected his body (to death) for the redemption of our bodies; for which reason the first lesson treats of His body, reddened by his own blood, where it says, “Who is this who comes from Edom?”, etc. And because solely from His mercy the Lord suffered for us, therefore the prophet in the person of the Church concludes that reading by saying, “I will remember the mercies of the Lord, the praise of the Lord for all things which the Lord hath rendered unto us.”

After the reading is sung the gradual, “Turn not thy face”, in which He himself prays that through the passion He may come to glory. But because He prayed for a long time in agony, as is said in the Gospel (22, 43), therefore the Offertory and the Communio are taken from the Psalm (101) which is entitled “the prayer of the poor man while he was in anguish”…

Graduale Ne avertas faciem tuam a púero tuo, quoniam tríbulor: velóciter exaudi me. V. Salvum me fac, Deus, quoniam intravérunt aquae usque ad ánimam meam: infixus sum in limo profundi, et non est substantia.

Gradual, Ps 68, 18; 2-3 Turn not thy face away from thy servant: for I am in trouble, swiftly hear me. V. Save me, o God, for the waters have come in even unto my soul. I am stuck fast in the mire of the deep, and there is no sure standing.

The epistle is also from Isaiah (53, 1-12), “O Lord, who hath believed”, in which He is described in the same fashion in which He is represented by the evangelist in the passion…

After the epistle there follows the tract, and in an unusual way (i.e. without a gradual preceding it), because the Church mourns and weeps more deeply than usual… the tract signifies weeping, and therefore on Good Friday only tracts are said. The gradual signifies penance, and because the Lord was not crucified on this day, but only sold, therefore a gradual is also said (i.e. after the first reading).

This tract is sung according to an Old Latin text which reads uses the word “frixorium – a frier”, where St Jerome’s version has “cremium – brushwood.” Below, Durandus interprets the image of bones in a frier to signify the refinement of man’s interior strengths.

Tractus Dómine, exaudi oratiónem meam, et clamor meus ad te veniat. ℣. Ne avertas faciem tuam a me: in quacumque die tríbulor, inclína ad me aurem tuam. ℣. In quacumque die invocávero te, velóciter exaudi me. ℣. Quia defecérunt sicut fumus dies mei, et ossa mea sicut in frixorio confrixa sunt. ℣. Percussus sum sicut faenum, et aruit cor meum, quia oblítus sum manducáre panem meum. ℣. Tu exsurgens, Dómine, miseréberis Sion, quia venit tempus miserendi eius.

Ps. 101, 2-5; 14 O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to thee. ℣. Turn not away thy face from me: in the day when I am troubled, incline thine ear to me. ℣. In whatsoever day I call upon thee, hear me speedily. ℣. For my days are vanished like smoke, and my bones have been fried as in a frier. ℣. I am smitten as grass, and my heart is withered, because I forgot to eat my bread. ℣. Thou shalt arise, o Lord, and have mercy on Sion: for the time hath come to have mercy on it.

Since we have sinned according to the five senses of the body, the tract has five verses, because of the five wounds of Christ, or because He shed His blood five times: first, in the circumcision; second, at the prayer (in the garden); third, at the scourging; fourth, in the crucifixion; fifth, when He was pierced by the spear. In the same tract, the human race asks for help and confesses the failing which it incurred from the sin of the first parent, saying, “because my days have failed like smoke.” For the life of man is but a day, and the night thereof is death, but this life is cut short and fails because of the pride of the first parent, which is symbolized by the smoke. There follow the words, “My bones were fried in a fryer.” Bones are the interior strengths… and the frier is threefold, namely, the recalling of sins, compassion for one’s neighbor, and meditation on the future judgment; in these the good man is fried. The tract closes, like the lesson, with the mercy of the Lord; whence the last verse is, “Thou arising, o Lord, shall have mercy.”

The Communion is “I was mixing my drink with weeping,” which is to say, the drink of the passion, when His sweat became like drops of blood running down onto the earth. (Luke 22, 44; this is also taken from an Old Latin text of the Psalms.)

Communio, Ps 101 Potum meum cum fletu temperábam, quia élevans allisisti me: et ego sicut foenum arui: tu autem, Dómine, in aeternum pérmanes: tu exsurgens miseréberis Sion, quia venit tempus miseréndi eius. (I tempered my drink with weeping, for thou hast lifted me up and cast me down, and I am withered like grass. But thou, O Lord, remainest forever; thou shalt arise, and have mercy on Sion, for the time is come to have mercy on it.

Spy Wednesday 2025

It is worthy and just that we should always give Thee thanks, Lord, holy Father, eternal and almighty God, through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who willed to suffer for the impious, and be unjustly condemned for the wicked; Who forgave the praying thief his crime, promising him Paradise by His most agreeable will, Whose death wiped away our crimes, and resurrection brought us justification. Therefore we entreat Thee, our God, that today Thou forgive us our sins, and on the morrow, refresh us with Thy sweetness. Having today accepted the confession of our sins, grant also tomorrow an increase of spiritual gifts. Today, cast away from our bodies whatever Thou hatest, and tomorrow, refresh us with the wounds of Thy cross. Today, fill our mouth with joy, and our tongue with rejoicing, such that now and forever we may praise Thee, proclaiming Thee as a most loving Savior, and so saying: Holy… (The Preface of Spy Wedneday in the Mozarabic Rite.)

The Man of Sorrows (with a Eucharistic chalice), by the Dutch painter Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen, ca. 1500-33. (Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.)

Dignum et justum est nos tibi semper gratias agere, Domine, sancte Pater, eterne omnipotens Deus: per Jesum Christum, Filium tuum, Dominum nostrum. Qui pati pro impiis voluit, et pro sceleratis indebite condemnari. Qui latroni deprecanti omisit delictum, promittens ei voluntate gratissima paradisum. Cujus mors delicta nostra detersit, et resurrectio justificationem nobis exibuit. Ob hoc te, Deus noster, exposcimus, ut hodie dimittas nobis peccata nostra, et cras reficias nos dulcedine tua. Hodie nostrorum peccaminum confessione accepta, et cras donorum spiritualium tribue incrementa. Hodie quicquid odis a nostris corporibus abjice, et cras nos refice vulneribus crucis tuae. Hodie os nostrum reple gaudio, et lingua nostra exultatione, qualiter nunc et usque in seculum laudemus te, piissimum Salvatorem proclamantes, atque ita dicentes. Sanctus…

The Mass of Spy Wednesday

As I noted in articles published yesterday and the day before, the Gospel of Holy Monday was originally John 12, 1-36, and that of Holy Tuesday was originally John 13, 1-32. This meant that the Passion of St Luke, which has always been the Gospel of Spy Wednesday, would originally have been the first retelling of the Passion during the Roman Holy Week, after the Mass of Palm Sunday. (As I have also noted on various occasions, this anticipation of the events of the Passion before the liturgical days on which they actually happened is a custom almost unique to the Roman Rite.)

This connection between the Masses of Palm Sunday and Spy Wednesday is highlighted by the introit of the latter, which is taken from the epistle of former, Philippians 2, 5-11.

Introitus In nómine Jesu omne genu flectátur, caelestium, terrestrium et infernórum: quia Dóminus factus est oboediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis: ideo Dóminus Jesus Christus in gloria est Dei Patris. Psalmus Dómine, exaudi oratiónem meam: et clamor meus ad te veniat. In nómine Jesu…

Introit (Phil. 2, 10; 8 and 11) In the name of Jesus let every knee bend, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: because the Lord hath become obedient unto death, but the death of the Cross. Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father. Psalm 101, 2 O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to thee. In the name of Jesus…

The Psalm with which it is sung, the hundred-and-first, dominates this Mass as Psalm 34 does that of Holy Monday, providing the text of the tract, offertory, and communio. It is also the fifth of the penitential psalms; in his Exposition of the Penitential Psalms, St Gregory the Great makes the connection between it and the epistle of Palm Sunday that surely inspired the creation of this introit. (PL 79, 601 B-C) He begins with psalm’s biblical title.

“ ‘The prayer of the poor man, when he shall be anxious, and pour out his supplication before the Lord.’ Who is this poor man whose prayer is noted in this psalm, if not he of whom the apostle said, ‘who when he was rich became poor for our sakes’? (1 Cor. 8, 9) For He, that He might make us participants in His riches, took on the necessities of our poverty; for ‘He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man. He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross.’ (Phil, 2, 7-8) And just as He became poor for us, so also was He made anxious for us, and at last was handed over to death for us, and for us hung upon the Cross. For He died, as the Apostle, says for our sins (1 Cor. 15, 3) and rose for our justification. (Rom. 4, 25) Now He was able to be anxious from His human nature, from which also He was able to die. Therefore, our (mystical) Head prays in this psalm that through grace we may be led back thither, whence we fell through the fault of our first parent.”

The Risen Christ and the Mystical Winepress, by Marco dal Pino, often called Marco da Siena, 1525-1588 ca. Both of the figures of Christ in this painting show very markedly the influence of Michelangelo’s Last Judgment.

The Roman station church for this day is St Mary Major, as also on the Ember Wednesdays. As on those days, and on the Wednesday of the fourth week of Lent, there are two readings before the Gospel. The first is Isaiah 63, 1-7, preceded by a part of verse 62, 11.

Thus sayeth the Lord God: Tell the daughter of Sion: Behold thy Savior cometh: behold his reward is with him. 63, 1 Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosra, this beautiful one in his robe, walking in the greatness of his strength? I, that speak justice, and am a defender to save. Why then is your apparel red, and your garments like theirs that tread in the winepress? I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the gentiles there is not a man with me: I have trampled on them in my indignation, and have trodden them down in my wrath, and their blood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my apparel. etc.

The Church Fathers understood this passage as a prophecy of the Passion of Christ, starting in the West with Tertullian. (Adv. Marcionem 4, 40 ad fin.)

The prophetic Spirit contemplates the Lord as if He were already on His way to His passion, clad in His fleshly nature; and as He was to suffer therein, He represents the bleeding condition of His flesh under the metaphor of garments dyed in red, as if reddened in the treading and crushing process of the wine-press, from which the laborers descend reddened with the wine-juice, like men stained in blood.

This idea is repeated in very similar terms by St Cyprian (Ep. ad Caecilium 62), who always referred to Tertullian as “the Master”, despite his lapse into the Montanist heresy; and likewise, by Saints Cyril of Jerusalem (Catechesis 13, 27) and Gregory of Nazianzus (Oration 45, 25.)

The necessary premise of the Passion is, of course, the Incarnation, for Christ could not suffer without a human body. Indeed, ancient heretics who denied the Incarnation often did so in rejection of the idea that God can suffer, which they held to be incompatible with the perfect and incorruptible nature of the divine. St Ambrose became bishop of Milan in 374, after the see had been held for by one such heretic, the Arian Auxentius, for twenty years. We therefore find him referring this same prophecy to the whole economy of salvation, culminating in the Ascension of Christ’s body into heaven, in his treatise On the Mysteries (7, 36):

The angels, too, were in doubt when Christ arose; the powers of heaven were in doubt when they saw that flesh was ascending into heaven. Then they said: “Who is this King of glory?” And while some said “Lift up your gates, O princes, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in.” In Isaiah, too, we find that the powers of heaven doubted and said: “Who is this that comes up from Edom, the redness of His garments is from Bosor, He who is glorious in white apparel?”

In the next generation, St Eucherius of Lyon (ca. 380-450) is even more explicit: “The garment of the Son of God is sometimes understood to be His flesh, which is assumed by the divinity; of which garment of the flesh Isaiah prophesying says, “Who is this etc.” (Formulas of Spiritual Understanding, chapter 1) Therefore, like the Mass of Ember Wednesday in Lent, this Mass begins with a prophecy of the Incarnation, as the church of Rome visits its principal sanctuary of the Mother of God, in whose sacred womb began the salvation of man.

The icon of the Virgin Mary, known as the “Salus Populi Romani”, in the reredos of the Borghese chapel of the basilica of St Mary Major. (Image from Wikimedia Commons by Fallaner, CC BY-SA 4.0)

This is particularly appropriate for the day on which the Church reads the Passion of St Luke, who has a special association with the Virgin Mary. Most of what the New Testament tell us about Her is recorded in his writings, including almost all of the words actually spoken by the Her; this fact lies behind the tradition that he painted a picture of the Virgin, which is figuratively true if not literally. It is his account of the Passion that tells of the meeting between Christ and a group of women on the way to Mount Calvary, (chapter 23, 27-30); although he does not say that Mary was among them, art and piety have long accepted that it was so.

The gradual is taken from Psalm 68, which, as I noted yesterday, figures very prominently in the liturgy of Holy Week, and not just in the Roman Rite.

Graduale Ne avertas faciem tuam a púero tuo, quoniam tríbulor: velóciter exaudi me. V. Salvum me fac, Deus, quoniam intravérunt aquae usque ad ánimam meam: infixus sum in limo profundi, et non est substantia.

Gradual, Ps 68, 18; 2-3 Turn not thy face away from thy servant: for I am in trouble, swiftly hear me. V. Save me, o God, for the waters have come in even unto my soul. I am stuck fast in the mire of the deep, and there is no sure standing.

The Breviarium in Psalmos, (an exegetical treatise traditionally but erroneous ascribed to St Jerome) beautifully explains the application of the first part to the Passion. “(This is) the voice of Christ, who took on the form of a servant, speaking to the Father… ‘swiftly hear me’ that I make take up my spirit again, which I commended into Thy hands.” The Passion of St Luke which is read at this Mass is the only one that records Jesus saying these words of Psalm 30, 6, “Into Thy hands I commend my spirit”, right before His death.

The prayer which follows it is the first to explicitly mention the Resurrection on the ferial days of Holy Week, another reminder of the unity of the Paschal mystery. For this reason, the Church also uses it for the suffrage of the Cross in Eastertide.

“O God, who willed that for us, thy Son should suffer the gibbet of the Cross, that Thou might drive far from us the power of the enemy; grant us thy servants, that we may obtain the grace of the resurrection.”

(Attributed to the Spanish painter Alonso Cano, 1601-67. Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.) 

The second reading, Isaiah 53, 1-12, is the fourth and last of the passages of his book known as the Songs of the Suffering Servant. It is cited as a prophecy of Our Lord several times in the New Testament, and figures very prominently in the Holy Week liturgy of most ancient rites, so fully does it describe and conform to the events of the Passion.

If space permitted, St Jerome’s commentary on this chapter would be worth quoting in full, but here I must limit myself to this part, which is particularly relevant to this Mass, explaining the common theme of the two prophecies.

“He was despised and ignoble (verse 3) when He hung upon the Cross, and having become a curse for us (Gal. 3, 13), bore our sins. … But He was glorious and comely of appearance when at His Passion the earth trembled, and the rocks were broken, and as the sun fled, the elements feared that eternal night had come. Of him the bride says in the Song of Songs (5, 10), ‘My beloved is bright and ruddy’: bright in the fullness and purity of the virtues, ruddy in the passion, of which we shall afterwards read, ‘Who is this that cometh up from Edom, from Bosra with garments ruddy?” (Isa. 63, 1), chosen from among the thousands for the resurrection, that He who was the first-born of all creation might become the first-born of the dead.”

Spy Wednesday 2023: The Hymn of Kassiani

O Lord, the woman who had fallen into many sins, perceiving Thy divinity, having taken up the office of a myrrh-bearer, lamenting, bringeth Thee sweet-smelling oils before Thy burial, saying, “Woe is me! for the desire for unchastity and the love of sin are become for me a dark and moonless night! Receive the font of my tears, Thou who bringest the water of the sea out of the clouds; bend Thyself down to the groanings of my heart, Thou who did incline the heavens by the ineffable emptying of Thyself! I shall kiss Thine immaculate feet, and again, I will wipe them with the tresses of my head, even those feet whose tread at dusk did so frighten Eve in Paradise when she heard it that she hid herself for fear. Who will examine the fullness of my sins and the depths of Thy judgments? Deliverer of souls, my Savior, do not overlook Thy handmaid, Thou who hast mercy without measure!” (A hymn of the nun Kassiani.)

In the Byzantine Rite, the Divine Office on the Wednesday of Holy Week is particularly occupied with two themes: the betrayal of Judas, and the anointing of the Lord’s feet in the house of Simon the Leper. This latter episode is read from the Gospel of St Matthew, 26, 6-16, at the liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, and is the subject of this extraordinary hymn, the last of Orthros, written by a nun named Kassiani (or Kassia), who lived in the first half of the ninth century.

She was born in Constantinople around 805, and as a young woman, presented as a possible bride to Theophilos, the last iconoclast Emperor. When he said to her, for some tactless reason, “from a woman came the worse things” (“ta khiro” in Greek, i.e. the fall of man, which began with Eve), she replied “And from a woman came the better things” (“ta kritto”, i.e. the redemption of man, which began with Mary). This rebuttal made Theophilos choose another, the Empress and future Saint Theodora, who played a decisive roll in putting an end to iconoclasm.

Kassiani founded a convent, of which she served as abbess, and even suffered for the faith, being scourged by Theophilus for her opposition to iconoclasm. A number of her hymns are extant, many of them still used in the Byzantine Rite to this day; she is one of the very first composers whose original scores are known and useable. A traditional story relates that as she was composing this hymn in the garden of her monastery in the late afternoon, and had gotten as far as “I shall kiss Thine immaculate feet, and again, I will wipe them with the tresses of my head,” a sister came to tell her that Theophilos had arrived. Not wishing to see him, she ran to hide, leaving behind her writing implements. Theophilos entered the garden and found them, and added the words “even those feet whose tread at dusk did so frighten Eve in Paradise when she heard it that she hid herself for fear.” When he had left, Kassiani returned to the garden, found the paper with his addition, and decided to keep it.

A concert recording of the original Greek text.

Κύριε, ἡ ἐν πολλαῖς ἁμαρτίαις περιπεσοῦσα Γυνή, τὴν σὴν αἰσθομένη Θεότητα, μυροφόρου ἀναλαβοῦσα τάξιν, ὀδυρομένη μύρα σοι πρὸ τοῦ ἐνταφιασμοῦ κομίζει. Οἴμοι! λέγουσα, ὅτι νύξ μοι ὑπάρχει, οἶστρος ἀκολασίας, ζοφώδης τε καὶ ἀσέληνος, ἔρως τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Δέξαι μου τὰς πηγὰς τῶν δακρύων, ὁ νεφέλαις διεξάγων τῆς θαλάσσης τὸ ὕδωρ· κάμφθητί μοι πρὸς τοὺς στεναγμοὺς τῆς καρδίας, ὁ κλίνας τοὺς οὐρανούς, τῇ ἀφάτῳ σου κενώσει· καταφιλήσω τοὺς ἀχράντους σου πόδας, ἀποσμήξω τούτους δὲ πάλιν τοῖς τῆς κεφαλῆς μου βοστρύχοις, ὧν ἐν τῷ Παραδείσῳ Εὔα τὸ δειλινὸν κρότον τοῖς ὠσὶν ἠχηθεῖσα, τῷ φόβῳ ἐκρύβη. Ἁμαρτιῶν μου τὰ πλήθη καὶ κριμάτων σου ἀβύσσους, τίς ἐξιχνιάσει; ψυχοσῶστα Σωτήρ μου, μή με τὴν σὴν δούλην παρίδῃς, ὁ ἀμέτρητον ἔχων τὸ ἔλεος.

The Church Slavonic version.

Господи, ѩже во многїѧ грѣхи впадшаѧ жена, Твое ωщутившаѧ Божество, мѵроносицы вземши чинъ, рыдающи мѵро Тебѣ прежде погребенїѧ приноситъ: оувы мнѣ глаголющи! ѩко нощь мнѣ есть разжженїе блуда невоздержанна, мрачное же и безлунное раченїе грѣха. Прїими моѧ источники слезъ, иже облаками производѧй морѧ воду. Приклонисѧ къ моимъ воздыханїемъ сердечнымъ, приклонивый небеса неизреченнымъ Твоимъ истощанїемъ: да ωблобыжу пречистѣи Твои нозѣ, и ωтру сїѧ паки главы моеѧ власы, ихже въ раи Еѵа, по полудни, шумомѣ оушы ωгласивши, страхомъ скрысѧ. Грѣхωвъ моихъ множества, и судебъ Твоихъ бездны кто изслѣдитъ? Душеспасче Спасе мой, да мѧ Твою рабу не презриши, иже безмѣрную имѣѧй милость.

Spy Wednesday 2022

Truly it is worthy ... through Christ, Our Lord. Who though innocent, did will to suffer for the impious, and undeservedly be condemned for the wicked; Whose death wiped away our offenses, and Whose Resurrection brought our justification. Through Him we humbly beseech Thy compassion, that today Thou may cleanse us of our sins, and tomorrow, fill us with the riches of the venerable Supper. Today, do Thou accept the confession of our offenses, and tomorrow, grant us the increase of Thy spiritual gifts; today accept the offering of our fast, and tomorrow, bring us into the banquet of the Most Holy Supper. Through the same Christ, Our Lord. (The Ambrosian Rite Preface of Spy Wednesday.)

A votive painting of the Man of Sorrows, with the Eucharist and symbols of the Passion, originally from the church of St Nicholas, in Brzeg, Poland, now in the National Museum in Warsaw. The inscription on the border says “In the year of the Lord 1428, this city and church were laid waste and burnt by the enemies of Jesus Christ, the Hussite heretics; later on, this plaque was commissioned in the year of the Lord 1443 by the chaplain (‘altaristam’) N. Kaecherdorff.” (Public domain image from Wikimedia.)

Vere quia dignum... Per Christum, Dominum nostrum. Qui innocens pro impiis voluit pati, et pro sceleratis indebite condemnari. Cujus mors delicta nostra detersit, et resurrectio justificationem nobis exhibuit. Per quem tuam pietatem supplices exoramus, ut nos hodie a peccatis emacules; cras vero venerabilis Coenae dapibus saties; hodie acceptes nostrorum confessionem delictorum: cras vero tribuas spiritualium incrementa donorum; hodie jejuniorum nostrorum vota suscipias: cras vero nos ad Sanctissimae Coenae convivium introducas. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum.

Spy Wednesday 2021

It is worthy and just that we should always give Thee thanks, Lord, holy Father, eternal and almighty God, through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who willed to suffer for the impious, and be unjustly condemned for the wicked; Who forgave the praying thief his crime, promising him Paradise by His most agreeable will, Whose death wiped away our crimes, and resurrection brought us justification. Therefore we entreat Thee, our God, that today Thou forgive us our sins, and on the morrow, refresh us with Thy sweetness. Having today accepted the confession of our sins, grant also tomorrow an increase of spiritual gifts. Today, cast away from our bodies whatever Thou hatest, and tomorrow, refresh us with the wounds of Thy cross. Today, fill our mouth with joy, and our tongue with rejoicing, such that now and forever we may praise Thee, proclaiming Thee as a most loving Savior, and so saying: Holy… (The Preface of Spy Wedneday in the Mozarabic Rite.)

The Man of Sorrows (with a Eucharistic chalice), by the Dutch painter Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen, ca. 1500-33. (Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.)

Dignum et justum est nos tibi semper gratias agere, Domine, sancte Pater, eterne omnipotens Deus: per Jesum Christum, Filium tuum, Dominum nostrum. Qui pati pro impiis voluit, et pro sceleratis indebite condemnari. Qui latroni deprecanti omisit delictum, promittens ei voluntate gratissima paradisum. Cujus mors delicta nostra detersit, et resurrectio justificationem nobis exibuit. Ob hoc te, Deus noster, exposcimus, ut hodie dimittas nobis peccata nostra, et cras reficias nos dulcedine tua. Hodie nostrorum peccaminum confessione accepta, et cras donorum spiritualium tribue incrementa. Hodie quicquid odis a nostris corporibus abjice, et cras nos refice vulneribus crucis tuae. Hodie os nostrum reple gaudio, et lingua nostra exultatione, qualiter nunc et usque in seculum laudemus te, piissimum Salvatorem proclamantes, atque ita dicentes. Sanctus…

Spy Wednesday 2020: The Hymn of Kassiani

O Lord, the woman who had fallen into many sins, perceiving Thy divinity, having taken up the office of a myrrh-bearer, lamenting, bringeth Thee sweet-smelling oils before Thy burial, saying, “Woe is me! for the desire for unchastity and the love of sin are become for me a dark and moonless night! Receive the font of my tears, Thou who bringest the water of the sea out of the clouds; bend Thyself down to the groanings of my heart, Thou who did incline the heavens by the ineffable emptying of Thyself! I shall kiss Thine immaculate feet, and again, I will wipe them with the tresses of my head, even those feet whose tread at dusk did so frighten Eve in Paradise when she heard it that she hid herself for fear. Who will examine the fullness of my sins and the depths of Thy judgments? Deliverer of souls, my Savior, do not overlook Thy handmaid, Thou who hast mercy without measure!” (A hymn of the nun Kassiani.)

In the Byzantine Rite, the Divine Office on the Wednesday of Holy Week is particularly occupied with two themes: the betrayal of Judas, and the anointing of the Lord’s feet in the house of Simon the Leper. This latter episode is read from the Gospel of St Matthew, 26, 6-16, at the liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, and is the subject of this extraordinary hymn, the last of Orthros, written by a nun named Kassiani (or Kassia), who lived in the first half of the ninth century.

She was born in Constantinople around 805, and as a young woman, presented as a possible bride to Theophilos, the last iconoclast Emperor. When he said to her, for some tactless reason, “from a woman came the worse things” (“ta khiro” in Greek, i.e. the fall of man, which began with Eve), she replied “And from a woman came the better things” (“ta kritto”, i.e. the redemption of man, which began with Mary). This rebuttal made Theophilos choose another, the Empress and future Saint Theodora, who played a decisive roll in putting an end to iconoclasm.

Kassiani founded a convent, of which she served as abbess, and even suffered for the faith, being scourged by Theophilus for her opposition to iconoclasm. A number of her hymns are extant, many of them still used in the Byzantine Rite to this day; she is one of the very first composers whose original scores are known and useable. A traditional story relates that as she was composing this hymn in the garden of her monastery in the late afternoon, and had gotten as far as “I shall kiss Thine immaculate feet, and again, I will wipe them with the tresses of my head,” a sister came to tell her that Theophilos had arrived. Not wishing to see him, she ran to hide, leaving behind her writing implements. Theophilos entered the garden and found them, and added the words “even those feet whose tread at dusk did so frighten Eve in Paradise when she heard it that she hid herself for fear.” When he had left, Kassiani returned to the garden, found the paper with his addition, and decided to keep it.

A concert recording of the original Greek text.

Κύριε, ἡ ἐν πολλαῖς ἁμαρτίαις περιπεσοῦσα Γυνή, τὴν σὴν αἰσθομένη Θεότητα, μυροφόρου ἀναλαβοῦσα τάξιν, ὀδυρομένη μύρα σοι πρὸ τοῦ ἐνταφιασμοῦ κομίζει. Οἴμοι! λέγουσα, ὅτι νύξ μοι ὑπάρχει, οἶστρος ἀκολασίας, ζοφώδης τε καὶ ἀσέληνος, ἔρως τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Δέξαι μου τὰς πηγὰς τῶν δακρύων, ὁ νεφέλαις διεξάγων τῆς θαλάσσης τὸ ὕδωρ· κάμφθητί μοι πρὸς τοὺς στεναγμοὺς τῆς καρδίας, ὁ κλίνας τοὺς οὐρανούς, τῇ ἀφάτῳ σου κενώσει· καταφιλήσω τοὺς ἀχράντους σου πόδας, ἀποσμήξω τούτους δὲ πάλιν τοῖς τῆς κεφαλῆς μου βοστρύχοις, ὧν ἐν τῷ Παραδείσῳ Εὔα τὸ δειλινὸν κρότον τοῖς ὠσὶν ἠχηθεῖσα, τῷ φόβῳ ἐκρύβη. Ἁμαρτιῶν μου τὰ πλήθη καὶ κριμάτων σου ἀβύσσους, τίς ἐξιχνιάσει; ψυχοσῶστα Σωτήρ μου, μή με τὴν σὴν δούλην παρίδῃς, ὁ ἀμέτρητον ἔχων τὸ ἔλεος.

The Church Slavonic version.

Господи, ѩже во многїѧ грѣхи впадшаѧ жена, Твое ωщутившаѧ Божество, мѵроносицы вземши чинъ, рыдающи мѵро Тебѣ прежде погребенїѧ приноситъ: оувы мнѣ глаголющи! ѩко нощь мнѣ есть разжженїе блуда невоздержанна, мрачное же и безлунное раченїе грѣха. Прїими моѧ источники слезъ, иже облаками производѧй морѧ воду. Приклонисѧ къ моимъ воздыханїемъ сердечнымъ, приклонивый небеса неизреченнымъ Твоимъ истощанїемъ: да ωблобыжу пречистѣи Твои нозѣ, и ωтру сїѧ паки главы моеѧ власы, ихже въ раи Еѵа, по полудни, шумомѣ оушы ωгласивши, страхомъ скрысѧ. Грѣхωвъ моихъ множества, и судебъ Твоихъ бездны кто изслѣдитъ? Душеспасче Спасе мой, да мѧ Твою рабу не презриши, иже безмѣрную имѣѧй милость.

Spy Wednesday 2019

Truly it is worthy ... through Christ, Our Lord. Who though innocent, did will to suffer for the impious, and undeservedly be condemned for the wicked; Whose death wiped away our offenses, and Whose Resurrection brought our justification. Through Him we humbly beseech Thy compassion, that today Thou may cleanse us of our sins, and tomorrow, fill us with the riches of the venerable Supper. Today, do Thou accept the confession of our offenses, and tomorrow, grant us the increase of Thy spiritual gifts; today accept the offering of our fast, and tomorrow, bring us into the banquet of the Most Holy Supper. Through the same Christ, Our Lord. (The Ambrosian Rite Preface of Spy Wednesday.)

A votive painting of the Man of Sorrows, with the Eucharist and symbols of the Passion, originally from the church of St Nicholas, in Brzeg, Poland, now in the National Museum in Warsaw. The inscription on the border says “In the year of the Lord 1428, this city and church were laid waste and burnt by the enemies of Jesus Christ, the Hussite heretics; later on, this plaque was commissioned in the year of the Lord 1443 by the chaplain (‘altaristam’) N. Kaecherdorff.” (Public domain image from Wikimedia.)

Vere quia dignum... Per Christum, Dominum nostrum. Qui innocens pro impiis voluit pati, et pro sceleratis indebite condemnari. Cujus mors delicta nostra detersit, et resurrectio justificationem nobis exhibuit. Per quem tuam pietatem supplices exoramus, ut nos hodie a peccatis emacules; cras vero venerabilis Coenae dapibus saties; hodie acceptes nostrorum confessionem delictorum: cras vero tribuas spiritualium incrementa donorum; hodie jejuniorum nostrorum vota suscipias: cras vero nos ad Sanctissimae Coenae convivium introducas. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum.

Spy Wednesday 2018

When Jesus was in Bethania, in the house of Simon the leper, there came to him a woman having an alabaster box of precious ointment, and poured it on his head as he was at table. And the disciples seeing it, had indignation, saying, “To what purpose is this waste? For this might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.” And Jesus knowing it, said to them, “Why do you trouble this woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. For the poor you have always with you: but me you have not always. For she in pouring this ointment upon my body, hath done it for my burial. Amen I say to you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that also which she hath done, shall be told for a memory of her.” Then went one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, to the chief priests, and said to them, “What will you give me, and I will deliver him unto you?” But they appointed him thirty pieces of silver. And from thenceforth he sought opportunity to betray him. (Matthew 26, 6-16, the Gospel sung at Vespers of the Presanctified Gifts on Spy Wednesday in the Byzantine Rite.)

The Betrayal of Judas, as depicted by Giotto in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy, 1304-06. 

On the following day, the Divine Liturgy of the Lord’s Supper is sung together with Vespers; the stichera, sung between verses of Psalms 140, 141, 129 and 116 while the church is incensed, are a series of poetic compositions about the betrayal of Judas, several of which also refer to the woman who anointed the feet of Christ.

Judas the transgressor, o Lord, who dipped his hand with Thee in the dish at the supper, lawlessly stretched out his hands to take the silver pieces; and he that reckoned up the price of the myrrh, did not shudder to sell Thee, that art beyond price; he who stretched out his feet to be washed, deceitfully kissed the Master to betray him to the lawless; cast from the choir of Apostles, and having cast away the thirty silver pieces, he did not see Thy Resurrection on the third day; through which have mercy on us.

Judas the slave and deceiver, the disciple and plotter, the friend and accuser, was revealed by his deeds; for he followed the Teacher and with himself he plotted the betrayal; he said to himself, ‘I shall hand him over, and gain the money that has been agreed upon.’ He sought for the myrrh to be sold, and Jesus to be taken by guile; he gave a greeting; he handed over Christ; and like a sheep to the slaughter so did He follow, that alone is compassionate and loveth mankind.

Judas is truly of the generation of vipers who ate the manna in the desert and murmured against the One who nourished them; for while the food was yet in their mouths, the ungrateful ones spoke against God; and he, the impious one, while bearing in his mouth the heavenly Bread, devised betrayal against the Savior. O insatiable mind, and inhuman daring! He sold the One who nourished him and handed over to death the Master whom he kissed; truly the transgressor is their son, and with them he has inherited destruction. But deliver, o Lord, our souls from such inhumanity, Who art alone boundless in long-suffering.

Spy Wednesday 2015

When Jesus was in Bethania, in the house of Simon the leper, there came to him a woman having an alabaster box of precious ointment, and poured it on his head as he was at table. And the disciples seeing it, had indignation, saying, “To what purpose is this waste? For this might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.” And Jesus knowing it, said to them, “Why do you trouble this woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. For the poor you have always with you: but me you have not always. For she in pouring this ointment upon my body, hath done it for my burial. Amen I say to you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that also which she hath done, shall be told for a memory of her.” Then went one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, to the chief priests, and said to them, “What will you give me, and I will deliver him unto you?” But they appointed him thirty pieces of silver. And from thenceforth he sought opportunity to betray him. (Matthew 26, 6-16, the Gospel sung at Vespers of the Presanctified Gifts on Spy Wednesday in the Byzantine Rite.)

The Betrayal of Judas, as depicted by Giotto in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy, 1304-06. 

On the following day, the Divine Liturgy of the Lord’s Supper is sung together with Vespers; the Stichera, sung between verses of Psalm 140 while the church is incensed, are a series of poetic compositions about the betrayal of Judas, several of which also refer to the woman who anointed the feet of Christ.

Judas the transgressor, o Lord, who dipped his hand with Thee in the dish at the supper, lawlessly stretched out his hands to take the silver pieces; and he that reckoned up the price of the myrrh, did not shudder to sell Thee, that art beyond price; he who stretched out his feet to be washed, deceitfully kissed the Master to betray him to the lawless; cast from the choir of Apostles, and having cast away the thirty silver pieces, he did not see Thy Resurrection on the third day; through which have mercy on us.

Judas the slave and deceiver, the disciple and plotter, the friend and accuser, was revealed by his deeds; for he followed the Teacher and with himself he plotted the betrayal; he said to himself, ‘I shall hand him over, and gain the money that has been agreed upon.’ He sought for the myrrh to be sold, and Jesus to be taken by guile; he gave a greeting; he handed over Christ; and like a sheep to the slaughter so did He follow, that alone is compassionate and loveth mankind.

Judas is truly of the generation of vipers who ate the manna in the desert and murmured against the One who nourished them; for while the food was yet in their mouths, the ungrateful ones spoke against God; and he, the impious one, while bearing in his mouth the heavenly Bread, devised betrayal against the Savior. O insatiable mind, and inhuman daring! He sold the One who nourished him and handed over to death the Master whom he kissed; truly the transgressor is their son, and with them he has inherited destruction. But deliver, o Lord, our souls from such inhumanity, Who art alone boundless in long-suffering.