The story in the Gospels is that, on the Wednesday before Passover, Jesus was in the house of Simon the Leper. Before dinner, a woman named Mary anoints Jesus' head and feet with spikenard, and expensive oil derived from a plant in the honeysuckle family. The apostles feel that the cost of the oil should have been distributed among the poor. The Gospel of John says that Judas wanted to sell the oil and keep the money for himself. It is after this event that Judas decides to go to the Sanhedrin and make a deal that he will deliver Jesus into their hands in exchange for money.
Roman Catholicism calls this day Holy Wednesday in the lead up to Easter. In Ireland it was referred to as Spy (meaning an "ambush") Wednesday. Where does the poetry of Kassia fit in the Byzantine liturgy? Towards the end of matins (a morning prayers service), the Hymn of Kassiani speaks from the viewpoint of the woman, Mary, who washes and anoints Jesus:
O Lord God, the woman who had fallen into many sins, having perceived Thy divinity received the rank of ointment-bearer, offering Thee spices before Thy burial wailing and crying: "Woe is me, for the love of adultery and sin hath given me a dark and lightless night; accept the fountains of my tears O Thou Who drawest the waters of the sea by the clouds incline Thou to the sigh of my heart O Thou Who didst bend the heavens by Thine inapprehensible condescension; I will kiss Thy pure feet and I will wipe them with my tresses. I will kiss Thy feet Whose tread when it fell on the ears of Eve in Paradise dismayed her so that she did hide herself because of fear. Who then shall examine the multitude of my sin and the depth of Thy judgment? Wherefore, O my Saviour and the Deliverer of my soul turn not away from Thy handmaiden O Thou of boundless mercy."
The italicized line is the one supposedly added by the Emperor Theophilos (in an anecdote explained in yesterday's post).
The figure of Judas Iscariot fascinated the Middle Ages. Since he kills himself shortly after betraying Jesus, there are no tales as there are with the other apostles bout traveling, converting people, and performing miracles. The Middle Ages did not let him go from their imaginations, however, and his life story was not only expanded, but continued, even to the point where medieval people met him! Let's take a look at what Judas Iscariot meant to medieval legend, starting tomorrow.
