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SAINT KASSIANH of
CONSTANTINOPLE, (approx 810) The
earliest record of Kassianh, born in Constantinople prior to 805CE, is that of
Symeon the Logothete. Romantic legends surrounding her life have been
perpetuated in Balkan and Modern Greek folklore and literature, and she is to
be found on all lists of Byzantine liturgical poets. The first known list, that of hymnographer Nicephoros Kallistos
Xanthopoulos (+1335), mentions Cassia the Nun
(the only woman mentioned)on a list of the eleven most distinguished melodists.
Her works are the only compositions by females included in the ecclesiastical
books. She is also the only woman included in the frontpiece of a Triodion,
printed in Venice in 1601. In recent years, Kassianh has begun to attract
attention of scholars interested in the history and thought of both the Greek
and Latin Middle Ages and modern writers and critics interested in the
development of Greek literature. Her
father was an aristocrat with a position at the imperial court and her parents
ensured that she received an education including both secular knowledge (she
became skilled in classical Greek) and the study of Scriptures. From childhood she was inspired to a life
with Christand considered becoming a nun. With
the death of Michael of Amorion (829), Theophilos succeeded as Emperor (829-842),
and with his step-mother Evfrosyne, began to look for a bride (830). His search was narrowed down to six, of
which Kassianh was one. To express his
choice, Evfrosyne had Theophilos use the ancient custom of presenting a golden
apple to his future Empress. Legend
has it that the maidens, with Kassianh publicly acknowledged as the best
candidate, were lined up and interviewed. Theophilos was both impressed with
Kassianh's beauty and aware of her wisdom and knowledge. To test her he said, From woman flowed corruption (referring to
Eve’s role in The Fall). Undaunted,
Kassianh, boldly replied to the Emperor, saying, But also from woman sprung forth what is superior (referring
to the Theotokos, Mother of Christ).
Theophilos was taken aback at Kassianh’s bold demeanour and instead
approached the modest Theodora with the apple, as a symbol of his choice. Popular
legend has that the Emperor was so vexed at losing this verbal joust to a woman
that he forced Kassianh to enter the convent as punishment. The non-secular
version holds that Kassianh never desired to be Empress and chose to pursue a
monastic life of intellectual and spiritual scholarship. Whichever account holds more truth, there
were at that time few places other that a convent where an intellectual woman
could pursue her life. The
existence of the legend of the verbal
skirmish shows her reputation for intellect and wit. What is certain is that Kassia is the most significant female
composer of Byzantine church music. She was a highly educated lady-in-waiting
who belonged to the circle of women from whom the emperor Theophilos was to
choose his wife. It is likely that, upon realising she was his equal if not
superior in intelligence and wisdom, he repudiated her, causing her to spend
the rest of her life in a convent. A
total of 49 liturgical chants (30 of which are currently used in the Eastern
Orthodox liturgy). 47 are troparia or short ecclesiastical hymns of praise, and
2 are canons (hymn-cycles of 8 odes).; Many of the melodies of the hymns are
extant, but they may have been changed over the centuries. A number of secular, moralising songs have
been attributed to her. She also wrote 261 epigrams and gnomic verses
(single-line maxims). A reading of the two styles of poetry is requiredc to
bring out th voice of the person behind them. **** When
Kassia was a young adult, the iconoclasm issue arose again in the court and
soon became enravelled in politics and
intrigue. Tradition says that Kassia was at one point beaten for helping
iconodule exiles and imprisoned monks.
It is documented that she was in contact with one of the chief
iconodules, the monk Theodore of Studium. A
letter written to her by him indicates that by c826 she was already
sharing her writings with others. Theophilos,
an iconoclast, enforced a religious policy against veneration of the
icons. Kassianh, an iconodule, publicly
defied imperial policy against the sacred images. In defense of the icons, she was subject to persecution and was
once scourged. Undaunted, she persisted
in resisting the iconoclasts. She often
visited banished monks in prison and would support and comfort them by her
letters and gifts. She was known as a
sharp observer of human frailties, and expressed her opinion of those that
lacked courage and commitment, when she said, I
hate silence, when it is time to speak! Of
Kassianh's life between the date of the Emperor’s marriage in 830 and the date
of the founding of her Monastary in 843, nothing is known. It is not known is she ever married or had
children. Her hymns are generally believed to come from the monastic period of
her life. It is believed that her
secular verse had been written earlier as some of the contents were too
concerned with the worldly life and her own emotions. It is accepted that Kassianh, upon renouncing the world and
seeing to the construction of a convent on the Xerolophos (a hill in the
capital Constantinople) was tonsured a nun.
As its first abbess, she composed music for the services, wrote
liturgical (and possibly at this time also composed secular verses). In this manner she led the sisterhood in a
life of the spirit and the mind. During
this time when the Church was embattled, Kassianh, , pursued her diverse
literary and musical interests. Her
works may be found under the names Cassia, Cassian, Kessia, Kessiane, Kassianh, Cassias the
Nun, or Ikasias. As a God-gifted composer, she wrote music
for her spiritual poems. Abbess
Kassianh provided many new hymns for the services conducted in her convent. In time, Kassianh established herself as a
hymnographer. Her ecclesiastical music
drew the attention of the Church fathers, who recognized her unique gift. She was encouraged to compose hymns for the
various feasts. Her reputation is such
that she is Orthodoxy's only female hymnographer of distinction. According to J. Savas, Hymnology of the Eastern Orthodox Church,
she was an "exceptional and rare phenomenon" for contemporary
poetical competition. As Byzantium's
best known woman composer, twenty-three genuine hymns ascribed to her exhibit
her attention to the many facets of Orthodox liturgical cycles. Among the
services she provided to the convent, her canon for the reposed is her longest
hymn. This piece contains 32 strophes
which were chanted in the convent cemetery for their weekly Saturday memorial
services. She
also composed hymns honoring the saints in the Menaia, twelve liturgical volumes, one
for each month of the year, which provide a unique Vespers and Matins service
dedicated to the saint or event commemorated on that day. Her contributions include hymns for Saints
Samonas, Gurias and Abibus, Saints Evstratios, Avxentios, Evgenios, Mardarios
and Orestes, and St. John the
Forerunner, to mention a few. For the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ in
the Flesh, Cassia the Nun composed this Vespers hymn, a
doxastikon: When
Augustus reigned alone upon earth, the
many kingdoms of men came to an end And
when Thou wast made man of the pure Virgin, the
many gods of idolatry were destroyed. The
cities of the world passed under one single rule; and the
nations came to believe in one sovereign Godhead. The
peoples were enrolled by the decree of Caesar; and we,
the faithful,were enrolled in the name of the Godhead, when
Thou, our God, wast made man. Great
is Thy mercy: Glory to Thee. The
abbess and poetess is also credited with the Eirmoi
(the first
stanza of an ode serving as the model for the structure and rhythm of the
succeeding stanzas or troparia)
of the Matins Canon chanted on Great and Holy Thursday, in Tone
Plagal of Second, which begins: He Who
in ancient times hid the pursuing tyrant beneath the earth by the
children of those Whom once He saved. But as
the maidens, let us sing unto the Lord, for He is greatly glorified. The most famous poem and musical composition
of the saint from the Triodion
(a liturgical book
containing the variable parts for the daily services of Great Lent and Holy
Week) is the Doxastikon Idiomelon (verses sung in a majestic manner which
contain their own modulation)
of the Aposticha
(a series of poetical stanzas of hynmnography, separated by
selected psalm verses) of
Great and Holy Wednesday. This work is
generally known as the Troparion
of Kassianh or The Fallen
Woman It is a penitential hymn based on Mary
Magdalene, the sinful woman who is introduced by the Evangelist Luke in his
Gospel [7:36-50]. In this hymn, which is considered a musical high-point of
Holy Week by modern Greek Orthodox Christians, Kassianh speaks vividly in the
voice of the sinful woman whose annointing of Christ's feet with precious
fragrances. Kassianh also contrasts the
sinful woman with Eve's fall [Gen. 3:8-11], and with characteristic feminine
insight and sympathy embellishes this familiar story. This compassionate and moving hymn, in Tone Plagal Fourth, (essentially the major scale with a
frequently flatted seventh degree)
is chanted for the morning office of Holy Wednesday. The music mirrors the emotions expressed in the text in its
modulations, changes of texture and wide vocal range. O Lord,
the woman who had fallen into many sins, perceiving
Thy divinity, took upon
herself the duty of a myrrh-bearer; with lamentation
she bringeth Thee myrrh oils before
Thine entombment. "Woe unto
me," she
said, "for night is become for me a frenzy of
licentiousness, a gloomy and moonless love of
sin. Receive the fountains of my tears,
O Thou
Who dost gather into clouds the water of the
sea. Incline unto the sighings of my
heart, O Thou
Who didst bow the heavens by Thine ineffable
kenosis (self-emptying). I shall
kiss Thine immaculate feet, and
wipe them again with the tresses of my head, those
feet at whose sound Eve hid herself
for fear when she heard Thee walking in
Paradise in the afternoon. The
multitude of my sins
and the abyss of Thy judgments, who can
search them out, O my Saviour of souls? Do not
disdain me, Thy handmaiden, O Thou Whose
mercy is measureless. One
story, related by Saint Theodora in The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church
holds that Abbess Kassianh spent the afternoon in the garden composing this
hymn. As she finished writing that
verse which says, I
shall kiss Thine immaculate feet, and wipe them again with the tresses of my
head. she was informed that Emperor Theophilos had arrived at
the convent. She did not wish to see
him, and in her haste to conceal herself,
left behind the scroll and pen.
Theophilos, having entered the garden, found her half-completed poem,
and added the phrase, those
feet at whose sound Eve hid herself for fear when she heard Thee walking in
Paradise in the Afternoon. After he departed, Kassianh came out
from hiding. When she took up her
composition, she beheld the phrase written in his handwriting. She retained it and went on to complete the
poem. Kassianh
is represented in the well-known Icon of the
Sunday of Orthodoxy, commemorating the restoration of the icons
which occurred after the death of Emperor Theophilos. Empress Theodora had been designated as a regent for their son
Michael III and she ended the iconoclastic madness and restored veneration of
the icons. The Icon of the Sunday of Orthodoxy presents
St. Methodios the Patriarch. According
to Fourna’s The
Painter's Manual of Dionysius
Methodious is garbed in bishop's robes,and depicted as either holding a
crosier or Gospel. Other bishops behind
him are holding icons and Gospels. In
front of him are portrayed either two deacons or two angels holding the
Hodegitria Icon of the Christ Child and Virgin. Opposite the Patriarch are the
Empress Theodora and her son Michael, a small boy, who are either holding icons
or scepters. Behind them may be seen
priests with censers and lamps. We may
also see the ascetics, Saints John, Arsacios, and Isaias with a crowd of other
monks. Near them is the holy woman Kassianh, holding an Icon, standing with a
crowd of female solitaries.
There may also be seen other laity, men, women, and children holding
crosses and lamps. One
biographer, George the Sinner (as recounted in Savas, The Treasury of Orthodox Hymnology..
comments, She lived only for God, to the end
of her life. According to The Lives of the Spiritual Mothers Kassianh reposed in the Lord (c867), after dedicating her life to Christ and the Church,
and (being) adorned with the
chaplet of virginity, and the crowns of a confessor, an ascetic, and a
hymnographer. Footnotes.... |