Hymn of Kassiani

O Lord, the woman who had fallen into many sins perceived Thy divinity,

and taking upon herself the duty of a myrrh-bearer,

with lamentation she bringeth Thee myrrh oils before Thine entombment.

Woe unto me, saith she,

for night is become for me a frenzy of licentiousnes,

a dark 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 me, unto the sighings of my heart,

O Thou Who didst bow the heavens by Thine ineffable condescension.

I will 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 cool of the day.

As for the multitude of my sins

and the abyss of Thy judgments,

who can search them out, O Saviour of souls, my Saviour.

Do not disdain me, Thy handmaiden,

O Thou Who art boundless in mercy.

 

Translation: Holy Transfiguration Monastery