St Kassiani

A happy names day to our diakonissa!

Saint Kassiani founded a convent on one of Constantinople’s seven hills in the 800’s.

She combined the talents of poet, theologian and musician, writing hymns and composing musical settings for them. Originally sung by her nuns, many of her compositions have enduring value. At least twenty-three of her hymns were later included in the Church’s liturgical books.

One of Saint Kassiani’s most famous hymns is sung during Matins on Holy Wednesday, another of her hymns is sung in the Canon of Matins for Holy Saturday and is repeated at the Midnight Office on Holy Pascha. Saint Kassiani is depicted among the holy ascetics and other monastics in the icon for the Triumph of Orthodoxy on the first Sunday of Lent.

She may have gone on to Crete from Constantinople, according to their traditions:

“It is assumed by scholars that she reposed in her monastery in Constantinople, but there is a tradition that says she traveled to Italy with another nun named Evdokia, perhaps to flee Emperor Theophilos, who had sought her hand in marriage before she became a nun and kept in contact with her afterward. From there she went to Crete, and then to the island of Kasos near Crete, where she reposed on September 7th around 890 AD. . . . . .

. . . . Interestingly, St. Kassiani was never officially recognized as a saint in the calendar of the Orthodox Church until fairly recently, though she has surely been recognized as a saint in the minds and hearts of the faithful, and typically her memory was honored on Holy Wednesday when her famous hymn is chanted. On the island of Kasos, however, she was always acknowledged to be a saint and her memory was celebrated there on September 7th, the day of her repose according to the inscription on the marble coffin. The official recognition of St. Kassiani as a saint came about in the late 19th century when a local from Kasos named George Sassos composed a Service of Praise in her honor, which was published in Alexandria in 1889. This Service was dedicated to Patriarch Sophronios of Alexandria, who in turn blessed it and gave it to Metropolitan Germanos of Thebes for publication on September 1, 1889. This acknowledgement and blessing by the Patriarch of Alexandria is considered her official canonization, thus her memory is celebrated by the Orthodox Church on September 7th, and she is especially honored on Holy Wednesday when her famous hymn is chanted in all Orthodox churches.”

Read the full article of The Tomb of Saint Kassiani in Kasos at the link below:

https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2012/09/the-tomb-of-saint-kassiani-in-kasos.html