With a Single Kiss, Two Souls Reveal Themselves

Holy Wednesday

Loving God, the woman taken in sin approached You, pouring out on Your feet myrrh mixed with tears, and at Your word she is rid of the odiousness of her acts. But the disciple, lacking all grace, though he lived by Your grace, rejects it and covers himself in mire, selling You out for greed. Glory to Your forbearance, O Christ. The wily Judas, possessed by love of money, plotted craftily how to betray You, Lord, the very treasure-house of life. Besotted, he runs tothe lawless men and says, "What will you give me to turn Him over to you to be crucified?" As the harlot lovingly dried Your undefiled feet with her hair, weeping, groaning from deep within, she cried out to You: "My God, do not cast me away or regard me with loathing, but accept me repenting and save me, as the One who alone loves mankind!"


The sinful woman in her humility was raised up while the chosen Apostle was lost. Bestir yourself, then, and sing out: "Holy, holy, holy are You, our God; through the prayers of the Theotokos, save us."