Kassia
Many epigrams and gnomic verses are attributed to her, at least 261.
The earliest surviving manuscripts of her works are dated centuries after her lifetime.
Kassia wrote many hymns which are still used in the Byzantine liturgy to this day.
At least twenty-three genuine hymns are ascribed to her.
The most famous of her compositions is the eponymous Hymn of Kassia, which is chanted each year for Great and Holy Wednesday.
The music for the hymn is slow, sorrowful and plaintive, lasting about ten to twenty minutes, depending on tempo and style of execution.
Her epigrams often include witty or humorous elements and cover themes from ethnical ideals and weaknesses to femininity (particularly ‘beauty’) and the defence of women’s rights.
She is portrayed by Karima McAdams in the 5th season of the television series Vikings.
Kassia quotes
“I hate silence when it is time to speak.”
“You meet a friend – your face brightens. You have struck gold.”
“Wealth covers sin – the poor / Are naked as a pin.”
“Poverty? Wealth? Seek neither — / One causes swollen heads, / The other, swollen bellies.”
Joseph of Arimathea
Joseph is the patron saint of pallbearers, funeral directors, morticians, undertakers, tin miners, and tin smiths.
Joseph was a wealthy member of the Sanhedrin, a disciple of Jesus in secret, who had taken no part in his condemnation and who, after the death of Jesus, asked Pilate for his body and buried it in a tomb newly hewn out of the rock.
These details from the Gospels are the only source of information about Joseph, but many legends have grown up over the years.
During the Middle Ages, Joseph somehow became connected with the lore surrounding King Arthur; he is featured in a 12th-century tale by Robert de Boron as the Keeper of the Holy Grail, the cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper.
Another version has Joseph himself coming to the British Isles with the Grail, which he subsequently buried in a secret place.
It is said that when Joseph arrived in Great Britain with the Grail around the year 63, he landed on the island of Avalon and climbed the hill there. Weary from his journey, he thrust his staff into the ground and rested, by morning, the staff had taken root and produced a thorn tree, which reportedly bloomed every Christmas. It was also upon this land that Joseph and 12 of his followers are said to have built Glastonbury Abbey (although it was actually constructed around the seventh century).
He was played by James Mason in the 1977 mini-series “Jesus of Nazareth”.
Joseph quotes
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole strength. And the second [commandment] is like it: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
“”Hear, O Israel, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul and with all thy strength.” This is the greatest commandment.”
