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Saint '''Kassiani''' <ref>Also known as '''Kassia''', '''Kassiane''', '''Casia''', '''Ikasia''', '''Cassia''', '''Kassiana''', or '''Eikasia'''</ref> was a Byzantine [[abbess]], poet, composer, and hymnographer. She is commemorated by the church on [[September 7]]. She is especially known as the composer of the [[Hymn of Kassiani]].

She was born between 805 and 810 in Constantinople into an wealthy family <ref>Touliatos, Grove online.</ref> and grew to be exceptionally beautiful and intelligent. Three Byzantine chroniclers, [[Symeon Metaphrastes]], [[George the Monk]] (a.k.a. George the Sinner) and [[Leo the Grammarian]], claim that she was a participant in the "bride show" <ref> The Bride show was the means by which Byzantine princes/emperors sometimes chose a bride, by giving a golden apple to his choice</ref> organized for the young bachelor [[Theophilos the Iconoclast]] by his stepmother, the Empress Dowager Euphrosyne. Smitten by Kassia's beauty, the young emperor approached her and said: "''Through a woman [came forth] the baser [things]''", referring to the sin and suffering coming as a result of Eve's transgression. Kassia promptly responded by saying: "''And through a woman [came forth] the better [things]''", referring to the hope of salvation resulting from the Incarnation of Christ through the [[Theotokos]]. According to tradition, the dialogue was: <blockquote>"-Εκ γυναικός τα χείρω." (''Ek gynaikós tá cheírō'')</brblockquote><blockquote>"-Kαι εκ γυναικός τα κρείττω." (''Kaí ek gynaikós tá kreíttō'')</blockquote>

The next we hear of Kassiani is that in 843 she founded a [[monastery]] in the west of Constantinople, near the Constantinian Walls, and became its first [[abbess]]. <ref>[http://home.infionline.net/~ddisse/kassia.html "Other Women's Voices"]</ref> Although many scholars attribute this to bitterness at having failed to marry Theophilos and becoming Empress, a letter from [[Theodore the Studite]] indicates that she had other motivations for wanting a [[monasticism|monastic]] life. It She had a close relationship with the nearby monastery of Stoudios, which was to play a central role in re-editing the Byzantine liturgical books in the 9th and 10th centuries, thus ensuring the survival of her work (Kurt Sherry, p. 56).

She wrote many hymns for liturgies; the most famous being the eponymous '''[[Hymn of Kassiani]]''', sung every [[Holy Week|Holy Wednesday]] (liturgically; actually chanted late in the evening of [[Holy Week|Holy Tuesday]]).