« MARIA CASTIS OCULIS ». — This is the hymn at Matins for the feast of s. Maria Maddalena.
It consists of a single stanza inspired by the account in Io. 12:3, which s. Roberto Bellarmino, author of the hymn for Vespers, extracted from the hymn Magno salutis gaudio by s. Gregorio Magno (PL 78, 850).
Maria, the sinner from Magdala, enters the house of Simone, where Gesù is dining; she bathes his feet with tears and dries them with her flowing hair, then anoints them with perfumes. A vivid and eloquent scene, represented with brevity and clarity.
BIBL.: G. G. Belli, Gli inni del Breviario tradotti, Rome 1856, p. 98; C. Albin, La poëzie du Bréviaire, Lyon n.d., p. 312; A. Mirra, Gli inni del Breviario romano, Naples 1947, p. 228. Silverio Mattei