JOHN XII, 3-8; MARK XIV, 3-9; MATTHEW XXVI, 6-13. Mary therefore, having an alabaster jar of precious ointment of pure spikenard, having broken the alabaster, poured it over his head as he reclined, and anointed his feet and wiped them with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. One of his disciples therefore, Judas Iscariot, who was to betray him, said: 'Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?' Now he said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and having the purse, carried what was put into it. And there were some who took it ill within themselves and said: 'Why has this waste of the ointment been made?' But Jesus, knowing this, said to them:
'Why do you trouble this woman? She has done a good work for me. For the poor you always have with you; and when you will, you can do them good; but me you will not always have. For in pouring this ointment upon my body, she has done it for my burial. Amen I say to you: Wherever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, what she has done shall also be told in memory of her.' — LUKE VII, 39-50. But the Pharisee who had invited him, seeing this, said within himself: 'If this man were a prophet, he would surely know who and what kind of woman it is that touches him, that she is a sinner.' And Jesus, answering, said to him: 'Simon, I have something to say to you.' And he said: 'Master, say on.' A certain creditor had two debtors;
one owed five hundred denarii, the other fifty. When they had nothing with which to repay, he forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him more?' Simon, answering, said: 'I suppose that he to whom he forgave more.' And he said to him: 'You have judged rightly.' And turning to the woman, he said: 'Simon, do you see this woman? I entered into your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss; but she, from the time I entered, has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil; but she has anointed my feet with ointment. For which reason I say to you: Many sins are forgiven her, because she has loved much. But to whom less is forgiven, the same loves less.'
And he said to her: 'Your sins are forgiven.' And those who reclined together began to say within themselves: 'Who is this, who even forgives sins?' But he said to the woman: 'Your faith has saved you; go in peace.' — LUKE XIX, 28. And having said these things, he went on, going up to Jerusalem.