"And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the jar and poured it over his head." (Mark 14:3)

"And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the jar and poured it over his head." (Mark 14:3)

The above verse refers to nard as an ointment, but what exactly is it? Nard or "Spikenard" is a flowering plant of the Valerian family that grows in the Himalayas of Nepal, China, and India. It is the main ingredient in manufacturing an intensely aromatic amber-colored oil that has, since ancient times, been used as a perfume, as a medicine and within Judaism and Christianity for purposes of anointing and making incense. Because this oil had to be procured from such great distances, it was quite expensive and considered a luxury item – something to be used quite sparingly. Mark's gospel, however, relates how the woman broke open the jar and poured its entire contents upon Christ. When those at dinner became indignant with what they considered to be a "waste" of this precious commodity (300 denarii held the approximate equivalent of $15,000 by today's standards), Jesus comes to the woman's rescue and silences her critics. The irony, however, is that Judas betrayed his Master for 30 pieces of silver – the cost of purchasing a slave, while this woman offers thirty times that amount to show the great value she places upon the Lord.

Fr. John