And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at table, there came a woman having an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard very precious; and she broke the flask, and poured it on his head.
All Commentaries on Mark 14:3 Go To Mark 14
Jerome
AD 420
Just as the grain of wheat, unless it falls into the ground and dies, does not bring forth any fruit, so, also, unless the alabaster jar be broken, we cannot spread its fragrance. Homilies of St. ,