Saints & Church Fathers
St. Romanos the Melodist (c. 490-556)
Greatest hymnographer of the Orthodox Church. A Syrian deacon in Constantinople who, according to tradition, received the gift of hymnography miraculously from the Theotokos on Christmas Eve. Composed over 1,000 kontakia (long poetic homilies set to music). His Nativity Kontakion and Akathist are masterpieces of liturgical poetry. Feast: October 1.
Sources
- Kontakia of Romanos the Melodist (trans. Marjorie Carpenter, Univ. of Missouri Press)
- Orthodox Menaion (October 1: Feast of St. Romanos) the OCA calendar
- St. Romanos, Kontakion on the Nativity (primary text)