St. Romanos the Melodist

St. Romanos the Melodist was born in the late fifth century at Emesa (modern Homs) in Syria, of Jewish descent, and died at Constantinople after the middle of the sixth century. He served as a deacon, first in Beirut and then in the imperial capital, where his gifts as a poet and singer flowered in the service of the Church's worship.

He is celebrated as the greatest composer of the kontakion, an elaborate form of sung metrical sermon, of which he is said to have written hundreds. According to a beloved tradition, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him and gave him a scroll to eat, granting him the gift of sacred song; he then spontaneously composed his famous kontakion for the Nativity, 'Today the Virgin gives birth to the Transcendent One.' For the beauty and depth of his hymns he was surnamed 'the Melodist,' and he is venerated as a saint, especially in the Byzantine tradition.