Venerable Roman the Melodist

Saint Roman the Melodist was born around 490 in the Syrian city of Emesa (modern Homs), likely of Jewish descent, and was baptized in his youth. He served as a deacon in Beirut before moving to Constantinople under Emperor Anastasius I, where he became a sacristan at the Church of the Theotokos Kyriotissa. Lacking a naturally good voice or skill in reading, he was mocked by the clergy; after an especially poor performance on the eve of the Nativity, he spent the night in fervent prayer before an icon of the Mother of God. The Theotokos appeared to him, gave him a scroll, and commanded him to eat it — after which he received the gift of hymn-writing. That same night he composed his first and most famous kontakion for the Nativity, "Today the Virgin gives birth to the Transcendent One." He is credited with over a thousand kontakia and is regarded as the father of the kontakion genre and one of the greatest Byzantine hymnographers. He reposed around 556 in Constantinople.