Music

ONE OF THE MORE POPULAR CHANTS in our Church is the kondakion of Christ’s Nativity, “Today the Virgin gives birth…” What many do not know is that this hymn is an excerpt from a much longer work and that it was written by St Romanos the Melodist. Who is This Saint? St Romanos was born in Homs, Syria (some say Damascus), to a Jewish family in the latter part of the fifth century. We do not know when he was baptized or whether his family was converted as well. As a young man he moved to Beirut and entered the…