Saint Kosmas the MelodistToday in the Orthodox Church we commemorate a holy bishop and Palestinian saint, Saint Kosmas the Melodist of ar-Rimâl in Gaza. The foster-brother of Saint John of Damascus, Bishop Saint Kosmas is known for his compositions of many hymns which are still used in the Orthodox Church.
Saint Kosmas [Gk. Κοσμάς, Ar. Quzmâ قزما] was born in Damascus, and grew up as a close friend of Saint John. He lost his parents at a young age and became an orphan. Kosmas was taken into the home of Saint John’s father Sarkîs Manṣûr, where the two boys grew up together, as close as brothers of the blood. Saint Kosmas received a very fine education from his foster-parents, including tutelage at the hands of a holy, erudite and learned Sicilian monk who was also named Kosmas (or rather, Cosimo, known by the cognomen ‘the Beggar’). When they came of age, the two foster-brothers went to Jerusalem to visit the Holy Places. Saint John and Saint Kosmas entered the Dayr Mâr Sâbâ together, and became monks there.
Kosmas and John continued their close friendship in the monastery. Together they compiled a Great Oktōēkhos – a hymnal in the eight tones, for daily use in the Liturgy and in the praise of the Saints. To this volume Saint Kosmas personally contributed a number of canons and troparia which are still in use. Saint Kosmas had a particular affection for the poetry of Saint Gregory the Theologian; he composed musical settings for several of Saint Gregory’s homilies and poetic works, including his Nativity homily ‘Χριστὸς γεννᾶται δοξάσατε’. He also composed canons and troparia for a number of other occasions on the Church calendar, including the Dormition of the Mother of God and the Transfiguration. Saint Kosmas is warmly revered and justly considered to be one of the brightest lights in Greek classical hymnography in the Orthodox Church. His best-known hymn is the irmos of the Axion Estin in praise of the Most Holy Theotokos, which is featured in the sidebar of this blog: ‘It is very meet and right to call thee blessed…’
Kosmas departed the Dayr Mâr Sâbâ in 743, however, when he was appointed to the Bishopric of Gaza in Maioumas – which is today Ḥay ar-Rimâl in Gaza (which came under sustained, brutal ærial attack by the Israeli state last year). As bishop of Maioumas, Saint Kosmas ardently defended the use of icons in the life of the Church, and again joined together with his foster-brother to combat the hæresy of Iconoclasm. Saint John reposed at Dayr Mâr Sâbâ on the fourth of December, 749. His foster-brother long outlived him, and reposed in the Lord in great old age. Holy and inspired hymnographer Kosmas, whose tongue still lives with praises of the Word of Life, pray unto Christ our God that our souls may be saved!
Apolytikion to Saint Kosmas the Melodist, Tone 8:
O Champion of Orthodoxy, teacher of purity and of true worship,
The enlightener of the universe and the adornment of the Hierarchs:
O all-wise Father Kosmas,
Your teachings have gleamed with light upon all things.
Intercede before Christ our God to save our souls!
Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrios in Gaza
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