Joseph the Hymnographer

Who is Joseph the Hymnographer?

Saint Joseph the Hymnographer was a monk of the ninth century. He is one of the greatest liturgical poets and hymnographers of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is also known for his confession of the Orthodox Faith in opposition to Iconoclasm. He is called "the sweet-voiced nightingale of the Church".

He was born around 810 AD in Sicily of devout parents, Plotinus and Agatha. After the death of his parents, Joseph had to flee Sicily due to an Arab invasion. He moved to Thessalonica where at the age of fifteen he was tonsured a monk at the monastery of Latmus, where he distinguished himself in humility and asceticism. The bishop of Thessalonica ordained him a Hieromonk. While visiting Thessalonica the distinguished Gregory of Decapolis was so impressed with Joseph, because of his rare character, that he invited him to join his monastery of the Studium in Constantinople.

With the resurgence of Iconoclasm in 841 under Leo V, the Armenian, Joseph was sent to Rome to call upon Pope Leo III and the Roman Church to help in the battle for orthodoxy. While en route, Joseph was captured by Arab pirates and taken as a slave to Crete where the Iconoclasts detained him in prison for six years. Early in the morning on Christmas Day, 820, in the sixth year of Joseph's imprisonment, the Emperor Leo was slain in church while attending Matins. At that same moment, according to tradition, St. Nicholas appeared to Joseph in prison and asked him to sing in the name of God. Nicholas then said to him: "Arise and follow me!" Joseph found himself immediately transported to the gates of Constantinople. According to some accounts, however, after his escape from Crete he resumed his journey to Rome, where he was received with great kindness, and only then returned to Constantinople.