"You are a wellspring of unending repentance, a giver of ceaseless consolation, and a deep well of tenderness, O Joseph; grant us tears of divine repentance, by which we may find consolation, as we weep here, asking for your help, O Saint."
(Kontakion, Tone 4)
Joseph the Hymnographer stands out as a shining light among the constellation of church hymn writers, which includes luminaries like Romanos the Melodist, Sophronius of Jerusalem, Andrew of Crete, Germanus of Constantinople, John of Damascus, Cosmas of Maiuma, Theodore and Joseph of Thessalonica, Theophanes of Nicaea, and Methodius of Constantinople. The 19th-century Russian theologian, Epiphanius Nesterovsky, writes in his Liturgics: “The period of the eighth and ninth centuries is distinguished by the remarkable characteristic… that during this time, holy men with the high spiritual gift of hymnography appeared almost continuously. This did not come about by accident, but by the providence of the Lord, the Master and Head of the Church. The circumstances of that time and the benefit of the Church demanded this then, unlike before. The Church’s hymns contain the complete teaching on all the dogmas and truths of the Orthodox Church. But until the 8th century, the doctrine of the faith had not yet been set forth so clearly, distinctly, definitively, and immutably as it appeared after the Church's seven-century struggle against unbelief and false wisdom. Therefore, it was not yet time to sing the lofty teachings of the faith in solemn hymns… But when the Church triumphed over all heresies and errors, then she clothed the dogmas of faith in sacred hymns, singing the victory of faith over the enemies of the faith and the Church.”
Apse of the Church of Hagia Sophia — the Wisdom of God in Constantinople (now Istanbul)
Blessed Joseph the Hymnographer lived during the 9th century. By then, Saints Cosmas of Maiuma, John of Damascus, and other ascetics had already composed the canons for the twelve great feasts, introduced eight-tone singing, and established the basic structure of the Octoechos. Yet, it was St Joseph who brought ecclesiastical hymnography to its fullest expression. After him, the art of hymn-writing declined, with only occasional contributions from individual writers, as the cycle of church services was largely considered complete.
Professor A.P. Golubtsov of the Moscow Theological Academy observes that prior to St Joseph, church hymnography contained only about 200 canons for feast days and saints, whereas Joseph himself composed over 220. This father, and other hymn writers, shaped the Church's main services and completed the Menologion with a fixed cycle of feasts by the start of the 10th century. By the 11th century, the Menologion included services for each day of the month, expanding from earlier versions that only included feast days.
Patriarch Alexy I (Simansky) notably set apart St Joseph the Hymnographer from among other spiritual writers. His discourses highlighted the redemptive focus of St Joseph’s canons: the verses of his troparia and kontakia guide the supplicant’s heart to repentance and salutary compunction.
Venerable Joseph the Hymnographer
St Joseph’s main compositions are the canons sung and read at Matins. By his time, the canon had already developed into a complete liturgical work, and St Joseph enriched the work of earlier hymnographers with his own creativity. St John of Damascus, St Theophanes, and other hymnographers had already written many canons, but St Joseph brought order to the Menologion, honouring lesser-known saints who lacked canons. In these works, he poured all of his heart’s devotion and love. Reflecting on their struggles, the hymnographer found for each a word uniquely suited for their character. Nearly all his canons, with few exceptions, are acrostic, bearing his name in the concluding ninth ode.
He also wrote canons for the forefeasts of the twelve Great Feasts; for the Deposition of the Robe and Girdle of the Theotokos; and for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Of special note is his canon to the Most Holy Theotokos for the Day of Her Praise, sung during the Akathist Hymn. In the Pentecostarion, he composed the canon for the Ascension of the Lord and the Triodia from Easter to Pentecost, as well as one Theotokion in each ode of the Paschal Canon.
St Joseph, in the words of St Philaret of Chernigov, left behind more canons than any other church writer. As Archbishop Philaret observes, the Menaion contains 104 canons attributed to Joseph, while St Joseph composed a total of 211 hymns, including 175 canons, 30 Triodia, and six Tetraodia. His title "the Hymnographer" is thus a fitting tribute to his work. It touches every part of the Church’s annual cycle, adding services for the feast days not addressed before. His canons appear in all liturgical books and are set in every tone of the Octoechos, fitted for the weekdays, though not for Sundays. The canons of St Joseph the Hymnographer appear in abundance across the months of the Menaion, and also in the Lenten and Paschal Triodia.
Lenten Triodion, works of St Joseph the Hymnographer
For St Joseph, this represented a lifetime of dedication. Therefore, upon finishing the Octoechos canons, he wrote in the final canon of the 8th Tone (in the acrostic dedicated to holy martyrs, hierarchs, monastics, and the departed): "The divine end of the new Octoechos. The work of Joseph."
Reflecting on St Joseph’s canons, Bishop Philaret writes: “Joseph’s penitential canons are exceptional: they convey a deep remorse for sins and hope in the Lord Jesus. None of them can be read without stirring the heart; if they are read daily, all the weekly canons of the hymnographer provide abundant nourishment for the soul.”
St Joseph was a native of Sicily, where he spent his childhood and youth. In the face of Barbarian raids, his parents, Plotinus and Agatha, took up residence in Thessaly in Greece. At 15, Joseph left his parents and entered a monastery in Thessalonica, where he led a strict monastic life. There, along with other duties, he read and copied sacred texts. The abbot and brethren persuaded him to accept the priesthood, and in that role he continued his ascetic struggles, "often performing the Divine Mysteries,” as St Demetrius of Rostov records, and “praying tearfully for himself and for the whole world.”
St Gregory of Decapolis, on a visit to the Thessalonian monastery, saw St Joseph and requested that the abbot and brethren allow him to accompany him to Constantinople, to aid the Orthodox in opposing the iconoclasm reinstated by Leo V the Armenian. In the capital, the saints settled at the Church of Sts Sergius and Bacchus. Gregory and Joseph boldly defended the veneration of icons. They preached in the city squares and visited the homes of Orthodox Christians, urging them to stand firm against heresy.
The Church in Constantinople faced grave difficulties: not only was the emperor an iconoclast, but so was the patriarch. At that time, the bishops of Rome were in communion with the Universal Church, and Pope Leo III, not subject to the Byzantine emperor, could offer significant help to the Orthodox. Chosen for his steadfastness and eloquence, St Joseph was sent to Rome to inform the Pope about the Church's persecution. However, at the iconoclast emperor's instigation, Arab pirates captured him and imprisoned him on Crete. There, he bravely upheld his veneration of icons and offered support to his fellow prisoners.
After six years in prison, Divine Providence intervened, freeing St Joseph for his destined work as a hymnographer. St Nicholas the Wonderworker miraculously released him from his chains on Christmas Eve, 820 AD. Appearing to Joseph, St Nicholas gave him a scroll, saying, “Take this scroll and eat it.” Written on the scroll were the words: “Make haste, O Bountiful One, and hasten as the Merciful One to our aid, as you are able and willing.” Joseph obeyed the command and said, “How sweet are Your words to my taste!” (cf. Psalm 119:103). St Nicholas then instructed him to sing these words. After this, his chains fell off, the prison doors opened, and he walked out freely, finding himself near Constantinople in a wondrous way. Thereafter, Joseph would tirelessly sing the praises of St Nicholas, and in the Octoechos, in almost every tone, we find canons to St Nicholas signed with the name of Saint Joseph the Hymnographer.
Saint Venerable Joseph the Hymnographer. Fresco from Voroneț Monastery, Romania, 16th century.
Returning to Constantinople, St Joseph founded a monastery in a secluded spot near the Church of St John Chrysostom. Here, he transferred the relics of St Bartholomew the Apostle, which he had received in Thessaly, and built a church in his honour. Having great love for the Apostle, Joseph desired to compose hymns for his feast day but hesitated to begin by himself. For forty days, he prayed with tears, preparing for the apostle's feast. On the eve of the feast, St Bartholomew appeared to him in the altar. He laid the Holy Gospel on his chest, and blessed him to write church hymns, saying, “May the right hand of Almighty God bless you, and may streams of heavenly wisdom flow onto your tongue; may your heart be a temple of the Holy Spirit, and may your hymns delight the world.” This moment marked a turning point in Joseph’s life: a deep inner change took place, and he went on to sing the praises not only of his beloved St Bartholomew. His writings carried penitent laments to the Lord, celebrated the Most Holy Theotokos, St Nicholas, who had freed him from prison, and many other saints.
For his icon veneration, St Joseph was exiled again to Chersonesus for eleven years during the reign of Emperor Theophilus (829-842). After Theophilus' death, Empress Theodora returned him to Constantinople, and Patriarch Ignatius appointed him Skevophylax (guardian of sacred vessels) of the Hagia Sophia. Later, Patriarch Photius, who held Joseph in high regard, entrusted him with overseeing the entire ecclesiastical structure and named him the spiritual father of Constantinople’s clergy. The patriarch spoke of St Joseph as a man of God, an angel in the flesh, and a father of fathers.
Through his long life of suffering and his confession of Orthodox truths during his lengthy imprisonments, St Joseph acquired the gifts of foresight and of turning sinners to repentance. This father of fathers saw the sins that people hid from him, yet he did not rebuke them; instead, he counselled them, leading their souls to compunction and genuine repentance. Beyond his hymnography, St Joseph the Hymnographer also pleased God as a spiritual father and a founder of eldership.
Liturgical books containing the works of St Joseph the Hymnographer
St Joseph's hymns stir deep repentance. As a skilled hymnographer, he drew on his personal experience as he reflected on the lives of the saints and wove their stories into his compositions. In the canon dedicated to Venerable Joannicius the Great (4 November), he writes: “You walked, O venerable one, the narrow and sorrowful path, widened by the divine ascents of the heart and by visions.” Having himself been repeatedly imprisoned and walked the narrow path of monastic life, St Joseph knew from experience the visions that expanded his heart in divine ascent and drew him closer to God.
In the canon to the Holy Martyrs Hermylus and Stratonicus (13 January), addressing St Hermylus, he finds it in his heart to say: “Honey-flowing words issued from your lips, soothing the bitter sorrow of your fellow sufferer, Stratonicus.”
In the canon to the holy martyrs Minodora, Mitrodora, and Nymphodora (10 September), Joseph captures their courage in a few vivid lines: “Sharpened by love for the Creator, you dulled the serpent's sting, by embracing in female bodies the struggles of men.” His words about being “sharpened by love for the Creator” likely sprang from his own monastic struggles. Through such love, he suggests, the power of sin is weakened and overcome.
Near the close of Great Lent in 883, God revealed to Venerable Joseph that his end on earth was near. On Great Friday, he drew up and delivered an account of all the church property he oversaw to the patriarch, then prepared his soul for departure. After praying and partaking of the Divine Mysteries, the venerable hymnographer — in keeping with the words of Saint Demetrius of Rostov — "lifted his hands to heaven and with a radiant and joyful face surrendered his holy soul to God.” This occurred on the night of Wednesday to Thursday of Bright Week.
One friend of Saint Joseph, who was near the place where he reposed, received a vision in which he witnessed the faces of the saints — led by the Mother of God — welcome his soul and escort it from earth to heaven. These were the saints whose lives and sufferings St Joseph had celebrated in his hymns. Other revelations also confirmed that his soul was “led to heaven and brought before the face of God.” In this way, the earthly journey of one of God’s faithful servants — a confessor, a spirit-filled elder, a holy father, and hymnographer — came to an end. He not only wrote more canons than anyone else, but also created a distinct style for these liturgical works, crowning a splendid era of spiritual poetry in the Church.
Nave of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople
From his youth, even from childhood, Joseph loved God deeply. Though he experienced the pain of leaving his homeland, he found a new home in the Monastery of Thessalonica and discovered his true self in the ascetic life. Throughout his years, he carried a vibrant and active love for Christ and for the human soul. This love he recognised and celebrated in the figures of the saints whom he praised in his hymns; this love he valued and sought around him — in the prisons where he suffered, in the company of monks where he progressed through the stages of monastic life, in the challenging yet dazzling environment of Constantinople — everywhere he discerned it, acquired it, and found it. For the sake of saving and finding this soul, he also developed his remarkable poetic gift, which he primarily used to reveal and demonstrate how good the Lord is, and to call human souls to this true and living God. This call has not lost its power and reaches our souls even now during divine services.
“Do not cease to remember your flock of words, but, as when alive may you, O wise one, provide for life unperishing, delivering from bodily passions and those of the soul, O Father, through your prayers to Christ.”
(Troparion of the 9th Ode of the Canon to St Joseph the Hymnographer)
Prepared by the team of obitel-minsk.ru
Photographs from the internet
Sources used:
1. Church Hymnographers / Nun Ignatia. - Moscow: Publishing House of the Moscow Metochion of the Holy Trinity St Sergius Lavra, 2005 (Yaroslavl: Yaroslavl Printing House).
2. St Joseph the Hymnographer and His Hymnographical Work / Archpriest V.A. Rybakov. - Moscow: Russkaya Kniga, 2002. - 653 pp. / Vol. 1. - 9-262 pp.; Vol. 2.
3. Golubtsov A.P. From Readings… Part 2. Liturgics.
4. Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate 04-2008 (msu.ru)
5. 17 April. St Joseph the Hymnographer (883) (zastupnica-losinka.ru)
6. The Liturgical Legacy of St Joseph the Hymnographer | Pravmir (pravmir.ru)
