The Church today venerates the memory of Romanos the Melodist.
St. Romanos flourished during the reign of Anastasius, in the late fifth and early sixth centuries.
He was from Emesa of Syria, and apparently was born of Jewish parents. Romanos was baptized an Orthodox Christian, and at some point became a deacon in the Church of Beirut. He was the first composer of the kontakia, the foremost of which is the feast of Christ’s Nativity.