There are many ways to glorify the Lord. But during worship services, many are attracted by the beauty of church singing. Temples usually value workers who can sing beautifully and know all the intricacies of rituals. One of these people was Saint Roman the Sweet Singer, as evidenced by his nickname.
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Prayer to St. Roman the Sweet Singer
“Oh, our blessed father, Roman the Sweet Singer! Look down from the height of glory upon us, the humble and weak, for your help and consolation as we ask. Reach out to us with your compassion and help us to preserve the commandments of the Lord immaculately, to firmly maintain the Orthodox faith, and to diligently bring repentance for our sins to God.
Teach us, who are ignorant of Christ, to work for Him with fear and rejoice with trembling. Deliver us from sadness and despondency, drive away pride and love of glory from us, so that we may sing the glory of God, and may we only desire the glory of heaven.
Oh, holy father, instill in us unfeigned love for our neighbors, uncomplaining obedience to our superiors and the fear of God in our hearts. Grant us to know the sweetness of renunciation of our will, and with strong faith in the good Providence of God for the salvation of man, sanctify our souls. Grant us a blessing from the Lord, so that we may bear the good yoke of Christ in long-suffering until the end of our days, so that we may be honored with the wise virgins to enter into the bridal chamber of our Heavenly Bridegroom and, together with the Angels, sing the glory of His greatness, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen."
Read other prayers to St. Roman the Sweet Singer.
Life path
The righteous man was born in the 5th century, lived in Syria, but was of Greek origin. When he reached adolescence, he moved to Constantinople, where he entered the temple. Since childhood, I dreamed of devoting myself to serving the Lord. His faith and zeal did not escape the attention of the patriarch, which aroused the envy of those around him. There was a period when the life of Roman the Sweet Singer was quite difficult.
Some priests began to persecute the young man because he was uneducated and also had no talent for singing. This offended Roman very much, but he decided to endure everything patiently in the name of Christ.
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One day, during a large festive service, temple employees pushed a young man out of the altar. He was overcome with embarrassment, his voice trembled, and he could not solemnly and clearly sing the necessary prayer. Roman the Sweet Singer was very upset, and when he came home, he began to earnestly pray to the Most Holy Theotokos.
Troparion to Saint Roman the Sweet Singer, tone 3
“Through the feat of fasting, prayer and vigil,/ through the depth of faith and humility/ you fell from your youth of the old man,/ becoming like the angelic life,/ like the Venerable Roman the Sweet Singer,/ to You were worthy of the appearance of the Mother of God, / even commanded the wondrous scroll to be taken down, / and thus taught You are the gift of song-making, / you sang like the Angels of Heaven, / the glory of the Son of God Incarnate from Ney. / Praying for us to the Lord, / to grant to all who sing Christ the Giver of Life / agreement peace, // peace and great mercy.”
Finding a Gift
That night a great miracle happened to him. The Virgin Mary herself descended from heaven and gave him a scroll, ordering him to swallow it. The icon of Roman the Sweet Singer reflects this moment. He received a gift - a sonorous, beautiful voice, as well as the gift of composing church hymns. To do this, it is not enough to have literary talent - you must understand all church dogmas very well. At the same hour, the singer composed the kontakion of the Nativity, which is still sung by all believers on the festive night.
The next day he sang it in the temple, everyone was amazed. The chant was very beautiful and well written. And the execution is divine. Therefore, the young man received the nickname “Sweet Singer”. Former enemies who oppressed Roman repented of treating him badly. The meek young man forgave them.
- Roman the Sweet Singer wrote more than a thousand troparions, kontakions and akathists.
- His performance was the decoration of any service; the modest deacon made a huge contribution to the development of the beauty of Orthodox worship.
- What are akathist, kontakion and troparion;
- You can learn about the lives of the forty martyrs of Sebaste here;
- Nectarius of Aegina - prayer, icon, life - .
A strong character
We have already found out when Roman’s name day is celebrated, and now we will find out what character traits are characteristic of him. As a rule, little Roma is very active and inquisitive. He asks a lot of questions and always gets clear answers. Most often, Roman is stubborn and purposeful. No matter what happens, he always achieves his goals.
In adolescence, boys with this name continue to show their character. They try to distance themselves from their parents and show that they have already grown up. Roman is a strong and independent guy who always knows what he needs. In fact, he is very sincere and kind, but he rarely shows this to strangers.
From the outside, Roman may seem cruel and rude, but this is not so. He easily makes acquaintances, especially with the female half. It cannot be said that Roman is monogamous, but despite this, if he marries, he will be a wonderful father and faithful husband.
Since Roman's name day is celebrated 22 times a year, this name is suitable for every zodiac sign. A successful match for Roman would be girls named: Anna, Maria, Sofia, Alexandra, Elena.
We advise you to study Short Evening Prayers
Who are the saints?
Where did the need to give definitions (faces) of saints come from and who are the saints?
A saint is not only and not so much an ascetic - that is, a person who outwardly devoted himself to service, asceticism and labor not for himself, but for God. A person can be an ascetic, but not a saint.
A saint is one who has acquired the Grace of the Holy Spirit. And in which the presence of the Holy Spirit was or became obvious to those around him.
(Sometimes the understanding that a person was a saint comes after his death, and sometimes already during the person’s life it is obvious to everyone that canonization - that is, recognition of him as a saint by the entire Church - is a matter of time)
Holiness does not mean that a person was necessarily endowed with any supernatural abilities - the gift of clairvoyance or the ability to heal - although, more often than not, saints discovered incredible Gifts in themselves. Nor does it mean that every seer is a saint.
The Church's canonization of one or another ascetic carries two goals:
- pay tribute to a saint;
- set an example of the path to holiness, so that everyone living on earth can find an inspiring or encouraging example for themselves.
The host of saints is a reminder of how varied the path to Heaven can be already here on earth. It's an encouraging (or sobering) reminder that you don't have to be a monk to become a saint. You don't have to be killed for Christ to become a saint. You don't have to be homeless and blessed to become a saint. The ways of the Lord are inscrutable, and holiness is determined not by the external form in which the life of this or that person has been clothed - but by his internal attitude towards life, God and Eternity.
Ancient icon of the Appearance of the Mother of God to St. Sergius of Radonezh
What kind of saints are there?
Here are some of the most famous faces of saints.
The apostles are:
Disciples of Jesus Christ. There were not twelve of them, but much more, although twelve of them were considered His closest Disciples. Moreover, the word “apostle” itself is not equivalent to the word “saint,” since Judas was also and is called an apostle, but it was he who betrayed Christ...
The four Gospels were written by the apostles: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
The faithful are:
Such a face was awarded to monarchs or princes who, instead of strengthening their earthly power, tried to strengthen Christian faith and piety both in themselves and around them, and this is what they unconditionally put in first place in their lives. For example, the holy noble prince Daniel of Moscow. In his honor there is a monastery of St. Danilov in Moscow.
The blessed ones (they are also the holy fools) are:
Saints who have taken the path of outwardly looking like a madman, a homeless person, a fool and an eccentric. Perhaps this is one of the most difficult feats to explain, and in any case it was not their “choice”, but a Calling...
We advise you to study Prayers to Peter and Fevronia
With their lives, they caused ridicule from others on the one hand (and thus, in the end, they achieved holy humility), and on the other hand, many of them helped to see spiritually (or simply helped) the poor, the orphans, and those who really need help . For example, Blessed Ksenia of St. Petersburg.
An icon of Saint Blessed Xenia of Petersburg, who took upon herself the feat of foolishness after the sudden death of her husband.
Martyrs are:
- Those who gave their lives for faith and Christ.
- Great martyrs are those who endured especially difficult trials and torment.
- Hieromartyrs are priests (monks or non-monks) killed for their faith.
- Venerable martyrs are slain saints.
- New martyrs - those who fell in the persecution of the Church in the 20th century. Basically, we are talking about post-revolutionary Russia and Stalin’s repressions.
Reverends are:
We talked about this in detail at the beginning. Reverends are saints who were monks in earthly life, but did not receive the rank of bishop: that is, by calling they had a life similar to angels.
Equal to the Apostles are:
Saints, thanks to whom a large number of people were baptized or believed - that is, whose feat was equal to that of the apostles. For example, Saint Nicholas of Japan, who at the beginning of the 20th century baptized thousands of Japanese, was canonized among the Equal-to-the-Apostles - an absolute miracle, given the mentality of this people and its rootedness in traditions.
Passion-bearers are:
Saints who were killed not for faith (that is, for a call to renounce it or from Christ), but for keeping the Commandments or for the very idea of \u200b\u200bpiety. For example, Emperor Nicholas II.
Miracle Workers are:
None of the saints sought supernatural abilities for themselves; most were even burdened by them. However, the Lord is generous to people of holy life, and the path of some of them for the Church and the people is associated primarily with miracles: clairvoyance, healings... And in prayers they are addressed with special hope - to miraculously change the existing state of affairs: disorder, illness, personal weaknesses.
In Russia, for example, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is especially revered.
Rare photo: Venerable Elder Paisiy Svyatogorets feeding a bird.
early life
The Roman Sweet Singer is revered by the Church as a man of holy life, a servant of God, and an outstanding songwriter.
Little is known about the details of Roman's early life. According to various estimates, he was of Greek or Syrian origin. Born in the 5th century, on the territory of Syria, in the city of Emesa.
From childhood, to the best of his age, he tried to lead a pious life, looking for how to please God.
Having matured, he firmly decided to live a virgin, chaste life. For some time, Roman served as a sexton in one of the Christian churches of Berit (the modern name of the city: Beirut).
Knowledge in law
His creations were also influenced by his stay at the center of jurisprudence. In his creations, he often carries a legal thought, where his good lawyer and investigative skills are felt.
It is not known why Saint Romanus left Beirut and went to Constantinople, but there are some assumptions that he moved there in 512, when the Orthodox Patriarch Flavian of Antioch was deposed, and the theologian and monophysite Severus of Antioch came to his place.
During his reign, serious oppression of Orthodox ministers began. Beirut was a prominent center along with the Church of the Resurrection
And Saint Romanos, who sculpted kontakia and always professed Orthodoxy and pro-Chalcedonian views, certainly could have immediately attracted attention and become an expelled victim of the Monophysite church rulers. Or perhaps he himself left, unable to withstand the oppression
An indirect confirmation of this is the kontakion of the Three Youths.
Pedagogical and compositional activities of the saint
Surrounded by universal love, Deacon Roman began to teach singing to everyone, selecting those who were especially gifted among them. Using the gift given to him from above, he was engaged in serious work in organizing church choirs in Constantinople and was very successful in this field. Thanks to his efforts, church singing acquired a splendor and harmony unprecedented before.
In addition, Saint Roman the Sweet Singer also became famous as the author of many liturgical hymns. He owns more than a thousand hymns and prayers, sung for many centuries. Nowadays, not a single Orthodox holiday is complete without the performance of his works. The akathist he wrote to the Annunciation of the Mother of God became especially famous. It is performed annually during Lent. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that it was the model on the basis of which akathists were written in all subsequent centuries.
Reverence
Shortly before his death, God's servant took monastic vows. After his death he was canonized. Often the talented minister is depicted together with the Virgin Mary, surrounded by believers singing in the temple.
There is also a separate icon of him.
- On it is a handsome young man in the vestments of a deacon. This is a surplice and an orarion (ribbon thrown over the shoulder).
- In his right hand he holds a censer, or it is raised to make the sign of the cross.
- In the left hand there may be an unrolled scroll, on which the text of the most famous kontakion composed by the minister is indicated. Or it may be a rolled scroll; sometimes - an image of a church building (the temple in which the saint served).
- There is a very interesting icon in which the Most Pure Virgin stands over the sleeping Roman the Sweet Singer. She holds a scroll in her hands, after swallowing which the saint received his blessed gift.
- Also very often, the great church author is depicted on the icon of the Intercession.
In Russia, there are several churches consecrated in the name of Roman the Sweet Singer - in St. Petersburg, Nizhnekamsk, etc. There is such a temple in Kyiv.
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This saint is especially revered by those who are involved in church singing or simply the art of music. It also helps in other situations:
- when developing the talent of a performer, poet;
- when protecting against envy;
- when gaining confidence and in other difficult situations.
People bearing the name Roman can ask for his intercession every day. You can pray near the icon if there is no temple nearby in the name of this saint.
Orthodox and church holidays and fasts
Today is an Orthodox church holiday: St. Mitrofan, Patriarch of Constantinople. Venerable Methodius, Abbot of Peshnoshsky... Tomorrow:
Hieromartyr Dorotheos, Bishop of Tyre. Transfer of the relics of the blessed prince of Kyiv Igor, Chernigov miracle worker. Blessed Prince Theodore Yaroslavich, Novgorod. Venerable Peter of Korishsky. Venerable Vassian and Jonah of Pertominsk, Solovetsky Wonderworkers... Holidays are expected: 06/19/2020
- St. Vissarion, wonderworker of Egypt and St. Hilarion the New, from the Dalmatian monastery.
Saint Jonah, Bishop of Great Perm. Venerable Paisius of Uglich... 06/20/2020
- Hieromartyr Theodotus of Ancyra...
06/21/2020
- Great Martyr Theodore Stratilates. Saint Theodore, Bishop of Suzdal. Passion-Bearers of the Blessed Princes Vasily and Konstantin of Yaroslavl...
All Orthodox and church holidays and fasts...
Roman's name day in 2021 according to the church calendar
- January 18 Roman, martyr
- February 11 Roman Samosatsky, martyr
- February 16 Roman Uglichsky, prince
- March 2 Roman, Rev.
- March 2 Roman, Rev.
- March 29 Roman Pariysky, martyr
- May 15 Boris (baptized Roman), passion-bearer, prince
- June 13 Roman of Nicomedia, martyr
- August 1 Roman Olegovich, Ryazan, martyr, prince
- 3 August Roman Medved, confessor, archpriest
- August 6 Boris (baptized Roman), passion-bearer, prince
- August 11 Roman Kirzhachsky, Rev.
- 15 August Roman
- August 23 Roman of Rome, martyr
- September 8 Roman Medved, confessor, archpriest
- September 16 Roman Marchenko, martyr, priest
- September 24 Roman, martyr
- October 8 Roman, martyr
- October 14 Roman Sweet Singer, Constantinople, deacon
- November 13 Roman
- December 1 Roman of Caesarea, Antioch, martyr, deacon
- December 10 Roman of Antioch (Syrian), hermit
