st. john of damascus (676-749 - Cristo Raul

"
CONCLUSION. 215
ninth century, in the Greek they are found a century
earlier; that is, in the age of John of Damascus. But,
whatever be the exact nature of the improvements he
introduced into Church music,
it is evident that, like
the Emperor Julian before him, 1 he saw the value of
choral music as a help to divine worship, and brought
to bear on it the same genius for method and system
that he had applied to doctrinal theology. The highflown
epithets attached to his name in the servicebooks
of the Greek Church, "sweet-breathing organ
lute of charming
of spiritual songs," "heavenly
"
sound,"
and the like, testify
at least to the grateful
appreciation of his merits shown by the members of
his own communion. As a hymn-writer, there can
be no question of the high place to be assigned to
John Damascene. Whatever difficulty there may be
in drawing the line between compositions certainly
his, and others bearing the name of John the Monk,"
or "John Arclas," enough remains of undisputed
chief of
the Greek this hymnodists."
may, perhaps, in
authorship to justify the title given him of
And
the end give him the truest claim on the admiration
of posterity. His services will not be forgotten, as
the preserver of ancient learning, as the gatherer of
Christian doctrines into a system, as the opponent
alike of imperialism and Mahometanism, as the
" 1
He gave orders at Alexandria for the education of talented
boys for the public performance of temple-singing.
To good
singers he opened the best Ullmann s
prospects."
"Gregory
:
of Nazianzum" (tr. by Cox), p. 86 n. Ullmannadds "Would
that the efforts thus made by Julian for his faith might find more
imitators among Christians !"