A writer of sacred music would hardly have been expected to lead anything approaching an adventuresome, perhaps stormy life. Yet that was precisely the kind of life led by one of the foremost writers of religious music. On the contrary, his life encompassed the controversial, the daring, and the adventuresome…
Joseph was born in the eventful ninth century during the reign of the iconoclast Emperor Theophilos (832). His early years in Sicily were uneventful even for such a quarrelsome period, but his bravery asserted itself when the island was overrun by hordes of vandals and barbarians from the mainland. Because he dared to resist the invader, he was singled out as a prized trophy sought by the vandals. After harassing the enemy, and with the odds overwhelmingly against him, he managed to escape after several close calls. Joseph eluded the havoc wrecked by the invader by spiriting his family and himself out of Sicily to Greece, much to the consternation of the vandals.
This early chapter set the pattern for the rest of his turbulent life. Having settled in Thessalonike, it appeared he would have had a trouble-free career when he joined the Monastery of St. Antipas in Constantinople. But the serenity he sought was shattered when he took up the cause of the Iconophiles during the iconoclastic controversy. Emperor Theophilos had removed the icons from the churches and was severely punishing the Iconophiles who dared to defy him. Not one to dodge an issue, Joseph joined the controversy vigorously, publicly defending the holy icons and openly defying the emperor. Consequently, Joseph was persecuted, abused, and set upon with such intensity that he might as well have remained an elusive guerrilla in Sicily. The great Iconoclastic controversy reached its peak during this time. When several clergymen, Joseph among them, were banished for their opposition, he fled to Rome. After the death of Theophilos and the restoration of the icons, Joseph joyfully boarded a ship with the hope of enjoying a peaceful monastic life. The ship never made port. Joseph was captured by pirates who cast him into a wretched prison in Crete.
In this implausible setting, Joseph started writing his beautiful hymns. During his years of imprisonment at the hands of pirates, he prolifically composed the sacred music still sung in the church today. He did not limit himself to his music writing, but also devoted himself to converting many of those about him to Christianity….
After release from prison, Joseph acquired some relics of St. Bartholomew and erected a church to the saint’s memory. Later he was exiled when he criticized Caesar Bardas’ divorce of his wife. After an exile of many years, he returned to Constantinople after the death of Bardas.
At long last Joseph was accorded the honor of a high position by the…Patriarch Photios, who afforded him the opportunity to write his lovely hymns. This ultimately led to his recognition as St. Joseph the Hymnographer. The hymn writer who had eluded death many times, who had survived long imprisonment and long periods of exile, and who had seen enough intrigue and excitement for a dozen lifetimes, died quietly in Constantinople on 3 April 886.
(Excerpted from Orthodox Saints Vol. 2, by George Poulos)
Hymns by St. Joseph the Hymnographer in the St. Ambrose Hymnal are “Stars of the Morning” (222) for feasts of the Holy Angels and “Let us Now Our Voices Raise” (#251) for feasts of the Martyrs.