Saint John of Damascus

Saint John of Damascus was a prolific Church Father from the 8th Century. He is best known for his defense of the holy images against the Iconoclasts and for his "Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith". He was also a skilled hymnographer, writing such masterpieces as the Canon for Pascha, the Iambic Canons of Nativity, Theophany, and Pentecost, and the eight Dogmatic Theotokia. It is he who is responsible for the formulation of the modes of Byzantine Chant.