His lifetime appears to have been passed in comparative peace. Mohammed having died before completing the conquest of Syria, the Moslem rule before whose advance Oriental Christianity was to lose its first field of triumph had not yet asserted its persecuting power in the north. This devout monk, in his meditations at St. Sabas, dwelt much upon the birth and the resurrection of Christ, and made hymns to celebrate them. It was probably four hundred years before Bonaventura (?) wrote the Christmas "Adeste Fideles" of the Latin West that John of Damascus composed his Greek "Adeste Fideles" for a Resurrection song in Jerusalem. Come ye faithful, raise the strain Of triumphant gladness. * * * * * 'Tis the spring of souls today Christ hath burst His prison; From the frost and gloom of death Light and life have risen. The nobler of the two hymns preserved to us, (or six stanzas of it) through eleven centuries is entitled "The Day of Resurrection." The day of resurrection, Earth, tell its joys abroad: The Passover of gladness, The Passover of God. From death to life eternal, From earth unto the sky, Our Christ hath brought us over, With hymns of victory. Our hearts be pure from evil, That we may see aright The Lord in rays eternal Of resurrection light; And, listening to His accents, May hear, so calm and plain, His own, "All hail!" and hearing, May raise the victor-strain. Now let the heavens be joyful, Let earth her song begin, Let all the world keep triumph, All that dwell therein. In grateful exultation, Their notes let all things blend, For Christ the Lord is risen, O joy that hath no end! Both these hymns of John of Damascus were translated by John Mason Neale. _THE TUNE._ "The Day of Resurrection" is sung in the modern hymnals to the tune of "Rotterdam," composed by Berthold of Tours, born in that city of the Netherlands, Dec. 17, 1838. He was educated at the conservatory in Leipsic, and later made London his permanent residence, writing both vocal and instrumental music. Died 1897. "Rotterdam" is a stately, sonorous piece and conveys the flavor of the ancient hymn. "Come ye faithful" has for its modern interpreter Sir Arthur Sullivan, the celebrated composer of both secular and sacred works, but best known in hymnody as author of the great Christian march, "Onward Christian Soldiers."