a.d. 516. Procopius. His signature appears in the Letter of John of Jerusalem.
a.d. 700-760. St. Cosmas, Hymnologist, surnamed Μελωδός. He acquired the appellation of Hagiopolites, on account of his proficiency in polite literature. Having been captured by the Saracens, he was carried to Damascus, and had the honour to be preceptor of St. John Damascene, his foster-brother.
St. Cosmas, like his friend, St. John Damascene. became a monk of St. Sabas, and against his will was consecrated Bishop of Mayoumas, by John, Patriarch of Jerusalem, the same who ordained St. John Damascene, priest. Dr. Neale considers him the most learned of Greek Church poets. After ministering his diocese with great holiness, he departed this life in a good old age, and is commemorated on October 14.
FOOTNOTES:
[21] Also called Asclepius. He was on the side of St. Athanasius.
[22] Meyer's History of the City of Gaza, p. 64.
[23] "Till a.d. 536 the names of the Bishops of Gaza were preserved in the records of the Council of Jerusalem" (Meyer, p. 67).
According to Meyer, p. 69, from the sixth to the twelfth centuries, Gaza was an Episcopal See of the Latin Church.
In the sixth century, reference is made by Theodosius to a Bishop Suffragan of Gaza.
The Archimandrite Metaxakis states that in the Kalendar of the Abyssinian Saints there is a Feast of St. John, Bishop of Gaza, on April 6, but the Ethiopic Kalendar, according to Neale (History of the Holy Eastern Church, vol. ii), does not include this name.