Saint John shortened the rite of the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, streamlined the rite of worship, enriched the all-night vigil and introduced into each liturgical rite a small doxology (“Glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit”), which until then had not been so widely used. The Follow-up to Holy Communion includes five of his prayers (2nd, 4th, 8th, 9th and “I believe, Lord, and confess...”), the evening prayers include his 24 prayers, according to the number of hours of the day and night,
John the Great, Venerable († 846; commemorated November 4) - hermit and wonderworker of the 9th century, labored on Mount Trihalix in Asia Minor. When singing psalms, he added to each verse of the psalms the prayer that was included in our evening rule: “My hope is the Father...”.
Cosmas Maiumsky (in another spelling - Kozma Mayumsky) is a great Byzantine songwriter of the 8th century († c. 787; commemorated October 12). Compiler of canons for many holidays, including Holy Week, Maundy Thursday, Pentecost, Christmas and other twelve holidays. Author of the chant “More honorable Cherub...”. The book presents and explains his honors for the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord, Epiphany, Presentation of the Lord, Transfiguration of the Lord, Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Monk Cosmas was taken as an orphan to the home of the parents of John of Damascus and thus became a fellow pupil, friend and associate of this great songwriter. He labored in the famous monastery of St. Savva the Sanctified in Palestine. Around 735 he was installed as bishop of Maiuma, a port city in Palestine.
Macarius the Great (Egyptian), venerable († c. 390; commemorated January 19). At the age of 30, he went into the desert, where he labored for about 60 years and became famous as one of the greatest ascetics. His ascetic teachings and conversations have been preserved (some of them were included in the collection “Philokalia”), in which the grace-filled teaching on prayer is expressed.
In the modern cell prayer rule, St. Macarius the Great has four morning prayers and two for those who are to go to bed (1st, p. 78, and 4th, p. 85).
Peter of Studium, a monk of the famous Studite monastery, a student of St. Theodore the Studite, lived in the 9th century and is known as the author of the 9th prayer for the future - to the Most Holy Theotokos.
Roman the Sweet Singer, Venerable (I c. 556; commemorated October 1), famous hymn-writer of the 6th century. The creator of the kontakion genre - a hymn consisting of a large number of stanzas, identical in the number of verses and their rhythmic organization (present-day kontakia are only a remnant of medieval kontakia; in ancient times, kontakia were even more popular than today's akathists, people sang them even on the streets). The Monk Roman wrote hundreds of kontakia. The history of the creation of the kontakion of the Nativity of Christ from the life of St. Roman.
Simeon Metaphrastus - famous Byzantine writer, courtier, copyist of many lives of saints, secret ascetic († c. 940). He owns the 3rd prayer for Holy Communion, the verses “Thou shalt be horrified, O man, in vain...” and the 3rd prayer for Communion.
Simeon the New Theologian, Venerable († 1021; commemorated March 12). The 6th prayer for Holy Communion belongs to him.
Theostirikt (Theoktirist), venerable, confessor (IIX century; commemorated February 29) - monk of the Medicean desert in Bithynia (Asia Minor). He suffered from the iconoclasts and recorded a brief history of persecution against icons and icon-worshipers in the biography he compiled of his mentor Nikita the Confessor, Abbot of Medicia. All Orthodox Christians are well aware of his only work - the prayer canon to the Most Holy Theotokos.