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St. Ephrem Suryoyo Day

His name is:

St. Ephrem the Syrian (Syriac: ܡܪܝ ܐܦܪܝܡ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ, Mor Afrém Suryoyo;

Greek: Ἐφραίμ ὁ Σῦρος; Latin: Ephraem Syrus; ca. 303/6 – 373)

I. Summary of the Authenticated Facts of St. Ephrem’s Life.
St. Ephrem, according to his biography, was a Syrian of Mesopotamia by birth, was born around the year 306 in the city of Nisibis (the modern Turkish town of Nusaybin, on the border with Syria) in, or before, the earliest days of the reign of Constantine the Great (A.D.306–337): His mother was of Amid (now Diyarbakir/Turkey); his father belonged to the famous City of Nisibis, near the Persian frontier. From his childhood he was preserved, by Divine grace, to be, like St. Paul, a “chosen vessel” to spread the light of truth and to quench heresy.

St. Ephrem was a disciple of St. Jacob (+338), Bishop of Nisibis city, and he lived in the city under Jacob and the three Bishops who successively followed him. St. Ephrem finally settled at Edessa, and took up his abode as a “Solitary” in a cell on the “Mount of Edessa”—a rocky hill close to the city, where many anchorites sought retreat. In Edessa St. Ephrem rose into repute as a teacher, and a defender against heresy; and no less as an ascetic and saint. The fame of St. Basil, metropolitan of Caesarea in Cappadocia (370–379), drew him from his solitude to visit that great prelate and doctor, and from him he received the diaconate. St. Ephrem is popularly credited as the founder of the School of Nisibis, which in later centuries was the centre of learning of the Church of the East. He died at an advanced age, in his retreat, in the year 373.

He was a most abundant writer, and left an immense quantity of a wide variety writings of hymns, poems, and sermons in verse, as well as prose biblical exegesis. These were works of practical theology for the edification of the church in troubled times. So popular were his works that, for centuries after his death, Christian authors wrote hundreds of pseudepigrapha (professing to be biblical but not included in any biblical canon) works in his name. St. Ephrem's works witness to an early form of Christianity in which western ideas take little part and constitute such a body of instruction in the substance of Scripture and the faith of the church, that they have justly earned for him the title of malpono of the church (a doctor and teacher of the Church). He has been called the most significant of all of the fathers of the Syriac-speaking church tradition. And not only have his Hymns done much to shape the ritual of the Syriac Churches, in which large portions of them are embodied, but to his Sermons this singular honor is paid, that lessons selected from them were appointed, and are still read, in the regular course of public worship.

The Life, as Amplified by Mediaeval Biographers.
From his childhood St. Ephrem was divinely directed to the famous St. Jacob bishop of Nisibis, and he showed himself a diligent disciple, in fasting and prayer, and in daily attendance on the teaching of the Scriptures. He frequented the Bishop’s abode, imitated his virtues, attracted his special notice, and acquired a high place in his love as well as in that of all the Church.

In Edessa, St. Ephrem at first earned a humble livelihood in the service of a bath-keeper, while giving his free time to the task of making the Scriptures known to the heathen, who then formed a large part of the population of the city. But before long he was led, by the advice of a monk whom he casually met, to join himself to one of the Solitaries (or anchorites) who dwelt in the caves of the adjacent “Mount of Edessa” (a rocky range of hills). There he passed his time in prayer, fasting, and study of the Scriptures.

But a divine intimation was sent to call him back from his retreat into active life in the city. A vision came to the Solitary under whom St. Ephrem had placed himself. This man, as he stood at midnight outside his cell after prayer and psalmody, saw an angel descending from heaven and bearing in his hands a great roll written on both sides, and heard him say to them that stood by, “To whom shall I give this volume that is in my hands?” They answered, “To Eugenius the Solitary of the desert of Egypt.” Again he asked, “Who is worthy of it?” They answered, “Julian the Solitary.” The Angel rejoined, “None among men is this day worthy of it, save Ephrem the Syriac of the Mount of Edessa.”

Work as a Teacher.—There, he gave himself to the work of refuting with his pen the heresies and misbelieves of his time, which he had thus been hindered by violence from combating in speech. Disciples gathered round him, and a school formed itself under the teacher in his retirement. The names are recorded by our narrator of Zenobius, Simeon, Isaac, Asuna, and Julian. Others add those of Abraham, Abba, and Mara. All these are named with favor in his Testament except Isaac; but two others, Paulinus and Aurit (or Arnad) are denounced as false to the Faith.

Journey to Egypt, and Sojourn There.—Thus encouraged, St. Ephrem set out on his journey, taking with him an interpreter, for he was unable to speak Greek. In the first instance, however (according to the History), he made his way, not to Cappadocia, but to a seaport (not named by the writer—but probably Alexandretta is meant) where he took ship for Egypt. In the voyage the ship encountered perils, first in a storm, and afterwards from a sea-monster, but was delivered from both by his faith, which enabled him with words of power and the sign of the cross to rebuke the winds and waves into calm, and to slay the monster. Arrived in Egypt, he made his way to the city Antino (apparently Antinoë or Antinoopolis), and thence towards the famous desert of Scete, in the Nitrian valley—then, and still, the place of many monasteries. Here he found an unoccupied cave, in which, as a cell, he and his companion took up their abode for eight years. His habits of life in this retreat—and (as it appears) at Edessa—were of the most severe. His food was barley bread, varied only by parched corn, pulse, or herbs; his drink, water; his clothing, squalid rags. His flesh was dried up like a potsherd, over his bones. He is described as being of short stature, bald, and beardless. He never laughed, but was of sad countenance.

St. Ephrem achievements.—Arrived at Edessa, St. Ephrem engaged at once in the conflict against the multiform heresies of the place, old and new. He adopted hymnody as a vehicle for teaching truth and confuting error. It appears that Harmodius, the son of Bardesan, had popularized the false teaching of his father, as embodied in a series of a hundred and fifty hymns (in profane rivalry with the Psalms of David), by setting them to attractive tunes, which caught the ear of the multitude, and inclined them to receive his doctrines.

So St. Ephrem to confute the heresies thus circulated, borrowed the tunes employed by Harmodius; and his hymns, set to these tunes, soon carried the day in favor of orthodoxy, partly by the force of their truth, partly by their superior literary power, and partly by the help of a choir formed among the young girls and nuns whom he employed to sing them, morning and evening, in the churches. Thus the rival hymnody of heresy was superseded, and the hymns of St. Ephrem gained the place they have ever since held in the Church, wherever Syriac is the ecclesiastical language,—even though it is no longer the vernacular. Thus St. Ephrem became the first who formed the choir of young girls and nuns in Christianity. A later Syriac writer, St. Jacob of Serugh, wrote that St. Ephrem rehearsed all-female choirs to sing his hymns set to Syriac folk tunes in the forum of Edessa.

St. Ephrem spent most of his long life writing voluminous commentaries on the Bible and composing hymns. He wrote numerous hymns and excelled in Mariological hymns. Abounding in labors till the last, he toiled for the suffering poor at Edessa in the famine, and there lay down to die in old age.

In a season of severe famine, he ascertained that grain was being hoarded in the stores of certain persons who gave nothing to the starving poor. When he rebuked their inhumanity, they excused themselves on the plea that none was to be found of such probity as to guarantee fairness and honesty in the distribution of relief. St. Ephrem at once offered his services, and was accepted as their agent throughout the famine season, to dispense large sums as the treasurer and steward of their bounty. Among other things, he provided three hundred letters, partly for removing the sick to stations where they were duly tended, partly for carrying the dead for interment. A body of helpers worked with him in administering relief, and their care extended not merely through the city, but to the country and villages adjacent. By doing this St. Ephrem is first among the monks of Christianity who established some kind of small hospitals.

St. Ephrem wrote a wide variety of hymns, poems, and sermons in verse, as well as prose biblical exegesis. These were works of practical theology for the edification of the church in troubled times. St. Ephrem's works witness to an early form of Christianity in which western ideas take little part. The church historian Sozomen credits St. Ephrem with having written over three million lines. St. Ephrem combines in his writing a threefold heritage: he draws on the models and methods of early Rabbinic Judaism, he engages skillfully with Greek science and philosophy, and he delights in the Mesopotamian/Persian tradition of mystery symbolism.

Death and Burial.— The year of famine ended, a year of plenty ensued; St. Ephrem returned to his cell,—this time to leave it no more. St. Ephrem succumbed to the plague as he ministered to its victims. The most reliable date for his death is June 9th, 373. But according to the History of Vatican, his death occurred in Haziran (June) 15th. He died a month after the close of the charitable labors. Of them his biographer, following for once the better instinct which recognizes higher worth in services of love than in ascetic practices or in miraculous pretensions, writes thus:—“God gave him this occasion that therein he might win the crown in the close of his life.”

Soon after St. Ephrem's death, legendary accounts of his life began to circulate. One of the earlier 'modifications' is the statement that Ephrem's father was a pagan priest of Abizal or Abnil. However, internal evidence from his authentic writings suggests that he was raised by Christian parents. This legend may be anti-pagan polemic or reflect his father's status prior to converting to Christianity.
St. Ephrem is venerated as an example of monastic discipline in Eastern Christianity. In the Eastern Orthodox scheme of hagiography, St. Ephrem is counted as a Venerable Father (i.e., a sainted Monk). His feast day is celebrated on 28 January and on the Saturday of the Venerable Fathers (Cheesefare Saturday), which is the Saturday before the beginning of Great Lent.

Even in the time of Gregory of Nyssa, an annual commemoration of St. Ephrem had become customary in the Church, which gave occasion for the Encomium above referred to. In the East, it was held on the 28th of January; but in the Roman Martyrology his name is recorded on the 1st of February.

On 5 October 1920, Pope Benedict XV proclaimed St. Ephrem a Doctor of the Church. This proclamation was made before critical editions of St. Ephrem's authentic writings were available.

In the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, St. Ephrem is counted as a Venerable Saint, Doctor and Father of the Church, for monks St. Ephrem is source of monasticism (i.e., a sainted Monk). His feast day is celebrated on June 9, (the date of his death), and on the Saturday of repentance, which is the first Saturday of Great Lent. Nowadays, the Church moved his day to 2nd Sunday of the Great Lent.

The most popular title for St. Ephrem in the Syriac Orthodox Church is Harp of the Spirit (Syriac: ܟܢܪܐ ܕܪܘܚܐ, Kenoro d-Ruho). He is also referred to as the Deacon of Edessa, the Sun of the Syrians and a Pillar of the Church.

“Today, Saint Ephrem presents an engaging model of Asian Christianity, which might prove a valuable source of theological insight for Christian communities that wish to break out of the European cultural mold. St. Ephrem also shows that poetry is not only a valid vehicle for theology, but is in many ways superior to philosophical discourse for the purpose of doing theology. He also encourages a way of reading the Holy Bible that is rooted more in faith than in critical analysis. St. Ephrem displays a deep sense of the interconnectedness of all created things, which could develop his role in the church into that of a 'saint of ecology'. There are modern studies into St. Ephrem's view of women that see him as a champion of women in the church. Other studies have focused on the importance of 'healing' imagery in St. Ephrem.”

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Meditation
Living within a Christian milieu that consists of ideas tempered strongly with evangelicalism, we sometimes miss or overlook our rich heritage of the sacramental understanding of the faith.

St. Ephrem is the light and glory of the Syriac Church. A mere youth, he entered on the religious life at Nisibis, his native place. Long years of retirement taught him the science of the Saints and then God called him to Edessa, there to teach what he had learned so well. All this happened because he gave himself completely to the Lord.

He defended the faith against heresies, in books which have made him known as the Prophet of the Syrians. Crowds hung upon his words. Tears used to stop his voice when he preached. He trembled and made his hearers tremble at the thought of God's judgments; but he found in compunction and humility the way to peace, and he rested with unshaken confidence in the mercy of our Blessed Lord. "I am setting out," he says, speaking of his own death, "I am setting out on a journey hard and dangerous. You, O Son of God, I have taken for my Viaticum. When I am hungry, I will feed on You. The infernal fire will not venture near me, for it cannot bear the fragrance of Your Body and Your Blood." His hymns won the hearts of the people, drove out the hymns of the Gnostic heretics, and gained for him the title which he bears in the Syriac Liturgy to this day—"the Harp of the Holy Ghost." Passionate as he was by nature, from the time he entered religion no one ever saw him angry.

What was the secret of success so various and so complete? Humility, which made him distrust himself and trust God. Till his death, he wept for the slight sins committed in the thoughtlessness of boyhood. He refused the dignity of the priesthood. "I," he told St. Basil, whom he went to see at the bidding of the Holy Spirit, "I am that Ephrem who have wandered from the path of heaven." Then bursting into tears, he cried out, "O my father, have pity on a sinful wretch, and lead me on the narrow way." Humility is the path which leads to abiding peace and brings us near to the consolations of God.

I hereby chosen for you from St. Ephrem which is how to scrutinize and reproach ourselves as St. Ephrem wrote on himself, let us meditate on his words:

“After having gained knowledge of the truth, I have become a brawler and an offender. I argue over trifles; I have become envious of and callous toward my neighbor, merciless toward beggars, wrathful, argumentative, obstinate, slothful, and irritable. I harbor vile thoughts, I love fancy clothing. And to this day I have many corrupt thoughts and fits of selfishness, gluttony, sensuality, vainglory, arrogance, lust, gossiping, breaking of fasts, despondency, rivalry, and indignation.
I am worthless, but think much of myself. I lie constantly, but get angry with liars. I defile the temple of my body with wanton thoughts, but sternly judge the wanton. I condemn those who fall, but myself fall constantly. I condemn slanderers and thieves, but am myself both a thief and a slanderer. I walk with a bright countenance, although I am altogether impure.

In churches and at banquets I always want to take the place of honor. I see hermits and act dignified; I see monks and I become pompous. I strive to appear pleasing to women, dignified to strangers, intelligent and reasonable to my neighbors, superior to intellectuals. With the righteous I act as if I possess vast wisdom; the unintelligent I disdain as illiterates.

If I am offended, I take revenge. If I am honored, I shun those who honor me. If someone demands of me what is rightfully his, I start a suit. And those who tell me the truth I consider enemies. When my error is exposed, I get angry, but I am not so dissatisfied when people flatter me.

I do not want to honor those who are worthy but I myself, who am unworthy, demand honor. I do not want to tire myself with work, but if someone fails to serve me I get angry with him. I do not want to walk among laborers, but if someone fails to help me in my work I slander him.

I arrogantly deny my brother when he is in need, but when I have need of something, I turn to him. I hate those who are ill, but when I myself am ill I wish that everyone would love me. I do not want to know those who are higher than I, and I scorn those who are lower.

If I abstain from indulging my foolish desires, I praise myself vaingloriously. If I succeed in vigilance, I fall into the snares of conceit and contradiction. If I refrain from eating, I drown in pride and arrogance. If I am wakeful in prayer, I am vanquished by irritability and wrath. If I see virtue in someone, I studiously ignore him.
I have scorned worldly pleasures, but do not abandon my vain desire for them. If I see a woman, I go into raptures. To all appearances I am wise in humility, but in my soul I am haughty. I seem not to be acquisitive, but in reality I suffer from a mania for possessions. And what good is it to dwell on such things? I appear to have forsaken the world, but in fact I still think about worldly things all the time.

During services I always occupy myself with conversations, wandering thoughts, and vain recollections. During meals I indulge in idle chatter. I yearn for gifts. I participate in the sinful falls of others and engage in ruinous rivalry.

Such is my life! With what vileness do I obstruct my own salvation! And my arrogance, my vainglory does not permit me to think about my sores that I might cure myself. Behold my virtuous feats! See how vast are the regiments of sins which the enemy sends to campaign against me! Yet in the face of all this, I who am wretched endeavor to boast of sanctity. I live in sin, but want others to honor me as a righteous man.

In all this I have but one thing to say in my defense: the devil has ensnared me. But this did not suffice to absolve Adam of his sin. Cain was of course also prompted by the devil, but he did not escape condemnation either. What shall I do if the Lord comes to me? I have no means to justify my negligence.

I fear that I shall be numbered among those whom Paul called vessels of wrath, who will share the devil's fate and whom God, because of their contempt for Him, has committed to the passions of degradation. Thus there is the danger that I will be sentenced to the same fate.

If You would save me, who am unworthy, O Merciful Lord, vouchsafe me, a sinner, repentance; enliven my soul deadened by sins, O Giver of Life. Drive out the stony hardness that is in my miserable heart and grant me a fountain of contrition, O You who poured forth life to us from Your life-creating rib.”

Let us pray with St. Ephrem saying:
O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despondency, lust for power and idle talk.

But grant me, Your servant, a spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love.
O Lord and King, grant me to see mine own faults and not to judge my brothers and sisters.

 
For blessed are You unto ages of ages. Amen.

To read his life click on Saints life