18
June 373 A.D. Ephem
the Syrian Dies
Graves, Dan. “Ephrem the Syrian.” Christianity.com. Apr 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/301-600/ephrem-the-syrian-11629675.html.
Accessed 3 May 2014.
St. Ephrem the Syrian was born
about 306 at Nisibis in Mesopotamia. When the Persians forced Emperor Jovianus
to relinquish Nisibis, Ephrem and many other Christians migrated to Edessa. Ephrem was
already a famed teacher. In Edessa he either joined or founded a school of
Bible interpretation which was neither as literal as that of Antioch nor as
devoted to finding types in every Scripture as was that of Alexandria. He was
the school's foremost representative.
During his years at Edessa,
Ephrem lived in a cave, eating only barley bread and vegetables. Bald, short,
without a beard, shriveled in his skin, he was a true ascetic. Nonetheless he
took an active part in the affairs of the city where his dirty, patched robe
must have made him a comical sight.
The Roman Catholic church finds
support for much of its teaching in his work. Centuries before the doctrine of
the Immaculate Conception became official dogma, Ephrem taught it. He believed
in the real presence of Christ in the bread and wine, taught the primacy of
Peter, purgatory, intercession of the saints, original sin and more.
St. Ephrem wrote many hymns. He
so emphasized their place in formal worship that the practice spread from
Edessa to the whole Christian world. He saw hymns as a means of Christian
education. Hence many of his songs take faith as their theme. Others were
written to counter the heresies of Marcion, Manes (founder of Manicheism) and
Bardesanes. Some treat of crucifixion, paradise, the church and even virginity.
These were widely sung and "lent luster to the Christian assemblies,"
according to one early church historian. The Syrians call him "the Harp of
the Holy Ghost."
He produced commentaries on
virtually the whole Bible. Of Christ he wrote this beautiful tribute: "He
alone sufficeth for all, yet none for him sufficeth. Altar he is and lamb,
victim and sacrificer, priest as well as food." His work was highly
influential and was reproduced in the Georgian, Slavic, Coptic, Arabic, Greek
and Latin languages. Jerome, famed as the translator who gave the church the
Vulgate Bible, said of Ephrem that "his writings are publicly read in some
churches after the Sacred Scriptures."
Ephrem's last public act was to
distribute grain to Edessa's starving poor during a famine. No one else was
trusted for the task. He is believed to have died old and withered on this day,
June 18, 373. June 18 is his feast
day. In 1920 he became the only Syrian father honored by the Roman church as a
doctor of the universal church.
Bibliography:
1. "Ephraem Syrus, St."
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A.
Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
2. Labourt, Jerome. "Ephraem,
St." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
3. "St. Ephrem, Doctor of the
Church," in Butler's Lives of the Saints. Various editions.
4. Various encyclopedia and internet
articles.
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