Ephrem
was born about the year 306 in Nisibis in Mesopotamia and is the only
Syrian Doctor of the Church. He was a vigorous defender of the Faith,
taking it upon himself to expose and combat many false doctrines of his
time.
In 350, Ephrem and other Christians were forced to flee
their homes when the Persians attacked their city. The holy deacon
retired to a cave in a rocky height overlooking Edessa and lived most
austerely until his death in 373.
Ephrem is known as the “Harp of
the Holy Spirit” because he was a great poet and composer of holy
songs. It has been said that Ephrem prayed to Our Lord to “stop the flow
of inspiration” because he could not work fast enough to pen all the
compositions in his head.
“St. Ephrem’s Prayer” is considered to be the Lenten prayer par excellence in the Byzantine Rite tradition as it succinctly summarizes the true spirit of Great Lent:
O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despondency, lust for power and idle talk.
But grant unto me, Thy servant, a spirit of chastity (integrity), humility, patience and love.
Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see mine own faults and not to judge my brother.
For blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Also
called “the zither of Mary,” Ephrem wrote most of his compositions in
his cave above Edessa, dedicating many of them to Our Lady, to whom he
had a great devotion. He is credited with bringing song into the
offering of the Holy Liturgy of the Mass
Pope Benedict XV proclaimed him a Doctor of the Church in 1920.
Wednesday, June 9, 2021
St. Ephrem the Syrian
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment