ST. EPHREM THE ASSYRIAN (JAN. 28TH, JUNE 9TH)

A Contemporary Icon of St. Ephrem the Assyrian

Edited by Bp. Joseph (Ancient Church of the West)  

Today, on the anniversary of his death (June 9th), our Western Patrimony celebrates the life, theological contribution, and spotless testimony of Christ's faithfulness that shines from the hymns of one of the East's most brilliant saints - St. Ephrem the Assyrian, the "Harp of the Holy Spirit."

St. Ephrem was born around the year AD 306, in the city of Nisibis, which is the modern Turkish town of Nusaybin, on the border with Syria. Internal evidence from St. Ephrem's hymnody suggests that both his parents were part of the growing Christian community in the city, although later hagiographers wrote that his father was a pagan priest. Numerous languages were spoken in the Nisibis of St. Ephrem’s day, mostly dialects of Aramaic. The Christian community used the Syriac dialect. Various pagan religions, Judaism and early Christian sects vied with one another for the hearts and minds of the populace. It was a time of great religious and political tension. The Roman Emperor Diocletian had signed a treaty with his Persian counterpart, Nerses in AD 298 that transferred Nisibis into Roman hands. The savage persecution and martyrdom of Christians under Diocletian were an important part of Nisibene church heritage as St. Ephrem grew up. 

St. James, the first bishop of Nisibis, was appointed in AD 308, and St. Ephrem grew up under his leadership of the community. St. James is recorded as a signatory at the First Ecumenical Council in 325. St. Ephrem was baptized as a youth, and James appointed him as a teacher. He was ordained as a deacon either at this time or later. He began to compose hymns and write biblical commentaries as part of his educational office. In his hymns, he sometimes refers to himself as a "herdsman", to his bishop as the “shepherd”, and his community as a "fold". St. Ephrem is popularly credited as the founder of the School of Nisibis, which in later centuries was the centre of learning of the Assyrian Church of the East. 

In AD 337, emperor Constantine I, who had established Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire, died. Seizing on this opportunity, Shapur II of Persia began a series of attacks into Roman North Mesopotamia. Nisibis was besieged in AD 338, 346 and 350. During the first siege, St. Ephrem credits Bishop James as defending the city with his prayers. St. Ephrem’s beloved bishop died soon after the event, and Babu led the church through the turbulent times of border skirmishes. In the third siege, of AD 350, Shapur rerouted the River Mygdonius to undermine the walls of Nisibis. The Nisibenes quickly repaired the walls while the Persian elephant cavalry became bogged down in the wet ground. Ephrem celebrated the miraculous salvation of the city in a hymn as being like Noah's Ark floating to safety on the flood. 

One important physical link to St. Ephrem’s lifetime is the baptistry of Nisibis. The inscription tells that it was constructed under Bishop Vologeses in AD 359. That was the year that Shapur began to harry the region once again. The cities around Nisibis were destroyed one by one, and their citizens killed or deported. The Roman Empire was preoccupied in the west, and Constantius and Julian the Apostate struggled for overall control. Eventually, with Constantius dead, Julian began his march into Mesopotamia. He brought with him his increasingly stringent persecutions on Christians. Julian began a foolhardy march against the Persian capital Ctesiphon, where, overstretched and outnumbered, he began an immediate retreat back along the same road. Julian was killed defending his retreat, and the army elected Jovian as the new emperor. Unlike his predecessor, Jovian was a Nicene Christian. He was forced by circumstances to ask for terms from Shapur, and conceded Nisibis to Persia, with the rule that the city's Christian community would leave. Bishop Abraham, the successor to Vologeses, led his people into exile. 

Sts. Ephrem and Isaac, Two Shining Stars of Holiness from the Church of the East, Whose Radiance Enlightens the West! 

St. Ephrem found himself among a large group of refugees that fled west, first to Amida (Diyarbakir), and eventually settling in Edessa (modern Sanli Urfa) in AD 363. St. Ephrem, in his late fifties, applied himself to ministry in his new church, and seems to have continued his work as a teacher (perhaps in the School of Edessa). Edessa had always been at the heart of the Syriac-speaking world, and the city was full of rival philosophies and religions. St. Ephrem comments that Orthodox Nicene Christians were simply called "Palutians" in Edessa, after a former bishop. Arians, Marcionites, Manichees, Bardaisanites and various Gnostic sects proclaimed themselves as the true Church. In this confusion, St. Ephrem wrote a great number of hymns defending Christian orthodoxy. A later Syriac writer, 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. 

After a ten-year residency in Edessa, in his sixties, St. Ephrem reposed in peace, according to some in the year AD 373, according to others, AD 379. 

Icon of the Falling Asleep of St. Ephrem

PRAYER OF ST. EPHREM THE ASSYRIAN 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost

O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, meddling, lust of power, and idle talk 

But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to thy servant 

Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own sins and not to judge my brother, for thou art blessed unto ages of ages

O God, be gracious to me, a sinner. Amen

(Text taken from OrthodoxWiki, Wikipedia and the Jordanville Orthodox Prayerbook)