Saint Ephrem the Syrian

Life

• Harp of the Holy Spirit: The Life of Saint Ephrem the Syrian
• Lives of Orthodox Saints
• Lives of the Saints
• The Harp of the Spirit: Saint Ephrem the Syrian and the Syriac Christian World | Public Lecture
• https://orthodoxwiki.org/Ephrem_the_Syrian
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephrem_the_Syrian

Teachings / Writings

“Over four hundred hymns composed by Ephrem still exist. Granted that some have been lost to us, Ephrem’s productivity is not in doubt. The church historian Sozomen credits Ephrem with having written over three million lines. Ephrem combines in his writing a threefold heritage: he draws on the models and methods of early Rabbinic Judaism, he engages wonderfully with Greek science and philosophy, and he delights in the Mesopotamian/Persian tradition of mystery symbolism.“

– Orthodoxwiki.com

• Hymns on Paradise (SVS press)
• Sebastian Brock on the Syriac tradition in Christianity
• Ephrem the Syrian: Hymns (Classics of Western Spirituality)
• The Harp of the Spirit: Poems of Saint Ephrem the Syrian (Publications of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies, Cambridge)
• Treasure-house of Mysteries: Exploration of the Sacred Text Through Poetry in the Syriac Tradition
• She Who Loved Much: The Sinful Woman in St Ephrem the Syrian and the Orthodox Tradition

• Collections of Hmymns
  • On Faith
  • On Paradise
  • On Virginity
  • Against Heresies
• Homilies
• Commentaries
  • Genesis
  • Exodus
  • Acts of the Apostles
  • Pauline Epistles
  • Tatian’s Diatessaron (harmonized Gospel book in Syriac tradition)
• Refutations
  • Against Bardaisan
  • Against Mani
  • Against Marcion

Quotes

The keys of doctrine
which unlock all of Scripture’s books,
have opened up before my eyes
the book of creation,
the treasure of house of the Ark,
the crown of the Law.
This is a book which, above its companions,
has in its narrative
made the Creator perceptible
and transmitted His actions;
it has envisioned all His craftsmanship,
made manifest His works of art.

RESPONSE: Blessed is He who through His Cross has flung open Paradise.

– Hymns on Paradise, Hymn VI Stanza 1

Troparion — Tone 8

By a flood of tears you made the desert fertile,
And your longing for God brought forth fruits in abundance.
By the radiance of miracles you illumined the whole universe.
O our holy father Ephraim, pray to Christ our God to save our souls!

Kontakion — Tone 2

O holy father Ephraim,
As you meditated constantly on the final judgment,
You shed abundant tears of sorrow,
Making your struggles examples that we could follow and imitate,
And awakening the slothful to repentance:
You are indeed a father of high renown.

Feast Day(s)

January 28