Authors, Apropos, and AKAs

St. Ephrem of Syria, Poet and Doctor

Though the Church at present is faced with many challenges and difficulties,
one way she can find directions to overcome these hardships is to seek
wisdom in her own past history - especially in the writings of her
servant-leaders.  One of the periods of history to search for wisdom from
these Church leaders is the era in which St. Ephrem, the Syrian, lived.

St. Ephrem, aka “The Harp of the Holy Spirit”, is a poet and musician of
the Church in the 4th century. He was present in the Council of Nicaea in
325 - an ecumenical council that resolved Christological questions and
issues pertaining to the person of Christ.  When Nisibis (in Syria) fell
into Persian control, St. Ephrem then retired to a lonely mountain cave
near Edessa and devoted his time to prayer, and the writing of spiritual
works and biblical commentaries.

St. Ephrem became a deacon, but out of humility, he refused to be ordained
a priest. This spirit of humility is akin to the humility of St. Francis
of Assisi (in the 13th century) - who also refused to be ordained a priest,
but out of obedience to the Church hierarchy at the time, assented to
become a deacon because of his leadership in the movement and the
communities he founded.

A written work of prayer apropos to the spirit of St. Ephrem’s humility
is as follows:

Lord Jesus Christ, King of kings, You have power over life and death. You
know even things that are uncertain and obscure, and our very thoughts
and feelings are not hidden from You. Cleanse me from my secret faults,
and I have done wrong and you saw it. You know how weak I am both in
soul and body. Give me strength, O Lord, in my frailty and sustain me in
my sufferings. Grant me a prudent judgment, dear Lord, and let me always
be mindful of Your blessings. Let me retain until the end the grace that
has protected me till now. Amen.

This is the short form of St. Ephrem’s humble prayer.  The complete prayer
can be found in Linus Mundy’s book, “A Man’s Guide to Prayer”, published
by the Crossroad Publishing Company in New York.

St. Ephrem wrote much in Syriac on many exegetical (’bibical analysis’),
dogmatic (pertaining to doctrine), and ascetical (in relation to ascesis),
themes.  At that time, the Church was battling the teaching of the Arians
and the Gnostics, and St. Ephrem wrote much against them.  Though St.
Ephrem used his scriptural sources well in this theological controversy,
in his ministry to people, he also introduced hymns in public worship
and used it for religious instructions.  Particularly outstanding are his
Nisibeian hymns and the canticles for the liturgical seasons. Thus he was
aka “The Harp of the Holy Spirit”.

Despite being just a deacon, St. Ephrem earned the title of Doctor of the
Church in 1920.  Pope Benedict XV declared him so - making him the only
Syrian to be so honored.

St. Ephrem lived and taught during the same century as Athanasius, Hilary,
Cyril of Jerusalem, Basil the Great, Gregory Nazianzen, John Chrysostom,
and Ambrose.  He defended much the teaching of the Church in relation to
the truth of the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Redemption.  We can
learn much wisdom from St. Ephrem’s writings. They show such deep insight
- especially in relation to his knowledge of Scripture.  St. Ephrem’s
works were translated from Syrian into Greek, Latin, and Armenian.

The Church of today can learn much from this exceptionally humble man.
His humility is an apropos to his being the least known of the 33 Doctors
of the Church.  As a deacon though, he exercised his ministry exceptionally
well and did a lot of charity works - distributing food and money to those
stricken by the famine in Edessa in the year 373 AD.  This famine in 373
exhausted St. Ephrem a lot and may have caused his death a month after.
Below is an excerpt from the Testament of St. Ephrem.

Lay me not with sweet spices,

For this honor avails me not,

Nor yet use incense and perfumes,

For the honor befits me not.

Burn yet the incense in the holy place;

As for me, escort me only with your prayers,

Give ye your incense to God,

And over me send up hymns.

Instead of perfumes and spices,

Be mindful of me in your intercessions.