The Catholic bulletin., 1920-11-27
ST. EPHREM, THE SYRIAN.

st. Ephrem, the Syrian, who has
been designated a Doctor of the
Church in the latest encyclical of Pope
Benedict, was almost contemporane-
Gus with st. Jerome, on whom the
Holy Father issued his encyclical of
September Is.
+ st. Ephrem was born at Nisibis, then
under Roman rule. in the fourth GEN.
tury, and died at Odessa in June, 373.
So greatly was he admired for his
learning and his wisdom that he has
been variously called by his own peo-
pie, the. sun of the Syrians," the
column of the Church. and the harp
of the Holy Ghost" st. Jerome, twen-
ty years after St. Ephrem's death, re-
lated that "St. Ephrem became so
famous that his writings were publicly
read in some churches after the Holy
Scriptures. In Syriac poetry, Ephrem
is regarded as pioneer of genius, the
master often initiated, but never equal
led.
Ephrem's father was a pagan and a
priest of the goddess Abnil or Abizal.
The youth was instructed in the Chris
tian mysteries by st. James, the fam
Gus bishop of Nisibis. After his bap-
tism he aided the bishop in renewing
the moral life of the citizens of Nisi-
bis. After 1868. when Nisibis retroced-
ed to Persia, most of the Christian
population abandoned the city en-
masse in order to escape the persecu-
tions. Ephrem went with his people,
settling first at Beit-Garbaya, then at
Amid and finally at Odessa, the capi-
tai of Osrhoene, where he spent the
last ten years of his life living like a
hermit. To this period belongs al
most all his literary work, including
sermons, hymns and exegetical trea-
tises, although he is known to have
composed poems at Nisibis.
1t is said by some writer's that
Ephrem was deacon, which would
have permitted him to preach publicly.
His sermons were for the most part in
verse, though few prose writings are
preserved. In them he celebrated the
feats of Our Lord and the saints, ex-
pounds scriptural narratives or takes
up some edifying theme. His hymns
offer great variety of style, having
for the most part been written for the
choir services of nuns and destined to
be chanted by them. He explains that
in the neighborhood of Nisibis and
Edessa the poems of the Gnostic, Bard
esanes, and his son Harmonios con-
tributed efficaciously to the spread of
false teaching, and it is apparent that
when Ephrem entered this field it was
with the intention of combating her.
esy with it's own weapons.
Ephrem wrote many commentaries
on the Scriptures, including both the
Old and New Testament, but much of
this, notably the works on Ruth, Es-
dras, Nehemias, Esther, the Psalms,
Proverbs, the Canticle of Canticles and
Ecclesiasticus. is lost. There is eX-
tant in Syriac commentary on Gen
esis and large portion of Exodus.
For the other books of the Old Testa-
ment we have Syriac abridgment
handed down in a catena of the ninth
century by the Syriac monk Severus.
Of his commentaries on the New Test
ament there has survived only an
Armenian version.
Ephrem is described as an eloquent
preacher Crowds hung on his words
and tears often stopped his voice be.
cause of his emotion. He trembled
himself and he made his hearers trem-
bic at the thought of Gods judgments
He refused the dignity of the priest.
hood and till his death he wept for the
slight sins committed in the thought.
lessness of boyhood.,
Il am setting OUT he said speak.
ing of his own death, ION a journey
hard and dangerous. Thee, o Son OF
God, I have taken for my Viaticum
When l am hungry, will feed on thee
The Internal fire will not venture near
me for it cannot bear the fragrance OF
Thy Body and Thy Blood"
The Armenian monks of the monas
terry of st. Sergius at Odessa claim to
possess the body of st. Ephrem, which
at his death was born to the cemetery
"of the foreigners" The Congregation
of Sacred Rites has now fixed his feast
day as June Is and it will be celebrat
ed on that date by the whole Church