August 28, 2022 - "Saint Ephrem the Syrian - a Doctor of the Church"

I am continuing our series on the Doctors of the Church.  The next Doctor of the Church chronologically is Saint Ephrem the Syrian who was named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XV in 1920.  Ephrem (ca. 306-373) was born in Nisibis (modern day Nesbin--a city in the Mardin Province, Turkey), probably into a Christian family.  Ephrem left Nisibis in 363.  The pagan emperor Julian the Apostate had invaded Persian territory in the hope of reconquering lands that the Persians had seized after defeating the army of the Roman Empire.  Instead Julian was killed in battle.  After the pagan takeover of the city, the Christian population was forced to flee, and Ephrem made his way to the great center of Syriac Christianity at Edessa (a city in modern day northern Greece).  He spent the last ten years of his life there. Edessa was a very cosmopolitan city both of learning and religious diversity.  Ephrem thrived in this environment.  Most of his surviving works, both in prose and poetry, seem to come from this period in his life.
 
Ephrem functioned as a deacon and was well regarded as a teacher.  In fact Ephrem is considered the classical writer of the Syrian church.  Much of what he wrote was in verse.  Even his sermons (which are called memre) are composed in seven syllable lines.  Ephrem is famous for the hymns that he composed on the Nativity of Christ, on Easter, and on various saints.  He also wrote exegetical, dogmatic, and polemical works.  Like the works of all the fourth century Doctors of the Church, the writings of Ephrem center on the salvific action of the God-Man.  Though Ephrem was a representative of Nicene orthodoxy and opponent of the Arians, we do not find the use of the word homoousios (consubstantial in English) or any other Greek technical terms in his Christology.  Ephrem takes another approach.  He envisions poetically the mystery by which the Only Begotten of the Father left the hidden realm of divinity to take on the human condition and free us from sin and evil.
 
Pope Benedict XVI devoted one of his Wednesday audiences to the life and influence of Saint Ephrem.  He noted that the figure of Ephrem is still timely for the life of the various Christian churches.  The Holy Father notes that we discover him in the first place as a theologian who reflects poetically, on the basis of Holy Scripture, on the mystery of our redemption brought about by Christ, the Word of God incarnate.  Ephrem’s theological reflection is expressed in images and symbols taken from nature, daily life, and the Bible.  Ephrem gives his poetry and liturgical hymns a didactic and catechetical genre: they are theological hymns yet at the same time suitable for recitation or liturgical song.  On the occasion of liturgical feasts, Ephrem made use of these hymns to spread Christian doctrine.  Time has proven his hymns to be an extremely effective catechetical instrument for the Christian community.

Let me close with this prayer from the liturgy for the memorial of Saint Ephrem, Deacon and the Doctor of the Church, which is celebrated each year on June 9:
 
Pour into our hearts, O Lord, we pray, the Holy Spirit, at whose prompting the Deacon Saint Ephrem exulted in singing your mysteries and from whom he received the strength to serve you alone.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.  Amen.
 
Until next week,
Fr. John