“My beloved brethren, let us not prefer anything, let us not hasten to obtain anything more than love. Let no one have anything against anyone, let no one repay evil for evil. Do not let the sun go down on your anger, but let us forgive our debtors everything and let us welcome love, because love covers a multitude of sins.”
- St. Ephrem
Born in Niseis, Mesopotamia, St. Ephrem (c. 306-373) was baptized as a young man and became a well-admired teacher in Niseis. When the Romans ceded Niseis to the Persians, Ephrem, along with many Christians, fled to Edessa, (modern day Urfa, Turkey). Ephrem was ordained a deacon; however, he declined the priesthood. St. Ephrem preferred a simple, austere life, living in a small cave overlooking the city of Edessa.
St. Ephrem wrote many Biblical commentaries, poems, and homilies; however, he is widely known for the hundreds of hymns he wrote as a rebut and way to counteract the early Christian heresies. St. Ephrem was also one of the first to introduce song into the Mass as a form of religious instruction and praise of God. Many of St. Ephrem’s hymns are still known today. The number and theological significance of his hymns earned him the title the “Harp of the Holy Spirit”, (the name of our parish bulletin), and Doctor of the Church.
In the winter of 372-373, a famine gripped the city of Edessa. There was some food left in the city, but it was in the hands of a few wealthy individuals. The excuse they gave for not sharing the food was that no one could be found to distribute it fairly or honestly.
At this time, living in a cave outside Edessa, was a hermit deacon named Ephrem who had a widespread reputation for scholarship and holiness. Hearing of the suffering in Edessa, Ephrem came to the city from his cave and rebuked the rich for letting the poor starve. He also offered to supervise the distribution of the hoarded food, and his offer was accepted.
Along with ensuring that Edessa's poor received food, Ephrem organized a group to provide relief services to nearby towns. He also set up a litter corps to transport the sick to medical stations where they could be nursed back to health, and to transport the dead to proper burial places so that disease would not spread. Ephrem expended all of his energy to save the people of Edessa. He returned to his cave after the famine ended and died just a month later.
Because Ephrem's preaching and writings were of such quality, Pope Benedict XV proclaimed Deacon Ephrem a Saint and Doctor of the Church in 1920, the only deacon so honored.