St. Ephrem

Their story

Ephrem was born around 306 in Nisibis, in Mesopotamia, near the border of today's Turkey and Syria. He was baptized as a young man and became a deacon and a teacher in the school of his city. When Nisibis was handed over to the Persians in 363, he moved with many other Christians to the city of Edessa, where he spent the last ten years of his life. Ephrem is one of the greatest poets in Christian history. He wrote in Syriac, a language close to the Aramaic Jesus spoke, and composed hundreds of hymns and poems on the faith: on the birth of Christ, the Eucharist, the Blessed Virgin Mary, repentance and paradise. At a time when false teachings were spread through popular songs, Ephrem answered with beautiful hymns of true faith and trained choirs of women to sing them in church. He became known as the Harp of the Holy Spirit. Ephrem lived simply and was devoted to the poor. Near the end of his life a severe famine struck Edessa. He organized relief for the hungry, gathering food and money and setting up beds for the sick and dying, and he cared for them himself. He died in 373. Out of humility, tradition says, he never sought to be ordained a priest. In 1920 he was declared a Doctor of the Church.