ST. EPHREM: "PILLAR
OF THE CHURCH", "HARP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT"
Synaxarion for Memorials without a Proper Office
Ephrem was born in Nisibis at the beginning of the fourth century. He was
educated at Edessa. As a disciple of Bishop James of Nisibis, he was ordained
to the diaconate and was a lecturer in the newly-established school at
Nisibis. After the fall of Nisibis, Ephrem departed from the city and began
to teach in Edessa, where he lived as a "solitary" in a cell on a rock
hill. After a life of good works, preaching, religious writings and ascetical
exercies, he died in 373.
Ephrem was a prolific writer and left the Church an abundance of sermons,
commentaries and hymns. Because of this enormous amount of material, he
was given the titles "Pillar of the Church and "Harp of the Holy Spirit."
The body of his writing comprises a central part of the liturgical prayer
life of the Antiochene Churches.