Christianity has a long history in the land east of Jerusalem. The land from
which Abraham sojourned on his way to what is now Israel. the land where once
mighty power is emerged such as the Sumerian Babylonian and Assyrian empires
in part due to the Muslim conquests of the seventh century but also due to the
vast Geographic and cultural distance many in the West are unaware of the rich
spiritual and cultural heritage of the church east of the Holy Land in the past
few years there has been awareness only through tragedy as we continually
witness the destruction of churches and monasteries in Syria and Iraq and the
displacement of a Christian population that has existed there for over two
millennium
this long history began soon after the resurrection of Christ as faith spread
from Jerusalem and Antioch east toward Syria and Mesopotamia as recorded by the
church historian of Savio's the Apostle Thomas sent one of the seventy a man
named Thaddeus to the city of Edessa and Syria
soon after Pentecost to preach the gospel by the second century there were
enough Christians in Odessa to support the construction of a church thus began
the Syriac tradition whose golden age spanned the fourth through eighth
centuries during this time great centers of learning flourished in Odessa miss
IBAs and Nineveh sacred sites such as the tomb of the prophet Jonah and
Nineveh were set apart and venerated by pilgrims a great number of monasteries
and churches were built saints such as James of naseeb as' who was one of the
three hundred and eighteen bishops at the first Council of Nicaea and 325 st.
Jacob of Sarov Saint Isaac the Syrian and an untold number of great ascetics
and martyrs laboured for Christ in this land but of all the saints none
contributed more to this tradition than the one who was there near the start and
is today seen as its pillar Saint Ephrem the Syrian from his life we can learn
much about this time period
efrem was born in the Eastern Roman frontier of Mesopotamia
during the early fourth century close to the start of the reign of the Emperor
Constantine his parents lived in the town of Macias and their Ephraim also
lived for most of his life according to several accounts one night his parents
had a dream in which they saw a vine spring up from their sons tongue the
vine grew until all under the heavens were filled by it from the vine hung
clusters of grapes and all the birds of the sky came in eight of its fruits his
parents no doubt wondered what this could mean especially in light of their
son's youthful behavior as Ephraim later wrote I was born in the path of truth
even though in my childhood I was unaware for even though born into a
Christian family Ephraim spent his early years in reckless fashion guided more by
prodigal thoughts and a fiery temperament rather than by good judgment
as he later recalled my youth would almost have convinced me that what
happens with us in this life occurs but by chance but the Providence of God
brought hot blooded youth to its senses and so according to the Providence of
God one day a citizen falsely accused Ephraim of stealing sheep Ephraim sat in
prison for days lamenting what he saw as a random and unjust occurrence but one
night while he slept an angel spoke to him saying that the punishment was due
to his many sins and that once freed he should return home and repent
this spurred in him a thorough self-examination and upon release he
withdrew to the neighboring hills where several Hermits lived he became the
disciple of st. James and from him learned much about the Bible and the
ascetic life several years later James was named Bishop of Miss IBAs and
Ephraim continued with him as his assistant Ephraim served first as a
reader and then as a deacon and catechetical teacher now a devout
Christian Ephraim fully committed himself to a life of service to God and
others in the church he spent much time and study and shared what he learned
through teaching and writing ephraim is best remembered today as the great poet
of the Syriac language the predominant language in the region and a dialect of
Middle Aramaic with Miss IBAs being a meeting place between East and West
Ephraim style developed under the influence of the Mesopotamian literary
tradition Judaism and Hellenism his blending of these influences created
works filled with extended metaphors profound theological insight and
beautiful rhythms
he wrote across genres including standard and rhythmic prose versified
homilies narrative and lyric poetry and a great number of hymns that are still
in use today
his most well-known work is the prayer of Saint Ephrem now used in Orthodox
Church services during Great Lent and no doubt a product of his own repentance
and ascetic labor Oh Lord and Master of my life
give me not the spirit of sloth idle curiosity
meddling lust for power and idle talk but grant unto me thy servant a spirit
of chastity integrity humility patience and love
yay Oh Lord and king grant me to see my known faults and not to condemn my
brother for blessed art thou unto the ages of Ages all men Ephraim probably
expected to remain in Missy bus for the rest of his life but in 363 the Emperor
Julian died in battle and the peace treaty that followed gave control of
naseeb as' to the Persians Ephraim became a refugee in his late 50s and
along with much of the displaced Christian population moved some 100
miles further west to Odessa but even this became a blessing for him
as the final decade of his life in Odessa was also his most fruitful period
in Edessa Ephraim combated a number of heresies including those of the Martian
nights and Aryans as in Macias he won the love and respect of those he served
he even encouraged women to chant becoming as Saint Jacob calls him a
second Moses for women Ephraim also intensified his asceticism during this
period although not a monk in the traditional sense he lived a very
similar way of life in the Syrian tradition at this time organized
monasticism such as was seen in the deserts of Egypt and Palestine had not
yet fully developed rather many like Ephraim lived in a community of ascetics
who remained celibate and devoted to God but also remained active within the
church and community Ephraim spent much time in service to the sick and the poor
in 373 a great famine plagued Edessa Ephram noticed the wealthy hoarding
grain and so he challenged them how long will you fail to pay attention to God's
compassion allowing your wealth to be corrupted to the condemnation and
damnation of your own Souls rightly convicted they entrusted Efrem with
their grain and he did much in Edessa to feed the hungry and care for the sick
during the famine when the famine ended in 373 he returned to his cell and a
month later reposed in peace
Ephram left behind a large corpus of writing in Syriac that is still being
translated to this day though many hymns have been lost over 400 still remain
because of the great beauty eloquence and wisdom found in his writing Ephram
is now known as the harp of the Holy Spirit confirming the prophetic dream
that his parents once had when he was but a child his work like the many
clusters of grapes in the dream fed the faithful in the east and enriched the
spiritual and cultural heritage of the syriac church today that heritage is
being destroyed as we witness the stream of refugees from Syria and Iraq the
destruction of churches and holy sites and the execution of many Christians let
us remember both the long history of the church in this region and also pray for
those affected by the great tragedy let us continue to remember saints like
ephraim james and isaac so that even if all that remains in their world is
destroyed we still keep them alive in our memory