Patron Saints of Orthodoxy Cognate PAGE Society

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Saint Ephraim the Syrian

St. Ephraim was born early in the fourth century in the ancient city of Nisibis in Mesopotamia, where the Roman Empire bordered on the Persian Kingdom. At one time Mesopotamia belonged to Syria and for this reason St. Ephraim is known as “the Syrian.” He was born of Christian parents before the Edict of Milan was issued (313), establishing official toleration of religion, and, as he later wrote, his ancestors “confessed Christ before the judge; I am related to martyrs.”

When he was still a baby, his parents had a prophetic dream: from the boy’s tongue sprang a lush vine which produced abundant clusters of grapes. The more the birds ate the fruit, the more it multiplied. Later it was revealed that these clusters were his sermons, the leaves of the vine–his hymns.

Remember not O Lord the sins of my youth. (Ps. 25:7)

Judging from his youth, however, one could never have guessed his future greatness. In spite of his parents’ having educated him in Christian precepts, he was impetuous and even rather wild, like an unruly colt which resists the bridle: “I would quarrel over trifles, acted foolishly, gave in to bad impulses and lustful thoughts …. My youth nearly convinced me that life is ruled by chance. But God’s Providence brought my impassioned youth to the light of wisdom.” He relates the story of his conversion:

“One day my parents sent me outer town and I found a pregnant cow feeding along the road. I took up stones and began pelting the cow, driving it into the woods till evening when it fell down dead? During the night it was eaten by wild beasts. On my way back, I met the poor owner of the cow. ‘My son,’ he asked, ‘did you drive away my cow?’ I not only denied it, but heaped abuse and insult upon the poor man.”

A few days later he was idling with some shepherds. When it grew too late to return home, he spent the night with them. That night some sheep were stolen and the boy was accused of being in league with the robbers. He was taken before the magistrate and cast into prison. In a dream, an angel appeared to Ephraim and asked him why he was there. The boy began at once to declare that he was, innocent. “Yes,” said the angel, “you are innocent of the crime imputed to you, but have you forgotten the poor man’s cow?”
But just then a servant came to announce that dinner was ready. “Very well,” said the magistrate, “I will examine the boy another day.” And he ordered him back to prison. Providentially, the next time the magistrate saw Ephraim, he thought he had been punished enough and dismissed him. Although he was spared the rack, Ephraim had learned his lesson and, like the Prophet David, he entreated the Lord to overlook his youthful folly. True to his vow, upon his release he went straightway to the hermits living in the mountains where he became a disciple of St. James (Jan. 12), who later became a great bishop of Nisibis.

Born again in repentance, Ephraim began to train like an athlete of virtues, exorcizing himself in the study of the Holy Scriptures and in prayer and fasting. The passionate and wayward youth was transformed into a humble and contrite monk, weeping day and night for his sins and entirely surrendered to God. Ephraim’s earnest resolve pleased the Lord Who rewarded him with the gifts of wisdom; grace flowed from his mouth like a sweet stream, in fulfillment of his parents’ dream.

St. James recognized his disciple’s God-given talents, and as a bishop, he entrusted Ephraim with preaching the Word of God and instructing children in school. In 325 he took Ephraim with him to the First Ecumenical Council in Nicea. Returning to Nisibis, Ephraim continued with his missionary work until 363 when the Persians conquered the city and most of its Christian inhabitants departed.

Ephraim decided to go to the city of Edessa around which monastic life was flourishing. He prayed that there the Lord would send to meet him a man who could converse with him on the Holy Scriptures for his spiritual profit. Upon entering the city gates, he was met by a woman. Disappointed, he turned mentally to God: “Lord, Thou hast disregarded Thy servant’s prayer. For how can she converse with me on Biblical wisdom?” The woman only stared at him. “Why, O woman, are you standing there staring at me?” asked the Saint. “I am looking at you,” she replied, “because the woman is taken from man, but you should look not at me but at the earth from which you were taken.” Ephraim was astonished at the woman’ s reply and gave thanks to God Who had answered his prayer by granting him this soul-profiting lesson.

In Edessa, Ephraim earned a humble living in the service of a bath keeper. He used his free time in preaching the Word of God to the unbelievers. Angered’ by Ephraim’s successes, the devil set his traps to catch the servant of God. Once, for example, as the Saint was preparing his dinner, a woman gazing from the window of an adjacent dwelling conceived a desire to seduce him. “Bless me, sir,” she shouted at him. “The Lord bless you,” replied the Saint. “What do you • need for your food?” she continued. Discerning the true purpose of her conversation, Ephraim answered, “Three stones and some sand to block up your window.” “I want to lie with you,” said the woman shamelessly, “but you are refusing from the first word.” “In that case ,” replied Ephraim, “you cannot do so in any other place than the middle of the city.” “Shall we not be ashamed of the people?” asked the harlot, surprised. “if we are ashamed of men ,” the Saint replied, “how much more ought we to be ashamed of, and also to fear God Who knows all the secrets of men! For He will judge the whole world and will reward everyone according to his deeds.” By God’s grace his words moved the harlot to repentance and she begged him to guide her to the path of salvation. Having received from him basic instruction in the Christian Faith, she entered a convent.

After living for some time in Edessa, the Saint was advised by a holy elder to go into the wilderness. He settled in a cave of the nearby “Mount of Edessa,” where he gave himself up to prayer, fasting and the study of Holy Scripture. There occurred an incident which illustrates the Saint’s dispassion. Once, after a long fast, his disciple was bringing him a meal, when the dish of food fell and broke. Seeing the brother’s shame and consternation, the Saint said simply: “Never mind, if the food will not come to us, we shall go to the food.” He sat down on the ground by the broken dish and proceeded to eat the meal as well as he could. It was said of him that although he was naturally prone to passion, he never exhibited angry feelings towards anyone from the time of his embracing the ‘monastic life.

St. Ephraim once had a revelation regarding St. Basil the Great. He saw in a vision a pillar of fire reaching to heaven, and he heard a voice: “Ephraim, Ephraim! Such as you see this pillar of fire, so, too, is Basil!”

The vision inspired Ephraim with the desire to see this great Teacher of the Church, and, taking with him an interpreter (for he spoke no Greek), he journeyed to Caesarea in Cappadocia. There the holy hierarch greeted the desert-dweller with a corresponding enthusiasm and admiration: “I now see that what I heard about you is true. . . It is written in the Prophet David: Ephraim is the strength of my head (Ps. 59:9). These prophetic words refer truly to you, for you have led many to [the way of virtue and strengthened them in it. And your meekness and dispassion of heart shine for all, like the light.”

Then Basil the Great asked:

“Why, venerable father, do you not receive consecration to the order of priesthood, as befits you?”

“Because I am a sinner, my lord!” answered Ephraim through the interpreter.

“O, if only I had your sins!” said Basil, and added: “Let us make a prostration to the ground.”

But when they were bowed to the ground, St. Basil laid his hand on St. Ephraim’s head and recited the prayer of consecration to the diaconate. That is how St. Ephraim was made a deacon. He was at that time about sixty years old.

It was the Saint’s desire to continue in the heremitic life, but such was his talent as a preacher that the Lord would not have his light hidden under a bushel. Obedient to the Lord’s will as revealed to him by an angel, Ephraim returned to Edessa where he began again to instruct people in the Faith. There he also established a college which later produced many faro ou s teachers of the Syrian Church.

When the heretic Apollinaris was creating havoc in the Church with his erroneous teaching concerning the nature of Christ at His Incarnation, St. Ephraim tricked Apollinaris’ servant into lending him the two books in which these teachings were set forth. After gluing all the pages together, he returned the books to the unsuspecting servant and then challenged Apollinaris to a public debate. When Apollinaris Found himself unable to open his books to quote from them, he became thoroughly confused and retired in shame. His heresy soon died out.

Not only was St. Ephraim en eloquent and powerful teacher, but he was also a prolific writer. Although he lacked a formal education, he comprehended with ease the most abstruse problems of philosophy, and his commentaries On the Old Testament books of Moses impressed even the most scholarly men of Ms time. But if his writings spoke to the mind, they were more greatly to be praised for the effect they had on the soul. As St. Gregory of Nyssa writes:

“Who that is proud would not become the humblest of men, reading his discourse on humility? Who would not be influenced with a divine fire, reading his discourse on charity? Who would not wish to be chaste in heart and soul by reading the praise he has lavished on virginity? Who would not be frightened by hearing his discourse on the Last Judgment, which he has depicted so vividly that nothing can be added to it?”

In spite of the gifts which God so lavishly bestowed upon him, St. Ephraim remained deeply humble. He even feigned madness so as to avoid being consecrated bishop and the glory that attends that position. Doubtless, his humility was guarded by the remembrance of the sins of his youth and by his contrite spirit which followed upon this remembrance. But while tears of repentance constantly flowed from his eyes, Ephraim’s face was bright and shone with joy. As St. Gregory writes: “Where Ephraim speaks of contrition, he lifts our thought to the Divine goodness and pours cut thanksgiving and praise to the Highest.”

On January 28, 373, after a brief illness, St. Ephraim reposed from his labors and was received into the heavenly habitations. The citizens of Edessa called him a “lyre of the Holy Spirit.” Now, centuries later, his works still sing to the soul, inspiring it with the sweet fruit of repentance.

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St. Mark of Ephesus

Ecumenical means “belonging to or accepted by the Christian Church throughout the world; as such, this term reflects the rule of faith given by St. Vincent of Lerins: Christian truth is that “which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all .” This is the correct dictionary definition of the word and the only patristic definition of it. Unfortunately, ‘ecumenical” has come to mean something quite different in the latter part of the 20th century. Under the influence of the World Council of Churches and the policy of aggiornamento in the Church of Rome. “ecumenical” has come to mean the following: the unity of Christ’s Church has been shattered through the centuries; all Christian Churches are pretty much equal, and each has a “share” of the truth; therefore, all denominations must be united in order to recapture the “wholeness” that once existed. This is modern-day ecumenism.

A superb example of the first and original kind of ecumenist is St. Mark of Ephesus, a 15th century champion of orthodoxy, sometimes called “The conscience of Orthodoxy.” The following information is condensed from a series of three articles in “The Orthodox Word” (1967), written by Archimandrite Amvrossy Pogodin:

When the foundations of Byzantium were crumbling, diplomats redoubled their efforts to find a possibility of union with Western powers for a battle against the common adversary of Christianity, Islam. Attempts were made to conclude treaties with the Turks, but these were unsuccessful. The only hope lay in the West. For this, it was necessary above all to make peace with the Vatican.

A Council was convened in 1437, which established a committee of Latin and Greek theologians with the Pope and the Byzantine Emperor acting as heads. The Pope, Eugenius IV, had a very exalted idea of the papacy and aimed at subjecting the Orthodox Church to himself. Prompted by the straitened circumstances of Byzantium, the Emperor pursued his aim: to conclude an agreement profitable for his country. Few gave thought to the spiritual consequences of such a union. Only one delegate, the Metropolitan of Ephesus, St. Mark, stood in firm opposition.

In his address to the Pope at the opening of the Council, St. Mark explained how ardently he desired this union with the Latins- but a genuine union, he explained, based upon unity of faith and ancient Liturgical practice. He also informed the Pope that he and the other Orthodox bishops had come to the Council not to sign a capitulation, and not to sell Orthodoxy for the benefit of their government, but in order to confirm true and pure doctrine.

Many of the Greek delegates, however, thought that the salvation of Byzantium could be attained only through union with Rome. More and more became willing to compromise the eternal Truth for the sake of preserving a temporal kingdom. Furthermore, the negotiations were of such an unexpectedly long duration that the Greek delegates no longer had means to support themselves; they began to suffer from hunger and were anxious to return home. The Pope, however, refused to give them any support until a “Union” had been concluded. Taking advantage of the Situation and realizing the futility of further debates, the Latins used their economic and political advantage to bring pressure on the Orthodox delegation, demanding that they capitulate to the Roman Church and accept all her doctrines and administrative control.

St. Mark stood alone against the rising tide which threatened to overturn the ark of the true Church. He was pressured on all sides, not only by the Latins but by his fellow Greeks and the Patriarch of Constantinople himself. Seeing his persistent and stouthearted refusal to sign any kind of accord with Rome under the given conditions, the Emperor dismissed him from all further debates with the Latins and placed him under house arrest. By this time St. Mark had fallen very ill (apparently suffering from cancer of the intestine). But this exhausted, fatally ill man, who found himself persecuted and in disgrace, represented in his person the Orthodox Church; he was a spiritual giant with whom there is none to compare.

Events followed in rapid succession. The aged Patriarch Joseph of Constantinople died; a forged document of submission to Rome was produced; Emperor John Paleologos took the direction of the Church into his own hands, and the Orthodox were obliged. to renounce their Orthodoxy and to accept all of the Latin errors, novelties, and innovations on all counts, including complete acceptance of the Pope as having “a primacy over the whole earth.” During a triumphant service following the signing of the Union on July 5, 1439, the Greek delegates solemnly kissed the Pope’s knee. Orthodoxy had been sold, and not merely betrayed, for, in return for submission, the Pope agreed to provide money and soldiers for the defense of Constantinople against the Turks. But one bishop still had not signed. When Pope Eugenius saw that St. Mark’s signature was not on the Act of Union, he exclaimed, “And so, we have accomplished nothing!”

The delegates returned home ashamed of their submission to Rome. They admitted to the people: “We sold our faith; we bartered piety for impiety!” As St.Mark wrote: “The night of Union encompassed the Church.” He alone was accorded respect by the people who greeted him with universal enthusiasm when he was finally allowed to return to Constantinople in 1440. But even then the authorities continued to persecute him. At length, he was arrested and imprisoned. But whatever his condition and circumstances, he continued to burn in spirit and to battle for the Church.

Finally he was liberated and, following his example, the Eastern Patriarchs condemned the False Union and refused to recognize it. The triumph of the Church was accomplished through a man exhausted by disease and harassed by the wiles of men, but strong in the knowledge of our Saviour’s promise: “…I will Build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matt. 16:18)

St. Mark died on June 23, 1444, at the age of 52. This great pillar of the Church was a true ecumenist, for he did not fear to journey to Italy to talk with the Roman Catholics, but more importantly, neither did he fear to confess the fullness of the truth when the time came

The following is the concluding section of the Saint’s encyclical letter on the subject of the false union. It is as meaningful and vital today as it was 500 years ago: “Therefore,” St. Mark writes, “in so far as this is what has been commanded you by the Holy Apostles,-stand aright, hold firmly to the traditions which you have received, both written and by word of mouth, that you be not deprived of your firmness if you become led away by the delusions of the lawless. May God, Who is All-powerful, make them also to know their delusion; and having delivered us from them as from evil tares, may He gather us into His granaries like pure and useful wheat, in Jesus Christ our Lord, to Whom belongs all glory, honor, and worship, with His Father Who is without beginning, and His All-holy and Good and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.”

By the prayers of St. Mark, O Christ our God, and all Thy Holy Fathers, Teachers, and Theologians preserve Thy Church in Orthodox confession and lead many into a knowledge of the Truth, unto the ages!