Saint Ephrem

Ephrem was born around 306 in Nisibis, in today's southeastern Turkey, and was baptized as a young man. Bishop Jacob of Nisibis made him a teacher, and he served the Church as a deacon all his life. When Nisibis was handed over to the Persians in 363, Ephrem moved with many Christians to Edessa, where he continued to teach.

Ephrem wrote in Syriac, mostly in poetry. His hymns on the Nativity, on faith, on paradise and on the Virgin Mary were sung by choirs of women he trained, and they spread sound teaching at a time of heresy. He is remembered for his deep love of Mary. During a famine in 372–373 he organized food and care for the hungry and the sick. He died in Edessa in June 373. Pope Benedict XV declared him a Doctor of the Church in 1920.

Ephrem's hymns are still sung in the Syriac, Maronite and Chaldean Churches, whose faithful honor him as a great father of their tradition. The Byzantine Churches pray his short Lenten prayer every day of Lent.

Catholic musicians and spiritual directors often take him as their patron.