Ephrem the Syrian: Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane Wednesday, Apr 4 2012

The evening before our Lord gave himself up to death he shared his own body with his Apostles and offered them his blood, with the command that they were to do what he had done in order to keep the memory of his Passion alive.

Then a strange thing happened. Earlier Jesus had charged his disciples not to fear death. Do not be afraid of those who have power to kill ­your body, he had said.

But now he himself showed fear, and ­begged to be spared the cup of suffering. Father, he prayed if it be possible, let this cup pass me by. How are we to explain this?

The answer is that our Lord’s petition was wrung from the human weakness he had made his own. There was no pretence about his incarnation; it was absolutely real.

And since the donning of our poor humanity had made him puny and defenceless, it was only natural that he should experience fear and alarm.

Eating to alleviate hunger, showing weariness after exertion, and revealing human weakness by the need for sleep were all the effects of his taking our flesh and clothing himself with our infirmity.

Consequently when the moment of death drew near, he necessarily experienced the ultimate frailty of our human condition; he was gripped by a dreadful horror of ­dying.

It was then that Jesus said to his disciples: Stay awake and pray that you may be spared the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

And in answer to our question he might well say: ‘When you are afraid, it is not your spirit that trembles but your human ­weakness. Remember then that I myself tasted the fear of death in my desire to convince you that I truly shared your flesh and blood.’

[...] We may also tell ourselves that we too were in our Lord’s mind as he prayed. In time of temptation our minds become confused and our imagination runs riot.

By persevering in prayer Jesus was showing us how much we ourselves need to pray if we are to escape the wiles and snares of the devil.

It is only by constant prayer that we gain control of our distracted thoughts.

Finally, there is our Lord’s desire to strengthen all who are afraid of death.

By letting them see that he himself had expe­rienced fear he would show them that fear does not necessarily lead to sin, provided one continues to resist it.

This is the force of our Lord’s concluding prayer: Not my will, Father, but yours be done. He is saying: ‘Yes, Father, I am ready to die in order to bring life to many.’

Ephrem the Syrian (c.306-373): Diatessaron 20.3-4, 6-7 (CSCO 145:201-204); from the Monastic Office of Vigils, Maundy Thursday, Year 2.

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Ephrem the Syrian: We shall Acquire, through Praise, Life that Has No Measure Monday, Aug 15 2011

Our generation is like a leaf whose time, once it falls, is over,
but though the limit of our life is short, praise can lengthen it,
for, corresponding to the extent of our love,
we shall acquire, through praise, life that has no measure.

For it is in our Lord that the root of our faith is grafted;
though far off, he is still close to us in the fusion of love.
Let the roots of our love be bound up in him,
let the full extent of his compassion be fused in us.

O Lord, may the body be a temple for him who built it,
may the soul be a palace full of praise for its architect!
Let not our body become a hollow cavity,
let our souls not be a harbour of loss.

And when the light of this temporal breath flickers out
do you relight in the morning the lantern that was extinguished in the night.
The sun arrives and with the warmth of its rising
it revives the frozen and relights what has been extinguished.

It is right that we should acknowledge that Light which illumines all,
for in the morning, when the sun has gone up, lanterns are extinguished,
but this new Sun has performed a new deed,
relighting in Sheol the lanterns that had been extinguished.

In place of death who has breathed the smell of mortality over all,
he who gives life to all exhales a life-giving scent in Sheol;
from his life the dead breathe in new life,
and death dies within them.

The scent of the buried Elisha who gave life to a dead man provides a type for this:
a man dead but a day breathed in life from him who was long dead;
the life-giving scent wafted from his bones and entered the dead corpse –
a symbol of him               who gives life to all.

Jesus has elucidated for us the symbols that took place at Elisha’s grave,
how from an extinguished lantern a lantern can be relit,
and how, while lying in the grave, he could raise up the fallen,
himself remaining there, but sending forth a witness to Christ’s coming.

Ephrem the Syrian (c.306-373): The Harp of the Spirit, 77-78, tr. Sebastian Brock; from the Monastic Office of Vigils, Saturday in Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year 1.

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Ephrem the Syrian: May the Spiritual Waters of Your Love Cleanse the Effects of Mortality from Our Hearts Thursday, Jun 9 2011

Lord, shed upon our darkened souls the brilliant light of your wisdom so that we may be enlightened and serve you with renewed purity.

Sunrise marks the hour for men to begin their toil, but in our souls, Lord, prepare a dwelling for the day that will never end.

Grant that we may come to know the risen life and that nothing may distract us from the delights you offer.

Through our unremitting zeal for you, Lord, set upon us the sign of your day that is not measured by the sun.

In your sacrament we daily embrace you and receive you into our bodies; make us worthy to experience the resurrection for which we hope.

We have had your treasure hidden within us ever since we received baptismal grace; it grows ever richer at your sacramental table.

Teach us to find our joy in your favour! Lord, we have within us your memorial, received at your spiritual table; let us possess it in its full reality when all things shall be made new.

We glimpse the beauty that is laid up for us when we gaze upon the spiritual beauty your immortal will now creates within our mortal selves.

Saviour, your crucifixion marked the end of your mortal life; teach us to crucify ourselves and make way for our life in the Spirit.

May your resurrection, Jesus, bring true greatness to our spiritual self and may your sacraments be the mirror wherein we may know that self.

Saviour, your divine plan for the world is a mirror for the spiritual world; teach us to walk in that world as spiritual men.

Lord, do not deprive our souls of the spiritual vision of you nor our bodies of your warmth and sweetness.

The mortality lurking in our bodies spreads corruption through us; may the spiritual waters of your love cleanse the effects of mortality from our hearts.

Grant, Lord, that we may hasten to our true city and, like Moses on the mountain top, possess it now in vision.

Ephrem the Syrian (c.306-373): Sermon 3, from the Office of Readings for the feast of St. Ephrem, June 9^th @ Crossroads Initiative.

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Ephrem the Syrian: The Cross is the Foundation of the Church, the Establishment of the Universe Friday, Apr 1 2011

The Cross abolished idolatrous adulation, enlightened the whole universe, gathered all the nations into one Church and united them with love.

The Cross is the resurrection of the dead. The Cross is the hope of Christians.

[...] The Cross is the foundation of the Church, the establishment of the universe.

[...] By this holy armour of the Cross Christ the Lord has terminated the all-consuming bowels of Hades and blocked the many snares in the mouth of the devil.

Having seen the Cross, death trembled and released everyone whom she possessed with the first creature.

Armed with the Cross, the God-bearing apostles subdued all the power of the enemy and caught all peoples in their dragnets, and gathered them for the worship of the One Crucified.

Clothed in the Cross as in armour, the martyrs of Christ trampled all the plans of torturers and preached with plainness the Divine Cross-bearer.

Having taken up the Cross for the sake of Christ, those who renounced everything in the world settled in deserts and on mountains, in caves and became the fasters of the earth.

But what language is worthy to praise the Cross, this invincible wall of the orthodox, this victorious armour of the Heavenly King?!

By the Cross the Almighty One bestowed unspeakable blessings on humanity!

Therefore on the forehead, and on the eyes, and on the mouth, and on the breasts let us place the life-giving Cross.

Let us arm them with the invincible armour of Christians, with this hope of the faithful, with this gentle light.

Let us open paradise with this armour, with this support of the orthodox faith, with this saving praise of the Church.

Neither in one hour, nor in one instant, let us not forget the Cross, nor let us begin to do anything without it.

But let us sleep, let us arise, let us work, let us eat, let us drink, let us go on our way, let us sail on the seas, let us go across the river, let us adorn all our members with the life-giving Cross.

And let us not be frightened “by the terror of the night, nor by the arrow that flies by day, nor by anything roaming in darkness, nor by any calamity, nor any noonday demon” (Ps. 90:5, 6).

If, O Christian, you will always take up the Cross of Christ on yourself as a help, then “evil shall not come towards you, nor any scourge come near your habitation”.

For the opposition power, seeing it, trembles and leaves.

Ephrem the Syrian (c.306-373): @ Monks and Mermaids (Dom David Bird OSB).

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Ephrem the Syrian: The Son of the Most High Came and Dwelt in Me, and I Became His Mother Friday, Mar 25 2011

(The Virgin Mother to Her Child…)

I shall not be jealous, my Son, that Thou art with me, and also with all men.

Be Thou God to him that confesses Thee, and be thou Lord to him that serves Thee, and be Brother to him that loves Thee, that Thou mayest gain all!

When Thou didst dwell in me, Thou didst also dwell out of me, and when I brought Thee forth openly, Thy hidden might was not removed from me.

Thou art within me, and Thou art without me, O Thou that makest Thy mother amazed.

For when I see that outward form of Thine before mine eyes, the hidden form is shadowed forth “in my mind,” O holy One.

In Thy visible form I see Adam, and in Thy hidden form I see Thy Father, who is joined with Thee.

Hast Thou then shown me alone Thy beauty in two forms?  Let Bread shadow forth Thee, and also the mind; dwell also in Bread and in the eaters thereof.

In secret, and openly too, may Thy Church see Thee, as well as Thy Mother.

[...] Lo! Thy image is shadowed forth in the blood of the grapes on the Bread; and it is shadowed forth on the heart with the finger of love, with the colours of faith.

Blessed be He that by the image of His Truth caused the graven images to pass away.

Thou art not so the Son of Man that I should sing unto Thee a common lullaby; for Thy conception is new, and Thy birth marvellous.

Without the Spirit who shall sing to Thee?  A new muttering of prophecy is hot within me.

How shall I call Thee a stranger to us, Who art from us?  Should I call Thee Son?  Should I call Thee Brother?

Husband should I call Thee?  Lord should I call Thee, O Child that didst give Thy mother a second birth from the waters?

For I am Thy sister, of the house of David the father of us both.

Again, I am Thy mother because of Thy conception, and Thy bride am I because of Thy sanctification, Thy handmaid and Thy daughter, from the Blood and water wherewith Thou hast purchased me and baptised me.

The Son of the Most High came and dwelt in me, and I became His mother; and as by a second birth I brought Him forth so did He bring me forth by the second birth, because He put His mother’s garments on, she clothed her body with His glory.

Ephrem the Syrian (c.306-373): Hymns on the Nativity, 11.

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Ephrem the Syrian: When Our Lord was Presented in the Temple… Wednesday, Feb 2 2011

When our Lord was presented in the Temple, He put on prophecy and priesthood, and went forth bearing the purity of the priesthood upon His pure members, and bearing the words of prophecy in His wondrous ears.

For when Simeon was sanctifying the body of the Child who sanctifies all, that body received the priesthood in its sanctification.

And again, when Simeon was prophesying over Him, prophecy quickly entered the hearing of the Child.

[...] Accordingly, each one of the gifts that was stored up for the Son, He gathered from their true tree.

For He received baptism from the Jordan, even though John still after Him used to baptise.

And He received priesthood from the Temple, even though Annas the High Priest exercised it.

And again, He received prophecy which had been handed down amongst the righteous, even though by it Caiaphas in mockery platted a crown for our Lord.

And He received the kingdom from the house of David, even though Herod held the place and exercised it.

And when all those gifts which He had given to those of old time saw Him, they came flying from every quarter and rested on Him their Giver.

For they gathered themselves together from every side, to come and be grafted into their natural tree.

[...] Therefore they hastened to come to their sweet parent-stock; namely to the Godhead Who in sufficiency came down to the people of Israel, that the parts of Him might be gathered to Him.

[...] But when our Lord took to Himself Priesthood…He sanctified by it all the Gentiles.

And again, when He took to Himself prophecy, He revealed by it His counsels to all nations.

And when he wove His crown, He bound the strong One who takes all men captive, and divides his spoils.

These gifts were barren, with the fig-tree, which while it was barren of fruit made barren such glorious powers as these.

Therefore as being without fruit, it was cut off, that these gifts might pass forth from it and bring forth fruit abundantly among all the Gentiles.

So He, Who came to make our bodies abodes for His indwelling, passed by all those dwelling-places.

Let each one of us then be a dwelling-place for Him Who loves me.  Let us come to Him and make our abode with Him.

This is the Godhead Whom though all creation cannot contain, yet a lowly and humble soul suffices to receive Him.

Ephrem the Syrian (c.306-373): Homily on Our Lord, 53-57.

 

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Ephrem the Syrian: Behold the Pure Fire of Our Redeemer which He Kindled in Mankind of His Mercy Friday, Jan 7 2011

(Response: – Happy are ye whose bodies have been made to shine!)

God in His mercy stooped and came down, to mingle His compassion with the water;

and to blend the nature of His majesty with the wretched bodies of men.

He made occasion by the water to come down and to dwell in us:

like to the occasion of mercy when He came down and dwelt in the womb.

O the mercies of God Who seeks for Himself all occasions to dwell in us!

To the cave in Horeb He stooped and came down, and on Moses He caused His majesty to dwell;

He imparted His glorious splendour to mortals.

There was therein a figure of Baptism:

He Who came down and dwelt in it tempers within the water the might of His majesty, that He may dwell in the feeble.

On Moses dwelt the Breath, and on you the Perfecting of Christ.

[...] Two words again our Lord spake which in one voice agree in unison:

He said, “I am come to send fire,” and again, “I have a baptism to be baptized with.”

By the fire of Baptism is quenched the fire, that which the Evil One had kindled:

and the water of Baptism has overcome those waters of contention

(by which he had made trial of Joseph who conquered and was crowned).

Lo! the pure fire of our Redeemer which he kindled in mankind of His mercy!

Through His fire He quenched that fire which had been kindled in the defiled and sinful.

This is the fire wherein the thorns are burnt up and the tares.

But happy are your bodies that have been baptized in the fire which has consumed your thickets,

and by it your seeds have sprung up to heaven!

[...] In the beginning the Spirit that brooded moved on the waters;

they conceived and gave birth to serpents and fishes and birds.

The Holy Spirit has brooded in Baptism, and in mystery has given birth to eagles – Virgins and Prelates;

and in mystery has given birth to fishes – celibates and intercessors;

and in mystery of serpents – lo! the subtle have become simple as doves!

Lo! the sword of our Lord in the waters! that which divides sons and fathers:

for it is the living sword that makes division, lo! of the living from the dying.

Lo! they are baptized and they become Virgins and saints,

who have gone down, been baptized, and put on the One Only begotten.

Lo! many have come boldly to Him!

Ephrem the Syrian (c.306-373): Hymns on the Nativity, 8:1-2,7-8,16-17.

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Ephrem the Syrian: Blessed Be That Child, Who Gladdened Bethlehem Today! Friday, Dec 24 2010

Blessed be that Child, Who gladdened Bethlehem today!

Blessed be the Babe Who made manhood young again today!

Blessed be the Fruit, Who lowered Himself to our famished state!

Blessed be the Good One, Who suddenly enriched our necessitousness and supplied our needs!

Blessed He Whose tender mercies made Him condescend to visit our infirmities!

Praise to the Fountain that was sent for our propitiation.

Praise be to Him Who made void the Sabbath by fulfilling it!

Praise too to Him Who rebuked the leprosy and it remained not, Whom the fever saw and fled!

Praise to the Merciful, Who bore our toil!  Glory to Thy coming, which quickened the sons of men!

Glory to Him, Who came to us by His first-born!

Glory to the Silence that spake by His Voice.

Glory to the One on high, Who was seen by His Day-spring!

Glory to the Spiritual, Who was pleased to have a Body, that in it His virtue might be felt, and He might by that Body show mercy on His household’s bodies!

Glory to that Hidden One, Whose Son was made manifest!

Glory to that Living One, Whose Son was made to die!

Glory to that Great One, Whose Son descended and was small!

Glory to the Power Who did straiten His greatness by a form, His unseen nature by a shape!

With eye and mind we have beheld Him, yea with both of them.

Glory to that Hidden One, Who even with the mind cannot be felt at all by them that pry into Him; but by His graciousness was felt by the hand of man!

The Nature that could not be touched, by His hands was bound and tied, by His feet was pierced and lifted up.

Himself of His own will He embodied for them that took Him.

Blessed be He Whom free will crucified, because He let it.

Blessed be He Whom the wood also did bear, because He allowed it.

Blessed be He Whom the grave bound, that had thereby a limit set it.

Blessed be He Whose own will brought Him to the Womb and Birth, to arms and to increase in stature.

Blessed He whose changes purchased life for human nature.

Blessed He Who sealed our soul, and adorned it and espoused it to Himself.

Blessed He Who made our Body a tabernacle for His unseen Nature.

Blessed He Who by our tongue interpreted His secret things.

Let us praise that Voice whose glory is hymned with our lute, and His virtue with our harp.

The Gentiles have assembled and have come to hear His strains.

Ephrem the Syrian (c.306-373): Hymns on the Nativity, 2.

 

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Ephrem the Syrian: Touching Godhead Saturday, Feb 27 2010

Glory be to Thee Who didst clothe Thyself in the body of mortal Adam, and didst make it a fountain of life for all mortals.

Thou art He that livest, for Thy slayers were as husbandmen to Thy life, for that they sowed it as wheat in the depth of the earth, that it may rise and raise up many with it.

Come, let us make our love the great censer of the community, and offer on it as incense our hymns and our prayers to Him Who made His cross a censer for the Godhead, and offered from it on behalf of us all.

He that was above stooped down to those who were beneath, to distribute His treasures to them.

Accordingly, though the needy drew near to His manhood, yet they used to receive the gift from His Godhead.

Therefore He made the body which He put on, the treasurer of His riches, that He, O Lord, might bring them out of Thy storehouse, and distribute them to the needy, the sons of His kindred.

[...] That Power which may not be handled came down and clothed itself in members that may be touched; that the needy may draw near to Him, that in touching His manhood they may discern His Godhead.

For that dumb man whom the Lord healed with the fingers of the body, discerned that He had approached his ears and touched his tongue (Mark 7:32-37).

With his fingers that may be touched, he touched Godhead, that may not be touched; when it was loosing the string of his tongue, and opening the clogged doors of his ears.

For the Architect of the body and Artificer of the flesh came to him, and with His gentle voice pierced without pain his thickened ears.

And his mouth which was closed up, that it could not give birth to a word, gave birth to praise to Him Who made its barrenness fruitful in the birth of words.

He, then, Who gave to Adam that he should speak at once without teaching, Himself gave to the dumb that they should speak easily tongues that are learned with difficulty.

Ephrem the Syrian (c.306-373): Homily on Our Lord, 9-10.

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Ephrem the Syrian: In Christ Life Swallowed Up Death Wednesday, Feb 24 2010

But our Lord was trampled on by Death; and in His turn trod out a way over Death.  This is He Who made Himself subject to and endured death of His own will, that He might cast down death against his will.

For our Lord bare His cross and went forth according to the will of Death:  but He cried upon the cross and brought forth the dead from within Sheol against the will of Death.

For in that very thing by which Death had slain Him [i.e., the body], in that as armour He bore off the victory over Death.

But the Godhead concealed itself in the manhood and fought against Death, Death slew and was slain.  Death slew the natural life; and the supernatural life slew Him.

And because Death was not able to devour Him without the body, nor Sheol to swallow Him up without the flesh, He came unto the Virgin, that from thence He might obtain that which should bear Him to Sheol….

With the body then that was from the Virgin, He entered Sheol and plundered its storehouses and emptied its treasures.

He came then to Eve the Mother of all living.  This is the vine whose fence Death laid open by her own hands, and caused her to taste of his fruits.  So Eve the Mother of all living became the well-spring of death to all living.

But Mary budded forth, a new shoot from Eve the ancient vine; and new life dwelt in her, that when Death should come confidently after his custom to feed upon mortal fruits, the life that is slayer of death might be stored up therein against him….

For He Who is the Medicine of life flew down from heaven, and was mingled in the body, the mortal fruit.  And when Death came to feed after his custom, the Life in His turn swallowed up Death….

So then, by one fruit which Death swallowed hungrily, he vomited up many lives which he had swallowed greedily….

For while One was dying on the cross, many that were buried from within Sheol were coming forth at His cry.

Ephrem the Syrian (c.306-373): Homily on Our Lord, 3.

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