Deacon of Nisibis and Edessa, poet and teacher · c. 306 – 373

Ephrem the Syrian

The great poet of the Syriac church, who answered the heresies of his day in hymns for choirs of women and children; he is called the Harp of the Spirit.

Writings

1. Hymns

   Selected Nisibene Hymns

   Ephrem's hymns (c. 363–373) from the besieged and then ceded city of Nisibis: the siege, the Persian invasion, the bishops of the city, and Satan and death.

   157 min read · translated by J. T. Sarsfield Stopford

2. Hymns

   Hymns on the Nativity

   Nineteen of Ephrem's hymns for Christmas: Mary, the shepherds and the Magi, the Word made flesh, sung to answer the heresies of his day.

   110 min read · translated by J. B. Morris and A. Edward Johnston

3. Hymns

   Hymns for the Feast of the Epiphany

   Fifteen hymns on the baptism of Christ in the Jordan, the descent of the Spirit, and the baptism of believers.

   60 min read · translated by A. Edward Johnston

4. Hymns

   The Pearl: Seven Hymns on the Faith

   Ephrem takes a pearl in his hand and sees in it the faith: its light, its purity and its price, in seven hymns.

   22 min read · translated by J. B. Morris

5. Sermons

   Three Homilies

   Ephrem's homilies on our Lord, on admonition and repentance, and on the sinful woman.

   115 min read · translated by A. Edward Johnston

Portrait: drawn in the site’s engraved style from “EphremSyrian”, public domain, Wikimedia Commons.

All the Fathers