Explore the Saints

St. Ephrem

We can thank St. Ephrem for the hymns we sing at Mass—he introduced the idea of sacred hymnody to the liturgy in the fourth century.

Ephrem was born in 306 in a town in modern-day Turkey. His parents were not Christian, and when Ephrem found the faith and converted with his baptism at the age of 18, they turned him out of the house. He joined the ministry of the local bishop by leading a school and following him as an aide to the Council of Nicea in 325.

When his hometown was occupied by the Persians, Ephrem went to Edessa of ancient Syria, where he lived in a cave as an ascetic. He was not a hermit, however—he regularly interacted with the people of the city, and even preached regularly there.

He was ordained a deacon and worked to cultivate the Christian community in Edessa. He saw that false teachings were growing in popularity, especially through well-known songs that adapted false doctrines to easy-to-sing tunes.

He decided to use the same trick, and composed orthodox songs to replace them in people’s imaginations. He formed a women’s choir, and had them lead song in the city’s liturgies, which stopped the influence of the heresies. The practice of sacred song in liturgy can be traced to Ephrem’s strategy—liturgical hymns spread throughout the eastern Church and then to the west.

Ephrem wrote volumes of theological works in the forms of hymns, letters, tracts, arguments, and commentaries—almost all in metrical verse. His words were directed at ordinary people and assisted in their development of faith, and were immensely popular and passed on long after his death. Many communities during his age read his works after the Scriptures at Mass.

For his work in teaching the faith through his preaching and writing, the Church honors him as one of her doctors—a title given to 37 saints who illuminate the faith with their words or example. Ephrem is one of the most beloved saints of the eastern Church—they call him the Harp of the Holy Spirit.

The last great work of his life was to relieve the city of Edessa during a famine in the winter of 372-373. The wealthy refused give from their money or grain reserves because they did not trust anyone to distribute them fairly. Ephrem volunteered, and successfully distributed the resources to all who needed help, and even organized a special relief effort to assist the sick. He retired to his cave after that effort and within a month, he died—possibly from illness he contracted from helping the sick.

His image (top) is used with permission from Catholic.org.

St. Ephrem, you introduced sacred hymns to the liturgy to fight heresy—pray for us!