Житие преподобного отца нашего Ефрема Сирина 1025

Saint Ephraim was from Mesopotamia from the city of Nizibia 1026. He was born during the reign of Constantine the Great from Christian parents in 1027 and lived until the reign of Theodosius the Great in 1028. Even in his youth, Saint Ephraim renounced the world and went into the desert, where he became a monk 1029. He received from God the gift of wisdom; Grace flowed from his lips, like a sweet river, filling with tenderness the souls of all who listened to his teachings. This was foreshadowed to him at a very early age. When he was still a child, his parents had the following dream about him: a grapevine sprouted on the boy’s tongue and, having grown, filled the whole of heaven with branches and clusters. The birds of the air gathered and ate grapes, and as much as they ate, the amount of grapes increased. When Saint Ephraim then labored on a desert mountain, filled with great tenderness and heartfelt contrition, one of the God-bearing fathers saw in a dream a bright man, shining like the Angels. He held a covered scroll in his hand and asked: – Who can accept and preserve this scroll? - No one else but Ephraim, My saint. Ephraim stood before the husband who appeared. He opened his mouth, and his husband put a scroll in his mouth. The Monk Ephraim ate the scroll, and then, soon after that, began to speak and write edifying speeches, which moved everyone who read and listened to them. They could arouse the fear of the Lord in everyone and set them on the path of repentance, as is clear from his divinely inspired books. Likewise, another great and holy elder had a similar vision in a dream about Saint Ephraim. He saw hosts of Angels descending from heaven at the command of God and holding in their hands a scroll written on the inside and outside. They said to each other: -Who can accept this scroll? In response, some called one name, others remembered another, and some said: “Truly the men mentioned are holy and righteous, but not one of them can accept this scroll, but only Ephraim, meek and lowly in heart.” Then the elder saw how this scroll was given to Ephraim. Rising the next morning, he heard Blessed Ephraim offering instructive edifications to the brethren. It was as if the source was flowing from the lips! From them came speeches filled with great benefit. He believed that everything coming from the mouth of Saint Ephraim was inspired by the Holy Spirit, and glorified God, who gives such grace to His servants. In 363, Nizibia fell under Persian rule and many of the Christians left Nizibia. Then the Monk Ephraim set out to go from here to the city of Edessa 1030. He turned to God with the following prayer: - Lord Jesus Christ! Make me worthy to see Your city, and when I enter it, send me a person who will talk with me from the Holy Scriptures for my benefit. When he, having prayed like this, approached the city and entered the gate, a woman met him. Seeing her, the servant of God became sad and turned mentally to God: - Lord, You have despised the prayer of Your servant. For how can she talk to me about book wisdom? The woman stood and looked at him. Saint Ephrem turned to her with a question: - Tell me, woman, why are you standing and looking at me? “I look at you because the woman was taken from her husband, but you look not at me, but at the ground from which you were taken.” Hearing this, Ephraim marveled at her answer and glorified God, who gave the woman such a mind. He realized that the Lord did not despise his prayers. Having entered the city, he lived in it for a long time 1031. By chance, near the house in which the saint lived, there lived another woman, a harlot, who was his neighbor. Incited by demonic cunning, she wanted to insult the elder. Opening the window from where there was a view of the saint’s home, she saw Ephraim standing and cooking food for himself. The woman addressed him loudly: The monk looked at the window and, noticing that she was watching, said to her: - God bless you. Then the woman continued: -What is missing for your food? “Three stones and a little sand are needed to block the window from which you look here.” The woman shamelessly said to him: “I addressed you first with a speech, and you answered me.” I want to lie with you, but you refuse from the first word. “If you want to lie with me, then go to the place I show you.” - Show me this place and I will come. “If you have chosen me, then you cannot lie down with me in any other place than in the middle of the city.” “Won’t we be ashamed of people?” – If we are ashamed of people, then how much more should we be ashamed, and at the same time fear God, who knows all the secrets of men! After all, He will judge the whole world and reward everyone according to his deeds. Hearing this, the harlot was moved by the words of Saint Ephraim. She came and fell at his feet, crying and saying: - Servant of God! Guide me on the path of salvation so that I can get rid of many of my evil deeds. The Monk Ephraim, having taught her many instructions from the Holy Scriptures, confirmed her in repentance and, giving her to a nunnery, saved her soul from iniquities and sin. Then another harlot, approaching the Monk Ephraim as he was walking somewhere, tempted him to sin, in order to at least anger him, since no one had ever seen him angry. The woman followed him. When they approached a crowded place, the saint said to her: “We’ll lie down here and commit a sin.” She, seeing the people, said to him: - How can you stop here when there are so many people around! Isn't it a shame? – If you are ashamed of people, then how much more should we be ashamed of God, who knows the innermost secrets? So the woman left him in disgrace, being unable either to seduce the saint into sin or to arouse anger in him, for he was a truly gentle and meek husband and completely incapable of anger. The following is said about his kindness. When he was fasting in the desert, his disciple brought him food at the usual time. One day, when he was carrying food, he accidentally broke a vessel containing food on the way. He was afraid of the elder’s anger, but the latter, seeing the embarrassed student, said: “Don’t worry, brother, if the food didn’t want to come to us, then we will go to it.” Then, coming up, he sat down by the broken vessel and, collecting food, began to eat. He was so gentle! It was said about him that from the time he became a monk, he was never angry with anyone. The Monk Ephraim once had a revelation about Saint Basil the Great. In a dream he saw a pillar of fire reaching to the sky, and heard a voice: - Ephraim, Ephraim! The way you see this pillar of fire is how Vasily is. Then Ephraim wished to see Saint Basil. Taking with him a translator - for he did not know how to speak Greek - Saint Ephraim went to Caesarea in Cappadocia 1032. He found Saint Basil in the church teaching people and began to glorify him with a loud voice, saying: – Vasily is truly great! Truly he is a pillar of fire! Truly the Holy Spirit speaks through his mouth! Then some of the people began to say: -Who is this wanderer who praises the archbishop so much? Doesn't he flatter him in order to get something from his hands? After the dismissal of the church, when the Monk Ephraim entered into a friendly conversation with Saint Basil, the latter asked him: “Why did you glorify me so much?” Rev. Ephraim replied: - Because I saw a white dove sitting on your right shoulder and telling you in your ear what you inspired in people. In addition, the fiery tongue spoke through your lips. To this Saint Basil said to him: “Truly, I now see what I heard about you, inhabitant of the desert and lover of silence!” This is how the prophet David writes: “Ephraim is the strength of my head” (Ps. 59:9). Truly these prophetic words apply to you, for you have guided many on the path of virtue and strengthened them in it. Your meekness and kindness of heart shine for everyone like light. After that, Basil the Great said: “Why, honest father, do you not accept ordination to the rank of presbyter, being worthy of it?” - Because I am a sinner, sir! - Ephraim answered him through an interpreter. - Oh, if only I had your sins! - said Vasily, and added: - Let’s bow to the ground. When they fell to the ground, Saint Basil laid his hand on the head of the Monk Ephraim and said the prayer laid down at the dedication to the deacon. The Monk Ephraim spent three days thereafter with Saint Basil, in spiritual joy. Vasily made him a deacon, and his translator a presbyter, and then released them in peace. The Monk Ephraim had great love for the Monk Abramius the recluse, whose memory is celebrated on October 29. They often visited each other and were touched by mutually edifying friendly conversations. And when blessed Mary, the niece of Abramia, was seduced by the enemy, the Monk Ephraim, with his prayers, greatly contributed to her salvation. He had a lot of heartache for those who sinned and cared a lot about correcting them. The Monk Ephraim either stayed in the desert 1033, working for God in silence, and gathered many disciples there; then, at the command of God, he lived in the city of Edessa, leading many people to repentance and winning lost souls for God with his teachings. He abounded so much in soul-helping words and was filled with the grace of God that many times his larynx was exhausted from the strain of his voice, and his tongue from pronouncing words; however, his speeches did not become shorter, especially since his mind was filled with the depth of wisdom and intelligence 1034. In addition, he was filled with deep humility and avoided human veneration and temporary glory in every possible way. Once the people wanted to seize him and forcefully install him as a bishop. Ephraim, having learned about this, pretended to be a holy fool and began to run around the square, dragging his clothes behind him like a madman - he grabbed the bread and vegetables that were being sold and ate. Seeing this, people considered him crazy, and he fled from the city and hid until another bishop was installed in the place in which they wanted to put him. The saint remained in prayer incessantly, day and night. Possessing the gift of tenderness and tears, he always cried, remembering the day of judgment, about which he wrote and spoke a lot. He slept little, ate little food, just so as not to become exhausted and die from hunger and sleep deprivation. He was completely non-covetous and loved poverty more than wealth, as he himself says about himself in his will: – Ephraim never had gold, silver, or any storehouse, fulfilling the will of the good Teacher Christ, who commanded: do not acquire anything on earth (cf. Matthew 6:25 et seq.). In those years there lived the heretic Apollinaris, who falsely philosophized about the incarnation of the Lord. He was resourceful in words and skilled in Hellenic wisdom, as a result of which he greatly embarrassed the Church of God and attracted many to his heresy. This heretic devoted all his work and all his efforts, from his very youth to old age, to corrupting the Orthodox and leading them into his error. He wrote many books against the Orthodox, of which two are especially remarkable, since in them all his harmful teachings are most fully expressed. He used them as a weapon, fighting against the Orthodox through verbal competitions. These books of his were placed in the custody of one woman, his cohabitant. The Monk Ephraim, having learned about these books, invented his own even more amazing trick against the heretical: he came to that woman secretly and highly praised Apollinaris, calling himself the latter’s disciple. As if wanting to learn wisdom unknown to him, he asked the woman to give him for a short time the Apollinarian books, which she kept, in order to briefly copy out the most remarkable passages from them. The woman, being sure that this was really her friend’s student, gave him both books with the condition that he return them as soon as possible and not tell anyone about them. Saint Ephrem, taking the books, took them to his monastery and, having prepared glue, he glued all the sheets in them, bending them one by one, until, finally, he glued them all together so that the books became like one piece of wood, or stone, and not a single sheet could be separated from another. He then took the books to the woman. She, taking them and not looking inside, put them in their place. Then there was a dispute between the Orthodox and the heretic Apollinaris, who had already grown old. No longer possessing the former resourcefulness in disputes and having a weak memory due to old age, he wanted to achieve victory over the Orthodox with the help of those books of his; but, having taken them, he could not open them, since the sheets were tightly glued and petrified. He was filled with great shame and left the cathedral defeated and disgraced, and then soon, out of grief and great shame, he lost his life, casting out his accursed soul in shame. Our venerable father Ephraim, having lived many years pleasing to God and having led many to salvation, foresaw his death in advance and wrote an instructive testament for his disciples. Having been ill for a little while, he went to the Lord in old age 1035. His venerable body was buried in his monastery, located in the desert, within the borders of Edessa, in Syria, and his holy soul now stands before the throne of the Master, interceding for us, so that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, through his prayers, by the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever. Amen. With the streams of your tears you cultivated the barren, and you brought forth fruit from the depths with sighs of a hundred labors, and you were the lamp of the universe, shining miracles, Ephraim our Father. Pray to Christ God to save our souls. Ever foreseeing the hour of judgment, you wept bitterly, Ephraim, as if you were a loving and silent one, but you were an active teacher in matters, O Reverend. In the same way, universal father, you lift up the lazy to repentance. The Monk Ephraim is called Sirin, that is, a Syrian, because Mesopotamia, in which he was born, was considered Syria in ancient times. Nizibia (or Nisibida) is a large and populous city in the province of Magdonia in Mesopotamia, on the borders of the Roman Empire and the Persian kingdom. The Monk Ephraim writes the following about his parents. “Those who bore me according to the flesh instilled in me the fear of the Lord. My ancestors confessed Christ before the judge, I am a relative of the martyrs. My grandfathers, who prospered in life, were farmers. My parents did the same.” Emperor Theodosius the Great reigned from 379 to 395 The summers of Ephraim's youth did not pass without some stumbling blocks. By nature fiery, he was, as he himself says, irritable “he got into quarrels over unimportant matters, acted recklessly, indulged in evil plans and lustful thoughts... My youth almost assured me that what happens to us in life happens by chance. But God’s Providence enlightened the ardent youth.” Ephraim was falsely accused of stealing sheep and thrown into prison, followed by two others, just as innocently as Ephraim. “After spending seven days, on the eighth I saw in a dream,” Saint Ephraim later said, “that someone was telling me, “be pious and understand Providence, go over in your thoughts what you were thinking about and what you were doing, and you will realize in yourself that these people are not suffering unjustly, but the guilty will not escape punishment.” “Efrem saw all this, as he tells in detail in one of his writings. – These events struck Ephraim so much that he soon left the world and retired to the mountains to the hermits, where he became a disciple of Saint James, Saint of Nizibia (his memory is January 13). Edessa is a city in Mesopotamia; lies on the border between the rocky desert and the fertile land - southern Mesopotamia. This city, as Saint Ephraim says, “was blessed by the living lips of the Savior through his disciple Thaddeus”; here was the miraculous face of the Savior and the holy relics of the Apostle Thaddeus. To support himself in Edessa, the Monk Ephraim hired himself out to work for the owner of a bathhouse and used his free time to preach the word of God to the pagans; then, on the advice of the holy elder Julian, he retired to the deserted Mount Edessa for exploits. Soon the vision revealed a husband to the elder in Ephraim, to whom one of [all] modern compatriots was given a book to admonish people. Ephraim began to write an interpretation of the Pentateuch. This first experience of interpretation in the Syriac language attracted many Edessians to Ephraim, and Ephraim wanted to escape from the people. “Ephraim! Where are you running? - asked the angel who appeared. “I want to live in silence and run from rumors and the seduction of the light,” answered Ephraim. The angel said: “Be afraid, lest the word of the Scripture be fulfilled on you: Ephraim is like a young ox that wants to free its neck from a yoke” (Hos. 10:11). After this, Ephraim returned to the ministry to which he had been called. From that time on, he began to teach faith and piety orally and in writing. To succeed in his pious work, he opened a school in Edessa, from which the famous teachers of the Syrian Church subsequently emerged. Cappadocia is a province of the Roman Empire, located in the east of Asia Minor. Caesarea is the main city of Cappadocia. The monk was, by the way, in the Egyptian deserts; So he spent some time in the Nitrian mountain. The Syrian biography writer says that Ephraim saw here the God-chosen monk Paisius, “the great father among the Syrian ascetics.” “We had here a man of God, a Syrian, a great elder among the fathers, enlightened in mind and heart,” says John Kolov. Saint Ephraim left behind him a lot of writings. In some, he is an interpreter of Holy Scripture; (St. Ephraim, according to St. Gregory, wrote an interpretation starting from the creation of the world to the last book of grace); in others, he is a denouncer of heresies and a singer of the Church; in others, he is a teacher of Christian life and, in particular, a preacher of heartfelt contrition. Works of the latter kind constitute, as it were, the seal of the soul of St. Ephraim and together with his glory for all centuries. Saint Gregory of Nyssa says that “crying for Ephraim was the same as breathing air for others - his tears flowed day and night; but Ephraim's face blossomed and shone with joy, while streams of tears flowed from his eyes. But even where Ephraim speaks of contrition, he ascends in thought to the goodness of God, pours out thanksgiving and praise to the Most High.” All his moral instructions are fragrant with heartfelt tenderness. Ephraim begins more than one of his instructions this way: “Be distressed, my soul; lament those blessings that you received from God and destroyed. Lament the evil deeds you have done. Contrite over everything in which God has shown His long-suffering towards you. Come, my brothers, come servants of Christ, let us be contrite in heart and weep before Him day and night. Come, let us think about this terrible and menacing judgment and our subsequent condemnation.” In this feeling of contrition, the usual subjects of Saint Ephraim’s conversations are: repentance, memory of death and judgment, fear of God, attention to oneself, humility, against pride, etc. – For his lofty teachings, Saint Ephraim was called the prophet of Syria by his compatriots. Blessed Jerome writes: “Ephraim, the deacon of Edessa, achieved such fame that in some churches his works are read publicly after St. Scriptures." “I need to glorify the one,” says Gregory of Nyssa, “who is in the mouths of all Christians, Ephraim the Syrian, that Ephraim whose life and instructions shine throughout the whole world.” – Saint Ephraim left behind him many dogmatic writings. All of them were written against the misconceptions of that time. These are: a) 80 words against daring testers, i.e. against the Aetians and Eunomians; b) 56 teachings against heresies with denunciations and admonitions to the Vardesanites (followers of the heretic Bardesan), Marcionites and Messalians; c) about the pearl, or about the fact that in one person of Jesus Christ two natures are united, against Marcion and Manes; d) three words about faith and against the Jews; e) about freedom against the defenders of blind fate; about repentance, where against the Novatians he speaks about the power of the church to forgive sins and refutes the millennial kingdom; about the priesthood; about heaven and judgment. – A strict zealot of faith and piety, Saint Ephraim could not remain indifferent to the unrest that the Bardesan and Arius sects caused in Edessa and Mesopotamia. Countering the heretics, who expressed their delusions in the poetic form of songs and, attracting the inexperienced with the grace of poetic meter, easily and for a long time rooted their heretical content, Saint Ephraim himself began to expound, on the basis of Holy Scripture, the true teaching about God and his relationship to us, in the same poetic form. The people greedily listened to the chants of the holy hermit and forgot the heretical songs. The heretics were so irritated by the successes of Saint Ephraim that they once attacked him with stones and weapons, and almost killed him; but this did not in the least weaken his zeal for the faith. All these works were written by Saint Ephraim in the form of reverent reflections. They were assigned to them for popular use, and partly for singing in the church, and were written in poetry. Saint Ephrem also left many touching prayers and prayer chants. These are his chants for the Nativity of Christ, distinguished by their special solemnity; He also owns the deeply touching stichera sung at burial; Of the prayers composed by him, the touching and touching prayer read during the days of Great Lent is especially famous: “Lord and master of my life! Do not let the spirit of idleness, covetousness, and idle talk take possession of me. Grant the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to me, your servant. O Lord, Master, grant me the opportunity to see my sins and not condemn my brother, blessed be forever and ever. Amen". Saint Ephrem died peacefully in the city of Edessa in 373. You might be interested in: