[NYer]

Dormition of Saint Ephrem

Saint Ephrem was born in Mesopotamia and ordained as a deacon of Edessa in whatis now Turkey, he vigorously combated the heresies of his time by writing poems and hymns about the Mysteries of Christ and the Blessed Virgin. He had a great devotion to Our Lady, and was in large part responsible for introducing hymns to public worship.

[Agrarian]

St. Ephraim the Syrian is a saint whose influence on the Church is incalculable. His writings are appointed to be read during the cycle of services every weekday during Great Lent. His writings are probably the oldest patristic writings appointed to be read in liturgical services, and certainly the oldest ones that have been in continuous usage.

It is not always easy to find digestible forms of his writings, but one that my wife and I really like is the "Spiritual Psalter" that was compiled of his writings by St. Theophan the Recluse in Russia.

This Spiritual Psalter (so-called because it was organized into 150 sections corresponding to the number of Psalms, and furthermore divided into 20 Kathismata, each of which has 3 stases -- just like an Orthodox liturgical Psalter) is a classic of Russian Orthodox spirituality, and for someone wanting to be introduced to St. Ephraim's works, it is very handy. By reading two stases each weekday, one can read through the entire volume during the course of Great Lent.

It can be obtained from www.sjkp.org -- just type "Spiritual Psalter" into the search, and it will pop up.