Deepertruth: Stand In The Gap With Us And Saint Ephrem Doctor of the Church

Stand In The Gap With Us And  Saint Ephrem Doctor of the Church 6/9/2024.  Ephrem is the patron saint for Spiritual Directors and Spiritual Leaders. Many of them call upon St. Ephrem today for his intercession in times of trouble and discernment.

Poet, teacher, orator, and defender of the faith, Ephrem is the only Syriac Christian recognized as a doctor of the Church. He took upon himself the special task of opposing the many false doctrines rampant at his time, always remaining a true and forceful defender of the Catholic Church.

Ephrem was born in the city of Nisibis in approximately 306. Traditions differ on the question of his family background, with some sources attesting that his father was at one time a pagan priest.

Born in Nisibis, Mesopotamia, he was baptized as a young man and became famous as a teacher in his native city. When the Christian emperor had to cede Nisibis to the Persians, Ephrem fled as a refugee to Edessa, along with many other Christians. He is credited with attracting great glory to the biblical school there. He was ordained a deacon but declined becoming a priest. Ephrem was said to have avoided presbyteral consecration by feigning madness!