Blessed the one who meditates on. . .
“Blessed the one who meditates on death each day and destroys the base passions lurking in the vines of the heart, for he will be consoled in the moment of separation.”
— Ephrem the Syrian
Let books be your dining table, and. . .
“Let books be your dining table, and you shall be full of delights. Let them be your mattress, and you shall sleep restful nights”
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St. Ephrem of Syria: Virtues are formed by prayer. . . .
“Virtues are formed by prayer.
Prayer preserves temperance. Prayer suppresses anger. Prayer prevents emotions of pride and envy.
Prayer draws into the soul the Holy Spirit, and raises man to Heaven.”
— St. Ephrem of Syria
St. Ephraim the Syrian: Imagine that someone, while standing before a king . . .
“Imagine that someone, while standing before a king and conversing with him, at the summons of a servant like unto himself leaves the king and begins to converse with that servant; such also is he who engages in conversation and gives himself over to distraction during the divine service.”
— St. Ephraim the Syrian
St. Ephrem: Blessed the one who farms fair and good thoughts . . .
“Blessed the one who farms fair and good thoughts each day and by hope conquers the wicked passion of despondency, by which the Lord’s ascetics are warred upon.”
–St. Ephrem of Syria
St. Ephraim the Syrian: No one should think that the Creation . . .
“No one Should think that the Creation of Six Days is an allegory; it is likewise impermissible to say that what seems, according to the account, to have been created in the course of six days, was created in a single instant, and likewise that certain names presented in this account either signify nothing, or signify something else. On the contrary, one must know that just as the heaven and the earth which were created in the beginning are actually the heaven and the earth and not something else understood under the names of heaven and earth, so also everything else that is spoken of as being created and brought into order after the creation of heaven and earth is not empty names, but the very essence of the created natures corresponds to the force of these names.”
— St. Ephraim the Syrian, Commentary on Genesis, Ch. 1
St. Ephraim the Syrian: When you begin to read or listen to the Holy Scriptures . . .
“When you begin to read or listen to the Holy Scriptures, pray to God thus: “Lord Jesus Christ, open the ears and eyes of my heart so that I may hear Thy words and understand them, and may fulfill Thy will.” Always pray to God like this, that He might illumine your mind and open to you the power of His words. Many, having trusted in their own reason, have turned away into deception.”
— St. Ephraim the Syrian
St. Ephraim the Syrian: Come, let us wonder at the virgin most pure . . .
“Come, let us wonder at the virgin most pure, wondrous in herself, unique in creation, she gave birth, yet knew no man; her pure soul with wonder was filled, daily her mind gave praise in joy at the twofold wonder: her virginity preserved, her child most dear. Blessed is He who shone forth from her!”
— St. Ephraim the Syrian, Songs of Praise
St. Ephraim: Glory be to Him, Who never felt the need of our praising Him . . .
“Glory be to Him, Who never felt the need of our praising Him; yet felt the need as being kind to us, and thirsted as loving us, and asks us to give to Him, and longs to give to us. His fruit was mingled with us men, that in Him we might come near to Him, Who condescended to us. By the Fruit of His stem He grafted us into His Tree.”
— St. Ephraim the Syrian
St. Ephraim the Syrian: While the dying person addresses his last words to us . . .
“While the dying person addresses his last words to us, suddenly his tongue is at a loss, his eyes dim, his mouth falls silent, his voice paralyzed when the Lord’s troops have arrived, when His frightening armies overwhelm him, when the divine bailiffs invite the soul to be gone from the body, when the inexorable lays hold of us to drag us to the tribunal… Then the angels take the soul and go off through the air. There stand principalities, powers and leaders of the adverse troops who govern the world, merciless accusers, strict agents of an implacable tax bureau, like so many examiners that await the soul in the air, ready to demand a reckoning, to examine everything, brandishing their claims, that is to say our sins: those of youth and of old age, those intentional and those not so, those committed by actions and those by words or thoughts. Great then is the fear of the poor soul, inexpressible its anguish when it sees itself at grips with these myriads of enemies, who stop it, push and shove it, accuse it, hinder it from dwelling in the light, from entering into the land of the living. But the holy angels, taking the soul, lead it away.
