By CAROLE BRESLIN
For centuries — no, for millennia — the Mideast has been the center of tragedy and unrest. Particularly significant in this historical conflict sits the city of Nisibis, now named Nusaybin. Nusaybin is an ancient city which sits on the border between Syria and Turkey. In ancient times this fertile land, located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, became the objective of many rulers.
Nusaybin’s strategic importance as the crossroads of oil exports makes it desirable now more than ever. Today, the Sunni Muslims seek to rid the Nusaybin area of its “imperialist borders” imposed after World War I. This sad onslaught includes the murder of many Christians.
In 2006 a mass grave, believed to be from Roman times, was discovered, although kept out of the news. One hundred years ago, the same area suffered the massacre and slaughter of the Syriacs as well as over a million Armenian Christians.
As the Roman worldly influence began to crumble, Nusaybin, then called Nisibis, was the edge of the Roman Empire and thus came under attack from the Persian Sassanids. One of the more famous figures of Nisibis, a Christian, is credited with saving the city several times from 336 to 350. His name was St. Ephrem.
Just before Ephrem’s birth in 306, a Roman officer, Galerisu, captured Nisibis from Shapur in 298. (The Romans recognized the strategic importance of this city because of the trade routes, the surrounding fertile valley, as well as the intersection of several important rivers.)
The treaty stipulated that Nisibis would be the only place of commercial and diplomatic contact between the Persians and the Romans. This treaty brought a period of peaceful coexistence for nearly 40 years — the time during which Ephrem grew in both stature and in the faith.
Since St. Ephrem wrote that since his relatives had “confessed Christ before the judge; I am related to martyrs,” we know he was born of Christian parents. When Ephrem was still very young, his mother had a dream in which a lush vine issued from his tongue. This vine produced great leaves and abundant fruit. The parents believed that the clusters were his sermons and the leaves were his hymns.
Ephrem also confessed to being a wild and impetuous youth, much like St. Augustine who was born during his lifetime. He quoted the same Sacred Scripture that Augustine quoted about his young years, “Remember not, O Lord, the sins of my youth” (Psalm 25:7). Ephrem would quarrel over insignificant matters, had lustful thoughts, and indulged his bad impulses.
His conversion came after he had committed one of his most cruel acts. Having been sent to an outer part of the village for an errand, he came across a pregnant cow in the field. He decided to throw stones at the harmless animal, eventually driving it into the woods where it finally collapsed and died.
He watched as wild beasts devoured the cow and its unborn calf. When the impoverished owner of the cow questioned Ephrem about the cow, Ephrem denied that he had anything to do with the animal. He then berated the poor owner for accusing him.
Not long after he spent the night with some shepherds when some sheep were stolen. The authorities arrested him for the crime and threw him in jail even though he was innocent of the crime.
While Ephrem was in jail, an angel appeared to him and Ephrem pleaded his innocence of the crime. The angel then asked him about the cow he had driven to its death. He acknowledge his evil acts to the angel, and, after witnessing the cruel sufferings of criminals, he vowed that if God let him out of prison he would become a monk.
He held to this vow and changed his life upon his release. He wept over his past sins, becoming a man of prayer and fasting. He became a monk under the bishop of Nisibis, St. James, and from then on spent his time studying Scripture, teaching, and writing hymns of praise. In these hymns he referred to the bishop as the shepherd, himself as the herdsman, and to the laity as the flock.
Ephrem also helped St. James found the School of Nisibis, which later became the center of learning for the Syriac Orthodox Church. At one time this school housed as many as 1,000 students with the Church of St. James built near it in 325. This church is one of the oldest active parishes in the world — still active at the present time.
Sadly, this school had to be abandoned when Emperor Constantine I died in 337. Shapur, the Persian ruler, took advantage of the weakened empire and attacked Nisibis in 338 and again in 346. After the third unsuccessful attack in 350, Ephrem wrote a hymn giving credit for the victory to the prayers of the bishop.
In 360 the Persians finally captured Nisibis and forced many of the Christians to flee. Ephrem fled with his fellow Christians first to Beit-Garbaya, then to Amid, and finally, in 363, they settled in Edessa about 200 kilometers west of Nisibis.
Once again St. Ephrem engaged in writing biblical commentaries, writing hymns, directing choirs, and ministering to the flock of Christians. After ten years, the plagued reached Edessa. St. Ephrem ministered faithfully to the people until he himself caught the plague and died on June 9, 373. The Church celebrates his feast on June 9.
During his lifetime, St. Ephrem wrote more than 400 hymns, drawing on Rabbinic traditions, folk traditions, poetic imagery, and biblical heritage as well as on other philosophies. Many of his hymns are still used in the Syrian Orthodox Church.
His homilies were usually written in verse form. His biblical commentaries were some of the earliest written in the Church. He refuted heresies and wrote about the lives of the saints.
Dear St. Ephrem, how well you understand the conflict between Christians and non-Christians in the Middle East. You had to flee from the Persians along with many members of the Christian community in Mesopotamia.
Please obtain the grace of patience in suffering and perseverance in persecution for those Christians who today are suffering just as did the Christians in the fourth century. Grant them peace and, if it be God’s will, the joy of martyrdom. Amen.
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(Carole Breslin home-schooled her four daughters and served as treasurer of the Michigan Catholic Home Educators for eight years. For over ten years, she was national coordinator for the Marian Catechists, founded by Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ.)
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