Ephraem, Saint

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Saint Ephraem (ē´frā´əm), AD 308?–373, Syrian theologian, Doctor of the Church. He taught at Nisibis and Edessa and composed biblical exegeses (now almost all lost) and numerous sacred verses. Ephraem converted Syria with his psalms, vehicles of orthodox doctrine, which soon supplanted those of Bardesanes. Also known as Ephraem the Syrian, he is venerated by all the Eastern churches and by Rome. Feast: June 18.

See his Prose Refutations of Mani, Marcion, and Bardaisan (tr. 1912–21, repr. 1969) and An Exposition of the Gospel (tr. 1968); study ed. by A. Vööbus (1958).