Saturday, 17 August
2013
19th Week in Ord Time Saturday
Night Office Vigils
First Reading 2 Kings
13:10-25
Responsory
Sir 48:12-14
Throughout his life no ruler could
make Elisha tremble, no one could lord it over him. + No task was too hard for
him, and even in death his body prophesied.
V. In life he worked miracles; in
death his deeds were marvelous. + No task ..
Second Reading From a poem by
Saint Ephrem
Our generation is like a leaf
whose time, once it falls, is over,
but though the limit of our life is
short, praise can
lengthen it,
for, corresponding to the extent of
our love,
we shall acquire, through praise,
life that has no measure.
For it is in our Lord that the root
of our faith is grafted;
though far off, he is still close to
us in the fusion of love.
Let the roots of our love be bound up
in him,
let the full extent of his compassion
be fused in us.
a Lord, may the body be a temple for
him who built it,
may the soul be a palace full of
praise for its architect!
Let not our body become a hollow
cavity,
let our souls not be a harbour of
loss.
And when the light of this temporal
breath flickers out
do you relight in the morning the
lantern that was
extinguished in the
night.
The sun arrives and with the warmth
of its rising
it revives the frozen and relights
what has been
extinguished.
It is right that we should
acknowledge that Light which
illumines all,
for in the morning, when the sun has
gone up, lanterns are
extinguished,
but this new Sun has performed a new
deed,
relighting in Sheol the lanterns that
had been extinguished.
In place of death who has breathed
the smell of mortality
over all,
he who gives life to all exhales a
life-giving scent in Sheol;
from his life the dead breathe in new
life,
and death dies within them.
The scent of the buried Elisha who
gave life to a dead man
provides a type for
this:
a man dead but a day breathed in life
from him who was
...long dead;
the life-giving scent wafted from his
bones and entered the dead corpse - a symbol of him who gives life to all.
Jesus has elucidated for us the
symbols that took place at
Elisha's grave, .
how from an extinguished lantern a
lantern can be relit, and how, while lying in the grave, he could raise up the
fallen,
himself remaining there, but sending
forth a witness
to Christ's coming.
Responsary
Jn 11:25; 1 Cor 15:42-43
Jesus said to Martha: I am the
resurrection and the life. + Whoever believes in me shall live, even though he
dies.
V. What is sown is perishable, what
is raised is imperishable. Sown in humiliation, it is raised in glory. +
Whoever ...
List of the
Poems from Harp of the Spirit
4. S. Brock (tr.), The Harp of the Spirit:
Eighteen Poems of Saint Ephrem (SSTS 4 2nd ed.; Oxford:
Fellowship of St Alban & St Sergius, 1983), 89pp.
Introduction
1. Hymns of Faith no. 14
2. Hymns on Paradise no. 5
3. Hymns on the Resurrection no. 1
4. Hymns on Faith no. 82
5. Hymns on the Nativity no. 11
6. Hymns on the Unleavened Bread no. 3
7. Nisibene Hymns no. 36
8. Hymns on Virginity no. 7
9. Hymns on Virginity no. 33
10. Nisibene Hymns no. 50
11. Hymns on Mary no. 7
12. Homily on the Nativity
13. Hymns on the Fast no. 6
14. Nisibene Hymns no. 52
15. Hymns on the Resurrection no. 2
16. Nisibene Hymns no. 69
17. Armenian Hymns no. 49
18. Hymns on Faith no. 73
1. Hymns of Faith no. 14
2. Hymns on Paradise no. 5
3. Hymns on the Resurrection no. 1
4. Hymns on Faith no. 82
5. Hymns on the Nativity no. 11
6. Hymns on the Unleavened Bread no. 3
7. Nisibene Hymns no. 36
8. Hymns on Virginity no. 7
9. Hymns on Virginity no. 33
10. Nisibene Hymns no. 50
11. Hymns on Mary no. 7
12. Homily on the Nativity
13. Hymns on the Fast no. 6
14. Nisibene Hymns no. 52
15. Hymns on the Resurrection no. 2
16. Nisibene Hymns no. 69
17. Armenian Hymns no. 49
18. Hymns on Faith no. 73
+ + + + + + +
Ephrem the Syrian: Hymns (Classics of Western Spirituality)
EPHREM THE SYRIAN-HYMNS
translated and introduced by Kathleen E. McVey preface by John Meyendorff
"Blessed be the Child Who today delights Bethlehem. Blessed be the Newborn Who today made the humanity youngagain. Blessed be the Fruit Who bowed Himself down for our hunger. Blessed be the Gracious One Who suddenlyenriched all of our poverty and filled our need." Ephrem the Syrian (c. 306-373)
Ephrem was born in the Mesopotamian city of Nisibis toward
the end of the third century. An outpost of the Roman Empire, Nisibis and its Christian citizens were to be formed bythe reign of Constantine and by the doctrines of the Council of Nicea. There, in the context of a large and sophisticated Jewish population and numerous Gnostic sects, Ephrem sought to defend orthodox Nicene Christianity. His teaching and writing made him an influential voice in the life of Syriac Christianity through the peaceful years of Constantine'spatronage, the years of persecution after 361 under Emperor [ulian, and the conflict between Persians and Romans which ultimately forced Ephrem to move to Edessa where he stayed until his death in 373.
It was as a poet that Ephrem made his greatest impact.
Writing in isosyllabic verses called madrashe, he attained a literary brilliance that won him a place of prominence not only in his own tradition, but also in the Coptic, Ethiopian, Armenian, and Arabic traditions as well.His hymns, praised in the West by Jerome, had a formative influence on the development of medieval religious dramain Europe. Blending Greek forms with his native style, he wove a highly crafted poetry of rich symbolism, attempting tofit the events of his day into a cosmic framework of God's redemptive act in Christ. Ephrern's combination of elements of Stoicism and Middle Platonism with Christian belief in a form reminiscent of the great second century apologists produced a corpus that speaks of his own literary genius and even more eloquently of the majesty and beauty of the divine source of all true poetry.
EPHREM THE SYRIAN-HYM S
translated and introduced by Kathleen E. McVey preface by John Meyendorff
"Blessed be the Child Who today delights Bethlehem. Blessed be the Newborn Who today made the humanity young again. Blessed be the Fruit Whobowed Himself down for our hunger. Blessed be the Gracious One Who suddenly enriched all of our poverty and filled our need." Ephrem theSyrian (c. 306-373)
Ephrem was born in the Mesopotamian city of Nisibis toward
the end of the third century. An outpost of the Roman Empire, Nisibis and its Christian citizens were to be formed by the reign of Constantine and by thedoctrines of the Council of Nicea. There, in the context of a large and sophisticated Jewish population and numerous Gnostic sects, Ephrem sought to defendorthodox Nicene Christianity. His teaching and writing made him an influential voice in the life of Syriac Christianity through the peaceful years of Constantine'spatronage, the years of persecution after 361 under Emperor [ulian, and the conflict between Persians and Romans which ultimately forced Ephrem to move toEdessa where he stayed until his death in 373.
It was as a poet that Ephrem made his greatest impact.
Writing in isosyllabic verses called madrashe, he attained a literary brilliance that won him a place of prominence not only in his own tradition, butalso in the Coptic, Ethiopian, Armenian, and Arabic traditions as well. His hymns, praised in the West by Jerome, had a formative influence on the developmentof medieval religious drama in Europe. Blending Greek forms with his native style, he wove a highly crafted poetry of rich symbolism, attempting to fit the eventsof his day into a cosmic framework of God's redemptive act in Christ. Ephrern's combination of elements of Stoicism and Middle Platonism with Christian belief in a form reminiscent of the great second century apologists produced a corpus that speaks of his own literary genius and even more eloquently of the majestyand beauty of the divine source of all true poetry.
Enlargeinmg The Heart
Links Ephrem the Syrian (15)
Ephrem the Syrian
(c.306-373): The Harp of
the Spirit, 77-78, tr. Sebastian Brock; from the Monastic Office of
Vigils, Saturday in Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year
1.
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