Ephrem was born of a Christian family in Nisibis Mesopotamia in 306. He became a monk and a deacon near Edessa (now in Turkey). He wrote scriptural commentaries, hymns and poems through which he combatted Arianism and encouraged devotion to Our Lady. He has been called “the harp of the Holy Ghost.” He died in 373 and was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1920. – CTS New Daily Roman Missal 2012, p 2742; Christian Prayer 1990, p 1143.
