Ephrem the Syrian

A deacon of the Edessa church, a remarkable preacher, and the author of many church hymns and writings against heretics. He wrote renowned commentaries on Holy Scripture. To him is attributed the prayer read during Great Lent: “O Lord and Master of my life.”

In his works, he frequently calls for repentance as the primary driving force of Christian life, the goal of which is the salvation of the soul. “Tears of repentance wash away and burn sin.” They grant the strength to “walk the path of God’s commandments.” In the fiery crucible of the sacrament of Repentance, “you, the sinner, reforge yourself, you raise yourself from the dead” (c. 380).