Spiritual Psalter of St. Ephraim the Syrian

by Ephrem the Syrian, Ḟeofan Saint, Bishop of Tambov and Shatsk, Antonina Janda (Translator)

Beautiful dark blue hardback with gold letters and gold gilded pages. More beautiful and sweet is the contents.

Genres: Poetry, Christianity, Theology, Religion, Nonfiction, Christian, Prayer

255 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Ephrem the Syrian was a Syriac deacon and a prolific Syriac-language hymnographer and theologian of the 4th century from the region of Syria. His works are hailed by Christians throughout the world, and many denominations venerate him as a saint. He has been declared a Doctor of the Church in Roman Catholicism. He is especially beloved in the Syriac Orthodox Church.

Ephrem wrote a wide variety of hymns, poems, and sermons in verse, as well as prose biblical exegesis. These were works of practical theology for the edification of the church in troubled times. So popular were his works, that, for centuries after his death, Christian authors wrote hundreds of pseudepigraphal works in his name. Ephrem's works witness to an early form of Christianity in which Western ideas take little part. He has been called the most significant of all of the fathers of the Syriac-speaking church tradition.

Reviews

[Ramón S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb book of prayers. I cried with some of this prayers made by Saint Ephrem the Syrian . They are so deep, so profound.... I have could put in words my feelings of repentance and supplication .
This book had become one of my favorites

[Ramez Hanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of uplifting prayers, psalms and contemplations!

[Rex · Rating 5 out of 5]

St Ephrem wrote some of the most moving and theologically sophisticated poetry in the early Christian tradition. This "psalter" contains 150 selections of prayers and meditations, mostly penitential, by the great saint. St Ephrem is clearly filtered through the lens of nineteenth-century Russian Orthodoxy (look for tollhouses lurking in the titles), and the balance is toward hellfire and tears rather than comfort, but this is still a beautiful and spiritually useful little devotional for any Christian of sufficient maturity.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent way to examine one's conscience, especially during Lent. I only took a point off for the translation.

It's a modern translation, but King James English was used. Archaisms are fine in archaic works. Archaisms in 21st century works are just pretentious.

[Howardstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a reason that Saint Ephrem the Syrian is known as the great teacher of repentance. These writings/prayers of his, arranged in the manner of the Psalms of King David, speak to - and are heard in - the contrite heart. Embellish your prayer rule by adding a few of these 'Psalms', ranging from 0.3-1.5 pages each, to your morning and evening prayers each day.

[Theron Mathis · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I have the will, but I cannot say that I have the strength. I give what I have. Consider my situation and if it pleases Thee to give me what I lack, grant it to me."
-from St. Ephraim in The Spiritual Psalter or Reflections on God excerpted by Bishop Theophan the Recluse.

The above book is an excellent little book that I bought a couple of lents ago. I enjoyed it upon purchase, but only recently picked it up again. I don't know why I put it down. St. Ephraim was an early Christian saint in the whereabouts of modern day Iraq/Turkey. He has written an incredible amount of wonderful poetry that is reflective of his own prayer life.

This book is actually a compilation of another saint of the Church--St. Theophan the Recluse. St. Theophan is a wonderful saint for 19th century Russia. His works are easy to read and contain practical instructions on living the Christian life. St. Theophan took many of the prayers of St. Ephraim and compiled them into 150 prayers so they resembled the Psalter.

This treasure is full of pryaers that encourage repentance and humility and is worth incorporating into your prayer life at least during the fasting periods of the Church. It should be a trustworthy guide toward a life of repentance.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is essential. Provides words when words fail me. Especially consoling on sleepless nights. It breathes a spirit of compunction and repentance, worship and awe.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spiritual chemo

[Ted · Rating 1 out of 5]

I normally like the writings of St Ephrem. I was not convinced that much of what is in this book is actually from St Ephrem. It says the quotes were excerpted by Theophan the Recluse and my guess is he included many writings that are falsely attributed to Ephrem. The tenor of the quotes seemed to reflect Theophan more than Ephrem and seemed to be of the spirit one might find in Russian monastic writings of Theophan's time rather than from Ephrem's. There is also the fact that Theophan selected the quotes, but they are translated from the Russian which was translated from the Greek which was translated from the Syriac. Some things get lost in translation. The spirit of the writings is that heavy, legalistic Russian monasticism in which the emphasis is on the total depravity of the author, which makes one wonder why read him if he is so sinfully disgusting and depraved? Better to read uplifting spiritual writings. Additionally, and perhaps a minor point compared to other problems with the text, the book has numerous typographical errors.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

These prayers have a depth I've never experienced. Get this if you want to see the richness of prayer from St Ephraim.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection for deep spiritual psalms (poetry). The collection is 151 psalms to mirror those of David. Many follow the new testament as well as others speak to the Eastern Christian experience. This work also covers the life of Saint Ephrem, as well as it has his famous lent-in prayer.

[Theodora Yomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can’t find the original edition, so I bought this. It has annoying spelling mistakes throughout ( not many) and, at times the print on the page fades out slightly. Other than print faults, it’s a great prayer book.

[Jane G Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm always reading bits of this book...

[Noonie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly not a book to just read through (can be very depressing). But many diamonds to find herein.

[Readius Maximus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This version has a lot of spelling and other mistakes in it.

The prayers are great though. Written by a Saint and then selected and arranged by another Saint.

[Stefan Savanovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

A spiritual treasury for repentance

Glory to Thee Our God.


Thanks for the translation,

The book reaches a profound depth, calling to repentance for the sinner.