St Ephrem Syriac Orthodox Church Greater Orlando, Melbourne FL .

Ephrem was born around the year 306 in Nisibis, a city in Mesopotamia recently acquired by Rome. Internal evidence from his hymns suggests that both of his parents were part of the growing Christian community in the city, although later accounts claimed his father was a pagan priest. Nisibis in Ephrem’s time was a multicultural city, where various dialects of Aramaic were spoken, and the Christian community used Syriac. The culture of the city also included pagan religions, Judaism, and early Christian sects. Ephrem grew up under the leadership of Jacob, the second bishop of Nisibis, who was appointed in 308 and later signed the Nicene Creed in 325. Ephrem was baptized as a youth and likely became a "son of the covenant," a form of Syriac proto-monasticism. Jacob appointed him as a teacher, and he was ordained a deacon, either at his baptism or later. Ephrem began composing hymns and writing biblical commentaries as part of his role. In his hymns, he often referred to himself as a "herdsman," his bishop as the "shepherd," and his community as a "fold." Ephrem is traditionally credited as the founder of the School of Nisibis, which later became a prominent center of learning for the Syriac Orthodox Church.

In 337, after the death of Emperor Constantine I, Shapur II of Persia took advantage of the opportunity and began a series of attacks on Roman North Mesopotamia. Nisibis was besieged in 338, 346, and 350. During the first siege, Ephrem credited Bishop Jacob with defending the city through his prayers. In the third siege of 350, Shapur rerouted the river Mygdonius to weaken the walls of Nisibis, but the citizens quickly repaired them while Persian elephant cavalry got bogged down in the swampy ground. Ephrem wrote a hymn celebrating what he saw as the miraculous salvation of the city, comparing it to Noah's Ark floating safely through the flood.

A physical reminder of Ephrem’s time is the baptistery of Nisibis, which was built under Bishop Vologeses in 359. In that year, Shapur launched another attack. Cities around Nisibis were destroyed, and their citizens were killed or deported. Emperor Constantine II could not respond, and after Emperor Julian's death in 363, his successor Jovian surrendered Nisibis to Persia and allowed the expulsion of the Christian population. Ephrem, along with other Christians, relocated first to Amida and eventually settled in Edessa in 363. In his late fifties, Ephrem devoted himself to ministry in his new church, possibly continuing his work as a teacher at the School of Edessa. Edessa, a city deeply embedded in the Syriac-speaking world, was home to numerous competing philosophies and religious sects. Ephrem noted that Nicene Christians were often referred to as "Palutians" in the city, after a former bishop. The city was also a battleground for various factions, including Arians, Marcionites, Manichees, Bardaisanites, and Gnostic sects, each claiming to be the true church. In this religious confusion, Ephrem composed many hymns defending Nicene orthodoxy. A later Syriac writer, Jacob of Serug, recorded that Ephrem trained all-female choirs to perform his hymns set to Syriac folk melodies in Edessa’s forum.

After ten years in Edessa, Ephrem, in his sixties, contracted the plague while ministering to its victims. He passed away on 9 June 373, a date considered the most reliable for his death.