Today is the memorial of St. Ephrem, deacon and Doctor of the Church. (Yes, friends, there is numbered among the doctors of the Church a deacon.) Someone to whom the title of “Doctor” is given is someone who is acknowledged to have been steeped in knowledge and wisdom. Such was St. Ephrem.
He was born around 316 and ordained a deacon. His ministry was largely in the Church of Edessa where he founded a school of theology. He was dedicated to an ascetic life and a prophetic life of preaching and publishing books against the heresies of the time. He died in 373.
St. Ephrem is one of the patron saints of deacons, and so it is a day of celebration for all deacons throughout the world.
This is also a special day because Pope Paul VI on the feast of St. Ephrem in 1967 promulgated his “moto proprio” Sacrum Diaconatus Ordinem, which implemented Vatican II’s desire to reestablish the permanent diaconate in the Latin Church.
To all my brother deacons, ad moltos annos!
