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St. Aphrahat (Feast Day - January 29) |
Verses
Though of the flesh and alive Aphrahat exists as dead,
He lives eternally, appearing lifeless and dead.
By Bishop Theodoret of Cyrus, Syria
That the nature of all men is one and that it is simple for those who wish to practice philosophy, whether they are Greeks or barbarians, is easy to learn from many other examples. Aphrahat1* on his own, however, is sufficient to show this dearly; for this man, though born and bred among the lawless Persians,2 stemming from such parents and educated in their customs, advanced to such virtue as to eclipse those who have been born of pious parents and have received a pious education from childhood. First of all, thinking nothing of his family, although it was distinguished and illustrious, he hastened to worship the Master, in imitation of his forebears the Magi; then, in disgust at the impiety of his kin, he chose a foreign country in preference to his own, and repaired to Edessa,3 a city large and well-populated and exceptionally illustrious in piety. Finding a hovel outside the city-walls and immuring himself, he tended his own soul, pulling out, like an excellent cultivator, the thorns of the passions by the roots, weeding the divine crop, and offering to the Master the seasonal fruits from the seeds of the Gospel.