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Hymns on Faith

St Ephrem the Syrian, tr. Morris, 1847; selections

3. Rhythm the Third

Blessed be he, Lord, who, in great love, hath been worthy to call Thee beloved Son, which [Name] God Thy Father Himself called Thee! Blessed he, Lord, that hath weaned his mouth from all questionings and hath called Thee the Son of God, which [Name] the Holy Ghost called Thee! Blessed he, Lord,¹ who hath been worthy to believe in simplicity and to call Thee ‘Son,’ as all the Prophets and Apostles² called Thee! Blessed he that knoweth, Lord, that Thy Majesty is unsearchable, and hath rebuked his tongue³ speedily that by silence he might honour Thy Generation! Blessed he, Lord, that hath obtained a hidden eye wherewith to see how the Angels turn abashed from Thee⁴, and how shamelessly man dealeth! Blessed he, Lord, that hath expanded his mind, and hath contemplated Thee, how that creatures cannot attain to Thee, and hath given Thee thanks, because he hath been worthy of having Thee to dwell in him⁵! Blessed be he that knoweth, Lord, that Thou art God, the Son of God, and knoweth himself whose son he is—a mortal the son of a mortal! Blessed he that hath reflected that Adonai⁶ is Thy Father, and hath also remembered his own generation, that he is a Son of Adam of the dust! Blessed he that hath reflected that the Angels by silence confess Thee, and hath speedily chidden with himself because his tongue has been so daring! Blessed he that hath understood that the heavens above were still, and the earth below was moved, and hath quieted his soul whilst among⁷ the waves [thereof]! Blessed he, Lord, that hath learnt that the Seraph crieth, ‘Holy,’ and is still, that the Seraphim search not at all, and that hath left alone what the Seraphim leave, and hath chosen what the Seraphim chose!

Who then is not astonied that Thou art sitting at the Right Hand, and that dust which sitteth upon dust upon its dunghill searcheth into Thee! Blessed, Lord, be he that knoweth that Thou art in the Bosom of the [Divine] Essence, and hath remembered that himself is fast falling into the bosom of the earth his mother! Who, Lord, is not astonied that Thou art the Creator of all creatures, that man essayeth to search into Thee, and yet knoweth not what his own soul⁸ is! This is a wonder that it is Thou, Lord, alone that knowest Thy Father, and yet vile dust lifteth itself up even to search into Thy Father in Thee, O Lord! Blessed he, Lord, that by his conversation hath become godlike, who, as having sanctified himself, calleth Thee God, the Son of God!

Notes

Ps. 2, 7. &c.
ab. p. 111, n. d.
p. 110.
See iv. §. 1.
St. Jerome on Isaiah lx. 5. “‘Be ye also enlarged,’ lest through straitness of heart ye be not able to have Christ for your guest, Who saith in the Gospel, ‘I and My Father will come and make our abode with him.’” St. Meletius in St. Epiphan. i. p. 878. “Take not the Word of Thy Truth out of my mouth. When does this take place? When a man does not keep the law continually, when a man doth not walk in enlargement. Enlarged must the heart be, if a man is to contain Christ walking in it.”
The Hebrew word is preserved in the Syriac, as it was in Greek often. See Coteler. ad Const. Ap. ii. 12. Bas. c. Eun. ii. §. 7. and in Latin, Austin. c. Faust. Man. xv. §. 9.
or, as the waves were quieted. lit. with the waves,
above, i. §. 1.