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The Armenian Prayers attributed to Ephrem the Syrian

Edited and Translated by Edward G Mathews Jr
Armenian text of the Prayers attributed to Ephrem the Syrian, with the first-ever translation into a western language. Utilizing a highly developed poetic rhythm, the author manifests a profound spirituality laying his own emptiness before the inexhaustible Mercy of God.
Publisher: Gorgias Press LLC
Availability: In stock
SKU (ISBN): 978-1-4632-0262-0
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Publication Status: In Print
Publication Date: Apr 14,2014
Interior Color: Black
Trim Size: 7 x 10
Page Count: 188
Languages: English
ISBN: 978-1-4632-0262-0
$53.00
Your price: $31.80
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A bilingual edition of the Armenian Prayers attributed to Ephrem the Syrian.

Collected together in eight books, probably in eleventh or twelfth century Armenian Cilicia, these prayers are filled with a very profound spirituality and a highly developed poetic rhythm, nearly every line evoking a phrase, an image or an event from the Bible. The author bares his soul in his deep yearning for union with God, groans and pours out all his sins and weaknesses, laying them at the feet of the Almighty, always begging for but still completely trusting in God’s inexhaustible Mercy. Whatever their relation to the fourth-century Syrian poet St. Ephrem, these exquisite Prayers exist only in Armenian. The accompanying English translation makes this work, heretofore the exclusive treasure of the Armenian Church, accessible to the western world for the first time.

Edward G. Mathews Jr studied Syriac at Catholic University of America and Armenian at Columbia University and has published in both fields. His research interests center on Syrian influence in Armenia and the Armenian works attributed to Ephrem the Syrian. Now retired, he has taught in colleges and seminaries all over the world and is currently cataloguing Armenian manuscripts for the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library in Collegeville, Minnesota.

Cover image: Ephrem the Syrian, from Ms. Matenadaran 2690.

A bilingual edition of the Armenian Prayers attributed to Ephrem the Syrian.

Collected together in eight books, probably in eleventh or twelfth century Armenian Cilicia, these prayers are filled with a very profound spirituality and a highly developed poetic rhythm, nearly every line evoking a phrase, an image or an event from the Bible. The author bares his soul in his deep yearning for union with God, groans and pours out all his sins and weaknesses, laying them at the feet of the Almighty, always begging for but still completely trusting in God’s inexhaustible Mercy. Whatever their relation to the fourth-century Syrian poet St. Ephrem, these exquisite Prayers exist only in Armenian. The accompanying English translation makes this work, heretofore the exclusive treasure of the Armenian Church, accessible to the western world for the first time.

Edward G. Mathews Jr studied Syriac at Catholic University of America and Armenian at Columbia University and has published in both fields. His research interests center on Syrian influence in Armenia and the Armenian works attributed to Ephrem the Syrian. Now retired, he has taught in colleges and seminaries all over the world and is currently cataloguing Armenian manuscripts for the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library in Collegeville, Minnesota.

Cover image: Ephrem the Syrian, from Ms. Matenadaran 2690.

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ContributorBiography

Edward GMathews Jr

Edward G. Mathews Jr. has taught at The Catholic University of America, Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Seminary, University of Scranton, Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Armenian Evangelical Seminary in Yerevan, and St. Nersess Armenian Seminary, among others. He now resides in rural Mansfield, Ct, where, when not translating Syriac and Armenian texts –mostly for Gorgias Press! – he hikes in the woods with his faithful companion Pino and does what he can to restore his 19th century colonial home.

  • Table of Contents (page 7)
  • Introduction (page 9)
    • About the Reputed Author (page 9)
    • Life (page 9)
    • Writings (page 11)
    • Ephrem Armeniacus/Ephrem in Armenian (page 12)
    • The Book of Prayers (page 17)
  • A Sharakan composed by St. Nerses Shnorhali (d. 1173) for the feast of St. Ephrem Asori (page 23)
  • Text and Translation (page 25)
  • Part I: The Prayers of the Mighty and Holy Ephrem, Our Father from Lower Syria (page 27)
  • Part II: More Prayers from Saint Ephrem (page 103)
  • Part III: More Prayers from [Ephrem] (page 113)
  • Part IV: More Prayers from [Ephrem] on Repentance (page 119)
  • Part V: More Prayers from [Ephrem] (page 137)
  • Part VI: More Prayers from [Ephrem] (page 141)
  • Part VII: More Prayers from [Ephrem] (page 167)
  • Part VIII: More Prayers from [Ephrem] (page 171)
  • Select Bibliography (page 173)
  • Index (page 181)
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