Project BLACK MAMBA

'Tis the Optional Memorial of Saint Ephrem, Deacon & Doctor of the Church (circa 306-373), the "Harp of the Holy Spirit": Doctor-link ūnus, Doctor-link duo, & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

Ephrem used his Hymns against Heresies to warn his flock of the heresies that threatened to divide the early Church. He lamented that the faithful were "tossed to & for & carried around with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness & deceitful wiles." He devised hymns laden with doctrinal details to inoculate right-thinking Christians against heresies such as docetism. (Docetism: broadly, it is taken as the belief that Jesus only seemed to be human, & that his human form was an illusion.) The Hymns against Heresies employ colorful metaphors to describe the Incarnation of Christ as fully human & divine. Ephrem asserts that Christ's unity of humanity & divinity represents peace, perfection, & salvation.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings
Weekday:
The First Book of Kings, chapter eighteen, verses forty-one thru forty-six;
Psalm Sixty-five, verses ten thru thirteen;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter five, verses twenty thru twenty-six;

or, for St. Ephrem:
The Letter to the Colossians, chapter three, verses twelve thru seventeen;
Psalm Thirty-seven, verse thirty(a);
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter six, verses forty-three thru forty-five.