Hymn XI

Paradise can only be described in terrestrial terms, but it is essential to realize that these terms are purely metaphorical; to understand them in a literal sense is to abuse God's great condescension in revealing to us, through Scripture, something of Paradise's beauty and wonders. Yet, although Paradise belongs to a different mode of existence, outside time and space, it is still able to serve as a direct source of well-being for life on earth, a fact that the Genesis narrative expresses by means of the imagery of the fountain which issues forth from Paradise and divides itself up into the four great rivers of the world. Nowhere on earth was the fragrant breath of Paradise more evident than in the Upper Chamber where the Apostles were assembled at Pentecost.

1.    The air of Paradise

is a fountain of delight

from which Adam sucked

when he was young;

its very breath, like a mother's breast,

gave him nourishment in his childhood.

He was young, fair,

and full of joy,

but when he spurned the injunction

he grew old, sad and decrepit;

he bore old age

as a burden of woes.

RESPONSE: Blessed is He who exalted Adam and caused him to return to Paradise.

2.    No harmful frost,

no scorching heat

is to be found

in that blessed place of delight;

it is a harbor of joys,

a haven of pleasures;

light and rejoicing

have their home there;

gathered there are to be found

harps and lyres,

with shouts of Hosanna,

and the Church crying "Alleluia."

3.    The fence which surrounds it

is the peace which gives peace to all;

its inner and outer walls

are the concord which reconciles all things;

the cherub who encircles it

is radiant to those who are within

but full of menace to those outside

who have been cast out.

All that you hear told

about this Paradise,

so pure and holy,

is pure and spiritual.

        

4.    Let not this description of it

be judged by one who hears it,

for descriptions of it

are not at all subject to judgment,

since, even though it may appear terrestrial

because of the terms used,

it is in its reality

spiritual and pure.

Even though the name of "spirit"

is applied to two kinds of beings,

yet the unclean spirit is quite separate

from the one that is sanctified.

5.    For him who would tell of it

there is no other means

but to use the names

of things that are visible,

thus depicting for his hearers

a likeness of things that are hidden.

For if the Creator

of the Garden

has clothed His majesty

in terms that we can understand,

how much more can His Garden

be described with our similes?

6.    If someone concentrates his attention solely

on the metaphors used of God's majesty,

he abuses and misrepresents that majesty

and thus errs

by means of those metaphors

with which God clothed Himself for his benefit,

and he is ungrateful to that Grace

which stooped low

to the level of his childishness;

although it has nothing in common with him,

yet Grace clothed itself in his likeness

in order to bring him to the likeness of itself.

        

7.    Do not let your intellect

be disturbed by mere names,

for Paradise has simply clothed itself

in terms that are akin to you;

it is not because it is impoverished

that it has put on your imagery;

rather, your nature is far too weak

to be able

to attain to its greatness,

and its beauties are much diminished

by being depicted in the pale colors

with which you are familiar.

8.    For feeble eyes

cannot gaze upon

the dazzling sight

of its celestial beauties;

it has clothed its trees

with the names of the trees we know;

its figs are called

by the same name as our figs,

its leaves, which are spiritual,

have taken on bodily form;

they have been changed

so that their vesture may resemble ours.

9.    More numerous and glorious

than the stars

in the sky that we behold

are the blossoms of that land,

and the fragrance which exhales from it

through divine Grace

is like a physician

sent to heal the ills

of a land that is under a curse;

by its healing breath it cures

the sickness that entered in

through the serpent.

10.    The breath that wafts

from some blessed comer of Paradise

gives sweetness

to the bitterness of this region,

it tempers the curse

on this earth of ours.

That Garden is

the life-breath

of this diseased world

that has been so long in sickness;

that breath proclaims that a saving remedy

has been sent to heal our mortality.

        

11.    What need was there

that from that land

a river should flow forth

and divide itself,

except that the blessing of Paradise

should be mingled by means of water

as it issues forth

to irrigate the world,

making clean its fountains

that had become polluted by curses

-just as that "sickly water"

had been made wholesome by the salt.

12.    Thus it is with another spring,

full of perfumes,

which issues from Eden

and penetrates into the atmosphere

as a beneficial breeze

by which our souls are stirred;

our inhalation is healed

by this healing breath

from Paradise;

springs receive a blessing

from that blessed spring

which issues forth from there.

13.    Avastcenser

exhaling fragrance

impregnates the air

with its odoriferous smoke,

imparting to all who are near it

a whiff from which to benefit.

How much the more so

with Paradise the glorious:

even its fence assists us,

modifying somewhat

that curse upon the earth

by the scent of its aromas.

14.    When the blessed Apostles

were gathered together

the place shook

and the scent of Paradise,

having recognized its home,

poured forth its perfumes,

delighting the heralds

by whom

the guests are instructed

and come to His banquet;

eagerly He awaits their arrival

for He is the Lover of mankind.

15.    Make me worthy through Your grace

to attain to Paradise's gift

-this treasure of perfumes,

this storehouse of scents.

My hunger takes delight

in the breath of its fragrance,

for its scent gives nourishment to all

at all times,

and whoever inhales it

is overjoyed and forgets his earthly bread;

this is the table of the Kingdom-

blessed is He who prepared it in Eden.

Hymn XV

Hymns on Paradise

St. Ephrem the Syrian

Paradise can be compared to the wind: although it cannot be seen, it is nonetheless experienced. The Tree of Knowledge - awareness of truth and of spiritual reality - is the gate to Paradise, through which the mind can enter. But the Tree of Knowledge has to be approached in the right spirit and in obedience to God; otherwise, it will lead to destruction and loss, as both Adam and Uzziah discovered. Furthermore, once led astray by eating the fruit of the Tree in disobedience, man goes on to blame the fruit, rather than his greed for the consequences of his grasping. So strong indeed was the serpent's poison that it enabled Satan to turn aside (the verb is sta in Syriac, providing a word play) the whole of humanity-when we should be listening instead to another representative of the animal world, the ass whose brief words to Balaam saved its master from destruction.

1.      My brethren, consider the wind:

though its blast is tumultuous,

it lacks any color by which it can be seen,

for it is hidden in its manifestation;

having no outer array

or substance at all,

it is both hidden and yet manifest

when it is blowing.

So too the abode of Paradise

is both hidden and manifest:

while it can be perceived to exist,

what it really is cannot be perceived.

        

RESPONSE: Blessed is He who came and invited both worlds to His Paradise.

        

2.    The tree that is called

the Tree of Knowledge

symbolizes the gate

of Paradise:

it  is through the gate of knowledge

that one is able to enter in;

it  is the likeness

of its glorious Creator,

in  whose hidden abode

through the gate of knowledge

all who are perceptive

may approach His hiddenness.

3.    Consider this knowledge

which is the gateway to all things:

by  it the intellect

can enter everywhere,

though where it meets error

in front of it

it comes up against a wall

and is blocked.

Through this gate of knowledge

the intellect enters in,

explores every kind of treasure,

brings out every kind of riches.

                    

4.    Even when the army

surrounded Elisha

a voice proved the key

to the eyes of the shepherd.

When the disciple's eyes

were held closed,

bread too was the key

whereby their eyes were opened

to recognize the Omniscient:

saddened eyes beheld

a vision of joy

and were instantly filled with happiness.

5.    So likewise that Wood,

which is the Tree of Knowledge,

can, with its fruit, roll back

the cloud of ignorance,

so that eyes can recognize

the beauty

of that Tabernacle

hidden within;

but because Adam and Eve

ate it in sin,

the vision that should have caused joy of heart

resulted in grief of heart.

6.     Intelligence is

like a treasurer

who carries on his shoulder

the keys to learning,

fitting a key

to each locked door,

opening with ease

even the most difficult-

skilled in what is manifest,

well instructed in what is hidden,

training souls

and enriching creation.

7.    The precious stones of the ephod

worn by the priest in accord with the

commandment

he called

"luminous" and "perfect,"

as well as

"knowledge" and "truth."

Thus the priest was robed in knowledge

whereby he might hear

the voice that came to him

from inside the sanctuary,

for it spoke to him

from between the cherubim.

8.    Accompanied by the knowledge

which was hidden in the ephod

the priest entered the sanctuary,

a type for Paradise,

and he tasted of the Tree

through the symbol of the revelation given him.

But if anyone entered

contrary to the commandment, they died,

as a type of Adam who died

for taking the fruit prematurely.

The priest put on sanctification,

but Adam was stripped of glory.

        

9.    The intellect cannot explore

the bosom of those trees

without that fruit,

nor can the priest investigate

that treasury of revelations

without the ephod.

Two people did the evil one beguile and captivate

with his blandishments-

promising to make Adam into a god

and Uzziah into a priest,

whereas in reality he stripped the one of his glory

and clothed the other in leprosy.

10.    The Exalted One gave to Adam

the luxury of Paradise

and to Uzziah

the luxury of kingship.

To the former he forbade the fruit,

to the latter the censer.

Both however grasped at

something they were not given:

with the censer

Uzziah's name turned putrid,

with the scented fruit

Adam's name became loathsome.

        

11.    It is easy to understand

how mankind

has come to hate creation:

having become hateful themselves, they hold

creation to be hateful;

by sacrificing flesh they spoil it,

by defiling marriage they have set it aside,

while gold they make hateful

by means of their idols.

Since it was through the fair fruit

that Adam became odious

he has made that fruit an object of hate,

considering it to be harmful.

        

12.    It is obvious that the censer

of the inner sanctuary is good,

but the Tree in Paradise

has come to be considered as poisonous.

If the censer is glorious,

then the fruit is even more so;

through the censer, pure and glorious,

the evil one

made royalty leprous,

and likewise in Paradise

the cunning one slew

the young couple with the excellent fruit.

        

13.    Of the serpent

which spoke for a moment

God provided an illustration

in the speech of the ass

which spoke for a moment

to rebuke the audacious Balaam.

So too the serpent spoke

in order to test

the ears of Adam and Eve:

their ears heard two voices,

and at the voice of the bitter one

they held the Sweet One's to be false.

14.    The serpent served as a garment

for the evil one to put on:

on seeing the innocent ones

he became full of guile,

he prepared a cunning trap

for the hearing of the young couple.

In their simplicity

they listened to his words eagerly,

for he made a show of his care,

but hid well his guile.

On another occasion the Iscariot

can instruct you in the devil's types.

15.    How strong is his poison,

upsetting the whole world.

Who can hold back the sea

of that bitter one?

Everyone contains drops of it

that can harm you.

Judas was the treasurer7

of his poison,

and although Satan's form is hidden,

in Judas he is totally visible;

though Satan's history is a long one,

it is summed up in the Iscariot.

16.    Let the ass put the serpent to shame

with its brief words:

it spoke the truth,

while from the serpent issued falsehood;

it turned aside to turn away greedy Balaam

who had gone awry.

The serpent too turned aside,

and caused us to go aside to our destruction;

it made crooked our thoughts,

and so God made crooked its path;

the course it travels

indicates how it turned awry our road.

17.    All this, and similar things

that I have read in the Scriptures,

have helped depict in my mind

that Garden of Life;

blessed is the person who is worthy to attain

its enjoyment.

May the Merciful One

bring me to its fruits,

may their taste give me life,

or their scent strike me,

or their radiance reach me,

or their dew bathe me!

OF THE BLESSED MAN EFRAIN, THE DEACON OF THE CHURCH OF EDESSA.

    A certain man among the holy Fathers saw in a dream the company of the holy angels who came down from heaven by the commandment of God, and one of them held in his hand a roll which was written on the inside and on the outside; and the angels said unto each other, “Who is fit to be entrusted with this thing?” Then some of them mentioned one man and others another, and others answered and said, “Verily these (whom ye mention) are holy “and righteous, but they are not sufficiently (so) to be “entrusted with this thing.” And having reckoned up many names of Saints, they finally said, “No man is fit to entrusted except Ephraim”; and then they gave the roll to him. And when he had stood up in the morning, he heard that they were saying, “Behold, Ephraim teacheth, and “(his words) flow from his mouth like (water from) a fountain”; then the old man who has seen the vision knew within himself that the things which were proceeding from his lips were the Holy Spirit.

    Now therefore this Ephraim, who was (one) of those who had been held to be worthy of mention by the saints, traveled along the spiritual road nobly and straightly, turning neither to one side nor the other of the straight path; and he was held to be worthy of the gift of the knowledge which he possessed naturally, and subsequently he received the knowledge which enabled him to utter divine things, and perfect blessedness. Thus he lived throughout the period of a certain number of years a life of chastity, and stern asceticism, and contemplation, and he edified all those who thronged to visit him, each according to his peculiar needs; and finally he compelled himself to go forth from his cell for the following reason, namely, a mighty famine lay over the city of Edessa.  For having compassion on the creatures of the human race which was perishing and being destroyed, he spake unto those who were heaping up grain in the store houses, for he saw that they were wholly without compassion, saying, “How long will ye refuse “to bring into your memories the lovingkindness of God? “How long will ye allow your wealth, which is corruptible,” to be the means of the accusation and condemnation of your souls?” Then they took counsel, and said unto him, “There is no man whatsoever whom we can trust to relieve the “wants of those who are dying of hunger; for all the people are crafty and they act in a lying fashion concerning affairs” (of this kind).  Then Ephraim said unto them, “What manner of man do ye imagine that I am?”  Now his character was held in the highest esteem by every man (in the city), and every man knew that he acted according to the truth and not falsehood.  And the people said unto him, “O man, we know  “that thou art God”; and he said unto them, “Put your trust in me, then, and give me (the means of relieving) this distress, for behold, for your sakes, I will set myself apart to became the keeper of a house for receiving strangers.” And he took money, but he began to fence off in the streets places which were suitable for his purpose, and he provided with great care three hundred beds, some of which were intended for use in the burial of those who were dying, and others were intended for those who, it was thought, would live; and, in short, he brought in from the villages which were outside the city all those whom famine had stricken, and put them to bed, and every day he performed for them with the greatest possible solicitude the constant service of which they were in need, (paying for the same) with the money which came to him, and he rejoiced by means of those who supported him in the matter.

    And it came to pass that, when that year of famine had been fulfilled, and there arrived after it a year of abundance, and every man departed to his house, inasmuch as he had nothing else to do he went into his cell; and after a period of one month he brought his life to a close, God havind given him the opportunity whereby he might be crowned at the end of his life.  Now he left behind him many books, and writings of various kinds, which were worthy of being preserved with the greatest care.  It is said concerning him that when he was a youth he saw a dream, that is to say a vision, wherein a vine grew up out of his tongue, and it increased in size, and filled the whole of  the space which was beneath the heavens, and was laden with grape clusters in rich abundance; and all the feathered fowl of the heavens came and ate of the food thereof, and all the time they were eating the grape-clusters were increasing both in numbers and in size.

*  St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, Crestwood, New York 10707