Saint Aphrahat

[ripple the car]

So, the other night, I tried an "experiment".... Having struggled with a serious of serious sins and emotional issues for several months and getting really desperate for some relief, a sermon / lecture written by a Christian man named Aphrahat the Persian caught my attention on an Ancient Church of the East website. I know the Ancient Church of the East and Assyrian Church of the East are not Oriental Orthodox, but this is probably the closest forum on here!

This article about repentance lead me to start thinking if perhaps the problem lay with something that I needed to repent of. Long story short, last night I tried an experiment. I asked Christ, through the prayers and virtue of Saint Aphrahat, to help me with this problem and give me a means of repentance, if that was what I needed. Within the hour, the problem was solved. For the first time in months, thanks to Christ and to the prayers of this man who lived over a thousand years ago, I have great peace and relief on this matter. I've never tried praying through the prayers or holiness of another Christian before, as I had assumed that this was somehow "wrong" or "dangerous". But wow.... So.... that is my small story on here.

 

[dzheremi]

Hello Gracia Singh,

That is a very interesting story. Thanks for sharing.

I'm not sure what to think about Aphrahat, myself. As far as I know, he is not venerated in my own Coptic Orthodox church, though I have seen Syriac writings that reference him, so he may be venerated by the Syriac Orthodox. He lived well before the Council of Ephesus, and indeed before Nestorius himself, so I don't think the fact that he is officially venerated by the Church of the East necessarily means anything. There are plenty of early saints, particularly Syriac ones, who are venerated by the OO and the COE, like St. Simeon Bar Sabbae, who like Aphrahat died in 345, and was intimately connected to the Church of the East (St. Simeon was bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon). Aphrahat, of course, was a particularly Persian saint ('Persian' in the sense of living within Sassanid Persia, in Adiabene), which might explain his identification with the Church of the East in particular, as most OO Christians within the Persian Empire were Armenian. That's reading later events into history, though (in Aphrahat's day, there hadn't been any schism between the Church of the East and the wider Christian world, much less the even later schism between the OO and the Chalcedonians).

Anyway, the important thing is that his prayers helped you. Intercession is a powerful thing. I can understand, to some degree, why some people from other traditions might be wary of it (given some excesses in this area from, e.g., medieval Roman Catholicism), but that doesn't change that it is normative and helpful when kept within its proper perspective. And that perspective is as you've put it: Asking Christ through the prayers of the saint for the strength to repent. In the Coptic Orthodox Church our intercessory hymns follow a certain pattern: "Through the prayers of ____ (saint), O Lord, grant us the forgiveness of our sins." This is proper and right. I am so glad that you have felt the power of the prayers of our Christian forefathers, be they Persian, Syriac, or any other type.

 

[ripple the car]

Thank you, Dzheremi! That is truly amazing, that prayer through Saints actually works, and immediately, too! Coming to Christ in a Baptist context, there are things one is naturally leery of, lest one sin, commit idolatry, or blaspheme. But like you've said, to pray to Christ through the prayers and virtue of an especially holy man or woman already in front of Him in Paradise seems like a balanced, trusting thing to do. Still kind of amazed and dumbfounded that this indeed worked, and thankful to Saint Aphrahat for his prayers and kindness! And above all to Christ, who lovingly protects and guides us to abandon vice. Thank you, Dzheremi, for the kind reply!