Antioch & Syriawriter
Who he was
- Asona’s only works were two eloquent poems, both for obsequies.The following details are biographical only: - He was one of the most intelligent disciples of St. Ephraem the Syrian.
- He was well skilled in poetry and wrote many poems.
- St. Philoxenus of Mabbug wrote of him to Patrick the ascetic of Mount Edessa: I believe you have heard of the story of Asona who lived in Edessa; he wrote poems which are still sung
What he wrote
in our present time. Because he was eager to see phantasms and visions, Satan seduced him and led him to stand on a high mountain-peak where he showed him fantasies of a chariot and horses. Satan told him, “God is calling you, to lift you up in the same way that He took Elijah.” Through his own foolishness, Asona was led astray, and as he was about to climb up into the chariot, it vanished, and he fell to his death.