St. Jacob of Sarug

• A Syriac speaking priest whose learning and piety, expressed in numerous writings, earned him esteem as “flute of the Holy Spirit and harp of the Orthodox Church.”
• Born at Kurtam, a village on the Euphrates, in the district of Sarug.
• Jacob was educated at Edessa prior to his ordination.
• He was appointed periodeutes (itinerant priest over villages of the region) at Haura in 503.
• In 519, at the age of 68, he became bishop of (Batnae) Batnan, the chief city of Sarug.
• He died on 29 November 521 and was buried with honor in the town of Sarug.
• In his homily Concerning the Blessed Virgin Mother of God, Mary, he wrote: The holy virgin calls me today to speak of her… Second heaven, in whose womb the Lord of heaven dwelt and shone from her to expel darkness from the lands. Blessed of women, by whom the curse of the land was eradicated, and the sentence henceforth has come to an end…Daughter of poor ones, who became mother of the Lord of kings and gave riches to a needy world that it might live from Him. Ship which bore treasure and blessings from the house of the Father and came and poured out riches on our destitute earth. Good field which, without seed, gave a sheaf and grew a great yield while being unploughed. Maiden who became like the heavenly chariot and solemnly carried that Mighty One, bearing Creation…It is easier to depict the sun with

its light and heat that to tell the story of Mary in its splendor.

• Although some prose compositions, especially letters, as well as expositions, epistles, hymns, and psalms survived, he is most famous for about 760 homiletical poems (memres), about half of which are extant. His writings in general supply ample proof of Orthodoxy on the doctrines in question. Prose Works
• 1. An anaphora or liturgy; 2. An order of Baptism;

3. An order of Confirmation; 4. A number of epistles;
5. Six homilies: on Nativity, Epiphany, Lent, Palm Sunday, the Passion, and the Resurrection of Christ. Poetic Works

• The subjects are chiefly the personages and events of the Old and New Testaments, especially the words and deeds of Christ. He wrote 231.
• About the humility of the Mother of God, he wrote: Humility is total perfection, so that when man first beholds God, then he behaves humbly. For Moses was humble, a great one among all men; God went down to him on the mountain in revelation. Again humility is seen in Abraham, for although he was just, he called himself dust and ashes. Again also John was humble because he was proclaiming that he was not worthy to loose the sandals of the bridegroom, his Lord. By humility, the heroic in every generation have been pleasing, because it is the great way by which one draws near to God. But no one on earth was brought low like Mary, and from this it is manifest that no one was exalted like her...He

made her His mother and who is like her in humility? 28