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Saint Ephraim of Antioch

General who rebuilt Antioch after the earthquake, then defended Chalcedon as its patriarch

Western calendar
Not kept
Orthodox calendar
8 June (21 June on the old calendar)

Ephraim was a Syrian, a general and Count of the East, when an earthquake destroyed Antioch in 526 and killed its patriarch, and the emperor sent him to oversee the rebuilding. In 527 he was chosen Patriarch of Antioch himself, and until his death in 545 he defended in sermons and letters the faith of Chalcedon, that the divine and the human natures are united in the one Person of Christ. The Orthodox tell how a stylite near Herakleia who had fallen into heresy dared him into a bonfire, and when the stylite would not go in, Ephraim laid his omophorion on the fire, took it out unharmed three hours later, and won him back to the Church.

Sources

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What is a saint’s feast day?

It is the day each year when the Church remembers a saint in its prayers, and for most saints it is the day they died and went home to God. Many saints here have two dates, because the Western and Orthodox Churches keep their own calendars, and some Orthodox churches still count by the old Julian calendar, which runs thirteen days behind ours.

What is a patron saint?

A patron saint is one we ask to pray for us in a particular place, work or need, as many ask Anthony of Padua for help when something is lost, and as Ireland looks to Patrick. A few patronages were declared by a pope, and most grew from long custom. A card says “Patron of” only where a source we checked names one.

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Why did you choose these saints and not others?

We began with the saints people search for most, by name, by need and by date, along with the apostles and the saints Orthodox Christians look for. Then we made sure every day of the year has at least one saint. That gives 378 so far, and we keep adding the saints readers ask for.

Every saint here, by feast day