Mor Yac'ub of Serugh

Mor Yac'ub of Serugh

June 29th is the commemoration of the dukhrono of St. Jacob of Serugh +521 according to the Liturgical Calendar of the Syriac Orthodox Church. Mor Yac'ub Srugoyo was one of the foremost Syriac poet-theologians among the Syriacs & at the same time one of most readable authors of his class. In the wealth of words & ease of expression he ranks next to St. Ephrem the Syrian. Where his predecessor Ephrem is known as the 'Harp of the Spirit', Jacob is known as the 'Flute of the Spirit'.He was born the son of a priest in Serugh at the village of Kurtam near Edessa. A beautiful story of his childhood is recounted as follows; at the age of three, while in the church, the child got out of the hands of his mother & went up to the altar during the time of Epiclesis (during the invocation of Holy Spirit at the Holy Qurbono), at the altar the child was given a drink by an angel, he then returned to his mother joyfully. He was a student at the famous school of Edessa. King Zeno later closed the school at Urhoy in AD 489. Jacob completed his education at the age of 22 & was ordained priest. He served the village Hawra near Urhoy as priest & Cor-Episcopo. He composed most of his poetry (memre) when he was a Cor-Episcopo. Bar Ebroyo recorded that he employed seventy amanuenses (copying secretaries) in writing his homiletic poems of which 760 exist. He was a voluminous writer. His writings include those about the great men of the Old Testament, about angels, the mysteries of the Son of God, two anaphoras, an order of Baptism & six homilies - on Nativity, Epiphany, Lent, Palm Sunday, The Passion & the Resurrection. Apart from these he has written the biographies of Mor Daniel & Mor Hananyo. After the infamous Synod of Chalcedon, the faithful Orthodox believers had to suffer a lot. However, Mor Jacob of Serugh joined hands with Mor Severius, Patriarch of Antioch (AD 460-538) & Mor Philexinos of Mabbug (AD 450-523) to protect the true faith. Jacob was ordained Bishop of Batnae in c. AD 519 when he was 67 years old. His writings to the faithful always demonstrated attachment to the Miaphysite doctrine which he held steadfastly even in the face of adversity. On 29 November 521, Mor Jacob departed for the heavenly abode in the midst of writing a poem on Mary & Golgotha. His mortal remains were interred at the church in Serugh. The plaque on the tomb reads: “The Syrian Mor Jacob of Serugh, the Consolidator of the true faith.” Mor Yac'ub of Serugh is commemorated every Sunday in the Thubden d-Qadishe (5th Thubden/Dypthic) of the Syriac Orthodox Church Holy Qurbono. Biography courtesy of, 'Martyrs, Saints and Prelates of the Syriac Orthodox Church' Oh Mor Yac'ub Srugoyo! Plead for us before God's throne of grace. Amen.Translation of life prepared by Mor Philoxenus Yuhannon Dolbani: http://bit.ly/JacobSerughA HOMILY of MAR JACOB of SERŪGH ON THE RECEPTION OF THE HOLY MYSTERIEShttps://www.ccel.org/ccel/pearse/morefathers/files/jacob_serugh_homily_extracts.htmLecture Series - St.Jacob of Serugh (courtesy Hymonutho): https://bit.ly/3aXMSqfVat. LXIX