Life and Teachings of St. Yacoub of Seroug

Early Christian traditions mainly stem from three diverse strands; the Latin
West (Canon laws), the Greek East (Greek philosophy), and the Syrian Orient
(Liturgical poetry). Syriac traditions are well known for using poetry as a method to
express theological discourse and biblical exegesis. St. Yacoub of Seroug and St.
Ephrem, and Isaac of Antioch, are among the three great theologians of the West
Syriac Orthodox Church. St. Yacoub is widely known as the “Flute of the Holy Spirit’’
or “A Poet Theologian.” His known contributions are 763 memre (metrical homilies),
43 letters, eight festal homilies, two lives of the saints, anaphora, and a baptismal
liturgy ¹ . An analysis of his writings demonstrates that he communicated “typological
Christology” to his disciples. His teachings include various insights such as
Incarnation, Mariology, Eco Theology, Cosmic Redemption, Miaphysite Christology,
etc.

1.0 Early Life
St. Yacoub was born in AD 451 at Kurtam (a town in Mesopotamia), in Seroug
district ² . It said that he was the gift from God after long-awaited prayers and vows of
his mother. His father was a Priest ³ . He studied in the School of Edessa during the
year AD 470, which includes the study of the Psalms, liturgy, calligraphy, and study of
the Fathers. As Yacoub was born in the same year of the Council of Chalcedon, he
was brought up with rifts and divisive controversies plagued around the Christian
communities. His time is well known for war, famine, plague, and religious unrest,
when the Christological controversies caused restlessness. Therefore, he lived a
quiet prayer life and resolutely avoided the theological disputes following the Council
of Chalcedon: Chalcedon vs. Non-Chalcedon.
In the early 6 th century, he was ordained as Chorepiscopos (rural Bishop) at
Hawra. This appointment indicates a clear sign of his talents in preaching and
spiritual guidance. St. Yacoub’s tenure was a time of great trouble to the Christians because of the fierce war (502-503) between the Persians and the Romans within the
Roman borders. Nevertheless, he lifted the Christians, who fled from the homeland,
in faith by his letters during these troubled times. He served as Chorepiscopos until
AD 518. Later he was consecrated as the Bishop of Batnan, about 40 kilometers from
Edessa near the border of modern Syria. He remained in office until his death on 29 th
November AD 521, at the age of seventy. His feast is commemorated in Syrian and
Catholic Churches on different days. The Syrian Orthodox Church celebrates his
feast on 29 November. Part of his relics was installed in the ancient St. Mary’s Syriac
Orthodox Church in Diyarbakir (Amid) in the Archdiocese of Mardin. The plaque on
the tomb reads: “The Syrian St. Yacoub of Seroug, the Consolidator of the true faith.”

2.0 Liturgical Works of St. Yacoub
St. Yacoub’s liturgical work comprises both poetry and prose. The main contributions
are given below.
2.1. Poetry
2.1.a. Metric Homilies (Memre)
The main literary contribution of St. Yacoub is his metric homilies. The word mimro
has different meanings: speech, diction, sermon, or homily. It is a liturgical poem to
narrate the well-known episodes/stories from Bible. The homilies are written in
uniform metre without division into strophes with a recitative formula. The verse
compositions have the function of catechetical teaching, narrative preaching, and
liturgical hymnody. ⁴ His metrical homilies form one of the largest sermon collections in
any language from late antiquity. ⁵

2.1.b. Madrošo – Hymn
Hymns are poems written from the biblical exegesis. St. Yacoub’s teaching hymns
are full of rich, poetic imagery drawn from Bible and liturgical tradition. Each hymn
has a traditional tune identified by its opening line. A few known examples of hymns
of Yacoub are: one is about “the world,” nine are on “penance,” three are on “the dead,” one is about “virginity,” and few more on Virgin Mary, on martyrs, on saints
and the dead.

2.1.c. Bowuto – Supplication
Another unique contribution from St. Yacoub is his Bowuto or Supplication. This type
of hymn is seen in the liturgy and prayer books of Syrian Christians. It is written
typically in a dodecasyllabic metre. According to G. K. Sarkis, St. Yacoub is the
inventor of ‘dodecasyllabic’ metrical hymnody, which is characterized by verses of
twelve syllables 2 . Syriac fathers narrate that St. Yacoub began composing
dodecasyllabic (twelve-syllable) 5 meter bowuto at the age of twelve. The number
twelve has probably a theological import. The Holy Spirit placed it into the heart of the
St. Yacoub to correspond to the number of the twelve Apostles and twelve tribes of
Israel. This imaginative story explains once more the outstanding talents which the
prolific Syriac poet enjoyed. Thus, St. Yacoub is the inventor of the dodecasyllabic
meter and the West Syrians named this meter the “Meter of St. Yacoub.” ⁶ These are
written in two-line units, each line consisting of twelve syllables. His bowuto style is
known as “simple and straightforward with full of striking imagery.”
Common Examples:
Bowuto of St. Yacoub during evening prayer
“Make us share Lord, memory of Thy Mother and saints
By their prayers, grant us mercy and to departed.” ⁷
Bowuto of St. Yacoub during Holy Matrimony service
“Open Thy door full of mercy, Lord! Unto us
Thou hear our prayer and have mercy upon our souls.” ⁸

2.2. Prose
St. Yacoub has also contributed to the prose liturgy of the Syrian Orthodox Church,
though less when compared to poetry.

2.a. Turgomo – Prose Homily

Turgomo are prose homilies. There are six festal prose homilies of Jacob: on Nativity,
Epiphany, 40 days fasting, Sunday of Hosannas, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.
2.2.b. Biography or Ascetic Literature
St. Yacoub was also known as the author of the life stories of two famous ascetics
(Daniel of Galash and Ḥannina).
2.2.c. Anaphora
According to the Syriac tradition, three anaphoras have been attributed to St. Yacoub ⁹
.
2.2.d. Liturgy of Baptism
A baptismal liturgy is also attributed to St. Yacoub.
2.2.e. Letters
There are 43 letters of St. Yacoub available today ² . It includes the letters to
monasteries to answer their questions regarding faith, the letters that discuss the
liturgical and ascetical questions, and very few letters that deal with doctrinal issues.

3. Teachings
Theologians used different methods to communicate their ideologies and
interpretations. In Syriac Christianity, theologians used homilies to spread knowledge
of the complex theological debates prevalent in late antique Christian discourse. St.
Yacoub also used a similar method to convey the orthodox faith to his disciples. The
Semitic background culture influenced his teachings and writings. His teaching
method was typological and spiritual. Although enormous literature was available
about his teachings, I will give a few insights about his teachings in the following
sections.

3.1. Chalcedon or Non Chalcedon
St. Yacoub refuted Chalcedon’s teachings and rejected the Christological formulation
that divided Christ into two persons. ¹⁰ St. Yacoub emphasized that “God the Word,
the only-begotten of God, entered by the ear of the virgin, resided in her holy womb, and became flesh from the virgin” in his letters ⁹ . An analysis of his writings and
sermons demonstrates that he communicated miaphysite Christology to both elite
reading communities and ordinary audiences ³ . However, he always highlighted the
unity of the Church in his writings.

3.2. Bible Interpretation:
He invented an excellent approach to biblical interpretation. In his method, the
episodes in the Old and New Testaments were interpreted using several symbols.
For example, he symbolized the Holy Bible as an ocean with two hands in his
writings. A few more examples of his biblical interpretations are given below.
a) Incarnation: The Incarnation and its role in the history of salvation was a
significant theme of St. Yacoub’s writings. He used to describe the incarnate Word
interestingly by using images/symbols of the fire, the flame, or the coal. For example,
he says the speaking of Judas betrayal as
“The briar approached and kissed the burning coal, and it did not burn up.” ³
b) In “St Stephen in Amida” homily, his interpretation of the destruction of Jerusalem
as a divine punishment for Stephen’s martyrdom. He creates an entirely new
understanding of the destruction of Jerusalem as a punishment for the particular sin
of the Jews against Stephen.
c) Lord’s crucifixion as the marriage banquet
St. Yacoub interpreted the Lord’s crucifixion as the marriage banquet. The
Bridegroom offers his body as food and blood as a drink to his Bride, who, in turn,
presents the Eucharist at the altar of her Lord, the life-giving nourishment, to their
guests ⁴ . Therefore, one can infer that the Divine Liturgy, a memorial of the death and
resurrection of Christ, celebrated in churches, is the marriage banquet of the Lord
and his Church.

3.3. Church
The Church is one of the prominent subjects in the homilies of St. Yacoub. We can
see many different symbolic images about Church in his homilies. A few examples
are:

The Church as a building on Golgotha, the fisherman and a life-giving fishnet, the
Garden of Eden on earth in whose midst is the Tree of Life, and the Virgin Bride of
Christ ⁴ . St. Yacoub mentioned three plantations in the Garden of Eden that symbolize
the Church: a vineyard, a fig tree, and an olive tree. The vineyard, which represents
Israel initially, rejected the Son of God and the Father replaced it with the Church, the
vineyard bearing sweet grapes (St. Mathew 21:22-41). Also, the fig tree (Israel) in
which Jesus cursed (St. Mathew 21:18-22) becomes a symbol of the Church when
the chief tax collector Zacchaeus climbed it (St. Luke 19:1-10) and believed in Jesus
Christ. The broken off branches of the olive tree symbolize Israel, while the grafted
wild olive shoot typify the Church (Romans 11:13-24).

3.4 About Eucharist:
We can see several beautiful teachings about Eucharist in his homilies. A few
examples are:
a) According to St. Yacoub, “It is neither the people alone who beseech God, nor the
priest alone, but the whole Church united together beseeches God” during Eucharist.
The gathered members in the Church ask for God to send his Son and the Holy Spirit
upon the bread and wine. This explanation distinguishes the teaching of St. Yacoub
from others.
b) According to St. Yacoub, Melchizedek offered the Eucharist mystically, but only
‘sacrificed bread and wine to God, and nothing besides.’ But the bread and wine of
the Eucharist ‘our Lord made Body and Blood’. So it is clear that St. Yacoub wants us
to contrast the sacrifice of Melchizedek with that of Christ himself, which was indeed
Body and Blood.
In Syriac Orthodox Church liturgy, we pray ‘in the night when he was
betrayed, he took the bread into his holy, undefiled, blameless and immortal
hands…’. Thus, the teaching of St. Yacoub, the Eucharist, is not an invention of later
generations of Christians, but it is part of the Apostolic deposit, received from the
very mouth of Jesus Christ himself.

3.5 About Missionary Role

St. Yacoub always reminded us about the mission of the Church to evangelize the
world. The Church must take the initiative as Jesus Christ did, be active, and go to all
regardless of their social status, race, or skin color. He also pointed out that Church
must not be discouraged when she faces difficulties like apostles (called fishers of
men), as they returned to their previous trade after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. He
also showed this in his life during the fierce war between Persians and Romans.

3.6 Social Commitment
All his literature related to “Lent” shows that his vision about the social commitment of
Christians. For example, in his homily about Lent, he says that
“Invite the widow and fill per pouch with your food, so that the Good Lord will reward
you as He promised.
Support the poor and clothe the orphans and naked, and receive with Lazarus the
kingdom of heaven as a reward.”
All this shows us his vision of the Church’s mission to support the suffering people in
society.

3.7 Mariology
St. Yacoub’s homilies about St. Mary (“On The Virgin”) mainly concentrated on the
mystery of St. Mary’s divine motherhood. He used the Old Testaments symbols like
the ark, the Tabernacle of the Lord, the castle, the chariot, and the cloud to unveil the
divine mystery. These symbols indicate the mystery aspect of the Incarnation of God.
The sign of the cloud beautifully portrays St. Mary’s divine motherhood as he says in
his homily that:
“Mary’s bosom is like the cloud over mount Sinai
Wherein resided the Lord of the heights.” ¹¹

Summary

This year Syrian Orthodox Church is celebrating a Jubilee year of St. Yacoub
Seroug (1500 years after his death). On this occasion, Syrian Orthodox Church
Patriarch His Holiness Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II summarized him as “When
wars threatened people’s lives and many heresies attempted to invade the orthodox
teaching of holy church, Lord sent to our Syriac Church a great teacher: St.
Yacoub.” ¹² His teachings are a unique example of how to remain steadfast in the
orthodox faith. He encouraged everyone to avoid disputes and accept faith with love
and simplicity without any hesitation. His liturgy work was later translated into
Armenian, Coptic, Georgian, Arabic, and Ethiopic and thus shaping his teachings
beyond the Syriac Orthodox Church. His beautiful homilies, written during the 5 th
century, still guide us to overcome hard times in the 21 st century. Indeed, St. Yacoub
was a great theologian/poet, prolific writer, highly imaginative creator, and a brilliant
biblical interpreter. In summary, St. Yacoub was a mustard seed sowed in the city of
Seroug during the 5 th century. It grew and became one of the most significant plants
in the 21 st century. It will continue to grow further, leading us to face life challenges
and remain in orthodox faith, love, and unity among Christians.