Saint Ephrem
The inventor of Charity
By Meredith Downs
A man called Saint Ephrem invented Charity
Not only did he coordinate the collection and distribution of alms, but he also established hospitals, cared for the sick, and tended to the dead. When during the reign of Maximus a famine struck Armenia,Christians lent assistance to the poor regardless of religious affiliation.
Some Churches cared for the sick, similar to Charity
The early Church also institutionalized the care of widows, and orphans, and saw after the needs of the sick. Saint Cyprian summoned followers of Christ to action, calling on them to nurse the sick and bury the dead.
Others that helped Charity
Saint Angela Merci
A woman that followed Christ and helped the poor.
Saint Cyprian
Saint Cyprian got others to help care for the poor, and tend the dead.
Saint Agatha
She helped those with Breast Cancer and other diseases.
Not everyone helped Charity
In the case of Alexandria, which also fell prey to the plague in the third century, the Christian bishop Dionysius recorded that the pagans ''thrust aside anyone who began to be sick, and kept aloof even from their dearest friends, and cast aside the sufferers out upon the public roads half dead, and left them unburied, and treated them with utter contempt when they died.
A lot of Christians tended to the sick
Pachomius, a pagan soldier in the army, watched in amazement as many of his fellow Romans brought food to the afflicted men and, without discrimination, bestowed help on those in need. Curious, Pachomius inquired about these people, and found out that they were Christians.
Here are some quotes Saint Ephrem made
No one is truly poor except the ones that lack the truth
If you wish to give to someone, give secretly and avoid arrogance.
Anyone that wants to be an example, must first examine themselves.
Meredith