Abstract: An epicardial electrode (10) includes a generally parallelepiped flexible body (12). The epicardial electrode has an electrode element (22) attached to the center of a first side (14) for conveying electrical stimulation to cardiac muscle, and a lead (24) attached to the flexible body at a lead side (18). The lead has at least an insulated cathode conductor (26) electrically coupled to the electrode element. The epicardial electrode also has two pairs of prongs (31-34), electrically insulated from the electrode element, for anchoring the epicardial electrode to the heart. The tip (41-44) of each prong is dull. The flexible body has two elongate holes (51-52) on opposite sides of the flexible body sized to accept rods of a tool for flexing the epicardial electrode.