Posted on 02/23/2015 2:27:51 PM PST by NYer
From Vatican Radio:
Pope Francis has declared Armenian poet and monk, Saint Gregory of Narek, a Doctor of the Universal Church. Meeting with Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Cause of Saints on Saturday ahead of his departure for Aricca on Lenten retreat, the Pope confirmed the proposal put forward by the Plenary Session of the Congregation to confer the title of Doctor of the Universal Church on the 10th century saint.
St. Gregory of Narek is widely revered as one of the greatest figures of medieval Armenian religious thought and literature. Born in the city of Narek in about 950 A.D., St. Gregory came from a line of scholars and churchmen.
St. Gregory received his education under the guidance of his father, Bishop Khosrov, author of the earliest commentary on the Divine Liturgy, and from Anania Vartabed, abbess of Narek Monastery. He and his two brothers entered monastic life at an early age, and St. Gregory soon began to excel in music, astronomy, geometry, mathematics, literature, and theology.
He became a priest at the age of 25 and dedicated himself to God. He lived most of his life in the monastery of Narek, where he taught at the monastic school. St. Gregory began his writings with a commentary on the “Song of Songs,” which was commissioned by an Armenian prince. Despite his reservations that he was too young for the task, the commentary became famous for its clarity of thought and language and its excellence of theological presentation.
He also wrote a number of famous letters, sharagans, treasures, odes, melodies, and discourses. Many of his prayers are included in the Divine Liturgy celebrated each Sunday in Armenian Churches around the world.
Image from Vatican Radio
Ping!
http://armenianweekly.com/2014/08/18/pope-francis-hold-mass-armenian-genocide-centennial/
“Pope Francis to Hold Mass for Armenian Genocide Centennial”
Well, that’s positive!
Now this is fascinating. Gregory of Narek, as far as I am to tell, was a monk of the Armenian Apostolic Church which also venerates him as a saint. Said church is part of the non-Chalcedonian communion (Oriental Orthodox) and has not been in communion with either Rome or Constantinople since they definitively rejected the Chalcedonian dyophysite formula in AD 554.
All of which makes me wonder exactly how is it that Rome is declaring a presumably non-Chalcedonian monk to be a Doctor of the Church?
The same way that Francis has been declaring saints without them going through the required process.
Apparently and not surprisingly, the answer is somewhat complex. History of the Armenian Catholic Church.
Complex indeed. I read your linked site carefully, both pages, and found no explanation. The Armenian Catholic Church did not exist in any recognizable form until at least four centuries after the death of this Oriental Orthodox monastic.
Both Armenian Catholics and Armenian Orthodox claim him as one of their own.
The only problem is that there really weren’t any Armenian Catholics then and no Armenian Catholic Church would exist for centuries. He clearly was a member of the Armenian Apostolic Church and was Oriental Orthodox. The fact that he is listed on the ACC’s calendar doesn’t make him Catholic.
2015-02-23 Vatican Radio
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has declared Armenian poet and monk, Saint Gregory of Narek, a Doctor of the Universal Church. Meeting with Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Cause of Saints on Saturday ahead of his departure for Aricca on Lenten retreat, the Pope confirmed the proposal put forward by the Plenary Session of the Congregation to confer the title of Doctor of the Universal Church on the 10th century saint.
St. Gregory of Narek is widely revered as one of the greatest figures of medieval Armenian religious thought and literature. Born in the city of Narek in about 950 A.D., St. Gregory came from a line of scholars and churchmen.
St. Gregory received his education under the guidance of his father, Bishop Khosrov, author of the earliest commentary on the Divine Liturgy, and from Anania Vartabed, abbess of Narek Monastery. He and his two brothers entered monastic life at an early age, and St. Gregory soon began to excel in music, astronomy, geometry, mathematics, literature, and theology.
He became a priest at the age of 25 and dedicated himself to God. He lived most of his life in the monastery of Narek, where he taught at the monastic school. St. Gregory began his writings with a commentary on the “Song of Songs,” which was commissioned by an Armenian prince. Despite his reservations that he was too young for the task, the commentary became famous for its clarity of thought and language and its excellence of theological presentation.
He also wrote a number of famous letters, sharagans, treasures, odes, melodies, and discourses. Many of his prayers are included in the Divine Liturgy celebrated each Sunday in Armenian Churches around the world.
St. Gregory’s masterpiece is considered to be his Book of Lamentations. Also known as Narek, it is comprised of 95 prayers, each of which is titled “Conversation with God from the depth of the heart.” A central theme is man’s separation from God, and his quest to reunite with Him. St. Gregory described the work this way: “Its letters like my body, its message like my soul.” He called his book an “encyclopedia of prayer for all nations.” It was his hope that it would serve as a guide to prayer for people all over the world. After the advent of movable type, the book was published in Marseille in 1673, and has been translated into at least 30 languages.
St. Gregory of Narek is remembered by the Armenian Church in October of each year.(from Vatican Radio)
Why do you have a problem with this?
Its not a case of I have a problem. It’s just that I never knew Catholics declared non-Catholics to be saints much less Doctor’s of the Church.
In 950 AD, he would have been considered a member of the One, Holy, Catholic Church.
I agree that this is surprising, but since the Armenian Catholic Church venerates him as well, it is safe to assume that nothing in St. Gregory of Narek’s teaching is at odds with the decisions of the Chalcedon.
I don’t see how the late emergence of the Armenian Catholic Church or the fact that Armenian Apostolic Church also venerates him has a bearing on the above. Let’s not forget that most of our saints are common to all authentic churches.
“Let’s not forget that most of our saints are common to all authentic churches.”
I’m not sure how true that is. The RCC has a somewhat more elastic interpretation of the boundaries of the Church than we Orthodox or the Oriental Orthodox. Saints canonized by the Latin Church post 1054 are not generally commemorated in any of the Orthodox Churches. In the case of the non-Chalcedonians I believe that goes back even farther. Probably to at least the sixth century.
Amen!
What’s “RCC”?
Yes, for purposes of things the Holy Church proposes for our salvation, it does not seem to matter in what local church a particular priest was active during his journey on earth. Of course, following the Great Schism, the knowledge of the lives of the split halves declined, and so did commonalities in veneration.
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