Saint Gregory of Narek declared Doctor of the Church

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More reliable source - Vatican Information Service:

St. Gregory of Narek, Doctor of the Church
Vatican City, 23 February 2015 (VIS) – On Saturday, 21 February the Holy Father received in audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. During the audience he confirmed the proposal by the cardinals and bishops, members of the Plenary Session of the Congregation, to concede the title of Doctor of the Universal Church to St. Gregory of Narek, priest and monk, who was born in Andzevatsij (then Armenia, present-day Turkey) in 1005 and died in Narek (then Armenia, present-day Turkey) around 1005.

vis.va/vissolr/index.php?vi=all&dl=bfa34614-734c-211e-77d3-54eb3d66d99d&dl_t=text/xml&dl_a=y&ul=1&ev=1
 
Does being named a Doctor also imply canonization? That is, did the Catholic Church name a non-Chalcedonian, non-Catholic Christian as a saint?
 
Generally, the Catholic Church recognizes that the Armenian Orthodox saints are saints already, unless they were somehow openly anti-Catholic or something. In this case, there is also Armenian Catholic Church that venerates the same saints as the Armenian Orthodox. In fact, when I last attended the Divine Liturgy at an Armenian Catholic Church, their Liturgy text was from the Armenian Apostolic (Orthodox) Church.
 
wynd said:
Does being named a Doctor also imply canonization? That is, did the Catholic Church name a non-Chalcedonian, non-Catholic Christian as a saint?
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As far as I can tell, he’s been venerated in the Armenian Catholic Church since they returned to communion in the 18th century. He’s not the only Saint in such a situation, some are even included in the Roman Martyrology, not just the listings of the sui juris church (e.g. St. Sergius of Radonezh, etc.)

As far as St. Gregory’s Christology, it does not appear to be that of Eutyches, where Christ’s human nature is dissolved like a drop in the sea. St. Gregory, instead, describes the union like a wick in a candle. He also uses phraseology that is flat out Catholic (link below):

“The properties of both Natures, without any change, admixture, or alteration, are preserved unfused, and are unspeakably united, in a manner above all common union, in the one Son, and the one Lord Jesus Christ, Who is of Two perfect Natures.”

He also uses phrases almost identical to that of Chapter IV of the Tome of Leo which can seem borderline Nestorian, rather than Monophysite (for clarity, these are St. Gregory’s quotes):

“After a lapse of nine months, God and perfect man was born as child. He was fed with milk as man and glorified by Angels as God.”

“For since it was impossible that the impassible and immortal nature of God should undergo suffering and death, He therefore clothed Himself with a body capable of suffering, in order that the impassible might be tormented in a passable, the immortal might die in a mortal, nature, to deliver them that were liable to the payment of a debt, from the penalty of their transgressions.”
books.google.com/books?id=I8wAAAAAcAAJ&dq

From my little bit of research, it appears that during his lifetime, some Armenian churchmen and temporal rulers accused him of being a schismatic and a Chalcedonian. He sought peace with the surrounding orthodox Greek and Georgian churches and adopted some of their customs, including the veneration of icons (at a time when monophysitism led many Armenians to be very iconoclastic).

So it seems his “separation” was more of historical circumstance than true heresy or schism (as is the case with other “separated” saints).
 
My head is a bit confused about it,but my heart is okay with it.
 
Vico said:
St. Gregory of Narek (951-1003)

Some of his prayers: stgregoryofnarek.am/index.php
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That link is the online version of his most well known work titled, “Speaking with God from the Depths of the Heart”, also commonly known as “Lamentations.”

If anyone knows were to get a reasonably priced hard-copy of that work then please post. All I can find are extremely expensive rare copies or paperbacks in Armenian.

-Tim-
 
wynd said:
Does being named a Doctor also imply canonization? That is, did the Catholic Church name a non-Chalcedonian, non-Catholic Christian as a saint?
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Saint Gregory of Narek is listed as a saint in the 2005 edition of the Martyrologium Romanum, the official listing of Catholic saints. His feast day is February 27th.
 
TimothyH said:
That link is the online version of his most well known work titled, “Speaking with God from the Depths of the Heart”, also commonly known as “Lamentations.”

If anyone knows were to get a reasonably priced hard-copy of that work then please post. All I can find are extremely expensive rare copies or paperbacks in Armenian.

-Tim-
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I don’t know about a reasonably priced volume in print, but here is a link to the kindle version.

amazon.com/Armenian-Prayerbook-St-Gregory-Narek-ebook/dp/B003KRP1MW/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426026977&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Armenian+Prayer+Book+of+St.+Gregory+of+Narek
 
TimothyH said:
That link is the online version of his most well known work titled, “Speaking with God from the Depths of the Heart”, also commonly known as “Lamentations.”

If anyone knows were to get a reasonably priced hard-copy of that work then please post. All I can find are extremely expensive rare copies or paperbacks in Armenian.

-Tim-
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Hey Tim,

This place has brand new copies that are reasonably priced. I’m going to buy one, too.🙂

abrilbooks.com/

You can also go to the Amazon page and read the comments left for each of the four reviews. An Amazon user named Haik has very thoughtfully given the names of a couple other Armenian booksellers who also carry the book. I hate it when Amazon sellers try to rip people off with jacked-up rare book prices. I don’t really “collect” books, I read them!

amazon.com/Armenian-Prayer-Book-Gregory-Narek/dp/9993085340
 
Thanks a bunch for pointing that abrilbooks. I had seen that but thought that $65 was a bit expensive and hoped for something a bit cheaper.

-Tim-
 
TimothyH said:
Thanks a bunch for pointing that abrilbooks. I had seen that but thought that $65 was a bit expensive and hoped for something a bit cheaper.

-Tim-
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For what it’s worth, Tim, I haven’t been able to locate a hard copy for anything less than the $65 price. I believe the original publisher is Gorgias Press. Although they’ve got a ton of great stuff, their books do tend to be rather pricey for folks with thin wallets. 😛
 
I have read the posts in this thread. Is this definition of “Doctor” correct:
There are three requirements that must be fulfilled by a person in order to merit being included in the ranks of the “Doctors of the Catholic Church”:
  1. holiness that is truly outstanding, even among saints;
  2. depth of doctrinal insight; and
  3. an extensive body of writings which the church can recom*mend as an expression of the authentic and life-giving Catholic Tradition.
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If this is correct, could someone provide an overview, or links to clear translations of his theological writings (if any), that demonstrate his “doctrinal insight.” I have only read a few of his prayers. While they are nice, sometimes reminiscent of Buddhist prayers, I do not believe I gained new insight or renewed conviction into any particular doctrine. I have attempted to read the writings of other Doctors of the Church, and have usually become lost. (I suspect that is due more to the translation or my lack of appreciation of the original authors’ styles of writing, than from their attempts to teach."
 
Tarquin said:
I have read the posts in this thread. Is this definition of “Doctor” correct: If this is correct, could someone provide an overview, or links to clear translations of his theological writings (if any), that demonstrate his “doctrinal insight.” I have only read a few of his prayers. While they are nice, sometimes reminiscent of Buddhist prayers, I do not believe I gained new insight or renewed conviction into any particular doctrine. I have attempted to read the writings of other Doctors of the Church, and have usually become lost. (I suspect that is due more to the translation or my lack of appreciation of the original authors’ styles of writing, than from their attempts to teach."
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These are not Buddhist, but Eastern of the Holy Catholic Armenian Tradition. The Pope is trying to get people’s hearts convicted, as with poetry or art.
 
Tarquin said:
I have read the posts in this thread. Is this definition of “Doctor” correct: If this is correct, could someone provide an overview, or links to clear translations of his theological writings (if any), that demonstrate his “doctrinal insight.” I have only read a few of his prayers. While they are nice, sometimes reminiscent of Buddhist prayers, I do not believe I gained new insight or renewed conviction into any particular doctrine. I have attempted to read the writings of other Doctors of the Church, and have usually become lost. (I suspect that is due more to the translation or my lack of appreciation of the original authors’ styles of writing, than from their attempts to teach."
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That *he *has insight does not imply the you do not, and therefore you may not gain any additional beyond what you already have acquired.

However, how well to you understand the Old Testament book Song of Songs? (See: The Blessing Of Blessings: Gregory of Narek’s Commentary on the Song of Songs)

Also as noted by Pope St. John Paul II in Redemptoris Mater:In his panegyric of the Theotókos, St. Gregory of Narek, one of the outstanding glories of Armenia, with powerful poetic inspiration ponders the different aspects of the mystery of the Incarnation, and each of them is for him an occasion to sing and extol the extraordinary dignity and magnificent beauty of the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Word made flesh. 83 Cf. Saint Gregory of Narek, Le livre de prieres: S. Ch. 78, 160-163; 428-432.]
w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031987_redemptoris-mater.html

Criteria for Dr. of the Church were given by Pope Benedict XIV.
 
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