The Festal Works of St. Gregory of Narek. Annotated Translation of the Odes, Litanies, and Encomia trans. by Abraham Terian (review)

The Armenian monastic author, Gregory of Narek (Grigor Narekats'i, ca. 945–1003), is most renowned for his collection of prayers entitled the Book of Lamentation (Matean Oghbergut'ean), rightly considered one of the masterpieces of Christian spiritual and mystical literature. The fame of the Book of Lamentation, however, has often overshadowed Gregory's many other devotional and liturgical works. On account of the efforts of Abraham Terian, English readers now have access to a highly readable translation of these other poetic works of Gregory. In addition to his translation, Terian's introduction provides a succinct biographical overview of Gregory as well as a very informative description of the development of the different and somewhat confusing terminology used in the Armenian Church for liturgical odes, litanies, and encomia. Terian also explains how he arrived at the text on which he based his translations, justly pointing out some shortcomings in the published editions, and noting in his translations when he has preferred readings from the apparatus. Each of the translated texts appears with a short preface that discusses the structure and theological meaning of the poem. The volume further contains a set of appendices presenting texts in translation that bear relation to Gregory's life, including his four surviving colophons; his biography composed by Nersēs Lambronats'i; the reasons Catholicos Anania Mokats'i outlined for the anathematization of Gregory's father, Bishop Khosrov Andzewats'i; and two genealogical tables, one of Gregory's family and one of the contemporary bishops of Mokk'.

A much-welcomed contribution that Terian's translation has made is the excavation of biblical references and allusions that permeate Gregory's poems. Although he humbly claims that he may have missed more, his ample documentation and explanation of them in his notes as well as their convenient listing in an index will certainly assist in furthering scholarship of the reception, interpretation, and employment of biblical passages in the Armenian tradition. Readily noticeable is the high number of references to or citations from the Apocalypse of John. The frequency of allusions to the Apocalypse in these festal poems echoes Gregory's reliance upon the biblical book in his Book of Lamentation and confirms his affinity for it.

One historical assertion that Terian puts forth should be corrected. In his introduction, he attributes the founding of the monastery of Narek to Gregory's uncle, Anania Narekats'i and repeats the assumption that "the monastic community at Narek was probably one of several re-established communities that had fled maltreatment in Byzantine Cappadocia during the Byzantine-Abbasid conflict of 934-944 and the ensuing Byzantine expansionism" (p. xviii, n4). However, as Krikor Maksoudian has shown in an article also cited by Terian, "A note on the monasteries founded during the reign of King Abas I Bagratuni," Revue des études arméniennes 22 (1990–91): 203–215, the evidence that Anania was the founder of the monastery and that he along with other monastic leaders had fled Byzantine persecution is not convincing (p. 208). Maksoudian's conclusion (pp. 212–213) that the rise of new monastic institutions during the tenth century is intimately tied to contemporary changes in the socio-economic condition of the region and that their founders were not refugees, but local teachers and monks who enjoyed the support of the nobility and monarchy is far more persuasive. The perpetuation of this error, however, does not detract from the grace with which Terian has translated these poems nor from the erudition he displays in annotating them.