Nerses the Gracious
| Saint Nerses the Gracious Ներսէս Շնորհալի (Nerses Shnorhali) | |
|---|---|
| Titles | Catholicos of All the Armenians |
| Born | c. 1100-1102 Dzovk castle |
| Reposed | August 13, 1173 |
| Venerated in | Armenian Church Armenian Catholic Church Roman Catholic Church |
| Feast | Saturday of the fourth week after the Exaltation of the Cross, mid-October (Armenian Church) August 13 (Roman Catholic) |
| Major works | Jesus Son; Lament on Edessa; General Epistle; the prayer I Confess with Faith; hymns of the Arevakal (Sunrise) Service |
St. Nerses the Gracious (also Nerses IV, Nerses Shnorhali or Nerses of Kla) was a theologian, poet, hymnographer, and saint of the Armenian Church, who served as Catholicos of All the Armenians from 1166 to 1173 at Hromkla in Cilicia. He is remembered especially for his efforts to reconcile the Armenian Church with the Church of Constantinople.
Life
Nerses was born around 1100 into the noble Pahlavuni family, which held the office of Catholicos for most of the 11th and 12th centuries. Sources disagree on his birthplace: some place it at the castle of Dzovk in Cilicia, others at the family's older fortress of the same name in Sophene, in historic Armenia. His birth name is not known; Nerses is the name he took at his ordination. The epithet Shnorhali means "gracious" or "full of grace".
After the early death of their father in 1111, Nerses and his elder brother Gregory were placed in the care of their great-uncle, Catholicos Gregory II, and educated at the Red Monastery (Karmir Vank) in Cilicia, later under the monk and scholar Stephen Manuk. Gregory became Catholicos as Gregory III while still a young man. He ordained Nerses a celibate priest at about seventeen and consecrated him bishop at about thirty-five, and Nerses worked closely with him for many years. Around 1139 the brothers attended a synod at Antioch, called by the Latin papal legate during the Crusader period, before Nerses returned home while his brother went on to Jerusalem.
Dialogue with Constantinople
In 1165, while on his way to make peace between two quarrelling Armenian princes, Nerses met the Byzantine governor Alexios Axouch at Mamistra. Their conversation about the differences between the Armenian and Greek Churches impressed the governor, who asked Nerses to set out the Armenian faith in writing so that it could be sent to Emperor Manuel I Comnenus. In his statement Nerses stressed that both Churches accepted the Council of Ephesus and avoided polemics over Chalcedon.
Gregory III died soon afterwards, and in 1166 Nerses was elected Catholicos in his place. The emperor replied favourably, and in 1171 he sent the theologian Theorianus to Hromkla for talks. Nerses wrote a new, conciliatory profession of faith to be sent back to Constantinople. A second embassy, bringing letters from the emperor and Patriarch Michael III, presented nine conditions for union, covering points of doctrine, liturgical practice, and the calendar, and requiring that future Catholicoses be appointed by the emperor. Nerses objected to several of these demands, and opposition among the Armenian clergy hardened. The dialogue had not been concluded when Nerses died, and it ended after Emperor Manuel's death in 1180.
His irenic approach is summed up in his saying that both "one nature" and "two natures" can be confessed in an Orthodox sense, so long as the first is not taken to mean confusion and the second division. For this reason he is still often cited in modern dialogue between the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches.
Nerses reposed on August 13, 1173, having arranged for a relative, Gregory IV, to succeed him.
Works
Nerses was one of the most important writers of medieval Armenia. His works include:
- Jesus Son (Hisus Vordi), a retelling of the Bible in verse, continuing through Church history to the end of time;
- Lament on Edessa, a long poem on the fall of Edessa in 1144;
- the General Epistle (Tught Endhanrakan), a pastoral letter on the Christian life and the order of the Church and society;
- I Confess with Faith (Havatov Khostovanim), a cycle of twenty-four prayers, one for each hour of the day, now translated into dozens of languages;
- many hymns still sung in the Armenian Rite. The present form of the Arevakal (Sunrise) Service, celebrated on weekdays in Lent, and many of its hymns are attributed to him.
Veneration
The Armenian Church commemorates St. Nerses on the Saturday of the fourth week after the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, in mid-October. He is also honoured by the Armenian Catholic Church, and in the Roman Catholic Church on August 13.
Quotes
"If one says 'one nature' in the sense of unmixable and indivisible union and not in the sense of confusion, and if one says 'two natures' as being without confusion and without alteration and not meaning 'division' [then] both are within the orbit of Orthodoxy."
"When you see the cross, know and believe that you are seeing Christ enthroned on it; when you pray before the cross, believe that you are doing so concerning Christ our God and not with inanimate matter. For it is Christ Who receives the veneration you offer before the cross; and it is He Who hears the supplications of your mouth and fulfills the desires of your heart, which you ask with faith. Whoever does not honor the cross, or insults it, insults Christ Himself."
Succession
Nerses the Gracious | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Gregory III |
Catholicos of All the Armenians 1166–1173 |
Succeeded by: Gregory IV |
Sources
- Nerses Shnorhali (Wikipedia)
- Nerses IV (Catholic Encyclopedia)
External links
- Arevakal (Armenian Apostolic Church in Switzerland)
- Ecumenical Trends in the Armenian Church (by Catholicos Karekin I of Echmiadzin)
- Nerses IV the Gracious (Menq Hay Enq)
- Sister Churches (Armenian Orthodox Church of Echmiadzin)