The son of a bishop, Gregory was educated,ordained, and later stationed atNarekavank on the southern shores ofLake Van (modern Turkey). Scholars consider Gregory the most beloved and significant theological and literary figure of the Armenian religious tradition.
He is best known for hisBook of Lamentations, a significant piece ofmystical literature which serves as a confessional prayer book in many Armenian religious households. His works have inspired many Armenian literary figures and influencedArmenian literature in general throughout the ages.
Gregory was based throughout his life at the monastery of Narek (Narekavank), seen here circa 1900. His chapel-mausoleum was located inside the monastery walls before it was destroyed in the mid-20th century.
Scholars place Gregory's birth and death datescirca 945–951 and 1003 or 1010–11, respectively.[d] He lived in theKingdom of Vaspurakan, a medieval Armenian kingdom, which is "notable for the high cultural level that it achieved."[17] Vaspurakan, centered aroundLake Van, is a region described byRichard Hovannisian as "the cradle of Armenian civilization".[18]
Little is known about his life. He was born in a village on the southern shores ofLake Van, in what is now eastern Turkey, to KhosrovAndzevatsi, a relative of theArtsruni royal family.[19] His mother died when he was little.[16] Khosrov was ordained a bishop after being widowed and was appointed primate of the diocese ofAndzevatsik.[20] His father was suspected of pro-ByzantineChalcedonian beliefs, a doctrine not accepted by theArmenian Apostolic Church,[11] and was eventually excommunicated by CatholicosAnania Mokatsi for undermining the Armenian Church with his interpretation of the rank ofCatholicos, the highest rank in Armenian church clergy, as being equivalent to that of abishop, a lower rank in Christian churches, based on the works ofPseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, a fifth-century Greek Christian theologian and mysticist.[21] Grigor and his elder brother Hovhannes were sent to theNarekavank (lit. the monastery of Narek), where he was given religious education by Anania Narekatsi (Ananias of Narek). The latter was his maternal great-uncle, a celebrated scholar and the monastery's founder. Being raised in an intellectual and religious fervor, Grigor was ordained priest in 977 and taught others theology at the monastery school until his death.[15][22]
Whether Gregory led a secluded life has become a debate among Armenian scholars. Both literary criticArshag Chobanian and scholarManuk Abeghian believe he did. In contrast, literary criticHrant Tamrazyan [hy] argued that Gregory was very well aware of the secular world and his time, had a deep knowledge of both peasants and princes and the complexities of the world. Tamrazyan believes he could not have lived solely on literaryecstasy.[23]
Gregory was buried inside the walls of the monastery of Narek. A rectangular-shaped chapel-mausoleum was built on his tomb,[8][4] which survived until the mid-20th century, when the monastery, abandoned in the aftermath of theArmenian genocide, was destroyed by the Turkish authorities, and later replaced with a mosque.[24][25][26]
TheBook of Lamentations (Classical Armenian:Մատեան ողբերգութեան,Matean oghbergut'ean) is widely considered Gregory'smasterpiece.[27] It is often simply calledNarek (Նարեկ).[28][29] Completed towards the end of his life,c. 1002–03,[22][30][16] the work has been described as a monologue, a personal lyric and confessional poem,mystical andmeditative.[31] It comprises 95 chapters and over 10,000 lines.[8] Almost all chapters (except two) are titled "Words unto God from the Depths of My Heart".[30] The chapters, which are prayers orelegies, vary in length, but all addressGod. The central theme is themetaphysical and existential conflict between Gregory's desire to be perfect, as taught byJesus, and his realization that it is impossible and between the divine grace and his sense of one's unworthiness to receive that grace. However, the love and mercy of God's all-embracing, all-forgiving, and amazing grace compensate for man's unworthiness.[32][33]
The book is considered a masterpiece of Christian spiritual literature.[12]Helen C. Evans described it as "one of the world's great mystical poems."[34] It has been described byAgop Jack Hacikyan et al. as the "most beloved work of Armenian literature."[35] It has been historically kept in Armenian homes.[36][37] Scholars have described its popularity among Armenians as second to the Bible.[e] For centuries, Armenians have treasured the book as an enchanted treasure and have attributed to it miraculous powers. For instance, one passage has been read to the ill expecting a cure.[40][29]Malachia Ormanian, scholar and Patriarch of Constantinople, wrote thatNarek "written in a florid and sublime style, is regarded as a potent talisman against all kinds of dangers."[41] In the 21st century, Dr. Armen Nersisyan, a professor of psychiatry, promotes the reading of the book with faith as a means of healing body and mind.[42][43]
Gregory's second most known extant work is a commentary on theSong of Songs (Մեկնութիւն երգոց երգոյն Սողոմոնի,Meknut'iun ergots' ergoyn Soghomoni), written in 977, the year he was ordained a priest.[57][31] The commentary was written at the behest of prince Gurgen-KhachikArtsruni ofVaspurakan.[58] Gregory makes frequent use ofSt. Gregory of Nyssa'sLetters on the Song of Songs.[59] The commentary contains explicit condemnation of marriage and sexuality practices byTondrakians, an Armenian Christian sect named as heretics by theArmenian Apostolic Church.[60] Gregory may have been commissioned to counter these heretical teachings.[60] Armenian authorAra Baliozian describes the commentary as a prose masterpiece.[29]
There is also a single extant manuscript of a commentary by Gregory on chapters 38 and 39 of theBook of Job.[61] Gregory also wrotehymns,panegyrics on various holy figures,homilies,[31][22] numerous chants and prayers that are still sung today in Armenian churches (example:Havun Havun).[29] Scholars have noted that Gregory often departs from the standards of the Armenian and Greek traditions of panegyrics andencomia and innovates in interesting and distinctive ways.[62] Of particular importance are his two recensions of the encomium on theHoly Virgin,[63] in which he affirms the doctrines ofMary's bodily Assumption (verap'okhumn),perpetual virginity, and perhaps theImmaculate Conception.[64]
The encomium on the Holy Virgin was written as part of a triptych requested by the bishop Step'anos of Mokk'.[65] The other two panegyrics forming this set are theHistory of the Holy Cross of Aparank,[66] which commemorates the donation of a relic of theTrue Cross to the monastery of Aparank' by the Byzantine emperorsBasil II andConstantine VIII, and theEncomium on the Holy Cross.[67] By focusing on the cross, both of these panegyrics counterTondrakian rejection ofveneration of the cross and other material objects.[68] Here again, as in the rest of Gregory's corpus, the saint defends orthodoxy against the Tondrakians and other heretical movements. Gregory also wrote a panegyric on St.Jacob of Nisibis, a fourth-centurySyriac bishop who has been and remains today highly esteemed among Armenians.[69] Gregory also has is anencomium on theHoly Apostles.[70]
Gregory also authored around two dozentagher (lays or odes), which are the first documented religious poems in Armenian literature, and spiritual songs calledgandz, both in verse and prose.[71][72] Gregory also composed music for his odes, but they are not consideredsharakans (chants).[71]
Many of the festalodes andlitanies as well as thepanegyrics have been translated to English and annotated by Abraham Terian.[73]
The central idea of Gregory's philosophy iseternal salvation relying solely upon faith anddivine grace, and not necessarily upon the institutional church, in which his views are similar to those of the 16th centuryProtestantReformation.[75] This interpretation of Gregory as a precursor of Protestantism has more recently been challenged.[76] Gregory may have been suspected ofheresy and being sympathetic to thePaulicians andTondrakians—two majorsects in medieval Armenia.[75] He notably wrote a treatise against the Tondrakians in the 980s,[77] possibly to clear himself of accusations of being sympathetic to their movement.[71] In the treatise, he states some of his theological views.[78] Although Gregory does not mention the Tondrakians in theBook of Lamentations, some scholars have interpreted certain chapters as containing anti-Tondrakian elements.[79] Other scholars have pointed out that theBook of Lamentations is dominated by the theme of the centrality of the sacraments, especially baptism, reconciliation, and the Eucharist, and thus directly opposes Tondrakian deprecation of the sacraments.[80] In his struggle against theantinomian Tondrakians, Gregory followed his predecessor at the monastery of Narek—his great-uncle Anania, who was condemned for his alleged Tondrakian beliefs.[21]
According toAra Baliozian, Gregory broke fromHellenistic thought, which was dominant among the Armenian intellectual elite since the 5th-century golden age.[29] He was instead profoundly influenced byNeoplatonism.[81] In fact, the Narek school was instrumental in instillingChristian Neoplatonism in Armenian theology, particularly concepts such asdivinization, the attainment of the power of spiritual vision or discernment through penitential purification of the inner and outer man, and a symbolic exegetical methodology.[82] He may have been influenced byPseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, a pivotal author in Christian Neoplatonism, although this view has been challenged.[83][84] Vache Nalbandian argued that Gregory's outlook is essentiallyanti-feudal andhumanistic.[85]
The tone of theBook of Lamentations has been compared to that ofConfessions byAugustine of Hippo.[86] Some scholars have compared Gregory's worldview, and philosophy to those of laterSufi mystic poetsRumi andYunus Emre,[87][88][89] and 19th century Russian writersFyodor Dostoevsky[90] andA. K. Tolstoy.[91] Michael Papazian, a scholar of Gregory, opined that he is "what you'd get if you crossed Augustine andJames Joyce. But his spirituality is also infused with the simple piety of theDesert Fathers; and, although he lived before him, there's an element ofSt. Francis in him, too. He's a synthesis of so many strands of Christian tradition."[92]
Gregory was the first major Armenianlyrical poet[27] and is considered the most beloved person in Armenian Christianity.[22]Robert W. Thomson described him as the "most significant poet of the whole Armenian religious tradition,"[31] while Jos Weitenberg declared him the "most outstanding theological, mystical and literary figure of Armenian culture."[78]James R. Russell lists Gregory as one of the three visionaries of the Armenian tradition, along withMesrop Mashtots andYeghishe Charents.[93]
According to Hacikyanet al. Gregory "deserves to be known as one of the great mystical writers of medieval Christendom."[35]Vrej Nersessian considers him a "poet of world stature" in the "scope and breadth of his intellect and poetic inventiveness, and in the brooding, visionary quality of his language"—on a par withSt Augustine,Dante, andEdward Taylor.[33]Levon Zekiyan shares a similar view, describing Gregory as a unique figure not just in Armenian national and ecclesiastical culture, but also that of the entire globe.[94] Nersessian argues that Gregory ranks with St. Augustine andThomas à Kempis as "one the three greatest mystic writers in medieval Christendom, his monumentalLamentations joins the former'sConfessions, and the latter'sImitation of Christ to form a natural trilogy."[95] Armenian-Russian criticKaren Stepanyan writes that Gregory's genius makes him comparable withShakespeare,Cervantes, and Dostoevsky.[96]
Agop Jack Hacikyan et al. note that through his "lively, vibrant, and highly individual style" Gregory shaped, refined, and greatly enrichedClassical Armenian through his works.[57] According to Hrachik Mirzoyan, Gregory may have created more than 2,500 new Armenian words, includinglusankar 'a portrait or image' and օդաչու,odach'u 'a person who flies, pilot'. Many of the words Gregory created are not actively used or have been replaced by other words.[97]
France-basedWestern Armenian writerShahan Shahnour has been Gregory's most prominent critic.[97] Shahnour targeted him in his novelRetreat Without Song (Նահանջը առանց երգի, published in 1929) through one of his characters. The latter describes theBook of Lamentations as "the most immoral, unhealthy, poisonous book, a work that had debilitated the Armenians as a nation. The Armenians remain defeated in trying to emulate Grigor's miserable, maimed soul." Criticizing the book's influence on rooting the notion offate in Armenian popular belief and for making Armenians "conventional, patient, tolerant, suffocating the freedom-loving spirit in [them]."[98][99]
Paruyr Sevak opined that theNarek has not been read by Armenians as much as it has been kissed.[97]
Abas-relief of Gregory of Narek on the wall of theArmenian Cathedral of Moscow. He is depicted as holding theBook of Lamentations with "Speaking with God from the Depths of the Heart" engraved on it.
The Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates his feast on the second Saturday of October, during the Feast of theHoly Translators (Սուրբ Թարգմանչաց,Surb T'argmanch'ats'). Dedicated to him,Mesrop Mashtots,Yeghishe,Movses Khorenatsi,David the Invincible, andNerses Shnorhali, it was declared a national holiday in Armenia in 2001.[100] The exact date of his canonization by the Armenian Church is unknown, but he was already recognized as a saint by 1173, whenNerses of Lambron (Lambronatsi) included, in the earliest extant manuscript of theBook of Lamentations, a biographical section on him entitled "The Life of the Holy Man of God Grigor Narekatsi".[f][101] His contemporary, historianUkhtanes (c. 940-1000) called Gregory a "Universalvardapet" (Tiezerakan vardapet).[101]
In the 15th century, when theCatholicosate of Aghtamar was at the center of efforts to revive Armenian statehood, monks at theCathedral of Aghtamar sought to construct a tradition that would link the Catholicosate to Gregory. One such tradition claimed that Gregory himself had founded the Catholicosate. In ritual books commissioned by Zakaria III and Stepanos IV, Gregory is depicted more than justequal-to-the-apostles.[102]
Several churches built in Armenia in the 21st century have been named after him.[g] The St. Gregory of Narek Armenian Apostolic Church inRichmond Heights, Ohio, nearCleveland, was built in 1964.[107]
Despite theschism over theCouncil of Chalcedon, there have always been at least some Catholics using theArmenian Rite.[108] For example, even though the Monastery of Narek was founded by Armenian monks fleeingreligious persecution inCappadocia under theByzantine EmperorRomanus Lecapenus, the monks of Narek, including Gregory himself, were repeatedly accused of involvement in the Tsayt movement. The Tsayts were a school of thought within theArmenian Apostolic Church who accepted the teachings of theCouncil of Chalcedon while continuing to offer theliturgy inClassical Armenian. To Armenians who viewed the Council of Chalcedon as acontradiction ofCyril of Alexandria and therefore asheresy, the Tsayts were accused of being "Greeks but with an Armenian tongue", and even as "half, insufficient, or inadequate Armenians". Meanwhile, criticisms by Gregory of thePaulicianTondrakian movement, a breakaway Christian Armenian sect that the Armenian and Calcedonian Churches both labeledheretics,[109] have survived, but no similar criticisms of the Council of Chalcedon, the Papacy, or of the Tsayts are known to exist by his hand.[110]
Gregory was recognized officially in the revised 2001Roman Martyrology and its updated 2004 edition.[119] This recognition went largely unnoticed until his declaration as aDoctor of the Church in 2015, causing some in Catholic media to state incorrectly that the declaration was an act ofequipollent canonization.[120][121]
Gregory is depicted in the painting, "Our Lady of Narek" byAriel Agemian.[122] The image is based on a vision of the Virgin Mary and Christ Child, which Gregory experienced while in prayer. The painting is enshrined above the altar in the chapel of thePontifical Armenian College in Rome.[123]
Gregory is the 36th and the first Armenian Doctor of the Church.[130] He is also the "second saint coming out of theEastern Church" to become a Doctor[131] and the only Doctor "who was not incommunion with the Catholic Church during his lifetime."[132][h]
Gregory's recognition as a Doctor of the Church was commemorated by the Vatican City state with a postage stamp put into circulation on 2 September 2015.[133][134] On 5 April 2018 a two-meter-high bronze statue of Gregory, erected byDavit Yerevantsi [hy], was unveiled at theVatican Gardens byMikayel Minasyan, Armenia's Ambassador to the Holy See. The ceremony was also attended by Pope Francis, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, and Armenian Apostolic leaders Karekin II and Aram I.[135][136]
Charents lauds the "hallowed brows" of Gregory andNahapet Kuchak in his 1920 poem "I Love My Armenia" ("Yes im anush Hayastani").[145] In another poem, entitled "To Armenia" ("Hayastanin"), Charents lists Gregory,Nerses Shnorhali andNaghash Hovnatan as geniuses.[146] Sevak describes theBook of Lamentations a "temple of poesy, on which the destructive action of time has had no effect."[40]
Narek (Western Armenian: Nareg) is a highly popular male first name among Armenians. In 2018 it was the second most common name given to baby boys.[147] It originates from the village and monastery of Narek and owns its popularity to Gregory of Narek and theBook of Lamentations, popularly known as "Narek."[148]Hrachia Acharian did not provide an etymology for Narek,[148] andJames R. Russell noted that it has "no special meaning."[149]
The Narekatsi Professorship of Armenian Language and Culture, established in 1969, is the oldest endowed chair of theUniversity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).[152] InYerevan, a public school (established in 1967 and renamed in 1990) and a medical center (established in 2003) are named after Gregory.[153][154] Gregory is depicted on a postage stamp issued by Armenia in 2001.[155] The Naregatsi Art Institute (Narekats'i arvesti miut'yun),[156] has its headquarters inYerevan, Armenia (since 2004) andpreviously a center inShushi, Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) (since 2006).[157]
A statue of Gregory was erected in Yerevan'sMalatia-Sebastia District in 2002.[158] A large stone resembling an old manuscript with inscribed lines and images from theBook of Lamentations was unveiled in the Narekatsi quarter of Yerevan'sAvan district in 2010.[159]
Soviet composerAlfred Schnittke composed music for the Russian translation of theBook of Lamentations in 1985 named "Concerto for mixed chorus".[160]
Agop Jack Hacikyan et al.: "it is accorded an importance second only to that of the Bible itself."[35]
Vahan Kurkjian: "Narek, the Book of Prayer, was once regarded with veneration but little short of that accorded to the Bible itself."[28]
Vrej Nersessian: "After the Bible and theBook of Lamentations (Narek) of Grigor Narekatsi, 'Jesus the Son' was the most widely read book among the Armenians..."[38]
Robert W. Thomson: "Indeed, this book is often known simply as 'Narek', and it traditionally held a place in the Armenian household hardly less honourable than that of the Bible."[22]
Armenian Catholic independent researcher and writer Nareg Seferian said, describing it as "a mystical prayer book," only "second to the Bible as a holy work."[39]
^Del Cogliano clarifies that this was facilitated by a "common declaration of faith in Christ" by Pope John Paul II and Armenian Apostolic Catholicos Karekin I which confirmed that the two churches "believe the same things about Christ, even if they express these things in different language" that has led to unfortunate divisions since theSecond Council of Constantinople; "this statement effectively exonerates St. Gregory of any 'Christological' errors: even if St. Gregory was not in communion with the Catholic Church, in doctrinal matters there was complete agreement."[132]
^Nersessian, Vrej (2001). "The Book of Lamentations, 1173".Treasures from the Ark: 1700 Years of Armenian Christian Art. Getty Publications. p. 162.ISBN978-0-89236-639-2.
^Hovannisian, Richard G. (2000). "An Introduction". In Hovannisian, Richard G. (ed.).Armenian Van/Vaspurakan. Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publishers.ISBN1-56859-130-6.
^abNersessian, Vrej (2001). "Armenian". In France, Peter (ed.).The Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation. Oxford University Press. p. 191.ISBN978-0-19-924784-4.
^Douglas, John M. (1992).The Armenians. J.J. Winthrop Corporation. p. 177.It was a custom for every Armenian household to have a copy of Nareg.
^Svajian, Stephen G. (1977).A Trip Through Historic Armenia. GreenHill Pub. p. 79.Krikor Naregatzi, an Armenian mystic poet of the Xth Century, wrote his masterpiece, the Nareg, which had replaced the Bible in many Armenian homes.
^Ormanian, Malachia (1912).The Church of Armenia: her history, doctrine, rule, discipline, liturgy, literature, and existing condition. Translated by G. Marcar Gregory. London: A.R. Mowbray. p. 177.
^Ishkhanyan, Rafael (1981). "Մարսելի հայկական տպագրություն [Armenian printing of Marseille]".Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia Volume 7 (in Armenian). p. 340.Կաթոլիկական գրաքննության պատճառով Նարեկացու երկի տպագրությունը մնում է անավարտ։
^abWeitenberg, Jos J. S. (2008). "Reviewed Work: Saint Grégoire de Narek théologicien et mystique. Colloque international tenu à l'Institut Pontifical Oriental... 20–22 janvier 2005 by Jean-Pierre Mahé, Boghos Levon Zekiyan".Vigiliae Christianae.62 (1):100–101.JSTOR20474849.
^Kebranian, N. (2012). "Armenian poetry and poetics". In Cushman, Stephen;Cavanagh, Clare; Ramazani, Jahan; Rouzer, Paul (eds.).The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics (4th ed.). Princeton University Press. p. 83.ISBN978-1-4008-4142-4.
^Darbinyan-Melikyan, Margarita (2015)."И с горной выси я сошёл..."Literaturnaya Gazeta (in Russian) (6). Archived from the original on 28 December 2018. Retrieved30 December 2018.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)() "Думается мне, что с Григором Нарекаци и своим творчеством, и как личность сопоставим граф А.К. Толстой, отличавшийся редким благородством как души, так и внешности."
^Russell, James R. (2005).Armenian and Iranian Studies. Harvard University Press.ISBN978-0-935411-19-5.Archived from the original on 14 January 2021. Retrieved12 January 2021.(About the book): A number of studies also deal with the visionaries of the Armenian tradition—Mashtots', Narekats'i, Ch'arents'.
^See(in Armenian)Babken Arakelyan (1976), "Sotsialakan sharzhumnere Hayastanum IX-XI darerum," [Social movements in Armenia, 9th-11th centuries] inHay Zhoghovrdi Patmutyun [History of the Armenian People], eds.Tsatur Aghayan et al. Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences, vol. 3, pp. 284-88.
^Vrej Nersessian, (2018),St. Gregory of Narek: Mystic, Poet, Doctor of the Church, London. pp. 18-19.
^Vrej Nersessian, (2018),St. Gregory of Narek: Mystic, Poet, Doctor of the Church, London. pp. 5-7.
^"General Audience".vatican.va. 18 October 2000. Archived fromthe original on 9 January 2021.Let us express our desire for the divine life offered in Christ in the warm tones of a great theologian of the Armenian Church, Gregory of Narek (10th century): "It is not for his gifts...
^"General Audience".vatican.va. 13 November 2002. Archived fromthe original on 9 January 2021.Let us now listen to a teacher of the Armenian tradition, Gregory of Narek (c. 950–1010), who in his Panegyric Address to the Blessed Virgin Mary says to her: "Taking refuge under your most worthy and powerful intercession...
^"Catechism of the Catholic Church".vatican.va. Archived fromthe original on 8 January 2021.But in the Ave Maria, the theotokia, the hymns of St. Ephrem or St. Gregory of Narek, the tradition of prayer is basically the same.
^"Angelus".vatican.va. 18 February 2001. Archived fromthe original on 9 January 2021.One of Our Lady's principal poets is the great doctor of the Armenian Church, St Gregory of Narek.
^"Martirologio Romano (in Italian)"(PDF).Ufficio liturgico Nazionale della Conferenza Episcopale Italiana. p. 227. Retrieved27 February 2024.
^Manouk Abeghyan, Հայոց հին գրականութեան պատմութիւն [History of ancient Armenian literature] (Erevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1944), Bk. 1, pp. 511-69
^Եղիշե Չարենց, Երկերի ժողովածու, հատոր 1-ին [Yeghishe Charents, Collected works, vol. 1] (in Armenian). Yerevan: Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences Press. 1962. p. 245.Նարեկացի, Շնորհալի, Նաղաշ Հովնաթան— Ինչքա՜ն հանճար, խելք ես տեսել— էլի՛ կտեսնես:
^abAcharian, Hrachia (1942).Հայոց անձնանունների բառարան [Dictionary of Personal Names] Vol. 4 (in Armenian).Yerevan State University. p. 25.Նարեկ գյուղի անունից, որով կոչվել է Գրիգոր Նարեկացին և իր նշանավոր աղոթագիրքը
^Hakobian, T. Kh.;Melik-Bakhshian, St. T.[in Armenian];Barseghian, H. Kh.[in Armenian] (1988). "Նարեկ [Narek]".Հայաստանի և հարակից շրջանների տեղանունների բառարան [Dictionary of Toponyms of Armenia and Surrounding Regions] Volume II (in Armenian). Yerevan University Press. p. 969.1984 թ. կոչվել է Ն՝ ի պատիվ մեծ բանաստեղծ Գրիգոր Նարեկացու...
^"Նարեկ [Narek]" (in Armenian). Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia. Archived fromthe original on 5 July 2022....իր անվանումը ստացել է ի պատիվ Գրիգոր Նարեկացու...
Hacikyan, Agop Jack; Basmajian, Gabriel; Franchuk, Edward S.; Ouzounian, Nourhan (2002). "Grigor Narekatsi".The Heritage of Armenian Literature: From the sixth to the eighteenth century. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. pp. 274-279.ISBN978-0-8143-3023-4.
La Porta, Sergio (2016). "Monasticism and the construction of the Armenian intellectual tradition". In Murzaku, Ines Angeli (ed.).Monasticism in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Republics. Routledge. pp. 330–350.ISBN978-1-317-39105-0.
Papazian, Michael (2019).The Doctor of Mercy: The Sacred Treasures of St. Gregory of Narek. Collegeville, Minnesota:Liturgical Press.ISBN978-0-8146-8501-3.
Terian, Abraham (2016).The Festal Works of St. Gregory of Narek: Annotated Translation of the Odes, Litanies, and Encomia. Collegeville, Minnesota:Liturgical Press.ISBN978-0-8146-6318-9.
Poghosyan, Samvel (October 2014). "Grigor Narekatsi's Astronomical Insights".Relation of Astronomy to Other Sciences, Culture and Society. Proceedings of XIII Annual Meeting of Armenian Astronomical Society: 380.Bibcode:2015rasc.conf..380P.
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