GREGORIO NAREKATZI (of NAREK), saint. - He is the most luminous figure in ancient Armenian literature. Born in 945, died in 1010, he was a theologian, mystical doctor, eloquent orator, exegete, and poet.
His earliest work is the Commentary on the Song of Songs, in which, in an elegant and simple style, he explains the mystical meaning of the book. He then wrote the well-known panegyrics on St. Giacomo of Nisibi, on the Apostles, on the Holy Cross, and on the Blessed Virgin; the latter is the finest. Several Religious Lyrics are also attributed to him, in which elements of popular poetry and images of marked realism are at times interwoven with mystical concepts and sentiments. His masterpiece is the collection of prayers, called by him Elegies, but commonly Narek, after the name of the monastery where he lived and died. They are 95 prayers, each composed of various parts, which together total 366. In the Narek, in the form of prayer, not only does the poet express his ardent desire to be purified and raised to that same uncreated holiness, but the entire universe, purified and raised up, pours forth a song of love to the Lord. Everything in this work is expressed with loftiness of thought, depth of feeling, and a profusion of images, in a dense and highly personal style, and in a language rich in lexical abundance.